What do you use for a radio?

Jamie Lahowetz

I was thinking on getting a new radio for next chase season. Right now im using the Midland 74-250C Portable Weather radio and really all it does is eat batteries. You have to constantly switch channels and are sometimes stuck in between, which is not very good when you are heading towards a meso-giant. I could use a really more realiable and quick to tune radio.... any suggestions?? What do you use out in the field??
 
techno goods

I use a ICOM V8000 ham radio with up to 75 watts talking power, I can hit most weather repeaters in Oklahoma. It also has police frequency and NOAA chans. a s well. You need to be a ham operater to talk on it...but not to listen. I also have an AUTO TALK receiver attached to my car radio am/fm cassete player. It will receive TV stations over the radio and it also has 8 NOAA chans. Its pretty cool because when storms go on live tv broadcast for hours on end in oklahoma you hear it on your car radio. It works in any state or town that is receiving tv frequency. Ive got other stuff as backup radios.... :idea:
 
I actually use a Uniden StormTracker pre-programmed scanner (I also use a Uniden Sportcat 180 Handheld Scanner). Its quite handy for weather radio and such because it suctions to your window like a radar detector and plugs into cigarette lighter. Its nice to have it always available, no digging around for my handheld and no dead bateries to worry about.

Unfortunately if you buy "new" its not really worth the $300, but, I picked mine up from where I work for $20 in the annual "fire sale". Ebay might be a good place to find one cheap. One notable thing is that most of the preprogrammed frequencies are still active, and the additional TV tuner (audio only) makes it possible to listen in on live local storm reports from the area stations.

http://www.leeselect.com/shopping/pricelis...st.asp?prid=178
 
I have this scanner , you will need an external antenna. I picked one up at a flying J ($20)and mounted it to the roof rack for this year. I will probably buy a stronger one next year. The plus was having the alpha listing with this model

The dual trunking will allow you to hear both sides of a conversations most times.

If I had it to do over I would have gone with a less expensive model though and buy a base scanner for home.

or skip all this and get a Ham license and get a ham radio.
 
I have a PRO-95 I bought when they first came out on sale. (Early 2003 maybe?)

I really like it. It works well and I have no complaints about it .

However....I'm pretty sure that this will be the last handheld scanner I buy. Over the years, I've gotten to where I very rarely want to listen to a scanner while in the house. It's primarily an "in the car thing" either doing normal driving or chasing. So, I think my next scanner will be a nice mobile unit that has the same features.

Another thing to keep in mind when buying scanners right now is that some police organizations are now in the process of going to digital systems that the scanners on the market can not receive. Just something to consider if that is happening in your area up there.
 
Originally posted by Jamie Lahowetz
How helpful are CB's out in the field?
Click to expand...

They are fine if you have a CB buddy in the other car that is 50ft away. CBs are really old crappy AM transceivers that work really well consistently to a few hundred feet.

So, except for that scenario, they are useless in chasing.
 
I use two ICOM 207H trancievers. I found a scanner wasn't as valuable as a second ham rig since all I do is either talk on 2 meters, listen to NOAA, or listen to spotters. All the time I owned a scanner I never tried to listen to police or fire or aircraft or anything else. So the second radio is a backup to the first and recieves NOAA every bit as effectively with the right anntena.

I have one friend who uses CB's to chat with truckers when the drive is long and boring. Other than that my impression is that they have very little practical value in stormchasing.
 
v8000

Originally posted by Jamie Lahowetz
been looking at the Icom V8000. anyone want to comment on this radio??

http://www.icomamerica.com/products/amateur/v8000/
Click to expand...
Ihave been using the V8000 for a year and a half...I love it. When Im in town I can tone the power to 5 or 25 watts....when Im in western Oklahoma and need power to get back to the nearest NWS repeater..I have 75 watts talking power...I still hit dead spots...but without a repeater I have talked 40 miles. I also had a diode removed to give me police, fire , and ems talk when I need it. It also picks up all NOAA frequencys, has tone,packet, and a dozen other good options onit. Its scanable and you can do it thru the mic. controls..or the transciever...It has a cooling fan and with its small size, its easily hidden and takes up little space. I think my vote is still yes for this model.
 
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