Communications

[U201491]

Just curious.
How many here are ham ticketed and how many are set up with 2M.

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[ATCclears]

No for me.

Perhaps add a Vote to the thread?

Peter

 

[U201491]

No for me.

Perhaps add a Vote to the thread?

Peter

Wasn't looking for pro or con, just wondered how many have good coms for a lights out scenario?
Lots of battery backed repeaters out there for 2M. Also good clean short range on simplex.

 

[coyoteman5]

I'm one 2m/440

 

[CoastRange57]

My son and I both are, with one more son studying for Tech. 2 meter, 6 meter and 10 meter. Mobiles, HT's, and base set ups. All interchangeable set ups. 2 meter is easy 2 to 3 states on interlinked repeaters, and we get 60 miles on simplex at 55 watts with some altitude.

Ham radio is pretty key component in prepping and survival. Be glad to PM call signs, I won't post them here, we could link up on the interlink repeaters.

 

[TDH]

Tech here- couple HT's, and a mobile.

 

[Desertfox19]

I'm a General but don't have a HF radio yet. I just have a Yaesu FT60 right now. Studying the extra book now.

 

[Modeler]

Aye. Only in my base station though, nothing mobile as yet.

 

[U201491]

Aye. Only in my base station though, nothing mobile as yet.

Yeasu makes a sweet little bullet proof HT that is straight forward 2M and mil spec. SAR in many areas love them.
At least they used to make them, the VX 170 or equivalent. They were pretty reasonable. I think you could drop them from 40,000 feet and pick one up and use it. I have had Kenwoos, Icoms and these Yeasus perform as well as the best of them.
A tiny 3 ft portable beam and they have the reach of a good base unit using a good vertical.

Here is some info. The new version is the FT-270R.
http://yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=Di...CFC558E51B3306C192&DivisionID=65&isArchived=0

An Easy one to program.
http://www.hamuniverse.com/va7cpcyaesuhtprogramming.html

And easily expandable
http://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Radio_Equipment/VHF-UHF_Handhelds/Yaesu_VX-170/

You can still find the VX 170 from about $100 and up.

The 270R from about $159 up new.
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...vptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_1ms1e39ssp_b

Whatever you get, make sure you have 12V charge capability for it.
Anything else may be unavailable, and you can charge it off of even a tractor if you need to.
These come with 1400 ma batteries and you can get 2400 ma as an accessory.

 

[drew]

Yes. I often have a handheld close by. Looking at a setup for the vehicle too.

 

[Modeler]

Yeasu makes a sweet little bullet proof HT that is straight forward 2M and mil spec. SAR in many areas love them.
At least they used to make them, the VX 170 or equivalent. They were pretty reasonable. I think you could drop them from 40,000 feet and pick one up and use it. I have had Kenwoos, Icoms and these Yeasus perform as well as the best of them.
A tiny 3 ft portable beam and they have the reach of a good base unit using a good vertical.

Here is some info. The new version is the FT-270R.
http://yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=Di...CFC558E51B3306C192&DivisionID=65&isArchived=0

An Easy one to program.
http://www.hamuniverse.com/va7cpcyaesuhtprogramming.html

And easily expandable
http://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Radio_Equipment/VHF-UHF_Handhelds/Yaesu_VX-170/

You can still find the VX 170 from about $100 and up.

The 270R from about $159 up new.
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...vptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_1ms1e39ssp_b

Whatever you get, make sure you have 12V charge capability for it.
Anything else may be unavailable, and you can charge it off of even a tractor if you need to.
These come with 1400 ma batteries and you can get 2400 ma as an accessory.

I guess I should modify my statement by saying that I have an HT but no mobile installed in any vehicles.

 

[parallax]

Just curious.
How many here are ham ticketed and how many are set up with 2M.

I are one. and travel with 2 meter radidio's..........

 

[AMProducts]

Yeasu makes a sweet little bullet proof HT that is straight forward 2M and mil spec. SAR in many areas love them.
At least they used to make them, the VX 170 or equivalent. They were pretty reasonable. I think you could drop them from 40,000 feet and pick one up and use it. I have had Kenwoos, Icoms and these Yeasus perform as well as the best of them.
A tiny 3 ft portable beam and they have the reach of a good base unit using a good vertical.

Here is some info. The new version is the FT-270R.
Welcome to Yaesu.com

An Easy one to program.
HT Programming for the Absolute Beginner - Programming the Yaesu VX-170

And easily expandable
Yaesu VX-170

You can still find the VX 170 from about $100 and up.

The 270R from about $159 up new.
Amazon.com: yaesu vx-170

Whatever you get, make sure you have 12V charge capability for it.
Anything else may be unavailable, and you can charge it off of even a tractor if you need to.
These come with 1400 ma batteries and you can get 2400 ma as an accessory.

Yaesu makes some decent radios, however given the current state I really wonder if yaesu is going to be in business in 5 years. Also a 1400ma battery is roughly equivalent to a AA, that is woefully insufficient.

While I tend to think yaesu is the top of the heap in terms of features and price, the menu system is byzantine and pretty much requires a computer if you have any intention of programming one in less than a full afternoon. However, most of the ham radio manufacturers are getting their collective asses handed to them by the chinese radio manufacturers for a few reasons, the biggest gripes I have with most of the current production HAM radios (Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood):

1) form factor - these radios are nearly always too wide or too fat to fit in any shirt pocket I've ever had on a piece of clothing.
2) battery life - most radios have a battery that's less than 2000mah that's HORRIBLE usually giving them about 8 hours before needing another battery or a charge
3) Charge time - really? a battery that small takes 2x the amount of time to charge as it does to use?
4) Form factor - did I mention this already? I really hate fat thick radios.
5) price - while many of these radios do come with some really nice features 2+ bands, waterproof, wideband RX, dual watch and the like, it's really hard to plop down $400 for some of the higher end radios (more when you consider all of the accessories you will want (handmic, spare batteries, upgraded antenna). Especially when some of the real core functions of the radio are so poor (battery life is a huge complaint)

Oddly enough, the better deals out there are on the cheap chinese radios... the Baofeng UV5R is a great little radio, had this thing been out before I bought my VX7, I wouldn't have bothered. I picked mine up for $45 on amazon, programming cable was $8, upgraded antenna was $6, and the hand-mic was $12. To top that off I bought the upgraded battery 3500mah for $14. With shipping, I'm still sub $100, and frankly it blows every "ham" radio out of the water. Yea, it lacks a few features I consider really nice (wideband RX, waterproof), but I have yet to really test the IPX7 rating on my VX7, and from some people who I know that have, it didn't turn out too well.

If you're thinking about getting a radio, the baofeng and it's clones are well worth looking at. Frankly, I think they blow the offerings of the major manufacturers out of the water, also you don't need to "mod" these radios, they ship with no amateur band caps. They also do narrow band (a necessary for operating on MURS and FRS frequencies) and while the interface could totally be better, it makes up for it with the awesome battery life, the low price, and the perfect form factor.

 

[BlindedByScience]

Extra class license, haven't been active for a few years. Was heavily into the whole HF contest scene for a while, no radio currently. Been looking at some of the new 2M handheld radios, nice stuff...!!

 

[U201491]

Yaesu makes some decent radios, however given the current state I really wonder if yaesu is going to be in business in 5 years. Also a 1400ma battery is roughly equivalent to a AA, that is woefully insufficient.

While I tend to think yaesu is the top of the heap in terms of features and price, the menu system is byzantine and pretty much requires a computer if you have any intention of programming one in less than a full afternoon. However, most of the ham radio manufacturers are getting their collective asses handed to them by the chinese radio manufacturers for a few reasons, the biggest gripes I have with most of the current production HAM radios (Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood):

1) form factor - these radios are nearly always too wide or too fat to fit in any shirt pocket I've ever had on a piece of clothing.
2) battery life - most radios have a battery that's less than 2000mah that's HORRIBLE usually giving them about 8 hours before needing another battery or a charge
3) Charge time - really? a battery that small takes 2x the amount of time to charge as it does to use?
4) Form factor - did I mention this already? I really hate fat thick radios.
5) price - while many of these radios do come with some really nice features 2+ bands, waterproof, wideband RX, dual watch and the like, it's really hard to plop down $400 for some of the higher end radios (more when you consider all of the accessories you will want (handmic, spare batteries, upgraded antenna). Especially when some of the real core functions of the radio are so poor (battery life is a huge complaint)

Oddly enough, the better deals out there are on the cheap chinese radios... the Baofeng UV5R is a great little radio, had this thing been out before I bought my VX7, I wouldn't have bothered. I picked mine up for $45 on amazon, programming cable was $8, upgraded antenna was $6, and the hand-mic was $12. To top that off I bought the upgraded battery 3500mah for $14. With shipping, I'm still sub $100, and frankly it blows every "ham" radio out of the water. Yea, it lacks a few features I consider really nice (wideband RX, waterproof), but I have yet to really test the IPX7 rating on my VX7, and from some people who I know that have, it didn't turn out too well.

If you're thinking about getting a radio, the baofeng and it's clones are well worth looking at. Frankly, I think they blow the offerings of the major manufacturers out of the water, also you don't need to "mod" these radios, they ship with no amateur band caps. They also do narrow band (a necessary for operating on MURS and FRS frequencies) and while the interface could totally be better, it makes up for it with the awesome battery life, the low price, and the perfect form factor.

There are many good radios out there. I have been using these Yeasu's for about 5ys now, on the water and in the Mtns, and have no problem with the batteries at all. They have held up for days for us. You can get the high ma as options, but we use the std batt pack.
I like these because of the all metal case. Most are plastic.
I also don't like a lot of bells and whistles like most hams do. Had my fill of that.
These have been bullet proof. I have had Kenwoods, Icoms and still keep an Icom HT that covers all bands.
It is a pain in the azz to program, about 4 submenues for every button. two antennas and brick size.

Comms in bad times will be essential.

 

[parallax]

I use a yaesu ft-60 dual band when dirt biking, using an ear bud and throat mic, with a 2 inch all weather push to talk button that you can slap with your palm for easy operation( no fumbling looking for the press to talk switch while motobiking) I keep the radio molle'd on my backpack/camelback shoulder strap, all clipped in so it can take hard riding without coming loose.and still be able to reach the knobs to operate while on my bike with my left hand on the fly. battery lasts all day so far. In the truck i have a yaesu ft-857d all mode radio.. its a really small 100 watt hf-vhf-uhf . I like the size,, but the function menu is a pain to navigate sometimes.( way to many options ,so much you can easily get lost, and would not be safe to navigate the menu choices while driving.) for the house I run an old yaesu ft 757gxII-h.f., and an mfj roller tuner..for vhf a kenwood tm-271a.

 

[Dirty Harriet]

I earned my tech license last year, and I have a couple of Yaesu FT-60s. Unfortunately, I have NO practical experience and I don't even know a ham operator personally. I'm reading the manual to learn now to program them. I'd appreciate any advice.

 

[parallax]

I earned my tech license last year, and I have a couple of Yaesu FT-60s. Unfortunately, I have NO practical experience and I don't even know a ham operator personally. I'm reading the manual to learn now to program them. I'd appreciate any advice.

if you are in Eugene/springfield ,I can teach you to program these.

 

[Desertfox19]

I earned my tech license last year, and I have a couple of Yaesu FT-60s. Unfortunately, I have NO practical experience and I don't even know a ham operator personally. I'm reading the manual to learn now to program them. I'd appreciate any advice.

If you don't know about this site try here. My 513 - Marys Peak Repeater Forums They have a forum to.

 

[AMProducts]

Generally speaking, most repeaters have a user base, you will often hear the same group going on and on all day/night long depending on where you're at. They frequently have BBQ's, dinners and other social events for "eyeball QSO's" you just need to hang out long enough to have someone let you know when one is coming up. I've been to more than a few of them since getting my ticket, yea, you get a pretty good cross section of people depending on where you are.