You are at netAirspace : Forum : The Combustion Chamber - Off-Topics : General Off-Topics

I know there are several ham radio guys and the like around here and I would like to ask any of you if you know whats the best deal I could get for either a portable or mobile narrowband compliant radio.

Mark

Not a really an expert on them, but a few years ago I bought a couple VHF's for scout camp on ebay. And there were alot of new units as well, and the prices looked pretty good.

What frequency range?

Mark wrote:What frequency range?

Like I said, not really sure, but lots were un programmed, some set up on specific channel or channels, I would do a search and see what comes up.

Sorry. I was asking Mark.

Im so confused.

You've asked a fairly broad question, but the places I go for the best deals and service on radio equipment are:

Amateur Electronic Supply: http://www.aesham.com/ (Been doing business with them for almost 20 years.)
Texas Towers: http://www.texastowers.com/ (More than just towers, of course.)

If you can be a little more specific, maybe I can give a more detailed answer. Are you licensed, and what task are you hoping to perform (if any)?

Its for Civil Air Patrol, so I can't say specific frequencies because we have opsec now, but some of the compliant radios are:

Motorola HT-1000
Kenwood TK-2160
etc

Looking for a portable one I can take with me when I got places, so hand-held or mobile, don't need a lot of range.

Mark

I'm a big fan of Kenwoods. I used to be in charge of communications for my EMS dept for many years. I ordered Kenwoods for over 20 years and never had one fail. Not once. There's a couple of dealers on eBay that sell new ones. They have the best prices I've seen.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0312072306

Looking now, thanks!

mark5388916 wrote:Its for Civil Air Patrol, so I can't say specific frequencies because we have opsec now, but some of the compliant radios are:

Motorola HT-1000
Kenwood TK-2160
etc

Looking for a portable one I can take with me when I got places, so hand-held or mobile, don't need a lot of range.

Mark

I know the frequencies unless they have changed, I used to be in the CAP. I prefer Yaesu (Vertex) radios, they are a little more expensive in some cases but some of them are Mil-Spec. The nice thing is that most of the VHF radios intended for Amateur use can be modified to allow operation on CAP frequencies, that's what I always used my Yaesu VX-5 and FT-2400 and FT-2500's for.

I'd recommend the VX-170 for a handheld, it's submersible and quite reasonably priced. Call Texas Towers and tell them you're in CAP and ask them about modding it for you: http://www.texastowers.com/yaesu_vx170.htm
Here's the mod, looks like it's very easy. I've done dozens of mods like this: http://www.cato2000.com/VX170/

You also might consider the VX-150 since it looks like they might still be available, check out the price on this one: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht/3187.html

Hope that helps!

Do yourself a favor and get a radio that has a display and keypad, you might travel to other areas with different frequencies, you might want to listen to storm spotters, you might even some day want to get your Amateur license (VERY easy), and you might want to listen to NOAA transmissions. If your unit has a repeater, you might need to control it with the DTMF keypad as well. And I would recommend getting one from an established dealer, they won't steer you wrong and can help you out if you have questions or problems.

Queso wrote:I know the frequencies unless they have changed, I used to be in the CAP. I prefer Yaesu (Vertex) radios, they are a little more expensive in some cases but some of them are Mil-Spec. The nice thing is that most of the VHF radios intended for Amateur use can be modified to allow operation on CAP frequencies, that's what I always used my Yaesu VX-5 and FT-2400 and FT-2500's for.

I'd recommend the VX-170 for a handheld, it's submersible and quite reasonably priced. Call Texas Towers and tell them you're in CAP and ask them about modding it for you: http://www.texastowers.com/yaesu_vx170.htm
Here's the mod, looks like it's very easy. I've done dozens of mods like this: http://www.cato2000.com/VX170/

You also might consider the VX-150 since it looks like they might still be available, check out the price on this one: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht/3187.html

Hope that helps!

As for the frequencies, they're the same as when my dad was in CAP 20 years ago, he was like "do they still use XXX.XXX" I've also heard very good things about the Vertex's

EDIT: As for the Mod, would I have any problems with it realistically (and I don't mean if it works if you get my drift) I'd hate to see the FCC knocking on my door wondering whats up.

I'll definitely be looking at those websites, thanks!

Mark

Queso wrote:I prefer Yaesu (Vertex) radios

My squadron's comm guy has one of those and swears by them. He has CAP frequencies programmed in it, along with a host of others.

mark5388916 wrote:EDIT: As for the Mod, would I have any problems with it realistically (and I don't mean if it works if you get my drift)

No, all the radios made for the VHF Ham bands conform to the specs for the other VHF services, such as business band. As long as you don't transmit on the frequencies you're not authorized for, you're golden.

Queso wrote:

mark5388916 wrote:EDIT: As for the Mod, would I have any problems with it realistically (and I don't mean if it works if you get my drift)

No, all the radios made for the VHF Ham bands conform to the specs for the other VHF services, such as business band. As long as you don't transmit on the frequencies you're not authorized for, you're golden.

Okay, its more a rule used to keep people with no business on the other bands of them

Mark

mark5388916 wrote:

Queso wrote:

mark5388916 wrote:EDIT: As for the Mod, would I have any problems with it realistically (and I don't mean if it works if you get my drift)

No, all the radios made for the VHF Ham bands conform to the specs for the other VHF services, such as business band. As long as you don't transmit on the frequencies you're not authorized for, you're golden.

Okay, its more a rule used to keep people with no business on the other bands of them

Mark

Yes sir, that is correct. And part of the FCC type acceptance for radios manufactured for the Amateur bands requires them to be locked, but that's why the manufacturers make them easy to mod so that MARS/CAP services can use them.

Okay I see, and the other frequencies on that radio are HAM freqs and are those the ones you can use with a no code license? I've been looking into those for a while, but with college and everything....

mark5388916 wrote:Okay I see, and the other frequencies on that radio are HAM freqs and are those the ones you can use with a no code license? I've been looking into those for a while, but with college and everything....

Yes, it comes with the ability to transmit on the 144-148 MHz Ham band and receive all the way from 138-174 MHz so you can pick up all kinds of stuff on it like some public services and all the NOAA Weather Radio transmitters. The only difference the mod makes is to open up the transmit through the same range (or close to it) as the receive.

The 144-148 MHz Ham band is also known as the "2 Meter Band", and most parts of the country have community repeaters where you can talk to other hams as well. Sometimes those repeaters are linked and you can talk hundreds of miles from a handheld. And if you get the right kind of handheld antenna, you can even talk through Ham Radio satellites on that radio!

http://www.arrowantennas.com/146-3ii.html

That antenna can also be used for terrestrial communication in the CAP band.

Very Nice! Oh and with a hand held like the one you suggested (probably the one i'll get) will I have any difficulty hitting any repeaters with those? I don't know what kind of range i'd get with that whip antenna.

Mark

Queso wrote:

mark5388916 wrote:

Queso wrote:No, all the radios made for the VHF Ham bands conform to the specs for the other VHF services, such as business band. As long as you don't transmit on the frequencies you're not authorized for, you're golden.

Okay, its more a rule used to keep people with no business on the other bands of them

Mark

Yes sir, that is correct. And part of the FCC type acceptance for radios manufactured for the Amateur bands requires them to be locked, but that's why the manufacturers make them easy to mod so that MARS/CAP services can use them.

Well, this is a red herring anyway, since hams are the only group that is allowed to build and modify their own radios (unlike e.g. CBers). On the other hand we'll have to pass the technical exams so that we know exactly what NOT to do as not to intefere with other services.
E.g. many hams use radios manufactured for commercial services and modify them for use on the ham bands. Some oldtimers still build them from scratch (though with modern technology it is becoming increasingly more difficult due to SMD components and microcontroller software issues, for me the last generation of radios I still understand are of the late 1980s-early 1990s, just before digital signal processing got introduced. Also radios of this generation still have discrete components soldered on the circuit boards, the later technologiesrequire special and expensive (read: only viable for a factory or a commercial shop) equipment to modify or repair them.
I still build accesories, e.g. today I received a big box full of components to finally build my own remote controlled antenna coupler for HF and an interface unit to connect my PC with my HF set to alloow me to use the PC for digital mode, like radio teletype. I'll post some pictures when I'm done.

Jan

mark5388916 wrote:Very Nice! Oh and with a hand held like the one you suggested (probably the one i'll get) will I have any difficulty hitting any repeaters with those? I don't know what kind of range i'd get with that whip antenna.

Mark

VHF is basically line of sight. Obviously, with a simple whip antenna for a hhandheld you won't have much antenna efficiency, but you can e.g. set up a 1/4 lambda whip on the roof of your car, which would give you a much better efficiency, or, on your house, set up a directional Yagi antenna for the 2m band. I have a 50W 2m FM radio (Kenwood 251 IIRC) in my truck. In the hilly area I live in, if I'm not down in a valley, I can reach about 100km with 50 watts and there are plenty of repeaters around here.

Jan

mark5388916 wrote:Very Nice! Oh and with a hand held like the one you suggested (probably the one i'll get) will I have any difficulty hitting any repeaters with those? I don't know what kind of range i'd get with that whip antenna.

Mark

There are a lot of variables, such as the sensitivity of the receiver on the repeater, the height of the receiving antenna, etc. But Jan gave a good estimate:

MD11Engineer wrote:In the hilly area I live in, if I'm not down in a valley, I can reach about 100km with 50 watts and there are plenty of repeaters around here.

And with a handheld transmitting 5 watts in the extremely flat area where I live, with a repeater receiving antenna up at about 250 ft. on a tower I can usually count on a solid 10 miles with a handheld. Other repeaters with good receivers and antennas up at 700 ft., I can sometimes make 20 miles from a handheld in good conditions (air not too dry on a cool day). Foggy days with a temperature inversion are lots of fun, you can literally talk hundreds of miles with a handheld radio!

Sounds good, thanks! I just need to wait for the next CAP Radio Quals course in July, they're kinda slow in CAWG...