Those things are impressive.

Definitely looking forward to seeing your setup.

Old and well used vx-5r

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always wanted one of those

Regarding the ICOM V80, has anybody  information, or helpful tips to manually ( keyboard ) enter  CALL freq ?
I have the 'VFO/CALL/MR' button, and the CALL freq is default at 146.01
I'd  like to use 146.52 for a CALL freq, but the  included manual is "VAGUE" on the subject .

about 3 years ago I picked up a pair of tyt md380 dmr radios (now they have dualbands out)
between the 2 I have stuff from montreal to mass, nh to maine, vt, ct, ri etc
all ham, fm & dmr
plus all public service stuff too
the codeplug was a bit of a learning curve

Yaesu FT2D

Just picked it up a couple weeks ago right before I went on vacation to Sun City & Scottsdale. I am glad I got a couple days with one of my Soldiers who also has one of these to familiarize me with the massive amount of capabilities in this radio.

Off the top of my head on what I've figured out so far.

Bandscope.

Don't have a repeater book or the internet to know what repeaters have traffic, set it to the scope mode and rotate the dial to look for traffic. Center the VFO and you will hear it. Don't know the offset? Don't worry, the FT2D figures it out for you. Don't know the CTCSS freq? Don't worry, it will scan the spectrum and let you know what it is.

APRS

Being new to APRS, I will just say it is fully functional APRS capable radio, with onboard GPS. You can send messages to other APRS stations as well as to cell numbers (& I presume email addresses) via sending the message to SMSGTE instead of the callsign followed by @4065551212 and your message. I will say that a stylus tip pen works better on the touch screen if you tend to fat finger things.

GPS

Has mark & return functions, but no maps, but beacons will contain a very detailed lat / long.

Wideband receive.

This HT has receive from 500 KHZ to 29.999 Mhz, plus preset WX freqs, 89 preset SW stations, HF, airband, am, fm, 220, etc. I'm still finding features.

True dual band receive.

It will monitor both a/b vfo's and you can program into the memory of one vfo any of the frequencies it is capable of receiving so you could have "A" vfo scanning 2M, 70CM & WX freqs and have "B" as your APRS rx/tx.

Camera microphone

The digital camera mic will take (small) pictures & store a gps encoded pic on the micro sd card. This would allow you to take a pic of damaged infrastructure, with the locations and forward that on to other APRS, SMS text & email.

There are downsides.

Battery charge time.

You cannot charge the battery with the OEM supplied equipment, unless the radio is off and IN THE RADIO. There is an optional cradle charger for charging extra 2200 mah batteries. The good news about it is the batteries last all day. Another bad news deal, it takes about 7-8 hours to charge the battery.

Not an intuitive menu.

Some things make sense, and some do not. Want to dim the screen, it is in one of the (multiple menus) listed as "lamp". Some menu functions are labled on dual labeled buttons and some buttons have more than one function (press vs hold) and are not labeled.

BFM

Big Freaking Manual, with at least three chapters (DM, Wiresx & C4FM) being one page directing you to download that chapter from Yeasu. Glad I got to learn 70-80% of the functions while on vacation where I could just screw off and do radio for 6 hrs a day learning its functions.

I have a Yaesu FT70D "out for delivery" as I type this.

I took a short 15 year break from Ham Radio, so it will be interesting to be back.

OOPS! It shows "Delivered"!


ETA: Nice little radio, I like it.

All new to me, so just working my way through getting it minimally set up.

Now to order a spare battery, a drop-in charger and a "high-gain" antenna. (done)

I just ordered an ALINCO DJ-MD5TGP.  Dual band 2M/70cm with GPS/DMR/APRS.   I'm going to get a SignalStick antenna to go with it.

This is my big step up from a Baofeng.   After I play with it for a while I'll let you guys know how it works out.

Please do.

Did you choose that one specifically because you wanted DMR, or for other reasons?

Just got mine last week. Still trying to figure it all out. Interested to see what the smart people think about it.

I have an FT-2DR and wanted something simpler so I picked up an FT70. I like it so much, I'm probably going to get another here soon, maybe even a 3rd to keep around the house and use one to do satellite work.

Its the First HT with a small screen that the menu's are intuitive.

So, looking at HT’s. I had wanted a kenwood D72, but couldn’t find one, so I ordered a (back ordered) D74. Now they have a D72 and a FT-3dr. The broadband of the D74 is appealing, true dual band of the D72 is nice. The Ft-3 looks really nice and would probably do anything I want Tx wise.

Mine

Get a TYT MD-UV380, you can get two or three of these for the price of those other HTs, Does UHF, VHF analog and DMR.
Get an itinerate license buy a pair and do encryption.
Or just get one and use the savings towards a mobile or HF rig.

Only $84.95

http://www.randl.com/shop/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=74325&osCsid=j2hdc8ko22imafv0upvnub9eh7

I got an FT3D today. From inside my house (with a diamond SRH77CA antenna) I got to the repeater just over 6 miles from my home. (per repeater book app) my voice seemed pretty quiet, so I increased mic gain from 7 to 8. It seems pretty nice, I should know more when I go to work. (I got a Diamond MR77 mag mount). I have it on scan next to me right now and am oddly entertained by watching it scan. It mostly stops for weather, and the occasional noise that breaks my squelch setting. The band scope seems pretty cool, but I hope the displayed levels are relative. I have some pretty high levels everywhere, but they are mostly noise. I am going to order the drop in rapid charger as the supplied charger is incredibly slow. I am considering going to the closest clubs meeting 50 some miles away. They meet in a park and conduct the meeting via simplex.

I bought a Baofeng UV-5R-MK5 as my first radio. I didn't want to spend a ton if I didn't take to it. I learned how to program it manually and set up 6 channels plus weather for listening. I like it. I've been an electrician for 30 yrs and was a radio repair tech (2818) in the Corps. I love the technical stuff.

I'm getting my GMRS to start, just so I can talk. Then after some studying, I'll go for my Technical.

Yaesu Vx-6r should arrive next week.

eta 3/20/21-  Couldn't get a VX-6r, so I bought a FT-70....it arrived defective, so I returned it.
Can't get a TH72 or 74, so I grabbed a simple little Kenwood TH-K20. It is a world of difference from the Baofeng. Programming is easier, sound is better, and there are more accessories. I am still learning, but this has been a good step up for a beginner. Cost was $129.

I just bought a used TH-F6A used online. Really looking forward to this one.

Passed my Technician exam at the end of January and just purchased my first HT. Got an old school (according to the Internet) Yaesu FT-60R. Now I need to spend some quality time with the manual. Man, there’s a lot of button pushing in HAM.

That is what I bought when I got my license a few years ago.  Still is all I have for now.

Buy the RT Systems software and cable.  Makes programming so much easier.

You can also get a cable on ebay, and use chirp which is free, and will work with other radios you might end up buying.
Cable

How do you like that speaker mic?  The tiny speaker in the TH-F6 is its biggest drawback.

Yes, Red_5, ALWAYS backup your code plugs, everytime you make a change.

Yaesu FT3DR user and just ordered an Anytone 878 today.  Have a couple 'Fengs in a box somewhere also.

My personal experiance on the NA771 and clones is that they are much better on UHF/440 than two meters. I have had the same results as you trying different extended antennas. I had an extendable 5/8 antenna on an Icom IC2GAT which outputted a real 8 watts and still was barely copyable to the repeater covering Joccasse Gorges. Now, when roaming the backcountry, I set my dual band mobile to repeat to the repeater input. A good bit better in most locations. The Icom output was verified on a Bird 43.

Noticed the same thing with my Anytone 878 today while trying to listen to a friend doing a pota 50mi away. My 878 hard a hard time hearing him over a crummy baofeng DMR HT that I also had on me.

My first HT was the Baofeng UV5R-MK. It is a bitch to program manually. But it's a tri band, and if you break it, you lost $20.
Once I realized this is something I am interested in for real, I stepped up to the Kenwood TH-K20. It is a fantastic little 2M HT. All I had to do was turn it on and it programmed every repeater within range of my house. The manual programming is super easy as well. Like, 5 steps. So meeting up with a group and getting on their comms is simple enough. Remember, by the time we need these, you probably won't have a laptop to program with. At least make a laminated note card of your basic programming instructions, and keep it in your radio pouch.

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New radio day…
ID52A…

I have one of those, it still works and it's got to be over 20 years old. I think I bought in 1999 or 2000.

I just bought a Yaesu FT-5DR HT. The thing is amazing!

I have it programmed with all of the local VHF/UHF repeaters, plus the weather channels.

It covers AM and FM BCB, Aircraft AM, and the usual frequencies up to 999 MHz.

The battery is supposed to last over 9 hours on 2 meters, which I'll test here soon.

Oh, and it has C4FM and Wires-X digital capabilities as well.

And an 80+ page manual, plus 3 PDF's you have to download.

It's not great, but I can put it right next to my ear, which helps.  I like an earbud / mic better.

Is there a new link for the repeater search?  The link its dead.

I dont put many apps on my phone, but I do have the RepeaterBook app and it seems to have all of my local ones.

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I've been so busy with school the last few years, I haven't really been using my radios or watching the release of new radios.
I have a buddy that wants to get into HAM and he was asking some questions I couldn't answer.
Is there a HT out there now that is water proof/resistant that is under $100?

I posted my /\/\ HTs..

Then I realized my callsign was on a few screens...PERSEC and all that.

SL300 DMR only - hotspot radio
MTX9250 900MHz -ISM/ Commercial scan
XPR6100 DMR/ VHF -ham
XPR6550 DMR/ UHF -ham
XPR6580 DMR/ 900MHz - ham
XTS1500 M1 UHF (GMRS/FRS scan)
XTS2500 M3 P25/ VHF -ham/ P25 repeaters
XTS3000 M3 P25/ 800MHz - non-affiliated scan #2
XTS5000 M3 P25/ UHF - ham/ P25 reflectors
XTS5000 M2 P25/ 800MHz - non-affiliated scan #1
APX7000 P25/ VHF/ 7-800MHz -"not mine"

Fun to program and some nice features but I doubt I'd be in the moto game if I didn't have lots of batteries for them.

Wish I could find someone with a Cincinnati-area codeplug for the 878 I have on the way

https://www.bridgecomsystems.com/pages/download-a-codeplug

This is a list stored at Bridgecomm of user submitted code plugs.

I only see Toledo and Dayton...... but if you are brand new to building code plugs for DMR, looking at one already setup might be of benefit.

Thanks for the heads up, was looking for something to help get me started.

What they don't tell you about getting your ham license? You end up buying radios. For HTs I now have:

Yaesu FT-5DR
AnyTone AT-D878UV II+

...and a TYT MD-UV390+ just because I wanted to play with OpenGD77...

I'm still getting up to speed on HTs, so no reviews yet.

m

...and now an MMDVM hotspot running WPSD.

m

How are we hooking up tactical head sets to yaesu vx-7r? Any ideas?