Posted: 12/21/2009 10:29:21 AM EDT
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Hey guys,
I'm looking for the *best* bang for my buck HT radio. Know of anything? I've been looking at the Yaesu FT 60, its got good reviews but I am wondering if 70 cm is important to have. If y'all got any input on a HT please chime in. Oh and Merry Christmas! 
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Quoted:
Hey guys, I'm looking for the *best* bang for my buck HT radio. Know of anything? I've been looking at the Yaesu FT 60, its got good reviews but I am wondering if 70 cm is important to have. If y'all got any input on a HT please chime in. Oh and Merry Christmas! 70 comes in handy around here though not frequently. especially useful when i crossband repeat the mobile to get my ht to the repeater. i have a vx7r and the wife a vx3r. the vx6r really would have been a better choice for me as the extra band on the 7 is pretty much useless here. |
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I've only been HAMming for a little over a month now, but I've got the Yaesu FT-250R and really like it. The display is a little small, but you can upgrade to the FT-270R for a larger display. It does what I suspect is the usual functions such as selectable scan ranges, Alpha tag memories, direct keypad frequency entry, ARTS, etc. |
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I have used the FT-60 for a little over a year.....it is simple and rugged. I dropped it...from 8 feet height, it still works fine.
I did add a Diamond extended antenna...it really helps both transmit & receive. I also picked up a knockoff speaker mic...it has worked well also. I also have the AA battery pack for it...as a backup. I did make up a 3x5 card, with cheat notes...on how to program, delete, skip channels, etc. For me....it has been well work the $$. It is heavy, not fancy...but it gets the job done. Several of the university students have purchased these also...they are into "storm chasing" and metorology. They work well for them.....nice price and rugged. Take Care....TexasAg |
| The 60 is a great radio. As for 70cm, better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. If you get a mobile that can crossband you'll love the 60 even more. In addition to being fairly rugged it's one of the few HTs that is capable of transmitting at full power with the AA battery pack. Well worth the money. |
| If 70CM is not necessary, the Vertex Standard/Yaesu VX-150 is a very good buy at ~$100. Gigaparts and HRO sell them with the "upgrade" FNB-83 NiMH battery pack. It is a solid commercial radio chassis and the interface is very simple. Not being submersible, it has very good audio. |
| I have a FDC 460A, best 55.00 I ever spent. Not type accepted but legal once you get them here. I bought one for my son and I. I wanted cheap in case he dropped it or worse. He hasnt but I have 3 times. Extra batteries are 11-12.00. Comes with a smart chargerand if you look on the website the progamming software is free. Mine came with the cord but not all deals do. |
| I say go for the ft60 , later you can pick up a 2m only rig . I have a vx 6 for my primary ht and I use the 440 a good bit . This week for instance we have a 2m and 440 repeater on the same tower that are linked . The 2m ant had a failure and I lost it with my HT , fliped over to the 440 , linked in another 2m repeater and all was good. |
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I've had a chance to program some Yaesu VX-170's, and they seem like they are very well made, rugged, and the little bit I've used them, work well.
Around here there are simply no operational 70 cm repeaters. But that's just here. Traveling to other areas I might find 70 cm useful. |
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Quoted:
I've had a chance to program some Yaesu VX-170's, and they seem like they are very well made, rugged, and the little bit I've used them, work well. Around here there are simply no operational 70 cm repeaters. But that's just here. Traveling to other areas I might find 70 cm useful. same here for repeaters, cross banding with my mobile comes in VERY handy. |
Here is a size comparison. (L to R) FT-60, VX-150, VX-6. The VX-6 is not using the stock antenna.
FT-60- 2M/70CM. Not submersible, uses full size battery pack and can TX at full power from OEM AA battery tray. This is my dad's radio, so I am not sure about features. I do find that you have to lock out the key pad all the time because the buttons are very easy to press. VX-150- 2M only Not submersible, based on a commercial radio, uses full size battery pack (same as FT-60) and can TX at full power from AA battery tray. It is a very basic, cheap, durable 2M HT with few advanced features but everything you need for everyday work. I like the top display, others dont. Receive is 137-174. VX-6- 2M/220/70cm. Small, submersible, and packed with features- many that I don't use. Considerably higher learning curve programming from the key pad. Battery life I find is much shorter than the other two radios and it cannot TX at full power from OEM AA tray. Being submersible, the audio is not as loud as the other two radios. It has wideband receive from .5 to 999 mhz. It will need a different antenna to get much on AM, but can function as a scanner otherwise. I think the FT-60 gives you the most 'bang for your buck.' The VX-6 is nice when traveling but I much prefer the larger radios for the feel, much longer battery life, real belt clips. The VX-150 seems to go the longest out of the three on a full charge. It also comes with a desktop rapid charger. 2M v 70CM seems to be a regional thing. Most areas I have been are far more active on 2M. I use the 150 far more than the VX-6. It is 'better' for 2M only operation and costs less than half as much. ETA: Grammar. |
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I completely agree with the beer slayer. Eventually you will want to cross band repeat and a 2 meter ht will not work. The nice thing about cross band repeating, at least for me is as follows. I spend a fair amount of time in northern wi in our national forests. In these parts of wi there is no cell phone service but with a dual band ht and my yaesu 8800r I can hit the repeater on top of rib mountain using the cross band repeat feature. You may or may not need something like this, now or in the future but its something to think about. Its better to buy a radio you can grow into than vice versa. Here are my recommendations, and yes I'm a yaesu fan. 2 meter rigs as follows http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht/5250.html not waterproof but is fairly compact and is priced right http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht/5270.html waterproof but a bit larger than the above radio dual band radios http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht/0060.html a very nice sub compact dual band but is not waterproof. I feel this is the best bang for the buck ht on the market. this radio also has a wide band receiver. 108-520 and 700-999.990 MHz The above two radios do not have this feature. http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht/0666.html waterproof with 220 mhz band @ 1.5 watts. This radio costs a bit more than the above dual band but is worth it. It also sports a wide band receiver. It is also more compact in design than the above dual band. |