Posted: 11/6/2010 4:25:13 PM EDT
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Did some simplex testing today on a pair of Yeasu FT-60R's
Conditions: Clear blue sky 16 degrees Celsius 1.0 Kilometer flat line of sight no obstructions Only needed to use 0.5 watts of power Frequencies and operation: 2m no squelch 2m CTCSS 2m DCS 70cm no squelch 70cm CTCSS 70cm DCS Results: All 2m operations worked equally well All 70cm operations worked equally well Conclusions: 2m seemed to work a little bit better than 70cm, but not much. These little radios kick arse! Very pleased with them I am! Question: Anyone know if no squelch, CTCSS, or DCS is better to use for simplex handitalki's? I could not tell today? I did notice that our AR15 SHTF 2m/70cm frequencies use CTCSS at 100Hz? Why is this? |
Should've known when you said 1km flat line of sight 
A really neat antenna for HT operations is the N9TAX Slim Jim. It's light, fits in a bag, and it really works well. |
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Quoted:
CTCSS and DCS are squelch codes they have no effect on range. If you want to not be bothered with any other traffic on frequency, local noise etc, then use a squelch code. If you want to hear other traffic/users on the frequency, then do not use a squelch code. Understood. Two questions: 1) Do you have a preference between using CTCSS (Analog) versus DCS (Digital)? 2) Could I not just push the MONI button on the side of the FT-60R to open up the squelch to listen for traffic before Tx? I noticed that DCS has a 223 squelch code for the possible win... 
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Quoted:
Should've known when you said 1km flat line of sight
A really neat antenna for HT operations is the N9TAX Slim Jim. It's light, fits in a bag, and it really works well. Thank you for the link, I have been thinking about making or getting one of these for the past couple of weeks. |
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as distance and range increase, and signals become marginal, I would expect CTCSS/DCS to adversely effect reception.
if an FM signal is down in the noise level, your ears may be able to pick up 80% of the speech. sometimes 80% is enough to be understood.....atleast you hear something. If the CTCSS encode/decode receive doesn't get a decent sub-tone, I expect it would block it from your receive |
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Quoted:
... Conclusions: 2m seemed to work a little bit better than 70cm, but not much. These little radios kick arse! Very pleased with them I am! ... When I first became a ham in 2006, I bought a FT60R. Was a nice radio and I liked it. Never really did use it a whole bunch as I wasn't very active. However, I took it with me a few times while I traveled for work...and left it in a hotel somewhere...I think. If I left it in a hotel in PA or SC I don't know. I just try to forget it...but there seems to have been a lot of threads mentioning this radio lately. 
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Quoted:
Should've known when you said 1km flat line of sight
A really neat antenna for HT operations is the N9TAX Slim Jim. It's light, fits in a bag, and it really works well. This. I keep it with me in my get home bag just in case. It's so sensitive that it overloads my VX-8GR such that I have to run it with the attenuator on. |
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Without starting a new thread.
I want the ability for moar Tx range with my field bag FT-60R's. My thoughts are on using a Mirage BD35 fighted with a cigarette lighter plug or alligator battery clamps for power and matching it up with that dual band 2m/70cm slim jim antenna mentioned in this thread earlier. Only concern is that I have read some mixed reviews on the Mirage BD35 amp. Any other amps come to mind or a different way to do this if I am thinking incorrectly? Appreciate your thoughts, still pretty new at this stuff, but getting hooked. |
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I want the ability for moar Tx range with my field bag FT-60R's.
My thoughts are on using a Mirage BD35 fighted with a cigarette lighter plug or alligator battery clamps for power and matching it up with that dual band 2m/70cm slim jim antenna mentioned in this thread earlier. Only concern is that I have read some mixed reviews on the Mirage BD35 amp. Any other amps come to mind or a different way to do this if I am thinking incorrectly? Both radios would have to have them to have a workable comm path. If one radio is the designated comm point back to a repeater or base station, then the other would not need one. If you need that much power, it is possible that one of the smaller single band mobiles paired with a battery might work better and be less expensive than an amp plus handheld. I have considered getting one of the Wouxan KG dual band HT's to use as a crossband repeater. Setting it up with a camoflaged pole/antenna and a sealed lead acid battery in a high location over our hunt AO might do the trick. RS |