Posted: 8/20/2009 12:04:25 PM EDT
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I'm fairly certain that I'm going to finally make the plunge and pick up a HT in the next week or so to fill a gaping hole in my preps. I'm pretty sure that it's going to be the Yaesu 270R. It seems to have solid performance from the reviews that I've read at eHam and it ain't going to set me back a pile, either. That's the good part. But....Is there any good reason to bump up to a 2m/70cm that doesn't have cross band repeat? I can't think of one but I don't want to find a reason after I make a purchase. It isn't that much more to get a VX-3R, but the question that I can't answer is if it would be useful to have the other band. I just don't recall there being that much traffic on 70cm repeaters in my area and that's primarily why I've overlooked that route, for now at least. Shopping for radios makes my head hurt more than selecting gun lube/cleaning products. Thanks for any advice. |
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I got a VX6R for the 440 capability. I've used it with a portable Yagi antenna and made a contact via AO-51 satellite with a guy in Kentucky. Talk about a thrill. Everytime the satellite was overhead Lockheed was testing a new C130 over my neighborhood, the noise made it impossible to hear what the other side was saying. So I got some studio-quality, noise-cancelling headphones.
The wide band HTs have AM, FM, shortwave, weather, CB, FRS and unencrypted FM across the bands. A 2M handheld should fulfull most of your needs if you don't also want to carry around an AM/FM/Weather radio. I use mine with a 1/4 antenna on the top of my car and it hit most repeaters in N GA and downtown with 5W. You will need to upgrade the antenna if you want to transmit without an external antenna, though. The stock antennas are useless. I picked up a $30 Diamond aftermarket SMA base antenna that made a lot of difference. |
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Congrats on your decision to utilize something better than the china mart special bubble pack FRS toy radios or CB.
The Vx-270 is a solid radio built to milspec standards. You wont regret it's performance and durability. Ive got two its vx170 predecessors. One rides in my daily go bag. The OEM rubber duck does quite well for this radio. The Comet or Diamond 2m/70cm SMA will get you the extra gain, especially if you use a counterpoise/"rat tail" The only Con to this radio is that it isnt a dual bander. I think Yaesu could put the dualband 2m/440 FT-60R into the milspec VX-270 chasis making it the ideal radio. Im debating between either a used vx170 or new vx277 or vx6r for my next radio in order to add dual band capability to my commo inventory Also in the daily carry bag are what I think are must have accy's. Ive got a home made 2m J pole that's made of TV twin lead. 6ft of coax, a AA battery pack, a 12v car charger, shoulder mic with earbud, and a small SMA jumper and PL259 adaptors. Using the TV twin lead J-pole pictured on the right, Ive hit a buddy 5x5 atop Kennesaw Mt, simplex, 40+ miles. It only takes a pair of tweezers or small fine point needle nose to 'open up' the vx-270 to transmit on the entire band. Not sure if you have your Ham license or not, but I would encourage you to do it. I know some who say it wont matter when the lights go out and yes, theyre right the license wont matter. But get the license, learn about commo in general, acquire some practical skill and if the lights do go out forever, those skills will be already be there. Learn what it can do now. A SHTF situation is not the time to learn how to use commo. All the pictured accessories(not the radio) fit inside an Aircrewman survival vest Radio pouch. 
BTW, there is a Ham radio forum in the Outdoors section here at arfcom. Lots of smart folks there. Even though Ham radio is known as the hobby of "stinky old fat white guys", its pretty much a crowd that's into prepping. But hey, since this is the Ga. HTF, what would DKing say? |
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Going to sit for the Tech ticket in about ten days time at GTech. 11b4v, for what reason are you interested in adding 440? Is it beneficial to have that capability? Or is it just a reason to get a new toy? I'm going to get a Smiley 5/8 wave whip with the HT to replace the stock rubber ducky. Also the AA battery pack and a 12v lighter charger if I don't have one that will work for the unit. |
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Copy that on the Ham Forum. I wanted to post here hoping to learn if it would be useful to have 70cm in the Atlanta metro area. Good point about the wide band reception. I do have a PRO-97 that I keep in the car but having that capability in one unit would be less batteries being burned. |
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forgive my ignorance, but what exactly the point of being a HAM radio operator? like having one in your home/truck?
im not poking fun, i just sometimes see HAM license plates on trucks, and like 10 different antenneas on the back.... what exactly the "point' of it????? just to communicate with people? |
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lets talk via pm reference opening up the radio so as to negate any comments from the ham police.
as to 440, I can hit a certain atlanta area repeater from WAY far away using a mobile 2m radio. I am also looking to upgrade my mobile rig to a cross band repeat capable FT8800R. With a Vx177 or a vx6r, I can walk around the mountains and hit my truck mounted mobile with 440 and back to friendlies in Atlanta on 2m in crossband repeat mode. Ive got a favorite hilltop in the eastern Bham area that Ive used to hit back to said repeater (with 50watt mobile) and made contacts with folks in the N. Georgia / N. SC stateline area. It's 'hilltopping', but still pretty amazing for 2m though. |
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Quoted: forgive my ignorance, but what exactly the point of being a HAM radio operator? like having one in your home/truck? im not poking fun, i just sometimes see HAM license plates on trucks, and like 10 different antenneas on the back.... what exactly the "point' of it????? just to communicate with people? It's what the science club people do when they grow up... |
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s30series
missed your post while replying to moga theres many "points" for just as many reasons. Im not sure I have enough time to get into it, but my reasons are the same as stated by Moga, its another tool in my tool box for bad times. My recent, albeit limited time in the Army's Military Intelligence world has reinforced my view a 100 fold that we live in a very fragile place. Ive also always been a Ranger Infantry guy with a commo fetish and Ham allows me an outlet to improve my commo skills as well. You may be better served with your questions by doing some googling or hit wikipedia on the subject. There is very little difference, other than the lack of encryption, in ham radio equipment and that used by both the military and LE. Ham radio does many things. It's hobbyist whose innovation benefit the electronics and communications industry. Your cell phone has benefited from early ham radio innovations. Its a pool of trained radio operators in times of local or national emergencies. Hams were a big part of the relief effort in Katrina, and recently in the wildfires out west where a large network of cell towers went down; they litterally burned up. I look at Ham radio as being similiar to the Civilian Marksmanship Program; maintaining a pool of skill marksman for national defense. Most county EMA's depend on volunteer Hams who are apart of ARES or RACES organizations as back up to their commo infastructure. It's also like any other hobby; there's the competion or skill challenge. building a Constant Wave (morse code) transmitter by hand that fits in an Altoids can and use it to communicate to either Europe or S. America is pretty amazing. When you see "all those antennas", they're for frequency bands. If you see a 'screw driver' antenna hanging off a bumper, it's for HF, (High Frequency) operations-coast to coast or country to country distances. They look like a vertical 4'' dia pvc pipe with a thin antenna atop. most others are similiar to CB antennas, but vary in length. For most, it's the "original chat room" to pass the time to and from work. A place to meet folks and share knowledge not just about radio, but other hobby's as well. Two things I wish I'd gotten into earlier in life is ham radio and class three firearms arfcom ham forum is just a click away in the Outdoors section. |
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"It's what the science club people do when they grow up..."
I was 16 and in the science club when I got my General class license. That was back before multiple answer tests, full text copy was required for the CW part, and lawyers were held in high esteem. A different time. |
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Quoted: forgive my ignorance, but what exactly the point of being a HAM radio operator? like having one in your home/truck? im not poking fun, i just sometimes see HAM license plates on trucks, and like 10 different antenneas on the back.... what exactly the "point' of it????? just to communicate with people? For me, it is a means to communicate in an emergency when mobile telephony may not be available, either due to an absence of cellular towers at a location or from damage to the infrastructure. It is also a valuable resource to acquire information from folks in your locale first hand, without the spin that comes with so-called news from the major networks. That's if some egghead in City Hall or GEMA hasn't decided that the populace doesn't need to know the depths of the problem altogether. I have absolutely zero interest in using HAM as a medium through which to make acquaintances, however. I'm grateful that I asked questions before making the plunge. Apparently UHF does much better in urban areas that may have buildings blocking the propagation path and against other city based RF interferences. That, combined with some of the other anecdotes from our HTF guys discussing the success they have at hitting repeaters on 440, has led me to go for a dual bander. The FT-60 it is then. Thanks for steering me in the right direction guys. |
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Quoted: The wide band HTs have AM, FM, shortwave, weather, CB, FRS and unencrypted FM across the bands. A 2M handheld should fulfull most of your needs if you don't also want to carry around an AM/FM/Weather radio. I use mine with a 1/4 antenna on the top of my car and it hit most repeaters in N GA and downtown with 5W. Too bad that the FT-60R monitors only 100-999 MHz. It looks like I'll need to keep the PRO-97 + SW receiver in the car after all. |