Advice needed

[KE6QP]

Hello All,

I wasn't sure whether to post this here or under the "Intrduce yourself" thread - hope I made the right call. I am new to HRF but not to ham radio. I was first licensed in 1973 and was quite active on HF, both SSB and CW, throughout the 70s and 80s. However although I've kept my license current, I've been inactive for the past 20 years and the ham radio world has passed me by. I (re)joined the ARRL last year to try to get myself at least a bit more up to speed in amateur equipment and happenings (thru QST magazine) and to support the hobby in general.

In past years my wife and I have done quite a bit of traveling by automobile throughout the western U.S., and since we recently retired we intend to do a lot more in the coming years. I've decided that taking along a handheld VHF on future trips would serve us well for such things as safety and security when out of cell phone range, getting directions, asking local hams for information about the town we're visiting (restaurants, museums, tourist info, etc), and just for making new friends! So I am here to ask for advice.

I've only been doing online research for a few days, but the Yaesu FT-60R seems as though it would be a good rig for a not-too-steep price. However, I'm really open to any and all advice and suggestions from hams who are current on VHF/UHF gear. For example, do you think I really need dual bands or would a single band 2m handheld suffice for the needs I listed above? (not sure about the repeater situation, or if one band is better than the other as far as simplex traffic) Are there any "must have" features that you think I should know about and if I don't get them I'll be kicking myself for? Although the FT-60R seems ideal, I am NOT set on any particular brand or price range, but welcome all suggestions and advice that might help me get the best gear (and accessories!) for my needs.

By the way, I did have a Yaesu FT-227R in my truck back in the 70's, but that was a loooong time ago and I know nothing about the current state of affairs in the VHF/UHF world.

Thank you very much!

Joe
KE6QP

[2E0JTP]

Hi Joe,

Welcome to the forums!

The first question I would raise with you, is do you want a hand held or do you actually want a mobile transceiver?

The second is, what is the repeater infrastructure like where you are (or where you are going)?

For example: In the UK, we have a very mixed bag of coverage on both VHF and UHF. You couldn't just rely on one band to cover all locations. You would need a dual band transceiver in the UK to get 'good' coverage wherever you travelled.

With this in mind, you will be MUCH better served in any mobile environment with a 50W dual band mobile transceiver and a proper dual band mobile antenna on top of the vehicle.

By the way, the Yaesu FT-60R is a cracking hand held, it's very difficult to think of any hand held that beats it on performance/capability unless you spend considerably more money, and even then all you will get is extra features, such as APRS or D-Star perhaps.

You could always just run the hand held on an external antenna, but you would still be limited to only 5W...

Jon

[Medicineball]

Joe,

It'll be interesting to see what replies you get on this. Here's my take: I began ham radio with a handheld, and so was forced to squeeze as much performance as possible out of my Yaesu vx-7r. Here's what I found. 1. Dual band is plenty for the US. 2. The antenna matters much more than the radio. I put a 1/4 wave external antenna on the car and found that my range was quadrupled. I put a 5/8 wave on the car and found that my range doubled again. I just screwed on the external antenna when I wanted to use it. 3. For traveling, a mobile unit was better for chatting, although a handheld could be used in a hotel room and of course works in an emergency even if your car battery doesn't.
If you decide to get a handheld, the ft-60r is perfect, in my opinion.

[AJ4GY]

I purchased the vx-6r. and when my girlfriend/now wife was licensed i got her a ft-60r, and took it back for the vx-6. But anyways, both above posts are very helpful. First off I would go with a dual band. Just simply gives you more options. Some areas love 440, some 2m. Also, for traveling, if you do not get a moble rig, At least get a external mag mount antenna or something for the HT. I consider the antenna that comes on most of the HT's as dummy loads.

[m3wid]

All sounds good the one thing that I would add is that more and more repeaters need the CTCSS system to open them ( Continuous Tone Coded Squelch System) whilst the older ones still use a tone burst to activate them . So its worth bearing in mind if your tempted to buy an older rig to check if it has a CTCSS board fitted or has the capability of being upgraded with one. If your traveling around you would also need to do some research beforehand as the different repeaters need different CTCSS tones programming into the rig first,which isn't a problem as long as you know the feq . Thought I should mention this as you said you've been off air for 20 years .

[Lafayette]

2EOJTP has the right idea.

You do not want a hand held for touring the USA.
As others has tried to explain, not all of the USA operates on VHF.
There is a large portion of the USA that has lot's of UHF repeaters.
El Paso TX is one place that comes to mind, right off the bat.

Down side to the handheld - you always hear someone that says - I dropped out for a minute because my battery went dead.
Or that they couldn't make it into the repeater - because they did not have enough transmit power.

The difference between 5 watts and 100 watts is about 16 DB.
Most mobiles are around 40 or 50 watts on VHF and around 40 watts UHF.

Most radios, handhelds included are a bear to program while traveling.
A good mobile could allow you to take along a lap top computer with a program and a wire and can program the frequencies into banks - which could be saved and used as needed. I think my Yaesu FT 8900R holds about 200 into each bank and allows you to use 4 different bands / FM - but no single side band.

You aren't going to set the world on fire with a 5 watt handheld.
Not a very good investment in my opinion.
Without the outdoors mobile antenna - it won't transmit very good, if at all while inside of the vehicle.
The loss - is higher past the BNC connector - because handhelds were never designed to be used with external antenna's.

I think my radio shack radio has a range of about 30 miles with the external antenna and about 15 without it. You would be missing out on a lot without a good radio and antenna. Then again, most rural repeaters are a virtual wasteland because no one uses them, except for once a week when and if they have their weekly nets on Sunday or Monday nights.

All I will say is be prepared to hear a lot of nothing once you get away from the cities - because the repeaters are dead and you need a better radio - just to find someone to talk to. National Simplex - you can almost forget it.

I have the Yaesu FT 8900R in the house right now, along with a 8 Db gain antenna, up about 16' and can hit almost 50 repeaters, and 49 of them - you won't even get a reply when you say your call sign and listening.