beginning ham radio

[MattLew]

You are on a good path with asking about a used radio... may not have all the latest bells and whistles, but still more likely to give you more bang for your buck. Kenwood is not the only supplier of good radios. (especially if you are buying used) also consider Alinco, Icom, and Yeasu. all four brands produce EXCELLENT radios in every category (base stations, mobile and handhelds... Well o.k. I am not sure if Alinco makes base stations, but I do know they have great mobile radios which can be used in a vehicle or as a base station.)

The key thing I would look for in a used radio is that it is a dual band (2m and .7m is THE standard) and has a dual channel receive (meaning you can listen to 2 channels on 2m, or 2 channels on .7m, or one channel on each. this allows you to run on your favorite repeater, but also monitor simplex. MOST dual band radios support this feature. (yes you can probably get a 2m single band radio for even less used, but if you can find a used dual band mobile in your budget, I think it will give you the most bang for your buck.)

If getting a mono bander, start with 2m that will be the most useful band for you starting off.

If you end up getting a new radio, I just did a quick search of Ham Radio Outlet Alinco and Yeasu each have 2: 2m single band radios in your budget, Icom and Kenwood each have 1: 2m station, in your budget. Dual band will push it further up into the $300+ range for a new radio

Another option to look at is just getting an HT to begin with (again looking at both the new AND used markets to find what you want.) but keep in mind an HT will mean working with 5 watts instead of 50 so your effective range would be very reduced. I spent the first 5 or so years of my amateur radio career with just an HT but I got a decent low budget magmount antenna to help extend it's range. I could often hear people that I could not talk to because of the difference in power from their mobile rig to my hand held, but you could then later upgrade to a mobile, or there are a few companies out there that have amplifiers designed to boost a HT to mobile strength (typically mobile radios have 50w on 2m and 35w on .7m) Using that HT with an external antenna was plenty good enough for hitting the repeaters in the Tennessee Valley area. HOWEVER from a perspective of being a means of communications when Overlanding. The HT on it's own will not have the range to hit distant repeaters reliably enough to be considered emergency communications, but it will be plenty to keep you in touch with other vehicles in your group as long as they are within a hand full of miles of you.

And now for a word on Baofangs: Baofangs are low budget radios... a LOT of Hams out there use the UV5 HT and they also have mobile radios out there (though I have not heard anyone really mention the mobile radios in a couple years). They are something of a polarizing topic in the ham radio community. Some people love them because they are cheap and functional, others HATE them because they are felt to be low quality (including complaints that the signal splatters well outside of the target frequency)... Honestly I wish the UV5 had been available when I was starting out. I think it would make a decent beginners Handheld, but I would not buy one for myself now (I honestly can not speak for the Baofang mobile radios as I saw reviews (both good and bad) when I was not looking for a radio so I did not pay much attention to them). I have seen more than a few articles that UV5s can be programmed to operate on GMRS and FRS frequencies, but the FCC is not pleased with this. It is ILLEGAL to operate them outside the amateur bands even if you have a GMRS license. <Edit>: I stated last year that I would not buy a baofang for myself at this point... As I reread this post, I feel that that was not an entirely true statement. It was poorly written. More accurately it should have read that I would not buy one as my primary HT at this point. I can afford and would prefer more bells and whistles at this time. I would however consider getting one as a back up radio, or as a radio I could loan to newly licensed hams.

 

[flyfisher530]

I have two of the 2730A units and really like them. I’ve also been using Icom mobiles for a very long time. I have one mounted in my overlanding rig, and another in the shack.

I just bought a 2730a and have a basic question I can't get the manual to answer. When in memory mode and looking at a channel name, how do I switch to see the frequency I am on? It seems if I hit the VFO button I see a frequency that is not the channel being displayed in memory view - even though the software verifies I am on the correct repeater and I can talk to the repeater. I may have to try this again but it seems like VFO is showing the last frequency searched in VFO mode and has no correlation to the frequency that was just seen in memory mode.

 

[M Rose]

I just bought a 2730a and have a basic question I can't get the manual to answer. When in memory mode and looking at a channel name, how do I switch to see the frequency I am on? It seems if I hit the VFO button I see a frequency that is not the channel being displayed in memory view - even though the software verifies I am on the correct repeater and I can talk to the repeater. I may have to try this again but it seems like VFO is showing the last frequency searched in VFO mode and has no correlation to the frequency that was just seen in memory mode.

Correct, VFO shows the last VFO frequency... I don’t have your radio, so I don’t know how to show the frequency of the memory instead of the name you entered... but there should be a way to list your memory Chanel’s which then would show you the frequency as well as tone offsets for the repeaters.

 

[Sparksalot]

I just bought a 2730a and have a basic question I can't get the manual to answer. When in memory mode and looking at a channel name, how do I switch to see the frequency I am on? It seems if I hit the VFO button I see a frequency that is not the channel being displayed in memory view - even though the software verifies I am on the correct repeater and I can talk to the repeater. I may have to try this again but it seems like VFO is showing the last frequency searched in VFO mode and has no correlation to the frequency that was just seen in memory mode.

Yes VFO will not necessarily show the last memory channel viewed. You’re looking for the DISP NAME parameter. You can toggle it off in the menus to see the frequency. It’s about 3-4 levels deep.

 

[Shokgoblr]

I am torn on what to get. My vehicle is street parked , so any type of electronics need to be well hidden. I am thinking of running the 50w Btech for cost and size. Its tiny enough I can squeeze it in on a seat bolt mount and have it be somewhat modular if i wanted.
At this point, I have no plans to do much chatting on the radio as a regular thing. I know there are a lot of people who talk down on the Btech stuff. I am not concerned with them. I invested in the license for emergent needs while in the mountains, as I am frequenty alone where there is no cell service

 

[Boppa's Travels]

HRO is awesome... I bought my Icom IC-7100 from them. Super fast shipping (I have a store 250 miles away and normally 2 days, but it was here the same day I ordered it), great customer service, and the monthly deals are awesome. Another good recourse is GigaParts.

Agree brought my Icon 4100 from them. They even called me to verify something about my order

 

[MattLew]

I am torn on what to get. My vehicle is street parked , so any type of electronics need to be well hidden. I am thinking of running the 50w Btech for cost and size. Its tiny enough I can squeeze it in on a seat bolt mount and have it be somewhat modular if i wanted.
At this point, I have no plans to do much chatting on the radio as a regular thing. I know there are a lot of people who talk down on the Btech stuff. I am not concerned with them. I invested in the license for emergent needs while in the mountains, as I am frequenty alone where there is no cell service

many radios these days have remote mountable control heads keeping the main radio mounted elsewhere in the vehicle... another option if you REALLY need to make the radio vanish is to mount the head unit inside your console, OR to get a HT amplifier such as the 50w/35w amp mirage used to offer (I do not know off hand if it is still available or not). you can use a mag mount antenna which will allow you to remove your antenna for less visual profile, but this will greatly increase the likelyhood of crimping your coax unless you come up with a creative mounting option. you can also do some form of stealth antenna depending on your vehicle. (I used to have an oldsmobile cutlass surpeme that I had outfitted with a dual band magmount on the trunk giving the appearance of a CB antenna, and a CB/AM/FM splitter to allow a CB antenna connection to the radio antenna on the fender. this allows for a reduction in antenna count. likewise if you do not care about drilling holes in the sheet metal you can fender mount an antenna (if you have one of those shark fin antennas for your radio) and most folks won't notice because it is where a radio antenna SHOULD be.

for CB and GMRS, you can get those ultra compact radios where it is a small main unit, and all the controls are in the mic. this will allow you to mount the radio bodies under your seat with external speakers and the mics can sit down near the transmission tunnel. this creates a low visual profile to someone glancing in your window especially if you slide the mics close to the seat when you are parked. (I personally am getting this style of radio though in my case I am doing so to save space as my tacoma does not have a LOT of room for communications equipment in the cockpit.

when mounting a remote head for your ham radio, there are a couple locations to consider. first (lowest profile) being mounting under the dash on the drivers side near the door. this makes it very hard for someone looking in your window to see the radio. the other is in the cubby of the console. both make it hard if not impossible to see from outside the vehicle, though you will still have antennas to deal with. though if you have a cargo rack of some form, you might be able to use QD antenna mounts, or even just make a habit of unscrewing the antenna and locking them in the vehicle when parked, then reattaching before setting out. this combination will make it very difficult to even know you have a radio of any form.