Crossband Repeat?

[itsmy49willys]

I want to purchase a mobile ham radio I was looking at the yaesu ft 2900r its a single 2 meter band radio. reviews say its great and built like a tank and can do 75 watts. What I was wondering is if any of you guys with dual band radios actually use the cross band repeat functions? it seems like a nice thing to have in the future if i get an ht but not a necessity. I know there are a few experts out there what do you guys think? what are some other reasons to have a dual band radio?

[SAR Jeeper]

Crossband repeat can be useful. I have the Yaesu 8900, which after the first day of ownership, I dropped it. A diode fell out, and somehow, a wire got cut. So, for some reason, it will now transmit out of ham band frequencies. Since its illegal to do this, I never do.

One day during some local fires, my SAR team was out in the field, and we lost our local repeater due to the fire. I was able to drive my truck to a high point, and use crossband repeat and basically use my radio as a repeater for my SAR team.

Other uses would be if you want to access a distant repeater, and your HT just doesn't have the uuummpph, you can use the mobile to push 50 watts (or whatever its rated at) to hit that distant repeater. You can then sit by the fire, and enjoy the powerboost with your HT.

If you plan to crossband repeat, I do not believe it can be store in memory...so carry the manual...its kinda a bugger to set up.

I would also recommend a 2m/440 radio...especially for mobile. There are a lot of repeaters on 440. If you are traveling to different area's, then its nice to have both.

Dual receive is good. Obviously you can hear both receives at the same time. Kinda nice if you are on a run, you can monitor the 2m traffic on 146.550 (MJR1) and BS with a buddy on 146.880 or something like that. You can rag chew without interfering with the others on the run.

[Materdaddy]

I'm not an expert like you've called out, but I've already used cross band repeat a couple of times. I use it sparingly because the regulations say you should be able to shut it down remotely in case something goes crazy.

My Kenwood can be controlled using DTMF codes, however I don't have my HT setup to dial them and control it. I use it at work; because of the location of our building, and it's construction, I can't pick up Keller from inside using my HT, nor transmit to it. I can, however leave the radio with crossband repeat on, and use it to hit Keller using my HT.

I even spoke with Russ this way when he was out on the 10 on his way to Arizona a couple weeks ago. My geek friend who has been interested in ham for years was so impressed, he might get motivated enough to actually go take the test!