Recommend me a radio - probably handheld

Ok, I have been studying and I am ready to take the Tech Exam. There is one near me on 2/18 so that is the plan.

Anyway, what radio would you recommend? I am thinking of a hand held so that I can use it in my TJ or in my RV or throw it in my back pack on my dirt-bike.

Thanks

[parcours]

Ham

If you want a great handheld portable, get the Kenwood TH-F6A. It's dual band 220/440, works great!

[Materdaddy]

I've been told the Yaesu FT-60R is a good radio for the money. I have a couple of the cheap Chinese radios (Baofeng) which are "you get what you pay for" type radios. Although, decent, they're lacking a few useful features.

I also have two Yaesu VX-7Rs which I love. They're intuitive, easy to use, clear audio, feature rich, and tough!

[rkwfxd]

Thanks guys, I am starting a list and doing some shopping.

[Matt2001TJ]

If you want a great handheld portable, get the Kenwood TH-F6A. It's dual band 220/440, works great!

I would recommend a 2 meter 440 radio instead of the 220. The 2 meter band is the most popular band so you will be spending a lot of time on it. Materdaddy is right about the FT-60R it is a good solid radio and for 155 bucks you can not go wrong. The VX6R is a tri-bander and with a small mod can be made quad band so it is a step up from there if you can spend the money do it. I have had both rigs and both work well.

[rkwfxd]

Passed the Tech today. Let the shopping begin.

[Materdaddy]

Congrats! Let us know what you get and what you think of it after you've had a chance to play with it.

[Matt2001TJ]

Passed the Tech today. Let the shopping begin.

Good job..... My girlfriend passed her test last Saturday too.

[spearheadbill]

I just picked up the Yaesu FT-60 myself and it's very simple to program with the ADMS-1J software.... or you can go here http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Download and download this freeware programing software... congrats

[rkwfxd]

Well I went to "just look" today and came home with the FT-60. Still don't have a call sign so I have been reading the owner's manual cover to cover. I am letting the battery fully charge before I start playing with it too much. Tonight and the rest of this week after work I will work on programing my local repeaters into it. I also picked up the ADMS software but I need to use my daughter's laptop to use it as I run a MAC.

Got a couple of recommendations here to get the FT-60 and when I went on line I could not find a negative review of it. I am sure I will be happy with it as my first radio.

[KX6D]

If you want a great handheld portable, get the Kenwood TH-F6A. It's dual band 220/440, works great!

Its actually a TRI-band with 2M/220/440 (I have two of these). I'd get the Yaesu/Vertex FT-60R!

[rkwfxd]

Well it has been a couple of months now and I pretty much hate the FT-60. As far as I am concerned it is not really good for anything unless I was a kid and wanted to play walkie-talkie with another kid. More of a glorified scanner than anything else.

First - it is very difficult to program. I purchased the programming software and cable and that made a huge difference. However, once I had it programmed, just switching from one mode to another has been a real PITA. I spent a LOT of time reading and re-reading the manual and going through the steps one at a time. I did it enough that now I sort of have it down but it is still too complicated IMO. When buttons have multiple functions based on the length of the push it makes for a confusing system. I joined a group to discuss this and discovered I am not the only one who has had a difficult time programing this radio.

Second - OK I bought the software and cable for this handheld and now I want to get a mobile unit. So sad, too bad, that mobile unit takes a completely different program to program your radio and as far as I know, a completely different cable.

Third - RX is OK but TX absolutely sucks. I am about $100 into different antennas and so far the best one by far is the Smiley but it is still not good enough to get out and talk to anyone.

Prior to purchasing this radio KX6D demonstrated how his handheld to hit Catalina island from inside my garage no problem. (about 50 miles away) Mine will do the same but so what? That is only one repeater. I can make Keller peak "Kurchunk" with the Smiley but no one can hear me TX. I have tried to participate in numerous local nets and now with the Smiley they can just barely hear me. If someone else TX when I do I am completely covered and the other HAMS don't even hear a "double."

So..... anyone want to purchase an FT-60?

Clearly I need a mobile unit with much more power to do anything useful.

Finally, the other thing I learned is that here is So Cal 440 is pretty much a waste of time as the vast majority of those repeaters are private. The nets that do operate on 440 also operate on 2M so now I am looking to buy a nice basic 2M mobile. Probably a Kenwood.

73s

[Materdaddy]

About programming. Try Chirp. It may be another bit of learning curve to get it working, but it will work on a lot of different radios. Before you start, you should read the beginners guide: http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/...eginners_Guide

I too was frustrated about the general state of software for programming radios until I found chirp months ago. Since I first started using it, the list of supported radios has tripled. It is open source and very actively worked on. Dan, the head developer is very helpful and I tell a lot of new hams about this software. Unfortunately the cable situation is one that can't be easily fixed. I tend to look for a cable on eBay that comes directly from China so it's only a couple bucks. That beats buying the "manufacturer" cable which will still come from china, but will be anywhere from $25 to $50.

Antennas make a huge difference in both transmit and receive. I was previously using the rubber duck on my Yaesu VX-7R with minimal success from my home. There were only a couple (very close) repeaters I could hit, and I wasn't happy. I spent some coin and put a diamond X50 on my house and am amazed with what it can do. I can put my HT on low power (1 watt) and talk clearly to keller peak which is somewhere around 100 miles from my house. I have since purchased a couple whip antennae that I've tried, and they still all suck. Pretty much any radio mounted antenna isn't going to make much of an improvement over the rubber duck. You're going to want something with elevation, a nice ground plane, length appropriate to the bands you're using.

What was this radio KX6D was using that out performed yours so well? If it was a similar power output, did you try swapping antennas? If yours is much worse with similar antennas, maybe your radio was set to low power (1 watt instead of 5?) or maybe something is wrong with your radio? I have used a couple Yaesu radios and heard many good things, so I'm surprised you're having such a bad experience with it. Maybe your standards are higher than mine, and the people I've talked to. I also have a couple Baofeng UV-3D radios which TX/RX well, but their features, filtering, etc. are terrible in comparison to the Yaesu radios. They're perfect for throwing in the glove box of all vehicles though because of their price point.

I have a kenwood mobile that is 2m/440 (supported by chirp) that I really like. There are a couple things that aren't very intuitive (like setting up cross-band repeat), especially compared to the comparable Yaesu unit, but overall it's a great rig.

Good luck with your decision! Do a lot of reading on eham.net for reviews, and you should also post your review there for other people to benefit from your opinion.