Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Icom made thousands of 706 series radios you can pick up a 706 MKII G at a ham fest for $500-$600 in nice shape and the older ones for a good bit less. They have two antenna ports one for HF-6 and the other for 2 meters and 70 CM (no UHF on the older ones) just use the VHF-UHF side until you upgrade your ticket. Check Cregslist etc. you should be able to find a nice one maybe even try HRO for a trade in. I have a 706 MKII G and a IC7000 they are very tough radios the 706 actually was a ham fest buy.

 

The radio you get really depends on what you are using for. If you are going to get into APRS, than the 710G is worth every penny. If not, than there are other radios that do everything but APRS (or APRS with a few add-ons) for a lot less.

I have really started getting into APRS, I wish I had saved a little longer and gotten the 710 (G was not available then). Since I have gotten a Kenwood 72d (More $ than my Yeasu mobile rig) and a GPS unit... they handle my APRS functions. There are cheaper ways to do APRS, but all of then involve adding more and more components to your rig. KISS and get the 710G if you think you will like APRS.

 

I had a 710 before I bought my Icom 5100. Great radio, and if you want to run APRS, it's darn near perfect. Couple it with a Nuvi 350 or a AVMap (Or even a laptop) it IS perfect.

I now use the 5100 and just let DPRS show me when I key up on DStar. If you have D-Star in your area, go with the 5100. It's quite possibly the perfect mobile radio. It does everything I have ever wanted in a mobile 2/70 radio and then some.

If you're really into APRS, go with the 710, it's pricy, but worth it.

Budget, the Yaesu 8800 is $359. My first radio and longest VHF FM contact was a Yaesu.

Here's the advice I give most people. Pick 2 or 3 radios that have the features you want, buy the one you think is the prettiest.

If you have it in your budget, and you have D-Star in your area, highly consider the 5100. It's quite possibly the perfect mobile radio.

 

http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-011362

 

AA1PT checking in.

Not very active. Got into it because of the technology. Got up to 20 wpm for my Extra, then promptly forgot it.

 

Thank you guys got the info. Yeah I have been cruising HRO trade in section also. I have been eye balling the Icom line up also. As I said I have to get my butt down to the HRO in Newark Delaware a few times and check out the line ups that they carry. A few Icom I do like as far as the d-star I have to look into my are and see if it's available. The main thing I really want is the removable control head so I can mount the main body out of the way. It's not like we have a lot of room in our trucks.

 

Has anyone seen an entertainment system that is NMEA 0183 compatible? I am looking for something like the Kenwood DNN990HD, that I can plug into my Kenwood D710A for APRS. I am trying to limit the number of electronics add ons I have going on, so if something like this was possible, I'd pay the extra money when I upgrade my stereo, rather than going with something like the GPS 710 (http://www.greenlightlabs.com/gps-710/).

 

No. Good luck too. I glanced at the specs for the Kenwood DNN990HD, and while that device is GPS capable (for navigation), I don't see in the specs where it supports data out.

 

Instead of the Greenlight board, get a Garmin 18 serial port model.

http://www.thegpsstore.com/Garmin-GPS-18x-serial-receiver-for-PC-P1842.aspx

OR

You can get a Trimble Placer off Ebay for $20 and it has two serial outs. You'll need to do some software changes to it, but no biggie. I used one with both my Icom 880 for DPRS and had my tracker on the other port for APRS.

If you're serious about wanting the headunit to handle GPS duties, you're going to have to go with a marine system. You'll still need a GPS module and antenna.

...It would be cool to have a Garmin GPSMap or a Lowrance HDS buried in the Dual Din space with a with a remote head unit.... Now you're giving me ideas Oooo A Furuno NavNet!

http://www.furuno.com/en/business_p...ory=NavNetTZtouchSeries&business=recreational

Then feed it audio with one of these:

http://www.fusionelectronics.com/marine/products/fusion-link-enabled/ms-av700i

 

It doesn't support data out. Just giving an example of the type of unit I was looking for. It seems none of them support data out. I searched a bunch and it's just not something most people have need of I guess. Maybe I will just go with the GPS antenna, as mentioned.

 

I agree, the little Icom radios are great little radios.

I run the IC-706MKIIG in the mobile and the IC-7000 on the base. I have an old original IC-706 for a spare. Love these little radios, they do not take up much space and they do just about everything you want.

 

I got my tech license two weeks ago! Using a handheld for now. My dad got his too and has the same handheld and a 5100 icon. I'm thinking of the icon 2820h

 

Icom has the dstar market cornered. No one else supports it.

That said we have heard some eh things about the dstar repeaters.

 

if some one would make a decision and standardize the Digital Voice thing id get radios that support it, till then NOPE not this GUY......

On another note, just sent off my extra FTM-350r to get fixed. Wish there more APRS ready radios to choose from, guess a Kenwood TM-d710ga is in my future, when these Yeasu units die off again....

 

i went with the FTM-400DR, quite happy with its APRS, shitty part about APRS though is the radio silence when its transmits

 

Icom and Alinco both use the same system it is OFDM, Yaesu uses C4FM. In reality the Icom is a vocoder system and the Yeasu is digital voice/image. It is all very confusing just about all repeaters will pass both digital and analog voice Dstar or Wires X. Raspberry Pie makes some nice little boards that except vocoder boards allowing analog radios to use the Dstar system. APRS stuff is packet commonly use digital emissions similar to RTTY.

 

Please do not spread false information about D-Star. Most people who say "things" know nothing about it. (Especially guys who in one post say they are going for d-star enabled radios then 3 posts later "heard eh things") There is already too much of this circulating on the pancreas nets. 99.9% of it is from people who do not understand, or never have used D-Star.

D-Star is not proprietary. Anyone can buy the $20 chip and make a D-Star radio. My Kenwood TS-2000 is on D-Star. I've heard Motorolas, Yaesus, Whatever on D-Star, you can build your own repeater using the equipment you want on D-Star. My portable 440 repeater is D-Star enabled. Kenwood rebrands an ID-800 in Japan for their market.

D-Star watt for watt will always go farther than analog. This is simply because computers hear better than humans. (The principle behind JT65 and PSK 31) The only downside to this is that you have "fall off the wall" reception, and lots of people aren't used to this phenomenon and proceed to go on and on about what they think happens but they don't realize they are 85 miles away from the repeater...

The D-Star repeater RF decks are very well made, the same types of decks are used in their commercial gear. The rest of your repeater setup is exactly the same as any other repeater.

D-Star for Amateur Radio is better than DMR (MotoTrbo), P-25, and several other digital modes because it is centered around callsigns. The other digital modes cost just as much to get into, have radios that are difficult to use with amateur radio (mode locked, no keypad programming, etc) and do not offer the perks for Amateur Radio that D-Star offers.

That hot mess Yaesu is offering? Pitch it over there with their wires-x modules. No one is going to put those up. They should have just jumped on D-Star... (And yes, I have played with one. It's trying to be "best of both worlds" and it does neither well)

 

Some one just needs to make a set standard for the Digital. I agree Yaesu should have gone DStar...

 

So for an out of the box radio, it it Icom that is the most "into" D-Star at this time?

 

We wont see main stream Digital for some time.... Not until the dinosaurs die off.

Now, I know that seems cruel, but it is true. I participate with several ham groups working events all year round. One of those groups owns two dozen repeaters in the area. They have no plans to implement a digital repeater. They talk about it each year, but the fact is a lot of hams are still using 5-15 year old radios. That is why they all still use PL tones over DCS. I know they talked about switch one repeater to digital this last year when Yeasu was giving away the digital to groups, but they passed. They don't want to alienate anyone.

So, until the dinosaurs and their super well built American radios die off and the air waves are filled with young hams, using cheap(er) foreign radios, digital will not go mainstream.

That said, I have played with the new Yeasu FT-1D (?) Digital HT... it is cool and sounds amazing. Me want!