Official Colorado HAM and cheese thread

How are people mounting their HTs in their rigs? Got an amazing gift card for Christmas (woo!) so going through there.

Plan right now (once I get my ticket) is either a

$50 UV-5R 8Watt UHF/VHF Radio with 2 Rechargeable Battery, Portable Radio for Adults with Earpiece, GV-771 Antenna, Compatible with BAOFENG Programming Cable (3rd Gen)

UV-5R or UV-8HP with a mag mount to start.

Is the UV-8 worth it for an extra three watts? Shouldn’t really increase range by all that much right? Will 5 watts get me to a repeater in places like Moab?

 

It really shouldn't make a difference at those power levels. As a general rule though it takes twice the wattage to see a 1db gain.

Radio coverage in Moab is marginal because of the canyons. If you're willing/able to hike away from your vehicle you'll likely find a path from the top of a hill/butte. The mobile vehicle radios with higher wattage seem to push through more, if your broke down in the bottom of a canyon a HT will be your best form of communication out, provided you can hike a little.

Edit: I go with both, my HT Baofeng is dedicated to HT service. When running a mag mount I found distances not better or clear than CB. Once I went vehicle mount the signal reception and broadcast was a huge jump over CB

 

Right on, I remembered that there were marginal gains is dB with small gains in power but wasn’t sure what the practical ramifications were. Thanks for comfirming that for me.

Is there any other benefit of the UV-8 other hand just power that would make me want to buy it? Or is it pretty much the same otherwise? Seeing a bigger battery but with more power I’m assuming that’s a wash.

 

I have the larger battery on both of mine. With limited talking and constant monitoring other than sleeping hours, one was able to make it 4 days in Moab on a single charge. I would recommend the big battery

 

Besides bigger/better battery and a little more power, one other big difference is that

$63 BF-F8HP (UV-5R 3rd Gen) 8-Watt Dual Band Two-Way Radio (136-174MHz VHF & 400-520MHz UHF) Includes Full Kit with Large Battery

BF-F8HP comes with much better antenna than 5R. So that's definitely something to consider as well.

 

It can be better, but not much difference when it’s still inside the cab. You need to get the antenna outside the metal cab. That will make a bigger difference than the 3watts. Also I suggest staying away from the cig outlet batteries. They allow a lot of alternator wine to get into the mic

 

Definitely, no substitute for proper mobile antenna
, but for ht operation f8 has an improved rubber duckies. I got caught up in the hype of Nagoya antennas used on 5Rs, no real need for that with F8s.

 

Was poking around NCARC.net and found they have a youtube series this looks intriguing. will have to watch tonight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNxyfRDpwpA

 

Subscribed! Old CB guy from '93 and have never really thought about HAM comms. But NOW this would be fun and a cool hobby/Taco back country.

Would love to know more especially from folks here in CO!

 

This Spring we should have a HAM meet-up and try to share all the tribal knowledge people have gained.

 

@johntoyota needs this!

@mountainmonkey so @Littles is set on the 710g instead of the ftm-400

 

Aww good i wanted to know what model he had thanks!

 

John needs this badly

 

@mountainmonkey any complaints or regrets so far?

The things I like are the non-touchscreen controls, the ability to interface live and directly with a tablet, and the mic output being connected to the remote faceplate vs base unit.

 

No complaints or regrets so far. I too like that it is NOT a touchscreen.

One correction for you though, the mic connection is on the main base unit. To my knowledge you cannot connect the mic to the faceplate.

 

Yea I like the idea that when I push a button...its always going to do the same thing and not always change based on what menu I'm in. Thanks for clarifying on the mic connection. Either way that's not a big deal for me.

My perception is that aprs functions are a little better and easier on the kenwood, which is what I'm most interested in.

 

You’re gonna love this..... haha!

Actually all of the buttons under the screen have different functions depending on which menu you’re in. It hasn’t really bothered me, but just wanted to let you know so you don’t get the radio and expect something different. Someday you’ll have to come check out the radio in person to see what it’s all about.

 

I just passed my Tech exam tonight.

Just waiting for the shutdown to end now... The VEs said it would likely be several weeks after the shutdown ends before the databases are squared.

 

Well add me to the list of yaesu FTM400xd just put my Back order in for one.