[bars] Radio Question

[David Marcucci]

Hi Richard,

I went through the same thing when I bought my HF rig just over a year ago,
but it was the 7300 or the FT-710 because I knew I wanted two radios. I
ended up getting the FT-710.

Choosing a VHF/UHF rig can be easier because there are a lot of good lower
cost options out there. Before pulling the trigger, I suggest you decided
on a few things?

1. Mono, dual, or triband? Personally I’d get at least a dual 2m/70cm.
There are a number of 70cm repeaters out there. I got a triband because
there are some 1.25m repeaters I wanted to be able to use and I’m glad I
did.

2. Do you want to do any digital radio modes? If you haven’t experienced
digital radio this may be hard to answer. I use DMR, but System Fusion,
D-Star, and others exist and are in use. If you have a nearby repeater with
one of those you may want to use it with your base unit.

3. Do you want a radio that can be connected to your computer? There are
many reasons to do this on HF and VHF/UHF. The Amateur Radio Emergency
Service (ARES) sends data over the air for public service reasons. There is
APRS with a number of services behind its technology. Winlink has VHF
nodes. There are even multiple BBS systems on VHF. If this may be of
interest consider how easily you want to be able to make this radio to
computer connection.

4. Do you want to be to listen or scan other non-ham bands? My local
police, fire, and ambulance are still using analog, air traffic and airport
transmission are interesting, and I get more GMRS traffic than I thought
all from home. Some radios will allow receive of these frequencies. Also, I
like to scan with my rig, some rigs are awfully slow while I have one radio
that does 200 frequencies per second!

5. Finally, do you want to monitor two frequencies at the same time, “dual
VFO”? I have. Couple repeaters that I use and I don’t want to miss traffic
on one because I was tuned to the other so I have a dual VFO rig and can
listen to both at the same time. Some radios will allow “dual watch” which
checks both frequencies but only receives one at a time but others have
dual VFO where you can hear both simultaneously.

*Lastly, my best advice is, get a base antenna up first.* This doesn’t have
to be an expensive one, just something better than your handheld’s whip.
Get it up high even if that means it’s inside the attic. Connect that to
you handheld and it should improve performance significantly. This is a
cheap way to give you more thinking time on the ultimate rig you want.

FYI, I have an Anytone AT-D578UV III with a digirig for a computer
connection. It has its limitations too, I’m not sure there is a best, but I
am happy with it.

Good luck,
Dave KC1TLF

On Tue, May 13, 2025 at 9:24 PM Verhulst via bars <bars at w1hh.org> wrote:

> Richard,
>
> The choice between a 7300 and a 991A is hardly settling IMHO - either is a
> good choice.
>
> On 5/13/2025 7:54 PM, Richard Heckbert via bars wrote:
>
> Which leaves me with still needing the 2nd half of my shack.  Something
> that at least does 2m.  People have mentioned various radios like the
> Anytone AT-778UV as well as TYT TH-9800 (I know, back to the
> shack-in-a-box) or a Yaesu FT-150 or 300.  Something a bit more powerful
> than my 5w HT.
>
>
> I have an AT-778UV in the car. Since retiring I don't drive much so I
> didn't want an expensive mobile unit and, since it is only a 25W unit, I
> have good success using a cigarette lighter \\\\\\\\\\ excuse me, a 12V
> socket and with a mag mount, since it's small, it's easy to switch between
> cars.
>
> What does everyone use for VHF and getting on the weekly net?  Do most
> people have multiple rigs?  Any recommendations for fairly inexpensive
> can’t-miss rigs?
>
>
> In the shack, I have an Icom 7600 for HF and an Icom 5100 for 144/440 FM
> and D-STAR. I don't really care for D-STAR on the 5100 as I find it to
> cumbersome to use. I'm hardly a techno-phobe having spent a career in
> system software development I just don't care for it, YMMV. I also have a
> Open Spot 4 Pro tuned to the 5100 second receiver. That gives me easy
> access to DSTAR, Fusion and, DMR.
>
> 73 Tony W1DYS
>
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>
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