# just got my license and have a Q or 2 on which mobile radio to buy



## Ration-AL (Apr 18, 2012)

ok here's what i want and you tell me if i really want it or not, lol

i want a 2m/6m/70cm band mobile with video out, dsp, remote face

i've already ruled out the icom-7000 due to heating issues, anyone got some other suggestions? looking to keep it under 1.2k

i want something i can move from the house to the car to my back pack, the 7000 looked like it was going to work but has had to many issues for me to put my money there, let's not worry about power supplies at this point as i'll sort that out later, i have a double din head unit that has a video input on it and thought that would be very helpful for a car based mobile unit, i'm also not really concerned with how easy it is to remove and pop back in as i don;t mind taking my time with things if it's a good over all unit.

i keep looking at the ft-857d but seems to lack some of the features i'm wanting and would like a kenwood unit if i have the option, so i guess teh real question is what other units compare to teh ic700 that are worth a salt?


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## MRGUMBY (Nov 3, 2011)

Too many eggs in one basket.
Think simple.
...and with radios out there like the three different dual banders I bought off ebay, for under 70 bucks each...anyone buying a name brand has not been in a scary situation where redundancy can be the difference between life and death.
(You cannot tell if I am on a Yaesu or a Baofeng on the other end of the repeater.)

I strongly suggest splitting up your purchase and working a bit of backup in there.

As for the cheap ebay radios, I am AMAZED at the quality.


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## k0xxx (Oct 27, 2011)

Picking up a used Icom 706MkIIG may be the way to go. They are rugged and provide the bands you are looking for. While they do not have the video function, it is the only area that they would be lacking.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Ration-AL said:


> ok here's what i want and you tell me if i really want it or not, lol
> 
> i want a 2m/6m/70cm band mobile with video out, dsp, remote face
> 
> ...


I am in the same situation, except that I want a radio for my motorbike, but, be able to use it as well in my Jeep and in my house and .... so I am down to a handheld radio with a booster-style antenna that I can mount to my Jeep or motorbike and just plug-in when required. Antenna's are "cheap" compared with the radio that I really want for my motorbike ...

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/fm_txvrs/0813.html


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## Fn/Form (Nov 6, 2008)

NaeKid said:


> I am in the same situation, except that I want a radio for my motorbike, but, be able to use it as well in my Jeep and in my house and .... so I am down to a handheld radio with a booster-style antenna that I can mount to my Jeep or motorbike and just plug-in when required. Antenna's are "cheap" compared with the radio that I really want for my motorbike ...
> 
> http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/fm_txvrs/0813.html


You don't like Yaesu's bike-compatible radios?


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## Fn/Form (Nov 6, 2008)

Ration-AL said:


> ok here's what i want and you tell me if i really want it or not, lol
> 
> i want a 2m/6m/70cm band mobile with video out, dsp, remote face
> 
> ...


The 857, 7000, etc. all feature HF, too. If all you want is 2m/70cm and 6m, you're paying a big premium for bands you won't use. What is your draw to 6m?

How about some rugged radios instead? Single banders are tough and cheap. Buy one for each band. ;-) But seriously, I do like the Vertex Standard commercial series.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Fn/Form said:


> You don't like Yaesu's bike-compatible radios?


Yaesu is just fine - I love the features and all of the reports I have found about that model that I linked above - the problem is the price-tag associated with it. I have three motorbikes at home, so, that would be $1000 to outfit them all with radios / antenna / blue-tooth pods so that I can converse via my helmet.

Then I have two Jeeps - one that is for off-road excursions and one that is my daily-driver through the winter (one of my motorbikes is my daily-driver during the summer). I would be looking at another $600 for communication equipment for my Jeeps.

I really don't have that kind of coin layin' around right now which means that I would probably be better suited with a handheld HAM radio and keep using my CB-radios that I already have (which are fairly inexpensive to purchase).

Now - if I can find a sponsor to supply me with radios ... :dunno:


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## Ration-AL (Apr 18, 2012)

Fn/Form said:


> The 857, 7000, etc. all feature HF, too. If all you want is 2m/70cm and 6m, you're paying a big premium for bands you won't use. What is your draw to 6m?
> 
> How about some rugged radios instead? Single banders are tough and cheap. Buy one for each band. ;-) But seriously, I do like the Vertex Standard commercial series.


i think 6m is a great band and very under utilized , i don't get why people don't like it, or why it's not as "cool" as the others, imo it kind of seems like the sweet spot for SHTF vhf that acts like HF and good propagation at times for the power really turns me on, haha, again though i'm only tech class and have only been playing around for a few months now......

and this unit is going to be my end all be all unit, i have one that is supplied to me by a local hospital that i use at my home and it lives there, i'm looking for a mobile unit that i can run anywhere once i leave my home, i won't have only 1 radio i'll also have a few more for sure... my plan is this

2 radio's at home, one base station and one mobile.
truck,motorbike,backpack hooked up to accept mobile unit
2 handhelds

the plan would be to possibley set the home base station up as a repeater so i can relay from my truck through my house out to where ever i need to and ideally would like to go from my hand held to the truck to the house and on out to where ever, i'm trying to build a complete system in stages where i can operate from my house but if forced from that location i can operate from my truck, and if forced from my truck i can operate from my tent.

i already know this is going to get very expensive , my question is though is it workable? so that's another reason why i'm looking at untis that operate on bands that i'm not planning on living on but my have use to me at one point, plus i need room to grow! hahhaa.....so hows my thinking guys?


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## Fn/Form (Nov 6, 2008)

Ration-AL said:


> ...i already know this is going to get very expensive , my question is though is it workable? so that's another reason why i'm looking at untis that operate on bands that i'm not planning on living on but my have use to me at one point, plus i need room to grow! hahhaa.....so hows my thinking guys?


It sounds like you want a very flexible communication system, and it sounds like you're thinking through all the possibilities. It is definitely doable through things like cross-band repeat, etc.

Such a complex, flexible system usually requires two choices. 1) Use amateur grade equipment and try to live with the few weak links or 2) Buy commercial equipment and learn how to program/maintain it.

Some common failures: Programming memory loss (lose part/all your programmed channels), power (un)reliability (kiddo trips a breaker and draws down your battery backup), animals or Mother Nature wreak havoc on equipment, operator error (inexperienced operator), etc.

If you're married or have a family, are they tech savvy or motivated enough to know what to do when something goes wrong?

How long do you NEED to keep your system up and running?

I am pretty tech savvy. The rest of my immediate family (few dozen people) are not. I need simplicity, dummy-proofing and redundancy. Our comm system does not need to be long range. My standard is commercial gear or rugged amateur gear. No frills, outdoor capable.

I've chosen to use only two bands (HF and VHF) with channelized radios (crystal or programmed). This prevents the end user from hitting buttons or keys that alter settings. Using only a few bands (a few NVIS friendly, and one short range band) means more radio/antenna redundancy. Better antennas, positioning and amplifiers (if needed) will have to do if we need longer range.

Anyone can clone the handheld radios with a simple cable. I'm working on a cloning capable HF rig.


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

What about the good old CB radio?

There are millions of them out there and I would think you could gather a lot of info on one of them ?


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## Ration-AL (Apr 18, 2012)

Fn/Form said:


> It sounds like you want a very flexible communication system, and it sounds like you're thinking through all the possibilities. It is definitely doable through things like cross-band repeat, etc.
> 
> Such a complex, flexible system usually requires two choices. 1) Use amateur grade equipment and try to live with the few weak links or 2) Buy commercial equipment and learn how to program/maintain it.
> 
> ...


yeah my super duper fail back plan is to try and get down to utah or texas where i got family on a couple of proper large ranches, this is talking 2+years of SHTF type stuff, then i'll make the move but in the mean time i'd like to be able to reach out that far if i could ......

ok that said both me and my wife are tech class and i'm working on my general class, the wife is smart enough to be able to figure these things out if she sits down and actually does it, lol, you know how that goes...

you don't have to tell me about losing all of your channels, i got a hospital issued thf6a that had all of the repeaters,police,fire,hospital, and tac channels pre-programmed for me, i scrubbed all of them in teh first 15 mins by accident (also don't try to run an audio out cord to a stereo head unit on these devices...bad things happen, lol) so yeah i learned quickly and the hard way that having some laminated note cards with the channels on them is going to be imperative.... i originally thought the hospital was going to give us a base station type radio and i got the thf6a handheld instead, so i've been playing around on the the tribander and can already tell i want more....... CB is garbage and most radio's can be modded to operate on that feq anyways, not going to spend the money on a dedicated CB rig now that i'm all set up for the ham stuff, not trying to be a snob but just understand why i would go backwards imo?

one cool thing about the thf6a is that it does have the ability to relay a tx though it and on out to a repeater somewhere else while being unattended, this is a feature i'm looking for in my mobile unit going into the truck.... and reading it again i don't really care about video out, i was just thinking i could use my in-dash screen to view the display on the mobile ham would be awesome but not necessary by any means...


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## Fn/Form (Nov 6, 2008)

Ration-AL said:


> yeah my super duper fail back plan is to try and get down to utah or texas where i got family on a couple of proper large ranches, this is talking 2+years of SHTF type stuff, then i'll make the move but in the mean time i'd like to be able to reach out that far if i could ......


Are you familiar with Automatic Link Establishment, aka ALE? That's probably the best possibility for on-demand commo over distance. It's one of the ways military, offshore and other commercial entities keep in touch.

A number of hams are running it via computer/radio interface. Check out HFLink.com for more details. Most amateur setups are a bit delicate for mobile operations. But I've been told commercial gear is available and legal for use. I was told to look for good, ,used oilfield/exploration/offshore models at surplus auctions. They are said to be ruggedized and weatherized. Programming may be a daunting task, tho!

I looked long and hard at the Vertex Standard VX-1700 commercial radio. Software and programming cable is not rare. It accepts an optional ALE module. IIRC, radio+module cost is around $800 for a commercial quality rig operable on ham freqs. I have other $$$ items to purchase first, but it's on the commo back burner.


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## Ration-AL (Apr 18, 2012)

Fn/Form said:


> Are you familiar with Automatic Link Establishment, aka ALE? That's probably the best possibility for on-demand commo over distance. It's one of the ways military, offshore and other commercial entities keep in touch.
> 
> A number of hams are running it via computer/radio interface. Check out HFLink.com for more details. Most amateur setups are a bit delicate for mobile operations. But I've been told commercial gear is available and legal for use. I was told to look for good, ,used oilfield/exploration/offshore models at surplus auctions. They are said to be ruggedized and weatherized. Programming may be a daunting task, tho!
> 
> I looked long and hard at the Vertex Standard VX-1700 commercial radio. Software and programming cable is not rare. It accepts an optional ALE module. IIRC, radio+module cost is around $800 for a commercial quality rig operable on ham freqs. I have other $$$ items to purchase first, but it's on the commo back burner.


hey that's some awesome info right there for a tech class and prepper just getting into this hobbie, really appreciate it!


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

Just to throw in my $0.02 on the subject here is my experience with radio brands. I am an LEO whose agency has switched radios several times in my career. 

Both Motorola and Vertex (Yaesu) brand radios have served us well, are very durable in poor conditions and sound quality is very good. The Vertex radios were less expensive than the Motorola radios but seemed to be every bit as good.The RCA brand radios seem to be pretty good too, but we only have a couple T&E radios in service. 

For a short time we were issued Icom radios and no one was please with that choice. They were fragile and had constant issues. Officer's were asking for their old Vertex radios back so we dumped the Icoms and went back to Vertex Standard. We had a similar experience several years ago with Midland and Kenwood. In my experience none of those brands seemed to be durable enough to handle the rigors of police work. Since I can imagine the demands of survival could far exceed law enforcement service I would not recommend them.

Your mileage may vary.


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## Fn/Form (Nov 6, 2008)

Sentry18 said:


> Just to throw in my $0.02 on the subject here is my experience with radio brands. I am an LEO whose agency has switched radios several times in my career.
> 
> Both Motorola and Vertex (Yaesu) brand radios have served us well, are very durable in poor conditions and sound quality is very good...
> <snip>


We used the Moto XTS5000 on a P25 system. As you said, excellent all weather performance.

My handhelds are made by Standard Horizon, the Marine branch of Vertex. Their HX370 is submersible, legal for ham, commercial land mobile and MURS, channelized, has quality shoulder mics available, and comes with a drop-in charger and good battery. All for ~$120.


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

*Motorola*



Sentry18 said:


> Just to throw in my $0.02 on the subject here is my experience with radio brands. I am an LEO whose agency has switched radios several times in my career.
> 
> Both Motorola and Vertex (Yaesu) brand radios have served us well, are very durable in poor conditions and sound quality is very good. The Vertex radios were less expensive than the Motorola radios but seemed to be every bit as good.The RCA brand radios seem to be pretty good too, but we only have a couple T&E radios in service.
> 
> ...


I am also a former LEO.
I liked my old Motorola portable . If I was in an area where I couldn't reach dispatch, you could always hit someone with it and it wouldn't come apart.
Very tough radios.


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## jontwork (Apr 6, 2010)

*Which license?*

Which license did you just obtain from the FCC? or Industry Canada?
Where are you located? Metro or Rural?
Regards,


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