I decided to take the plunge and will take the tech exam in Feb. I am interested in getting a starter hand held unit that is easy to use, but is not under featured. The reason I think handheld would be the way to go for me is because I travel a lot plus would like to take it on my boat. Any suggestions?


Thx

Do you have a price range?  What bands do you want to use?

I am partial to the yaseu radios, A FT60 would be a good choice for many, it gives you 2 meters and 440 while not being very complicated.    You'll be sure to get many answers

Quoted: Do you have a price range?  What bands do you want to use? I am partial to the yaseu radios, A FT60 would be a good choice for many, it gives you 2 meters and 440 while not being very complicated.    You'll be sure to get many answers

I don't really have a price range from I am pretty open. From my research I thought by getting the tech cert I was limited to the bands I could operate in anyway. I have heard good things on Yaseu.

If you are going to be taking it on your boat look at the Yaesu VX-170. It is a great 2-meter only radio.

Quoted: If you are going to be taking it on your boat look at the Yaesu VX-170. It is a great 2-meter only radio.

On a more advanced level, if you are looking for a marine band radio as well, the 370 from this thread would let you have some 2 meter freqs preprogrammed in it, but no VFO so I would not recommend as a primary/only HT.  It interchanges with the VX170 and the FT60 dualband radio.

www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=10&f=22&t=604623

For the money, the Yaesu FT-60R was a good deal.

I recenty bought one and it's serving me well


front panel programing is easy (biased oppinion, have years of exeperince with other Yaesu  and whole mess of commercial gear) Also, the freeware for programming it works "ok" too. (you will need a additional cable for this)

My little brother just got an FT-60R and he loves it.

Quoted: If you are going to be taking it on your boat look at the Yaesu VX-170. It is a great 2-meter only radio.

+1.  best single band radio currently available.  and the price is right.

ar-jedi

+1 for the FT 60R but then I have a 170 also! Both outstanding handhelds.
Sarge

so if I go with the 170 it would cover the same bands as the 60 as well correct? I just want to make sure I have my bases covered. Thx!

Quoted: so if I go with the 170 it would cover the same bands as the 60 as well correct? I just want to make sure I have my bases covered. Thx!

vx170 = 2m only HT. (144-148MHz TX)
ft60r = 2m/70cm "dual band" HT.  (144-148MHz TX) + (420-450MHz TX)

ar-jedi

Quoted: Quoted: so if I go with the 170 it would cover the same bands as the 60 as well correct? I just want to make sure I have my bases covered. Thx! vx170 = 2m only HT. (144-148MHz TX) ft60r = 2m/70cm "dual band" HT.  (144-148MHz TX) + (420-450MHz TX) ar-jedi

thanks ar-jedi , I looked at the website and saw the VX-7R and the VX-6R and it looks like they both cover 144-430 is there a reason I would not go that route instead of the FT-60R? Thanks for the help, I just don't want to get something and then find out I could have purchased another unit that covered everything.

when radios will do the same bands, you're going to have to start comparing features.

all amateur radios will get you doing simplex and the local repeater

number of memories
types of memories (numeric vs alphnumeric..)
paging
internet
packet
gps
aprs
blah blah blah.


you'll also want to consider your price range and environment you'll be using the radio in.

Comparing the FT60-VX6R-VX7R.....


For emergency communications where you are running on AA batteries, the FT60 wins as it's AA case (the cases are all optional) will let the radio transmit a full 5 watts.  The AA cases for the VX6R & VX7R only let them transmit at 0.3 watts so if you run your primary rechargeable bettery dead, you need to run external power if you want more than 0.3 watts.  AR-Jedi has such a setup for his VX6R and I'm sure he'll be along shortly to show it off  


The VX6R has 222mhz band as well, at 1.5 watts which might be enough if you have any repeaters nearby.  The VX7R has 0.3 watts at 222mhz.   The FT60 does not cover 222mhz at all, but depending on your area, you might not miss it at all.  


The VX170 (2 meter only) and VX7R are both submersible in case you really take a dip while on the boat  


For me, the AA case full power issue would make me choose the FT60, but I am also involved in RACES/ARES and our group might soon be assisting the counties search and rescue activities, so one mroe reason for a full power HT no matter what the situation is.  

Quoted: thanks ar-jedi , I looked at the website and saw the VX-7R and the VX-6R and it looks like they both cover 144-430 is there a reason I would not go that route instead of the FT-60R? Thanks for the help, I just don't want to get something and then find out I could have purchased another unit that covered everything.

i own a VX170 and a VX6R, so take the following with an appropriate grain of salt...

the VX170 is an excellent, sturdy, simple, easy-to-use single band (2m) radio.  it is one of, if not the, best values in HT's.  derived from Vertex's commercial radio chassis, this is a radio that should last you many years.

the FT60R is a basic dual band radio with support for 2m and 70cm.  the receiver is FM-only, and it neither extends far enough down into the commercial broadcast band nor does it have a W-FM mode.  the FT60R shares the same NiMH battery pack as the VX170, and also shares the same 6xAA battery pack as well.  the 6xAA pack allows for full radio functionality using common alkaline or rechargeable AA cells.

the VX7R, besides being tri-band (6m, 2m, 70cm + a smattering of 1.25m) includes a very wide band receiver that covers shortwave (AM), commercial broadcast radio (W-FM), aviation band (AM), and so on.  the VX7R is waterproof as well.  it uses a LiIon battery (like modern laptops) and has an incredible amount of features crammed into a small package.  the accessory 2xAA battery pack is a gimmick; limited by the physical size of the radio, the 2xAA pack provides very limited TX capabilities for a very limited amount of time.  i would not recommend getting the 2xAA pack; an externally connected power solution is needed instead.

the VX6R is basically the VX7R without 6m, and a bit more power on 1.25m.  i don't see the purpose of 6m on an HT, so i recommend the less expensive VX6R over the VX7R. the wide band, multimode (AM, N-FM, W-FM) receive functionality is identical.  the 2xAA pack is shared with the VX7R, and operation is crippled similarly.

so there you have it. the decision tree looks like this:

2m only?  get a VX170

2m/70cm?  decide whether you value a wide band receive capability.  if so, get the VX6R and go to work on an external power solution.  if you don't need wide band receive, save some bucks and get a FT60R.  get the 6xAA battery pack along with it.

ar-jedi

Quoted: AR-Jedi has such a setup for his VX6R and I'm sure he'll be along shortly to show it off

battery packs...

LEFT = VX6R
RIGHT = VX170

How valuable is being waterproof?  It seems like in a SHTF scenario it would be very useful, but is it really waterproof or "water resistant"?

The VX170 and VX7R are rated as being submersible.  From what I remember, yaesu had the VX7R under water when it was introduced at dayton a few years ago.  The connector for the speakermic is waterproof as well.  

I would bet that the VX6R and FT60 are weather resistant to a certain degree, but not as much as the 170 and 7R

Quoted: Quoted: thanks ar-jedi , I looked at the website and saw the VX-7R and the VX-6R and it looks like they both cover 144-430 is there a reason I would not go that route instead of the FT-60R? Thanks for the help, I just don't want to get something and then find out I could have purchased another unit that covered everything. i own a VX170 and a VX6R, so take the following with an appropriate grain of salt... the VX170 is an excellent, sturdy, simple, easy-to-use single band (2m) radio.  it is one of, if not the, best values in HT's.  derived from Vertex's commercial radio chassis, this is a radio that should last you many years. the FT60R is a basic dual band radio with support for 2m and 70cm.  the receiver is FM-only, and it neither extends far enough down into the commercial broadcast band nor does it have a W-FM mode.  the FT60R shares the same NiMH battery pack as the VX170, and also shares the same 6xAA battery pack as well.  the 6xAA pack allows for full radio functionality using common alkaline or rechargeable AA cells. the VX7R, besides being tri-band (6m, 2m, 70cm + a smattering of 1.25m) includes a very wide band receiver that covers shortwave (AM), commercial broadcast radio (W-FM), aviation band (AM), and so on.  the VX7R is waterproof as well.  it uses a LiIon battery (like modern laptops) and has an incredible amount of features crammed into a small package.  the accessory 2xAA battery pack is a gimmick; limited by the physical size of the radio, the 2xAA pack provides very limited TX capabilities for a very limited amount of time.  i would not recommend getting the 2xAA pack; an externally connected power solution is needed instead. the VX6R is basically the VX7R without 6m, and a bit more power on 1.25m.  i don't see the purpose of 6m on an HT, so i recommend the less expensive VX6R over the VX7R. the wide band, multimode (AM, N-FM, W-FM) receive functionality is identical.  the 2xAA pack is shared with the VX7R, and operation is crippled similarly. so there you have it. the decision tree looks like this: 2m only?  get a VX170 2m/70cm?  decide whether you value a wide band receive capability.  if so, get the VX6R and go to work on an external power solution.  if you don't need wide band receive, save some bucks and get a FT60R.  get the 6xAA battery pack along with it. ar-jedi

Thanks man that info really helped out a lot! I will probably go with the FT60R or the VX170 at this stage of the game.

Quoted: but is it really waterproof or "water resistant"?

losdos.dyndns.org:8080/public/ham/yaesu-vx6r/VX-6R_Brochure.pdf

The VX-6R/E is rated to JIS7 specifications for submersion (up to 30 minutes at a depth of up to three feet), and because the microphone jack is sealed against water ingress, you can even use the CMP460 Speaker-Microphone while maintaining the submersibility of the VX-6R/E

ar-jedi

I was not sure on the VX6R, and the yaesu website did not really state for sure either way (not without reading the manual, which I did not have time for ).  Thanks for the correction....

FT-60R was my pick.

... Can an external antenna be deployed on a Yaesu VX-170, essentially making it into a base unit?

... I'm really getting the itch to get into Ham Radio but don't really know where to start other than www.radioreference.com/

Quoted: ... Can an external antenna be deployed on a Yaesu VX-170, essentially making it into a base unit?

yes.  you'll need either a flexible patch cable to alleviate stress on the radio's antenna connector, or you will need an external plug-in microphone, or both.  the patch cable will run you about $10, the microphone about $25.  

Quoted: ... I'm really getting the itch to get into Ham Radio but don't really know where to start other than www.radioreference.com/

see also here for a 10,000 foot view of amateur radio:
ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=10&f=22&t=604477

and of course, amateur radio sites such as
www.qrz.com/
and
www.hamtestonline.com/
and finally,
www.hamtestonline.com/


ar-jedi

Woot! I just got back from Frost Fest 2008! I took the technician test and PASSED!

www.frostfest.com/


To reward myself I went ahead and purchased a Yaesu FT-60R, thanks to your recommendations!


Now I just have to wait to get me call sign to use it!


It will take me that long to figurer out how to use it!


Thanks again for all the help!

Congrats on passing and good choice, that radio will do a lot for you over the years.  

Quoted: Woot! I just got back from Frost Fest 2008! I took the technician test and PASSED!

To reward myself I went ahead and purchased a Yaesu FT-60R, thanks to your recommendations!

I'd recommend buying the programming software from G4HFQ. It'll make managing all the memory slots/banks a lot easier. If you do let me know and I'll email you a file that has VA repeaters along I-95. I forget off the top of my head which cities I cover but I can let you know if you're interested and you can see if they match your area of operation.

ETA: All your page 2 are belong to me, bitches!

i ordered a FT-60R last night for my first radio from universal based on all the stuff i have read here.

im gonna try to pick up a used 2m/440 mobile as well this week on ebay or something.

My certificate of passing the exam, my XD45, the 60 I bought when I passed..... and my Major award on my bar!