Subj : Handheld Tranceivers 1/2
To : Andy Ball
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Dec 01 2000 09:59 am
Hello, Andy...
AB>I'm guessing the first three bands are 2m and 70cm. Is the third 1.25m or 6
I'm sorry...I should've made myself clearer. The Icom T8A is 2 meter, 70 cm
(440), and 6 meters. Check with your local Ham Radio club to determine repeater
coverage in your area. Obviously, no point getting a rig with a band that isn't
covered in your area. :) The Icom T81A has those 3 bands, plus 1.2 Ghz...the
first quadbander that I'm aware of.
AB>I think my Radio Shack catalogue must be way out of date, it features Alinco
AB>radios but not the HTX202. I'll have to see what I can find out about that
AB>one.
The HTX202 may be obsolete now...I'm not sure what current gear they have
available. I know people who have them, but I've been satisifed with Icom. Of
course, a running joke is that Icom stands for I) C)an O)nly M)onitor...and
that "came true" awhile back...an old Icom HT I had would still receive, but
would no longer transmit!! A friend of mine bought one of those Radio Shack
units that looked like a portable ATV unit, but it was just a mini-TV.
AB>I bought my cheap VHF/UHF FM only scanning receiver in Britain years ago. I
AB>have a suspicion that it was also sold in Canada. It features the NOAA WX
AB>channels but until I moved here I never had an opportunity to try them. I
AB>find
AB>them quite handy, especially when there are tornados about.
It's also good to switch between NOAA Weather Radio, and a SKYWARN Net in the
area, if it's activated.
AB>It sounds great, I'd like to see a bit more of the US by rail, but I imagine
AB>Amtrak gets a bit expensive.
It depends on what your trip entails. Contact them at (800) 872-7245 for
details. I've got a 2 week trip to the US West Coast planned for next
summer...and definitely plan to take the HT, repeater directory, and logbook.
I'm debating about doing a packet setup as well. Ironically, Amtrak had an ad
in a QST awhile back, looking for someone to work with their radios.
AB>If the 102 is like the 100, that would be a really nice form factor for a
AB>packet terminal. Similar machines were made by Cambridge Computers, Amstrad
AB>and I think Tandy (although I'm not sure if theirs featured a terminal
AB>emulator).
I had a program from my old Model 100 called XMDPW5. It allowed file transfer
via ascii capture or Xmodem, macros, split screen, and what they called "direct
access". It has been so long since I used it that I'll need to work with it.
The only bad thing with the 100 and 102 is that it had an pixel display (no
ANSI)...and above 300 baud, you had to "lock the scroll", as even at 1200 baud
for VHF packet, some of the data got skewed on the screen. However, if you get
a packet session with "slow connects", you might be in business. It's good to
have a printer with it, and a program to echo what comes in to the printer.
Radio Shack also had a disk-video interface at one time where you could
basically hook it up to a TV set, and view it like a monitor.
AB>That's not a bad price if it saves you the cost and bulk of a conventional
AB>intelligent external TNC.
From what I've seen, that is the case. All I know it's a Kenwood dual band
HT, but can NOT remember the model number. A fellow ham in the central Arkansas
area, who dials into my BBS for the Ham Radio doors I have (including a Ham
Radio packet door) has one of those rigs, and he loves it.
AB>like the Alinco is that they need fewer batteries.
The bad thing about Ni-Cads is that they develop a "battery memory affect".
If you don't run them down completely before recharging, you'll have MUCH LESS
power when you try to use your rig. A good while back, Quantum Instruments made
a Ham Battery that I really enjoyed using. You could run 2 HT's at one time
with it (you paid the basic cost for the battery, then the cost for the desired
adapter(s). The Quantum had status lights on it, and you didn't have to run it
all the way down before recharging it. Unfortunately, I don't think they're
made anymore...but from what I remember, mine lasted a long time.
AB>I wonder if the 340mW of the Alinco would enable me to reach the local
AB>repeaters. Other handies seem to go up to about 5W which sounds adequate fo
AB>VHF or UHF use. What are your thoughts on this?
It depends on the range of the repeater, its height, conditions, etc. I live
in a neighborhood that's notorious for lightning strikes during thunderstorms,
so I just have a magmount antenna in the shack. I run a Mirage HT amp for VHF
Packet (to provide enough "oomph" <g> to get into the simplex packet
frequency), but the HT remains on low power (1 watt). However, some nights, I
can get in without the amp...and the max output power I have is 5-7 watts. The
Mirage dual band HT amp provides 45w on 2m, and 35w on 440...so, I'm still
below the 50w RF Safety Thresh-hold. Also, the tower which the repeater I use
in the Little Rock area is on was damaged by severe weather 3 months ago. Club
members are working to repair the tower at this time. Before the storms, I
could hit the
(Continued to next message)
--- GTMail 1.26
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS, Little Rock, Arkansas (1:19/33.0)
