Dual channel HT recommendations?

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gasxtreme

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Hi,

Currently I've got an Icom IC-92AD. I bought the 92AD to give D-Star a try, however I just never really got into it that much.... With that said, I really did enjoy having a dual channel HT; the ability to monitor two freqs simultaneously and switch back and forth between them for TX easily was fantastic. With this in mind, I'd like to sell the 92AD and use the cash to get myself a nice dual(or more)-band, dual-channel, non-dstar HT.

With that said, can anyone offer up any recommendations for a nice dual channel HT?

Thanks!
Steve
 

AK9R

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The standard recommendation for a dual-band HT without special features (additional band coverage, APRS, D-Star, System Fusion, etc.) is the Yaesu FT-60. It's a rugged radio that's been in the Yaesu line-up for several years. As a result, the bugs are worked out and the user community knows all the tricks.
 

wa2chj

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It appears, to me, that the OP is looking for a dual channel HT, not just a dual band HT, as he says he wants to receive two frequencies simultaneously.
While the FT-60R is a great dual bander, it is single receive only. For dual simultaneous receive, I'd recommend a Kenwood TH-D72A.

Scott
 

kayn1n32008

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Well , the IC-92ad makes a pretty decent dualband rig. It is pretty easy to program analogue frequencies. I would hold onto the radio. Hold onto it, unless you do not like the radio itself.


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gasxtreme

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Hi,

First of all, thanks to everyone for their comments! Scott is correct, I actually already have an FT-60 as well (and love it) but its only dual-band, not dual channel.... I checked the TH-D72A out and it appears to be similarly priced to the 92AD thus I may as well just hold onto the 92AD I suppose :)

Thanks!
Steve
 

DanRollman

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Hi,

First of all, thanks to everyone for their comments! Scott is correct, I actually already have an FT-60 as well (and love it) but its only dual-band, not dual channel.... I checked the TH-D72A out and it appears to be similarly priced to the 92AD thus I may as well just hold onto the 92AD I suppose :)

Thanks!
Steve

The Japanese brands are a good route to a "dual-band dual-simultaneous receive" (aka "twin band") radio. For a much cheaper route, the Baofeng UV-5R and similar APPEARS to fit the bill because it has two rows on its screen, but it isn't really simultaneously monitoring both; it has a single receiver that is "scanning" between them. It can't actually receive two transmissions at once. It's really conceptually similar to your 92AD, with an extra row on the screen to "fake you out".

One dead giveaway is whether it has a cross-band repeater function. If so, it is definitely a true twin bander.

For a cheaper Chinese (but still quite good) radio that is a true "twin bander," check out the Wouxun KG-UV8D. I have found the quality of this radio to be very close to par (not quite there) with my much more expensive Kenwood TH-F6A, for about 40% of the price.

I consider my Yaesu and my Kenwood to be very good but needlessly expensive by today's standards. I consider my Baofeng radios to be cheap junk (that's not a criticism! For the price, I really like them for the right application!). But I consider my Wouxun KG-UV8D to be the happy medium: surprisingly close to the overall quality of my Kenwood and Yaesu, and a true twin-bander, at a much better price point. The best value among all 3 categories.

Not everyone agrees.

Dan
 

wa2chj

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I have to agree with Dan. The KG-UV8D is an excellent radio for it's price and does rival the higher priced rigs from the big three.

Scott
 

toastycookies

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i have a kenwood TH-D7A(G) that has lasted me a decade or more and never given me any problems.

I am pretty sure it has been superseeded (sp?) but if the newer version is anywhere near this one it will be ROCK SOLID.
 

gasxtreme

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Dan: First of all, hello to a fellow Atlantan & thanks much for the very detailed response :) I am completely in agreement with you regarding the Baofengs; my friend and I got a pair of them to try out and weren't terribly impressed.... With that said, they do come in at a much lower price-point than some of the other radios on the market thus if that helps encourage more people to get their license and join the hobby, so much the better.

I've heard a couple of other people speak highly of the Wouxun products thus I'll give the KG-UV8D a shot; I use my HT when I go snowboarding so I like to stick with HTs that are built a bit more sturdily and from what I've read, the Wouxun will fit the bill well; can't wait to give it a shot!

Thanks to everyone for their feedback, it was very valuable in considering my options.

-steve
 

robertmac

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Just note that the UV8D only has one volume control. That is you may receive 2 frequencies at once but there is no way to reduce volume on one if required. The Kenwoods, 6, 7A and 72D are able to set volume at different levels but I believe there is only about 4 settings to increase or decrease Band A and Band B. The Yaesu VX-8 series can set volumes with much more [? 32 settings for Band A and B]. Their new Digital HTs are the same. The new Digital HTs have much better speakers than the 8 series. The Kenwood 6 is similar to the Yaesu 8 series in that the volume output is not great. The 7A and 72D are louder but I don't think as good as the Yaesu Digital HTs [but I have not really tested these]. HRO has a good deal for the Yaesu FT1D. Even if you don't use the Yaesu Digital Fusion, the analog is still pretty good. The APRS part of the FT1D is not as flexible as the 72D. Because I don't use the Kenwoods often, I find them difficult to program [others find them easy]. The Yaesu 8 and Digital are more difficult to operate if not familiar with how they work. Thus one must RTFM [reading the factory manual] is mandatory.
 

N4KVE

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While it's not a new radio, the Icom W-32A is like 2 radios in 1 with 2 volume, & squelch controls. They should be pretty cheap on used radio forums. I still own 2 of them, & for me, nothing better exists today.
 

mrweather

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Agreed about the W-32A. I had one and really liked it. I sold it to a friend who got a few more years out of it until he burnt up the PA from too much crossband repeating!
 

DanRollman

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Just note that the UV8D only has one volume control. That is you may receive 2 frequencies at once but there is no way to reduce volume on one if required.

Great point. I haven't personally "missed" the ability to independently adjust the volume on the two frequencies on my UV8D, but then again I've never had that ability before. I didn't "miss" a DVR, either, until I had one! Hi hi.

The TERA TR-590 has independent volume knobs at a price point similar to the UV-8D, and is even a Part 90 radio (if you have the need to properly operate on Part 90 frequencies, such as for work, from a rig you can also easily work 2m and 70cm with). Anyone have any experience with the TR-590? It looks very intriguing. TERA Handheld Radios - Affordable commercial communications

Dan
 

W5JER

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I have both the UV-5RC and VX-8DR. They both have dual receive but the VX-8DR is nearly 10 times the price with tons more features. It will come down to what you want and how much you are willing to spend.
 

prcguy

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I have one of the newer Anytone tri-band AT-3318UV-E handhelds with 2m, 220, and 440 and like it more every time I use it. Its a true dual receive with cross band repeat and with a well thought out and extensive menu compared to other low cost Chinese radios.

I'm making good use of its various banks where I can scan a specific group of channels on one side of the radio while working the VFO or memory channels on the other side. The radio is also very small and comfortable to hold compared to say a UV-5R and it works much better than the Baofengs and Wouxuns, including the new Wouxun UV-8D. I had a UV-8D and liked it a lot, but found the RF performance was not as good as the Anytone.

One example was using the UV-8D as a cross band repeater at the top of a small hill to fill in the back side. After setting up the UV-8D at the top of the hill and hiking down the back side I found my Yaesu VX-8 was receiving the distant 2m simplex stations better on direct than going through the UV-8D cross band on UHF at the top of the hill.

Another time I was testing some new radios and conversing at first on the VX-8 to a distant 2m simplex station from a hilltop and a friend fired up his UV-5R and the weak station did not exist on his radio when it was good copy on my VX8 standing right next to it. I then fired up my UV-8D and the station I could hear ok on the Yaesu handheld did not exist on the UV-8D either. Next came the Anytone handheld and it heard the distant 2m simplex station the same as the Yaesu.

I also repeated the hilltop cross band repeat test with the Anytone handheld and it worked very well repeating distant 2m simplex stations just fine and filled in where the stations could not be heard direct on the back side of the hill.

We later attributed most of the above problems to RF overload as the hilltop we were testing on is a very short line of sight shot to another hilltop with a major repeater site. The Baofeng and Wouxun handhelds were probably generating lots of internal Intermod and blanking out weaker signals we were working with.

All of the Baofeng and Wouxun radios test very sensitive on a service monitor with just one signal being generated to them but when connected to an antenna in a busy RF environment its another story. Bottom line is not all Chinese radios perform the same. You really get a lot for a low price but until you test a few in the field you don't really know what you have or if its performing at the price level you paid. I can excuse a $30 UV-5 for not performing like a Yaesu VX-8 but I would expect a UV-8D to work a little better.

If the OP only needs a dual band-dual receive radio, Anytone has the same basic radio as my tri-band but with only VHF and UHF, I think its a model AT-3318UV-D.
prcguy
 

W5JER

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I have one of the newer Anytone tri-band AT-3318UV-E handhelds with 2m, 220, and 440 and like it more every time I use it.
prcguy

That's a nice looking radio. How do you rate the transmit and receive audio?

Thanks
 

Spankymedic7

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The Japanese brands are a good route to a "dual-band dual-simultaneous receive" (aka "twin band") radio. For a much cheaper route, the Baofeng UV-5R and similar APPEARS to fit the bill because it has two rows on its screen, but it isn't really simultaneously monitoring both; it has a single receiver that is "scanning" between them. It can't actually receive two transmissions at once. It's really conceptually similar to your 92AD, with an extra row on the screen to "fake you out".

One dead giveaway is whether it has a cross-band repeater function. If so, it is definitely a true twin bander.

For a cheaper Chinese (but still quite good) radio that is a true "twin bander," check out the Wouxun KG-UV8D. I have found the quality of this radio to be very close to par (not quite there) with my much more expensive Kenwood TH-F6A, for about 40% of the price.

I consider my Yaesu and my Kenwood to be very good but needlessly expensive by today's standards. I consider my Baofeng radios to be cheap junk (that's not a criticism! For the price, I really like them for the right application!). But I consider my Wouxun KG-UV8D to be the happy medium: surprisingly close to the overall quality of my Kenwood and Yaesu, and a true twin-bander, at a much better price point. The best value among all 3 categories.

Not everyone agrees.

Dan

I'll agree with Dan, the KG-UV8D is a decent radio, and IMO comparable to most other models on the market. OK, the scan feature is sluggish, but aside from that it's a nice radio for the price...and it meets your needs. I believe AES is selling it for around $110 (down from $160), so if you're considering it, get it while they're on sale.

Good luck.
 

prcguy

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I'm glad you asked that, its got probably the most natural sounding receive audio of any handheld I can think of and I've had a lot of handhelds. There is something about the receive audio that I could not quite pinpoint but basically everyone sounds more natural and more like they do in person coming through the Anytone speaker compare to most other radios.

This prompted me to check the Anytone and a few other handhelds on an audio spectrum analyzer just now. I find the unsquelched noise from the speaker on the Anytone is fairly flat from about 500Hz through 3.7KHz, then drops off rapidly. The low end response tapers evenly about 30dB from 500Hz down to 300Hz where its cut off sharply.

The same test on a Baofeng UV5R shows a 25dB tapered rise from 300Hz to 800Hz then a slight dropout between 900HZ and 1.5KHz then a 10dB rise from 1.5KHz to 3.7KHz.

A Yaesu VX-8R shows a tapered rise of 30dB from 300Hz to 800Hz then an 8dB dip around 1.1KHz then another dip at 3KHz then a slight peak at 4KHz before dropping off.

I believe the Anytone sounds more natural because its receiver and speaker output seem to be much flatter across the voice band than other radios and I've been wanting to do this test for sometime now. The Anytone speaker also gets plenty loud.

The only thing that might use some improvement is the squelch tail, its more pronounced than some radios.
prcguy




That's a nice looking radio. How do you rate the transmit and receive audio?

Thanks
 
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