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What VHF Moto rig for 2 meters?

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mass-man

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No interest in DMR or P25....what Moto rig shines as the best offering for converting to 144-148 mhz? Moving to a location away from the city so appears a couple of repeaters, the standard simplex frequencies and that's about all that will be programmed.
Oh yeah, this is for shack use...might go with the same rig mobile, as I hope not to drive too far once I move out there.

many tnx.....
 

TLF82

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Analog only radio I would go with a CDM-1250/1550. Astro Spectra is a good radio (also does P25 depending on flash code) and for something more modern I would say an XTL. XTL even though it's a P25 radio would be my top choice just because it's a solid radio and is less of a hassle to program.
 

mass-man

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tnx for the info TLF82....throw in the phrase less of a hassle to program and you got my attention!
 

TLF82

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tnx for the info TLF82....throw in the phrase less of a hassle to program and you got my attention!

Happy to help!

It's not so much that the software is bad/hard to use, though I think the Astro25 CPS is more user friendly, it's the having to have extra equipment such as a RIB to deal with... And a Astro Spectra won't program on a 64 bit machine. Probably the same with a CDM.
 

mmckenna

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I'll second the CDM line of radios.
I'm using CDM-750 VHF for a base and in a Polaris Ranger UTV with a remote head mount.
CDM-1250 VHF in my wife's Ford Escape with remote head.
CDM-1550 VHF in my personal Ford F-150.

Good all around radios with nice performance. Lots of them being sold on the used market and still some new ones out there if cost isn't an issue.
Typical Motorola programming gotchas: price of software, cable, etc.
Programming software is fairly straight forward and easy to use.

Easy to remote head these radios if you do a mobile install.
A few different options if you decide to do it: UHF versions for 70cm. There are some 220 versions that can be put on 1.25m band. LTR, MDC-1200, DTMF, etc. The 20 pin connector on the rear makes it really easy to add accessories like audio stream to a web feed, TNC, remote triggers, etc.

With the front firing speakers they make good mobiles. Add an external speaker and these radios really shine with good clear audio and loud audio.

Lots of accessories on e-Bay for them, too.

I think I scored the CDM-750's for $100 each. CDM-1250 was $150 and the CDM-1550 was $175 or $200. I'm fortunate that I have the programming software/RIB/cables at work for these guys.
 

n5ims

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While I understand the desire for a true Motorola radio, you may actually be happier with a radio made specifically for ham use for operation on the ham bands. They're much easier to program, scan faster, and work quite well overall. Moving away from the city should eliminate the intermod and other advantages a Motorola radio has over some ham radios.

Often the typical ham radio will have one-button access to reverse operation (the ability to listen to the repeater input) instead of needing to pre-program that ability on the Motorola. Ham radios also generally can scan for the PL/DCS tone while these must be pre-programmed on the Motorola. You also have VFO modes on the ham radios that are not available on the Motorola. While not that much of an advantage, it allows you to scan around for new repeaters that may crop up (or follow a conversation when folks move to a channel you don't yet have programmed), especially during band openings where distant repeaters or signals are booming in, but not necessarily on your local repeater channels (or using the same tones as your local channels).

Also, programming software is often free (and even legally available for free) with only a fairly inexpensive cable needed (which often can be home made). No expensive software, RIB, or cables required! An additional advantage (depending on what software is selected) is you might be able to use the same software to program your various radios (of different types or even brands) so channel 26 will be the same on each one without doing careful entering them into the various Motorola software versions. Many clubs have a standard load using the Chirp software and cables for many types of radios and are happy to program your radios for you. Once programmed to their "standard", you can easily download Chirp (after getting your own cable or cables) and customize this load as you want.

Don't get me wrong, I do like Motorola radios and use several myself (mostly Spectra) but for general use I like my Kenwoods and older Azdens. This is especially true when travelling so I don't have to spend much time programming the many frequencies (and needing to remember which ones are for what areas) in advance.
 
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SteveC0625

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I'll second mmckenna's recommendations. I have a mix of CDM1250's and 750's. The VHF ones are good from 136 to 174 so there's no hacking required to get 'em down to ham 2 meter. You can mix business band, public safety, and amateur all in one radio. The R split UHF models cover 430 to 470 so once again, you can mix business, public safety and amateur, and no hacking required.

They're all over the place now and usually dozens available on Ebay at any given time.

Yup, there's a bit of learning curve to programming them, but once you get into it, you will not regret it.
 

PACNWDude

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+1 on the CDM series. I use several CDM1550's for this.

An Icom IC-2100H is the most used radio for me on 2M though. It has front panel access to settings I may want to adjust.

For Motorola radios though, the CDM series will hold up well in a mobile environment. They can also take some spills and scrapes in a car and still keep working. My Icom mic broke after a couple of scrapes and the front of the radio is a lot worse for wear than the Motorola radios. They are all about the same age.

You are limited to green backlight on the Motorola, but can change the brightness for night operation.
 

k9wkj

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i have a liking for my 110 watt astro spectra W9
it really does have its limitations as opposed to a ham 2m rig
but for the traveling i do (pretty close to home) the 255 channels handles the repeaters,simplex,public serv stuff i need very well
and i love the W9 control head

but now im messing with Midland 320 channel Titans and 320 channel Syn-tech II rigs
they are fun as well
 

902

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i have a liking for my 110 watt astro spectra W9
it really does have its limitations as opposed to a ham 2m rig
but for the traveling i do (pretty close to home) the 255 channels handles the repeaters,simplex,public serv stuff i need very well
and i love the W9 control head
I had a bunch of W4 radios when I was doing public safety communications in the Midwest, but I can't remember what I did with these for 2 meters, or if I even tried (I had an XTL2500 in my vehicle). What is the lowest frequency yours goes down to? Does it cover the entire band from 144 up, and will it cover 136 - 174? I can't remember anymore.
 

N4KVE

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The Spectra's, & Astro Spectra's are excellent radios, but EVERY one of them was built with about 7 cancerous caps that WILL leak all over the circuitry & ruin the circuit traces. So unless you can replace the caps yourself, or are willing to send the radio to someone to replace the caps [like Will] or know the radio has had the caps replaced by a competent tech, they should be avoided. Even 15 year old new in the box radios will have the caps fail. No other Motorola radio had this problem. That's why I suggested the MCS2000.
 

902

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I had no issues putting XTL's on 2 meters. I know I had repeaters with 144.xxx inputs in it.
Neither did I. But have you put a 145.XX -600 split into an Astro Spectra? I can't remember if I ever did that, and most of the literature reads 146 as the bottom edge.
 

mmckenna

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Not an Astro Spectra, but a plain old Spectra. Pretty sure it was with the shift key method, but I could be wrong. I know I put a 145.45 -600 repeater in it.
 

902

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Oh, cool, thank you! My repeater is about 200 kHz lower. I did recently reprogram an X9000 for 2 meters - and it works fine on the bench - but it's been difficult scrounging an extra control cable.
 

k9wkj

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What is the lowest frequency yours goes down to? Does it cover the entire band from 144 up, and will it cover 136 - 174?

mine is a KLH astro so its supposed to run 146-178mhz
but i just programmed what i wanted and the software didnt mind at all
i dont remember if i tried it below 144mhz or not, but it does work fine on even the low end freq repeaters
i just need to figure out the mic audio settings, some of the locals think it should be louder
 

mass-man

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Thanks for the insight. I've had my share of KW/Icom/Yaesu/Alinco/Azden/KDK etc. thru the years. Moving to my retirement spot and while the Moto stuff shines in the city with lots of intermod, I am thinking the improved receiver might be nice for some simplex work...the higher power transmitter, ditto. As well at this point, I can afford a Moto, so why not. I kinda want to try my hand at programming...
 

mmckenna

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Thanks for the insight. I've had my share of KW/Icom/Yaesu/Alinco/Azden/KDK etc. thru the years. Moving to my retirement spot and while the Moto stuff shines in the city with lots of intermod, I am thinking the improved receiver might be nice for some simplex work...the higher power transmitter, ditto. As well at this point, I can afford a Moto, so why not. I kinda want to try my hand at programming...

I kind of got hooked on the commercial stuff, to the point I've sold all my amateur only radios.

While the points about lack of VFO, scan limitations, etc. are all valid, for the way I use a radio on the amateur service, none of this was a drawback.
I've found over the years that I usually stick to a single 2 meter simple frequency for friend/family use. Throw in 146.52 for giggles and maybe another freq.
Add in a few of the local repeaters and I'm happy with most of it.
For my CDM-750 base I have 146.415, our "family" channel. I put in 146.430 as a secondary. 146.52 for calling (rarely used) and the one local repeater that hops over the hill to where some of my family lives.
Didn't have a need for anything else.
Really nice thing about commercial radios is that the "hang up box" function can be useful for a base radio you leave on all the time. The 146.415 "family" channel we use is set up with a PL tone on the base receiver. That way I rarely hear anything else. Taking the mic off hook reverts it back to carrier squelch on the RX side. Keeps extraneous noise down.

For the mobiles, I went with the CDM-1250 and CDM-1550 to get the additional channels. It doesn't take much room to put in all the standard simplex channels using standard steps (listed in the ARRL repeater book), although it's true that not all amateurs honor these standard steps.
That left lots of room for repeaters. I'm not big into using repeaters, so I just put in a lot of the higher level systems for emergency use.

Plus, since I "do radio" for a living, it's entirely legal for me to put my work Part 90 frequencies in there.

Standard amateur radios with VFO's are useful, but don't discount these newer commercial radios
 
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