skat1k
Newbie
Cool, thank you for reply, will monitor that repeaters more carefully. 73!
1.25 meters.. is there anyone out there?
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k6cpo
Member
It's a Catch-22... There aren't a lot of people on 220 because there aren't many capable radios out there. And there aren't a lot of 220 capable radios out there because there aren't a lot of people on the band.
By chance, since I posted about the unused repeaters in my area,,... One of my friends dusted his off and put it in service. 
He's testing it on a 30 foot tower right now, but he has a lot of pull with a cell phone company and plans to install it on one of their towers next to his 2 meter repeater.
He's testing it on a 30 foot tower right now, but he has a lot of pull with a cell phone company and plans to install it on one of their towers next to his 2 meter repeater.
I honestly have a hard time thinking of a repeater in my area that doesn't use 220 as a linking frequency of some kind ,there are 220 radios produced and rather inexpensively as well as repeater kits. My handheld does 220 at 5 watts and will dstar there, it's been a good 20 years since anyone manufactured a nice tri band mobile ,we are hopefull that Kenwood will they also made the last 220 mobile i had, back then a stack of hardware was in the trunk with the control head only controling 2 modules at the same time i believe it was quad band if you had all the modules.220 is a nice band I would love to see it become more widely used as something other than a private frequency at ham fests when 2 /70 are wall to wall conversations .
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Golay
Member
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It's Net Time
If there's a 220 machine near you, but it's drier than last year's birds nest, start a weekly net.
Within a couple months, the word will get out, those who have 220 will dust off the rig, and I think you'll start getting a couple dozen check in's each week. Which in turn will cause activity during the rest of the week.
If there's a 220 machine near you, but it's drier than last year's birds nest, start a weekly net.
Within a couple months, the word will get out, those who have 220 will dust off the rig, and I think you'll start getting a couple dozen check in's each week. Which in turn will cause activity during the rest of the week.
Bridgecom sells a very nice little 70cm HT for $75, as well as a 70cm mobile radio... AND an extremely nice 70cm repeater.
TYT offers a very nice 70cm mobile radio, as do a number of other Chinese manufacturers.
What does 70cm have to do with 222 mhz???
My stupid fingers typed 70cm when I meant to type 1.25m...
I'm glad I'm not the only one with that problem.
My stupid fingers typed 70cm when I meant to type 1.25m...
I knew what you meant because I have that radio. It's also available in 70cm and I think, 2M. It's a tough little radio and certainly worth the price.
I've certainly been pleased with mine. Unfortunately, I seem to be a party of one on the local 222 repeater. Heck, even the owner of the repeater doesn't use it!
Well, to be fair he doesn't really use his 2m or 70cm DMR repeaters either... :roll:
He manages a commercial tower and has his receive antennas at 520' and his transmit antennas at 485'. The coverage footprint is tremendous! :lol:
bill4long
Member
TYT-9000 220mhz mobile $130. Wouxon 2/220 HT $99. (I have one.) And there are others. The Alinco 235 mobile is decent. (I have one.) Price and availability aren't really an excuse at this point. The fact is, in most areas, 2 meter and 440 are not saturated and there's no real reason to use 220.
The general repeater density in the San Francisco Bay Area (where I reside) is pretty high. While some of the 220 repeaters are stand-alone, some are networked to 2M and 70cm as well so there is still considerable traffic. Even though some might consider it cheating, it's still an opportunity to fire up the 220 radio.
That price is about what I paid for my TYT9000. Getting to use it is the fun part. Though rare, I've even made a few simplex contacts. It usually starts as a repeater contact and then a move over to simplex. To me, the simplex contacts are a little more rewarding.
I know that there would be more repeaters on 220 if there was more commercial grade gear that could be moved there. I have converted 2 Micor rx's and a repeater tx. It wasn't really all that hard-worst part was the helicals in the front end-you need a BIG soldering gun. But now the issue is more getting xtals. International was *the* place to go, but they're out of it. Bomar is back in it again, and there are a couple of others, but they are all much more expensive than they used to be.
I've heard mixed comments about the Bridgecom. Some love it, some have had issues with trash on rx.
It does seem to be a vicious circle-there's isn't more activity because there isn't a lot of radios, and there isn't a lot of radios because there isn't much activity...
chl
I've heard mixed comments about the Bridgecom. Some love it, some have had issues with trash on rx.
It does seem to be a vicious circle-there's isn't more activity because there isn't a lot of radios, and there isn't a lot of radios because there isn't much activity...
chl
bill4long
Member
I had a TYT 9000 (220) before I got the Alinco. It worked fine, but those radios are dicey when it comes to how long they last before the CPU "bricks up" and there's no way to get them repaired. I've had two of the 440mhz TYT 9000s as well. Same deal. Both died within a few weeks pf each other using them as a repeater for a few years. I've switched to Alincos. (Yeah, I should use Motorolas or something else, but I got a deal and I hate to program Motorolas.) For a mobile radio for 220, I would get the Alinco (or a JetStream if they still make them.) I think the Bridgecoms are just repackaged TYT 9000s with a better warrantee and a higher price. The AnyTones are TYT radios as well on the inside.
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bill4long
Member
I don't think there is a circle at all. There are plenty of cheapish radios out there for 220. The demand simply isn't high in most areas.
I've never heard of that. I've had my radio for a few years and haven't had any trouble with it so far. Although, I don't use it as often as I do my other radios. Maybe a bad batch that you had the misfortune of drawing from? Just guessing. Do you or did you reprogram them frequently? I've heard that some Wouxun radios had memory chips that would eventually fail from too many rewrites. Maybe something similar?
bill4long
Member
No. Very little programming done to them. I've talked to several people on IRLP and Allstar who have had the same problem with them. They all switch to Alinco or something else like GM-300 or Raspberry PIs. Maybe they have cleaned up their quality control, but I'm reluctant to waste my time with them again. But they are cheaply priced at $130.
The Alinco finals run a lot cooler. I use fans on the transmitters since I use them full duly, but I could never run the TYT more than 5 watts even with 4x4 fans without them getting too hot for my comfort level. But, hey, I was using them as a full duty repeater (which shouldn't matter for the receiver unit.) When the TYTs bricked up, the display shows garbage and nothing could be done to reset the radios.- Status
