6M Portables

[NJRadioRF]

Are there any 6 m handheld portable radios out there? I don't mean a dual or tri or quad band radio, but just a dedicated 6 m handheld.

 

[spongella]

New not sure. Old, yes, sorta' - Icom produced the "bookshelf" Icom 502A 6m portable but it was SSB/CW only. Had one, but was not exactly a handheld, more like strap over the shoulder, hihi. I know this doesn't help much but didn't want you feeling that no one was listening hihi.

 

[tweiss3]

Wouxon makes a 2m/6m HT, but that's the only current production HT that has 6m. I like my ancient VX-7R, but they aren't easy to come across anymore.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

For FM. Motorola made a bunch. You just need to make sure it is the correct band split.

 

[AF1UD]

Little off topic, but why aren't they more popular? Does it have something to do with the unreliable propagation? Or something else?

 

[tweiss3]

Little off topic, but why aren't they more popular? Does it have something to do with the unreliable propagation? Or something else?

That really is the question. It's definitely under-utilized. I suspect it has to do with small splits and the size of duplexers needed to get a repeater to properly operate, but that's only a small part of 6m. Too bad all the current production commercial equipment has hard stops to keep it out of 6m.

 

[mmckenna]

Inefficient antenna, inefficient ground plane/counterpoise. High noise floor, finicky propagation.

Kenwood TK-190, Motorola HT-750 were the most recent ones, and those are pretty old.
Can't remember the last purely ham 6 meter only radio. I'm thinking it was Azden, I know they had a mobile, but I can't recall if there was a portable that went with it.

 

[K6GBW]

I used to play with 6 meters a lot. I still have a Motorola HT1250 Low Band and I can tell you this, 6 meter requires a BIG antenna to work right. The range of a 6 meter HT is pathetic. The physics are such that at VHF High band you can make an HT work fairly well using the human body as a ground plane. At UHF it works even better. But start going down in frequency from that and it just doesn't work well without using something like a vehicle as a ground plane.

 

[DeeEx]

I had a Cherokee, I think the model was AH50, and honestly it was excellent.

I also had a Pryme PR52, I think. Proprietary batteries and a very wonky programmer were their downfall. It was not the form factor of the later and somewhat-common ADI single-band HTs.

 

[vagrant]

I have that Wouxon KG-UV5D 2/6 meter handheld. I have tried various antennas and the best was a single band 6m telescopic. No surprise there. Alternatively, for dual band the Yaesu YHA-63 (supplied with the 817) was the next best and least likely to break. I also tried the Diamond antenna options and they were not even close. I use the Yaesu mostly and the telescopic when stationary.

Every so often at a local hamfest I will have my Wouxon and another guy has that Cherokee AH50, which is a dedicated 6 meter handheld. We give one of the local repeaters a blast and get some questions from other amateurs looking at the new and old radios.

The two main problems were already pointed out, lack of repeaters and inefficient "handheld" antennas. I am fortunate in my location as there are two 6m repeaters that are around 3500' above the valley floor. Even then, with the Yaesu antenna it struggles. I have not tried the simplex range using two of these KG-UV5D radios and Yaesu antennas. I would not expect much.

* I did test using a counterpoise for six meters on the handheld, which is ridiculous, but testing is fun. It did help both TX/RX, but having around 5' of wire hanging is not practical.

 

[NJRadioRF]

I used to play with 6 meters a lot. I still have a Motorola HT1250 Low Band and I can tell you this, 6 meter requires a BIG antenna to work right. The range of a 6 meter HT is pathetic. The physics are such that at VHF High band you can make an HT work fairly well using the human body as a ground plane. At UHF it works even better. But start going down in frequency from that and it just doesn't work well without using something like a vehicle as a ground plane.

I forgot that the HT1250 came in a low band. Thank you! I will start my search. Maybe used-radios.com? I will pass on the Chinese Wouxun!

 

[NJRadioRF]

New not sure. Old, yes, sorta' - Icom produced the "bookshelf" Icom 502A 6m portable but it was SSB/CW only. Had one, but was not exactly a handheld, more like strap over the shoulder, hihi. I know this doesn't help much but didn't want you feeling that no one was listening hihi.

Ummmmm, being the dope that I am I forgot to ask my brother of he wanted and FM or AM/SSB portable. Thank you for pointing out my stupidity. I should have asked before posting.

I will say that I just found an Icom 502A 6m portable on eBay and it looks BAD! I might buy it!

 

[merlin]

Last such animal I have seen is the one I designed the receiver for at Wilson Electronics.

 

[merlin]

I think the Collins PRC-152 covered 6 meters.

 

[NJRadioRF]

Last such animal I have seen is the one I designed the receiver for at Wilson Electronics.

I absolutely LOVE old, vintage radios. Maybe more than women! Wait, maybe not, but close.

 

[DeoVindice]

I think the Collins PRC-152 covered 6 meters.

Most of the military portables do. The Harris and Thales 30-88MHz folding whips perform fairly well, light-years ahead of the helical LMR-style low band antennas.

 

[RichardKramer]

I still have my Pryme52; loaded it up years ago with 46/49MHz cordless phone freqs; switced them out for milcom freqs.

 

[alcahuete]

I'm thinking it was Azden, I know they had a mobile, but I can't recall if there was a portable that went with it.

They did indeed make a 6m handheld radio.

 

[mmckenna]

They did indeed make a 6m handheld radio.

I checked, there is one on eBay right now.

 

[alcahuete]

I checked, there is one on eBay right now.

Yep!! That's the model right there. $199....holy smokes.