Ham radio with 2 tone

[firebell9137]

Hi guys. Is there a ham radio besides the Anytone radios that does 2 tone decode so i can monitor my local fire depts? Im taking my ham exam April 2nd. The Anytones kept false alerting unfortunately. Any help and /or suggestions would be great. Thanks

 

[wa8pyr]

Hi guys. Is there a ham radio besides the Anytone radios that does 2 tone decode so i can monitor my local fire depts? Im taking my ham exam April 2nd. The Anytones kept false alerting unfortunately. Any help and /or suggestions would be great. Thanks

To the best of my knowledge, no. Two-tone decode (and encode) just isn't something that the ham manufacturers ever thought worth including; this is unfortunate, as two-tone is a really handy way to alert ARES and Skywarn personnel that something is happening.

Anytone radios are reworked commercial rigs, which is why they have all sorts of features that are rarely if ever used in the ham world.

 

[firebell9137]

To the best of my knowledge, no. Two-tone decode (and encode) just isn't something that the ham manufacturers ever thought worth including; this is unfortunate, as two-tone is a really handy way to alert ARES and Skywarn personnel that something is happening.

Anytone radios are reworked commercial rigs, which is why they have all sorts of features that are rarely if ever used in the ham world.

Ok. Darn. Is there somewhere i can purchase the older Anytones 3318?

 

[mmckenna]

Ok. Darn. Is there somewhere i can purchase the older Anytones 3318?

Keep in mind that using commercial (Part 90) radios on amateur frequencies is totally legal, many of us do it.

-YES, you won't have VFO.
-YES, in some cases you will not have the ability to program on the fly.
—but--
you'll have access to a lot of nice functions that ham radios -don't- have, like two tone, better receivers, louder audio, better accessories, etc.

If you really need to have two tone, there are some excellent options that will make for nice ham radios with the commercial functions.

 

[firebell9137]

Keep in mind that using commercial (Part 90) radios on amateur frequencies is totally legal, many of us do it.

-YES, you won't have VFO.
-YES, in some cases you will not have the ability to program on the fly.
—but--
you'll have access to a lot of nice functions that ham radios -don't- have, like two tone, better receivers, louder audio, better accessories, etc.

If you really need to have two tone, there are some excellent options that will make for nice ham radios with the commercial functions.

Ok thanks. Are there any commercial dual band (uhf/vhf) radios?

 

[tweiss3]

Ok thanks. Are there any commercial dual band (uhf/vhf) radios?

Dual band will cost you a ton of money, as the only one out right now is the Motorola APX, and Kenwood will be releasing one soon. Best bet is to buy two, 1 vhf, 1 uhf.

 

[mmckenna]

Ok thanks. Are there any commercial dual band (uhf/vhf) radios?

Yeah, as @tweiss3 said, there's not a lot of affordable options for dual/multiband radios. Used, you are looking at the >$1000 range. New, take out a second mortgage.

Separate radios are an option that may work. You can purchase something like a used Kenwood TK-2180(vhf) and/or TK-3180 pretty inexpensively ($100 used).

Dual band, if an absolute requirement, pretty much locks you into the low end Chinese stuff, or the high end commercial gear.