Motorola radio for use has ham

[claytonwright]

Motorola radio for use as ham

I was wondering if there is any good vhf Motorola handhelds that would be good to use as a ham radio on 2 meter. I also would like to be able to program it without the computer. I've seen the GP-380 and like that but is there anything wrong with that radio? This radio is intended to be used as ham only but I would also like to program my dispatch center into as non transmit. Nothing to expensive, 200 is my limit. Thanks.

 

[cifn2]

I was wondering if there is any good vhf Motorola handhelds that would be good to use as a ham radio on 2 meter. I also would like to be able to program it without the computer. I've seen the GP-380 and like that but is there anything wrong with that radio? This radio is intended to be used as ham only but I would also like to program my dispatch center into as non transmit. Nothing to expensive, 200 is my limit. Thanks.

Motorola radios are generally only programmed by software/computer, and their stuff is not always available to the public. I have a Kenwood portable which does the job, it is a 200+ channel portable not programmable from the radio, but the cable and software are affordable, although the radio is higher.

The thing with buying a commercial radio is this, the radio is type accepted for those frequencies close to the 2 Meter ham bands, thus making it legal to transmit on them, if you have the need to, if you are affiliated with an agency, or group which has frequencies licensed in that area. These fit both the need/want to ham it up, and conduct business. When compared to ham radios which can be modified illegally to transmit on the public safety bands they are not type certified and thus you risk losing your amateur license if you are caught. It is in my opinion better to spend the extra money for a higher quality commercial grade radio, that will transmit on the VHF band and 2 Meter, than to have to carry 2 radios.

 

[bezking]

ALL Current-Production Motorola CPS is publicly available, you can even download it from Motorola's secure website. Just get ready to pay out the rear for the software, though.

Current Motorola VHF radios are usable from 136-147 mHz, putting the 2m band right in the middle of the usable range. Moto radios run great on the ham bands, I use an HT1250 on the 440 band.

Forget the GP-series, you need Euro software to program those and Motorola doesn't sell that in the USA. You say you want to spend under $200, but we need more info.... Do you want a display and/or keypad? P25 Digital?

 

[b7spectra]

Just remember, you can use commercial radio on amateur radio, but you can't use amateur radio on commercial radio. Someone give me a DOH!

 

[claytonwright]

Well I would like the radio to have a screen but what's the use of the keyboard if I can't field program it?

 

[mm]

In your price range($200) and front programmable, the Motorola GP68 is probably the only option.

M

 

[N2JDS]

MOTOROLA JT1000 VHF mts2000 ht1000 mt2000 xts mtx ht750 - eBay (item 220638814882 end time Jul-23-10 23:34:25 PDT)

 

[W2NJS]

Not all Motorola "GP" portables are European. The GP300 and GP350 are/were made for the American market.

The GP68 is a good radio for ham use. It is Front Panel Programmable (FPP) although figuring out how to use the programming is something of a chore, and the display only shows the frequency and you can't change it to an alpha readout, such as, "W2XXX RPTR." However, Motorola maintains that the GP68 was never intended for the American market so they refuse to service them here.

A good, current, FPP Motorola portable, such as the XTS5000 will cost you almost $1,000, and then you'll have to buy the software and the programming cable.

All in all, based on your description of your needs, a good ham 2M HT would do everything you want to do at a pretty reasonable price, certainly under $200 these days.

 

[zz0468]

Just remember, you can use commercial radio on amateur radio, but you can't use amateur radio on commercial radio. Someone give me a DOH!

Well, that was a very SAP-like post.

 

[b7spectra]

That is why I said "give me a Doh!"

 

[RodStrong]

I would consider a Radius CP50 given your situation.

 

[990adv]

Why?

I do not ask this question to be antagonistic, merely to understand what are the advantages of using a Motorola radio for amateur use. Does it only make sense if the primary use for the radio is public service and you also happen to be a Ham?

Thanks

 

[W4KRR]

You could go with the old MT1000. They're cheap and plentiful on eBay, along with batteries and chargers. No, they aren't FPP, but you can get them in a 99 channel version, which would allow you to program in probably every repeater local to you, as well as those in surrounding areas, as well as many simplex channels. It would lessen or eliminate the need for FPP. Just a thought for a low cost option.

 

[N3KGD]

WHen I was using Commercial Grade Equipment for use in both amateur radio and law enforcement, I found that the Saber II and III's did the job like no other. If you get an 8K Saber, you can have a radio with 128 Channels split into 10 Zones of 12 Channels. Features include scanning, DTMF Encode (for repeater commands, autopatch, etc...), plus some other goodies.

Of course, like most commercial grade equipment, it needs to be programmed via computer. You can enter a lot of frequencies into 128 channels - repeaters, simplex, regional and out of town frequencies too, plus monitor any agencies in your area on VHF.

Just remember, if you are programming these radios, you need to boot up into DOS or have a DOS OS installed. No using command prompt. Furthermore, you need to program these with a slow computer. Today's computer processors are way to fast to handle the read/write of the radio and if attempted, you'll end up "bricking" the radio. I've seen this happen too many times.

You'll need a programming cable and radio interface box along with the RSS Software.

The Saber was a good radio for me for Ham radio use.


Good luck in your search!

 

[N3KGD]

I do not ask this question to be antagonistic, merely to understand what are the advantages of using a Motorola radio for amateur use. Does it only make sense if the primary use for the radio is public service and you also happen to be a Ham?

Thanks

Several factors can answer this question. One would be for reliability and ruggedness. Amateur HTs don't have the quality that commercial grade HTs have. Furthermore, the ability to use it on multiple services because commercial grade equipment is type accepted.

For example: I can't take my Ham radio HT and transmit it on my Police channels. I could, but it would be in violation of FCC rules because that radio is only type accepted for ham radio, no other services. Whereas, a commercial grade HT is type accepted in multiple services, so I can use my Motorola HT with my police channels along with HAM radio. This eliminates having to carry two radios.

That's just to name a few.

 

[990adv]

Ok, I can see if a person is a policeman, fireman, medic, etc and also a ham the idea of only having one radio. This makes sense.

If a person is not a public service official does it continue to make sense? All the motorola radios I have seen are built rugged but at what price? I have been a Ham since the early 90s. Have had many HTs over the years. Currently I have both an Icom IC-92ad and a Yaesu VX-8DR. In the past I have been very careful with the radios. Not anymore. My current radios get the snot beat out of them and just keep on working.

Once again I am not trying to start trouble, I think the Motorola radios are really cool. Are their performance based reasons to have one for Ham use only? Guess I am just looking for you guys to give me a good reason to buy one! Ha Ha. Just point me in the correct direction for a nice HT that can be used on 2m 70cm that will also allow me to listen to the digital system in Champaign county IL as well as the ISP and I will be buying one. As it is I need one of my HTs and a handheld scanner to do this.

Thanks guys.

 

[n5usr]

I've always been tempted to go Motorola because the receivers are so much better than ham rigs. Especially now that YaeComWood all see fit to open the front end wide as a barn door so we can receive almost DC-daylight with a dual-band rig. (Think there may be a couple 2M-only rigs that don't do that.) Take one of those into a high-RF area (downtown most large cities, for example) and it's intermod hell. A good commercial rig is far less susceptible. And they can be much more sensitive as well.

They are also usually available in "just a radio" configurations. Ham rigs are starting to get like cell phones - heaps of miscellaneous features thrown in attempting to differentiate themselves from the others. Don't want or need!

The difficulty getting the things programmed has always been my issue. But I was just given a couple of mobile rigs, so I guess I'll see what I can do to get them programmed! (40W VHF Spectra and 100W UHF MaraTrac!) For freebies, if I have to take them somewhere then I can deal with it (depending on cost) but if I were to shell out for the radio, I definitely want to be able to have the software here at home! Seems like I always want to do some reconfiguring on Sunday or late at night...

 

[K2KOH]

Ok, I can see if a person is a policeman, fireman, medic, etc and also a ham the idea of only having one radio. This makes sense.

If a person is not a public service official does it continue to make sense? All the motorola radios I have seen are built rugged but at what price? I have been a Ham since the early 90s. Have had many HTs over the years. Currently I have both an Icom IC-92ad and a Yaesu VX-8DR. In the past I have been very careful with the radios. Not anymore. My current radios get the snot beat out of them and just keep on working.

Once again I am not trying to start trouble, I think the Motorola radios are really cool. Are their performance based reasons to have one for Ham use only? Guess I am just looking for you guys to give me a good reason to buy one! Ha Ha. Just point me in the correct direction for a nice HT that can be used on 2m 70cm that will also allow me to listen to the digital system in Champaign county IL as well as the ISP and I will be buying one. As it is I need one of my HTs and a handheld scanner to do this.

Thanks guys.

For listening to trunked systems, buy a scanner. Using a Motorola radio on a trunking system is HIGHLY discouraged, as the radio will try to affiliate with the system. In addition, you need a system key which ONLY the agency has. Since you live in Illinois, a nice XTS3000 will work quite well on a P25 ham repeater. As another poster stated, they do make a difference. I own a Kenwood THF6A, but I also own 2 XTS3000 and 2 MTS2000 radios.

 

[claytonwright]

Programming in the field would be nice, but I guess I could do without since I know someone who does emergency equipment installation and has the software. Now I was really looking at the GP360. Does anyone have this radio and is it good for ham? Also would I be able to program this radio on my local police bands?

 

[chrismol1]

GP360? If your really stuck on getting a GP360, get an HT1250
GP360 needs European software, and this being the USA, isn't exactly easily available