Recommend a dual/band with easy extended transmit mod

[Reflex439]

You do NOT "clip a wire" to get extended TX capabilities on a Kenwood V71A.

I hope you are a gambling man On my V71A, if I clip the green wire W601 just under the VGS-1 board, I can then transmit from 142 to 151.995, as well as from 420-449.995. Sounds extended to me :wink: I can also remove a resistor and extend that even further if desired (136-174 and 400-470).

Ok, multiple recommendations for just getting a Part 90 radio. Thats an option I would entertain. Any recommendations that are functionally equivalent to the Kenwood V71A?

I dumped all my Yaesu and Icom gear and standardized on the Kenwood V71A for its functions and ease of use. But I’m willing to swap those out for Part 90 radios if I keep all the same functionality (wide receive, dual band/dual receive, cross band repeat, scanning, memory banks, remote head, etc), and easy programming directly at the radio without a computer required for fast field programming.

I’m not familiar enough with Part 90 radios to know if there is a V71a equivalent offering. I just haven’t browsed the offerings.

Photo of the V71a mod jumper wire (about a third of the way down from the top on the left)

 

[Reflex439]

BTW, I had to look up TEOTWAWKI. Good acroynm! I'll remember that one.

 

[bill4long]

What I said is true, the others have an agenda. Period.

Chi-com radios. No hardware mod required.

Most other radios, clip a diode or two.

There you go.

 

[jonwienke]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EG7EAKI/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl

 

[RadioDaze]

The mod isn’t for illegal use

Unless you actually "use" it. Then it's illegal per se.

 

[N4KVE]

The Alinco DR 638 does it all, right out of the box. Full TX/RX coverage, no mod required, & part 90 approved. There's the radio the OP wants, & 100% legal on commercial freq's. And Alinco has been selling radios in the US for a long time with US warranty service available. No need to order a no name radio from China with no US service, crossing your fingers & hope it works. I chose to install 2 XTL5000's in my car to do it right, but the OP wants a dual bander.
Alinco DR-638T, Alinco DR638 Transceiver

 

[jonwienke]

The radio I linked is a US seller on Amazon with 100% positive ratings. 2-day Prime shipping if you're a member.

 

[N4KVE]

The radio I linked is a US seller on Amazon with 100% positive ratings. 2-day Prime shipping if you're a member.

And can the radio actually be repaired in the USA should there be a problem, or is the best a buyer can hope for is a refund from Amazon? Too many con's vs pro's in the customer review section for that radio.

Pros:
- Unit seems well built. The body is heavy and feels VERY solid.
- Nice sticky suction cup to remote mount the head.
- The mic design is much better than the UV2501 (which placed the mic element deep in the mic case making the audio horrible)
- You can plug in the mic to the head OR the body. Great design choice.
- Compatible with Yaesu microphones
- Easily programmed with Chirp
- Speakers in both the head and the body.
- Big easy to read display
- Supposed APRS module to be released

For as much as I would like to love this radio, it has some glaring issues.

Cons:
- Volume knob is clearly digital and has larger steps than I'd like. You have to turn it about halfway up to hear anything.
- How the volume of the dual head speakers are managed when monitoring two channels is not ideal. Many times the audio drops too low when the other band is received.
- Signal reports have the audio lower than other radios, even with mic gain setting at max.
- The frequency adjustment knob is very slow to react and sometimes gets electronically stuck. You cannot scroll quickly through memory channels, there is too much lag.. Then when you stop turning the knob, sometimes it just keeps going. It's like channel roulette.
- Unable to turn off busy channel lockout. If there is a signal coming in, you can't transmit until the carrier is dropped. So you can't sneak your call into an ongoing conversation if the repeater has long hang time and the people in the conversation aren't letting the repeater drop.

I am hoping that they will be release a firmware update that can address many of these issues. I think the unit seems pretty well built, it's just a shame it's plagued with poor firmware.

 

[Reflex439]

All good suggestions…

I need to peruse the Part 90 offerings some of these vendors. I’ve looked at Alnico, but more for their HF offerings. Casually looking at the VHF/UHF mobiles in the past, I never looked deep enough to see which were full TX/RC coverage, making a bad assumption there were typical amateur offerings.

I may just got the dual radio route, keep the Kenwood for daily comms, and install an in-expensive Part 90 dual band with only basic features. Since it won’t be in daily use, most advanced features won’t be needed. Just basic features and programming from the radio.

Thanks to all for the help. Without re-direction, I may have lived with a kludgy setup on the V71A that was less than ideal. A fun exercise either way as I learned a few things along the journey.

Thanks again.

 

[N4KVE]

I don't know about the VHF Kenwood TK780, but at the ham fest last week, a vendor had boxes of Kenwood TK880 UHF mobiles for $25 each. They are great radios, & part 90 approved. I own 2 of them, & they work well, but they are made for commercial use. "Where is the next delivery"? "What's my next stop"? They got hot quickly if used in long winded ham discussions, so I have a small fan blowing on the heat sink.

 

[Reflex439]

I don't know about the VHF Kenwood TK780, but at the ham.

I checked eBay and there are a few available for short money. Good possibility. If I got one as a secondary radio, It would be a very short duty cycle, powering it on every so often to make sure it works, but would be sitting idle 99.9% of the time. So this could be a good application for it. I'll have to see how easy it is for field programming.

Thanks.

 

[Delta33]

The Tk805 is also Part 90 and a great choice although only 16 channels.

 

[N4GIX]

I'll have to see how easy it is for field programming.

I've only been able to run the DOS based software on an ancient machine running Win95 using a USB/serial cable.

 

[Reflex439]

I've only been able to run the DOS based software on an ancient machine running Win95 using a USB/serial cable.

No field programming at the radio? If I got one as a second radio, not replacing my V71A, I would only need to program a few frequencies just prior to use, which will not be often at all. Requiring computer/software for that would not work for me.

 

[N4GIX]

No field programming at the radio? If I got one as a second radio, not replacing my V71A, I would only need to program a few frequencies just prior to use, which will not be often at all. Requiring computer/software for that would not work for me.

No certificated commercial radio is allowed to be front panel programmable... :wink:

 

[N4KVE]

I use Windows for programming my TK-880. DOS is required for the older TK-840. The TK-805 is programmable w/o a laptop. Google it up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4ywIXZWs20

 

[jonwienke]

I thought one criteria was that the radio be dual-band???

 

[N4KVE]

And that's why I suggested the DR-638 to the OP, but then he thought maybe he would use single band part 90 radios instead.

I may just got the dual radio route

.

 

[cmdrwill]

And that's why I suggested the DR-638 to the OP,

Alinco in California has been great to us repairing several radios. Fair and honest service.

 

[Delta33]

I use Windows for programming my TK-880. DOS is required for the older TK-840. The TK-805 is programmable w/o a laptop. Google it up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4ywIXZWs20

ARE MY POSTS invisible?? I just SAID that.