advice please

[JMD]

Good day people

I just passed my test and have been granted full privileges up here in Ontario Canada and I’m currently looking at getting a radio, just a dual or quad band unit. I can use my Fathers base for HF.

I was thinking of just a little VX-7R handheld to start with but my God these are expensive lol, I’m talking about 525 Canadian dollars with tax.

I do a lot of driving in my car and in a transport (local Ontario) so I was looking at something portable. Something I can take from the car to the truck and back.

I have moved back with the parents temporarily (long story lol) so I do have access to a 2 m antenna on a 30 foot tower. I was thinking of plugging the VX-7R into the 2 meter antenna when I get home.

I have lots of repeaters in my area including one that’s 4 miles away that could get me around the world

I was also thinking of a FT 7800 OR 8800 instead of the handheld

I could use that in the house also, I assume you can get an adaptor for home power and hook it up the two meter also. It would also be good in the car, but I would not use it in the trucks, no place to put the antenna.

I have about 600 dollars I want to dedicate to this new hobby; I don’t want to get into spending major dollars right off the bat.

Sorry for the long story but I could use some advice from the pro’s out there as to how I could get the most bang for the buck.

PS: I believe in buying quality

 

[motomeso]

If you plan on talking mostly from the vehicle then I would suggest buying a mobile radio, HT's even with external antennas don't perform nearly as well as a mobile radio and get quite hot after long QSO's, are hard to operate while driving and hard to hear in a noisy environment. With $600 you could probably pick up a decent used HT and mobile rig and have the best of both worlds. What part of the province do you live in?

 

[JMD]

Thanks ve3nsv

I live about 30 miles north of Toronto


I was actually contemplating an IC-208 H (Dual band) (quad bands are to expensive) Radio World has a new one for $379, I figure I slap on a Larsen mag mount for 100 dollars and I’l good to go.

That’s only 30 dollars more that the handheld

VX 7R at Durham radio is 450 dollars with out tax. Add 15% and were looking at 515 or more. If I want a quad antenna for the car were talking at least 100 dollars more.

Also I see a Yaesu FT-7800 for $349

I could hook either one up to the 2 meter antenna and play around on 2 meters

 

[mrweather]

Funny the HT vs mobile thing has come up.

We had a SET last weekend and some of those involved were using HT's with tower-mounted antennas. They were complaining of all kinds of interference on our 2m simplex frequencies.

In a nutshell: HT's work well for the antenna they're supplied with. But unless it's got an attenuator it's intermod city!

Also, IMHO having an HT with 6m is kind of pointless. The supplied antenna is pretty poor and most of the activity on 6 is SSB, not FM.

If you spend a lot of time in a vehicle I'd highly suggest getting a mobile rig. They sound better. They talk farther. They're designed for that type of environment.

The FT-7800 is a fine, entry-level dual-band rig (I own one). The FT-8800 offers a few more options (like crossband repeat) but is substantially more money. The FT-8900 is a top-of-the-line unit that offers even more bands (I own one of those too).

If your heart is set on an handheld have you considered the FT-60R? It's quite a bit cheaper than the VX-7R people I know who have one really like it.