Does anybody make a QUALITY dual band radio anymore?

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lmrtek

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These days, it seems every radio has become a scanner that happens to transmit

Ever since these radios had the ability to operate
outside where they are legally allowed, modern radios have been plagued with intermod and desense

The last decent receiver section I can remember was made in the 80s

I think if just ONE manufacturer started producing a QUALITY radio that was immune to desense and intermod, it would likely sell like hot cakes

Any thoughts?
 

Kb2Jpd

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These days, it seems every radio has become a scanner that happens to transmit



Ever since these radios had the ability to operate

outside where they are legally allowed, modern radios have been plagued with intermod and desense



The last decent receiver section I can remember was made in the 80s



I think if just ONE manufacturer started producing a QUALITY radio that was immune to desense and intermod, it would likely sell like hot cakes



Any thoughts?



Hi from Adam Kb2Jpd.

Actually I think you got that wrong.

Most of the modern radios out there use broadbanded radio designs and components able to QSY across huge pieces of spectrum.

Seems like You are looking for selectivity and the ability of a radio to work properly next to a very strong signal on a adjacent frequency.

Modern Single band commercial radios are designed for the demands of the commercial market.

You want a dual band radio? First of all, what bands? Secondly of all, mobile or handheld?

You need to narrow down the search to what exactly you desire and where do you plan to use it, mobile or the home/ office environment.

Time to ponder and ask what fellow hams use.

Remember that your budget and your spouse will come into play. Excellent radios aren't inexpensive but there are a lot of great second hand radios available for a Budget.

73 de Adam Kb2Jpd


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AK9R

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I think if just ONE manufacturer started producing a QUALITY radio that was immune to desense and intermod, it would likely sell like hot cakes
Allegedly, we got into this situation of amateur radios having broadband receivers because the consuming public wanted that feature. The consumers also wanted low cost, so the manufacturers eliminated things like helical resonators which would tighten up the receivers. In other words, we have the radios we have, allegedly, asked for.

When the RadioShack HTX-202 came out, one of the selling points was that it was a ham band only transceiver. Of course, there were people who saw that as a negative because they wanted a radio that could receive other frequencies besides just the ham bands.
 

K2KOH

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Allegedly, we got into this situation of amateur radios having broadband receivers because the consuming public wanted that feature. The consumers also wanted low cost, so the manufacturers eliminated things like helical resonators which would tighten up the receivers. In other words, we have the radios we have, allegedly, asked for.

When the RadioShack HTX-202 came out, one of the selling points was that it was a ham band only transceiver. Of course, there were people who saw that as a negative because they wanted a radio that could receive other frequencies besides just the ham bands.

I had one of those. I still kick myself in the arse for selling it off. Tightest receiver I ever saw
 

N4KVE

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Allegedly, we got into this situation of amateur radios having broadband receivers because the consuming public wanted that feature. The consumers also wanted low cost, so the manufacturers eliminated things like helical resonators which would tighten up the receivers. In other words, we have the radios we have, allegedly, asked for.
Remember, be careful what you ask for. You want a great dual band mobile? The APX7500. ZERO intermod, ZERO desense. Those $100 radios are intermod sponges.
 

mmckenna

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One of the reasons I ditched the amateur radios many years ago. I get better performance from properly designed commercial gear, plus I can legally use it on my part 90 systems.
Dual band, easy, install two radios.
 

Project25_MASTR

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One of the reasons I ditched the amateur radios many years ago. I get better performance from properly designed commercial gear, plus I can legally use it on my part 90 systems.
Dual band, easy, install two radios.



Especially with the control head technology in the commercial market being 15+ years ahead of the amateur market.


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mass-man

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Hijacking the thread sorta!!!!

Has anyone found and/or used a amateur 2 mtr rig that comes close to commercial specs? I travel extensively in a five state area and programming in all of the available repeaters would be laborious!!!!
 

Project25_MASTR

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Hijacking the thread sorta!!!!

Has anyone found and/or used a amateur 2 mtr rig that comes close to commercial specs? I travel extensively in a five state area and programming in all of the available repeaters would be laborious!!!!
I did an assessment with Matlab using Repeaterbook CSVs for 2m in Texas. Using 5 different PL tones and programming in the 20 most commonly used pairs in the state, you can access 70% of the repeaters in the state. So since I did that I've ran the 20 most popular 2m repeaters in Texas, New Mexico and Colorado and called it good.

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N4KVE

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Hijacking the thread sorta!!!!

Has anyone found and/or used a amateur 2 mtr rig that comes close to commercial specs? I travel extensively in a five state area and programming in all of the available repeaters would be laborious!!!!
Back in the day, Yaesu sold the FT2400, & 7400 that were literally commercial radios adapted for ham radio use. No intermod at all. They were EXCELLENT. I don't know if the big 3 do that now. But they were bulletproof.
 

Kb2Jpd

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Hijacking the thread sorta!!!!

Has anyone found and/or used a amateur 2 mtr rig that comes close to commercial specs? I travel extensively in a five state area and programming in all of the available repeaters would be laborious!!!!



Again, ask around here.

There are plenty of single band radios with excellent rejection properties.

You have a harder choice. Which one suits you the best? Do you want an easy to program radio from the front panel or do you prefer programming them via computer?

Your laborious programming would then be a simple dump from Repeater book or any of the lists compiled by your neighborhood hams.


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AK9R

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Back in the day...
I have another "back in the day" story:

Back in the day, the Icom IC-28H was prized by central Indiana packet operators because it had helical resonators in the front end. That was one solid radio for the ham bands. And it was pretty much bullet-proof in active packet BBS operations. Of course, that radio would be unmarketable today because it only had 10 memories. ;)
 

robertmac

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I have no problems with most amateur radios. I use mainly Yaesu, no particular reason other than they had the features I wanted, and by doing this, most accessories will work with most other Yaesu radios. I have no problems programming them with software or FPP. And I have experienced little if any intermod with them. I like using them as scanners and broadband which increases there usefulness to me as a hobby. For the cost of Motorola, Kenwood I can buy 2 or 3 amateur radios. Have not had to do this as they are still serving me well after 20 years of daily use. The only down side is the unit's speaker volume, but using an external speaker, I have little problem even with the AM/FM radio on and the windows down. On listening to transmission from people using other radios [other than some of the CCR], I have a hard time telling if they are using commercial Motorola, Kenwood or amateur radios. I can't speak about commercial remote heads, but really don't know what other features I would need in amateur radios. This is probably the third or fourth time replying to a similar post, and my posts have remained the same over the past 20 years. And I don't have to brag about having a Motorola. I don't feel that I have lost, missed anything by not having one.
 

mmckenna

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I don't feel that I have lost, missed anything by not having one.

You probably haven't.

If you only need to transmit on the amateur radio frequencies, then it's a logical choice. Intermod and those sorts of issues can be a local issue, not everyone has it.

Since I use my radios for both amateur as well as work use, I've got to run Part 90 radios to stay legal. My style of operating doesn't run into any issues by not having a VFO, or for my mobile, FPP.

All of us are slightly different in how we use our radios. Everyone has their own needs. What's nice is that in this day and age we can find solutions that will fit almost any requirement, if we have enough cash.
 

krokus

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Hijacking the thread sorta!!!!

Has anyone found and/or used a amateur 2 mtr rig that comes close to commercial specs? I travel extensively in a five state area and programming in all of the available repeaters would be laborious!!!!

Kenwood uses the same chasis for ham and LMR, on many of their single-band radios. Icom appears to do the same thing. (Basically, using different control circuits, but a lot of the rest is the same circuitry.)

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krokus

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These days, it seems every radio has become a scanner that happens to transmit

Ever since these radios had the ability to operate
outside where they are legally allowed, modern radios have been plagued with intermod and desense

The last decent receiver section I can remember was made in the 80s

I think if just ONE manufacturer started producing a QUALITY radio that was immune to desense and intermod, it would likely sell like hot cakes

Any thoughts?

Kenwood TM-V71 well regarded. If you want to go LMR quality, their NX-5700 & NX-5800 radios can share a control head, giving dual-band operations.

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N4KVE

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Kenwood uses the same chasis for ham and LMR, on many of their single-band radios. Icom appears to do the same thing. (Basically, using different control circuits, but a lot of the rest is the same circuitry.)

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I don't think anyone sells a single band ham UHF radio any more. It's VHF, or dual band now. Yaesu shows a UHF ham radio, but it's not shown in the USA catalog. But the last UHF XTL5000 I bought was $140.
 

exkalibur

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Back in the day, Yaesu sold the FT2400, & 7400 that were literally commercial radios adapted for ham radio use. No intermod at all. They were EXCELLENT. I don't know if the big 3 do that now. But they were bulletproof.

Yaesu did it again!

I have a Kenwood TM-271 that outperforms any ham rig I've ever used. It's easily on-par with any commercial radio out there - and pretty cheap, price wise. I'm sure the TM-281 is at least similar.
 

AK9R

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Kenwood TM-V71 well regarded.
Yes, it is. However, I can take you to places in Indianapolis, usually near hospitals, where the TM-V71 is basically useless on the 440 MHz band due to intermod and overload.

As mmckenna says, everybody has different needs from their radios and different local situations to deal with. So, there is no one size fits all radio.
 
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