Ft-60r / HT radio recommendations

[darin62a]

Hello All,

First, I would like to thank this site and its users for all the helpful information that is provided. Having received my first scanner this past Christmas, this site has been very helpful (and addicting). This past Saturday, I passed the Level 1 Technician exam and I would have never attempted the exam if I had not stumbled across this site. Thank you all!

Now on to the fun stuff. Since passing the exam I feel the need to purchase an HT. Searching this site, reading various reviews... the Yaesu Ft-60r seems to be jumping out at me (the price ain't to bad either). I live in an area that has plenty of 144/430 repeaters. Public services that I enjoy listening to, local & county FD/PD, use analog non-trunked systems (below 800MHz). I do have an interest in the Kenwood TH-D7AG because of the integrated TNC and APRS options (I'm an IT manager by trade). But, it seems a little pricey for a starter/newby like myself.

I would like to leave my Pro-95 at home and use an HT in my car to scan local frequencies and hit local 144/430 repeaters.

I would appreciate any opinions/recommendations. Thank again for all your help!

Cheers,
Darin

 

[KC4ZEX]

Hi there and welcome to ham radio. I have not had one of the new Ft60's in my hand but my brother has owned a ft50 for about 6 yrs and its great and from what i've read the new model has to be as good with probably some improvements over the 50. There are several ht's available now with great scan capabilities. I own a alinco DJ596t and its a great scanner. The new Icom Icv-8 should be a great scanner. A friend just bought one of the new little icom T 90's it looks and sounds good but is very hard to program.

 

[jplyler]

I've had the Keenwood TH-F6 for 3 1/2 years now and still love it. I think it's still the best HT on the market. I've looked at others trying to find something better but for my application there isn't one. It's basically 2 radios in one in that you can listen to 2 freqs at the same time, even on the same band. the "A" side is a tri-band tranceiver and the "B" band is a wide band receiver that allows you to transmit on all of your "A" band freqs. You should check it out.

Jon

 

[KW4EZR]

I think it's still the best HT on the market. Jon

I have to agree. Also, It is like always having two radios with you. As Jon said you can scan through you local repeaters on the A side, and your local public safety on the B side. if you want to make a contact on the repeater the B side only stops scanning while the PTT button is held down, as soon as you let go of the PTT button the B side starts scanning again. Also another plus is if there is a long "ragchew" going on one of the local Ham repeaters, The B side is still scanning away at the Public safty Freqs, so you don't miss a thing. Also has CTCSS and DPL decode and I have never had much of a problem with intermod.

Darren
KG4OMX

Oh by the way, I think you spelled your name wrong Darin :lol: :lol: Just kidding

 

[n4xdn]

FT-60R

Hey Guys, Ive owned a ft-60r for about 6 months now, the criteria i was looking for was the wide receive coverage , duel band transmit, FULL 5 watt on high power, but the feature that caught me was the ability of the ft-60 to set up "memory banks" for scanning, all my other amatuer equipment completely sucks for serious scanning because i couldnt separate agency from agency or law enforcement from amateur etc. this radio does it!! 500 channels of alphanumeric memory banked bliss. i did the mod--took about 5 minutes and presto!! full transmit on vhf hi and uhf lo--plus it restored the old analog cellular frequencies (not that much is there anymore), anyway im a serious critic on radio gear and the fact that this radio is built on the vx-150 chasis is another strong point--vertexs type accepted version of this radio is identical ive noticed even the ft-60 has a type accepted brother for the air band i can assure you that other than some firmware and the resistor its the same radio--full metal case no cheap plastic, and this radio is cheap for all the potential and features it has--kenwood makes great radios all of my type accepted stuf is kenwood but on the amateur side i think yeasu whooped em on this radio. anyway just my thoughts, i wouldnt trade mine for the world, and i plan on getting the mobile version the ft-7800 asap . 73's kg4uad

 

[darin62a]

My mom has a thing for Bobby Darin 8).

I could not find any reviews on the Alinco HT.

The Kenwood TH-F6A sounds interesting and has a lot of positive reviews on eham. I'm still trying to get my mind around the dual channel Rx concept. Have you used the TH-F6A with for APRS or with a TNC for any packet transmissions?

I called the nearest vendor and they have all the models I am interested in stock any ready to sell. It sorta sucks, the nearest vendor (HRO) is a three hour drive. But, I don't want to purchase anything without kicking the tires.

 

[eorange]

I bought my FT-60 from HRO and I really like it. It provides solid 5W/2W/0.5W coverage on 2m and 70cm. It's very sturdy and simple to use. You can't beat the price of $200 for a nice dual-band HT like this one.

You can make your own memory banks, kinda like the BC246T. For example, you can configure one bank to contain 2 channels, the next bank to contain 56 channels, the next bank to contain 18 channels, etc. The alpha tag is only 6 characters, so that might be more of a limitation than you're used to. It also picks up the MIL AIR band (225-400 MHz) very well.

FYI, a friend of mine had a Kenwood TH-F6A and thought the HF receive was not very good.

Erik

 

[darin62a]

Does anyone know how the TH-F6's dual Rx compares to the VX-7r's dual Rx?

 

[jplyler]

I'm probably partial to the THF6 since I don't own the Yaesu. I was totally on the fence when I was in the market for an HT. I got the Kenwood for the 220 band, and the SSB Rx (I think the VX7 only Rx's AM/FX). The Yaesu is a very solid and rugged radio. You should be very pleased with either of them. To answer your question, I'm not sure how the Rx compares between the units. The Kenwood is a solid performer and even does OK on the SW bands w/ a long wire antenna. If you don't care about the SSB Rx then the Yaesu might be your radio. It does have some neat "bells and whistles" that the Kenwood doesn't have. Again, I've had the Kenwood for 3 1/2 years and haven't replaced it yet, although I'm always looking for something better.

Jon
N4ZVY

 

[darin62a]

Thanks for all the info. I gonna have to pull the trigger and buy something... I just got my call sign, Woohoo!

Darin
KG6YLE

 

[W2SJW]

Get the 60 - you'll love it! I ordered it the second day it was out. It's a perfect match with my FT-7800 mobile (almost identical features).

 

[SCPD]

While on the subject of ham radios does anyone have Cap/Mars freq. mods for the Yaesu VX7R and the FT8800R radios?

 

[W2SJW]

Go to www.mods.dk. They'll have what you're looking for...

 

[SCPD]

The link is no good. Any other ideas??

 

[darin62a]

Try this link: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/sllewd/vx7rmain.htm

 

[SCPD]

Thanks for the link. Is there one available for the Yaesu FT8800R?

 

[jhooten]

The link is no good. Any other ideas??

Try it this way

http://www.mods.dk/

 

[SCPD]

That did the trick. Thanks

 

[Swat_SW]

Welcome Darin I have the Ft-60R Its a great HT built Like a Brick good audio

 

[nexus]

Welcome Darin I have the Ft-60R Its a great HT built Like a Brick good audio

Your welcome is coming almost 4 years too late lol...
But since we're on it, I too have an FT-60r and it is a solid radio. Feels solid, has great audio quality and very little intermod in my area. If only they would of made it dual-receive. But it's worth the money.