Looking for a radio w/800mhz rx.

[Mountain343]

I'm not interested in transmitting at all, just monitoring but for some reason, scanners just don't have the same bells/whistles that today's ham radios do.

I currently have the UV9D plus which works great for what I want, but I'm looking for a mobile radio that is similar.

So I was hoping someone would recommend a radio that can:

• Listen to 2 freqs at once (UU/UV/VV)
• Has 800mhz rx
• can listen as high as 520mhz
• would be amazing if it has VHF-Lo too, but I know that's a bit of a pipe dream
• alpha tags (a must or else I'd just settle for 2 BC355Ns)

The freqs I mostly monitor when out and about are:

• 39.220 (I know this one is probably not going to be possible)
• 460.225
• 483.750
• 153.950
• 859.4375
• 151.085
• 506.250

I don't need trunking, or P25, or to transmit at all just conventional and the ability to listen to 2 freqs at once without having to get two BCT15Xs for 400bucks, when it looks like maybe a TYT 9800 or something else can do that for half the price.

Thanks for the recommendations!

 

[brndnstffrd]

A Kenwood TM-V71A will do everything except for the lowband receive, with a plus being the very fast scan speed. One negative of it is the alpha tags are limited to 6 characters.

 

[radiotweester]

Word of warning is all the ham rigs I've used that will do 700-900 suck in their signal sensitivity at those freqs.
The TYT 9800 looks a LOT like the Yaesu FT-8900r (great radio), but they're different inside. I've known a couple people who've bought these and V/U seem to work ok, but Lowband and 10m have issues after a short time. Make sure you get it from some where that it's returnable.

 

[k6cpo]

• Has 800mhz rx
• can listen as high as 520mhz

This is a contradiction. Which do you want, 800MHz or 520MHz?

 

[wtp]

pro 2004/5/6 goes up to 520
he just wanted to go past 512 i believe.
pro 90
pro 2035
pro 2042
also.
uniden
bc3000xlt
br330t
bc9000xlt
dx1000
and most radios goto 512 anyway, so do you need that much more, or just the 506.25 one ?

 

[Mountain343]

Thank you all for your replies, but I think a few of you missed the main point which happens. Especially as the mods have moved this to the scanner forum from the original area.

To reiterate, I have a lot of scanners, scanners are great, but a scanner will not meet the basic requirement of dual listen in a single package - which is why I had originally put it in the ham category because that is what I'm looking for.

As to the 512 - I was speaking more toward bands commonly found in those radios, VHF-Lo, VHF-Hi, and the UHF-T which in many ham radios rx stops at 480 often, and then the 800mhz which is rare.

So once again, here are the requirements which a scanner just won't do:

• Listen to 2 freqs at once (UU/UV/VV) (a must)
• Has 800mhz rx (a must)
• can listen as high as 520mhz on the UHF-T (and yes I know 800 is part of that but often is separated in the rx freq abilities - a must)
• would be amazing if it has VHF-Lo too, but I know that's a bit of a pipe dream (the only non-mandatory/just nice wish)
• alpha tags (a must or else I'd just settle for 2 BC355Ns)

So, if the mods feel this is a better forum, ok... but basically I'm looking for something like a UV9D Plus in mobile form, and there are a lot of options so looking for peoples recommendations, and especially thank you to @radiotweester, @brndnstffrd

 

[merlin]

I just got a Quansheng UV-K5(8) that will do that. Low band though is 6 meter amateure. I might scan lower, Haven't tested it yet.
Does very nice on VHF, UHF, 800, 900 MHz, INCLUDING dual watch.
The good part is less than $40, so if it won't work for you, just toss it into the bin

 

[737mech]

I doubt there’s a radio that will fit this bill for several reasons. You need dual band but what antenna are you gonna use? Probably best to grab a not so expensive XPR-5580 and let that do your 800. Dedicate an 800 antenna to it alone. Then have fun with your Ham radio with another antenna. The results will be better.

 

[brndnstffrd]

I doubt there’s a radio that will fit this bill for several reasons. You need dual band but what antenna are you gonna use? Probably best to grab a not so expensive XPR-5580 and let that do your 800. Dedicate an 800 antenna to it alone. Then have fun with your Ham radio with another antenna. The results will be better.

To expand on my previous statement suggesting the Kenwood TM-V71A, I have mine hooked up to an Austin Spectra antenna, which is claimed to be good for up to 100 watts TX on both VHF and UHF, along with 800mhz and lowband receive. I have only put 50 watts through it, so I cant validate those claims. The lowband reception obviously isn't applicable to this radio, but I have found the antenna to work very well and is a great match for the radio, if you can find one. They have become increasingly hard to find, they are not cheap, and they are definitely not subtle looking.

 

[Mountain343]

I just got a Quansheng UV-K5(8) that will do that. Low band though is 6 meter amateure. I might scan lower, Haven't tested it yet.
Does very nice on VHF, UHF, 800, 900 MHz, INCLUDING dual watch.
The good part is less than $40, so if it won't work for you, just toss it into the bin

Hey merlin! The UV-K5 and Radtel's are neat little handhelds as the custom ROMs allow for some great features, unfortunately I'm looking for a mobile radio. Something that is loud, easily visible, and easily manipulated in a vehicle. My handhelds just aren't good for that unfortunately.

I doubt there’s a radio that will fit this bill for several reasons. You need dual band but what antenna are you gonna use? Probably best to grab a not so expensive XPR-5580 and let that do your 800. Dedicate an 800 antenna to it alone. Then have fun with your Ham radio with another antenna. The results will be better.

The antenna question is a good one, but thankfully I live in an area with great radio coverage for the systems I want to hear. With just a small stubby antenna like the comet CH-32 on my handhelds, I can hear everything loud and clear, even in a moving vehicle. Even one of those cheapo $3 wonders from amazon that are just strings with suction cups work great. My UV-9D(plus) is really my ideal radio except it's a handheld and even stuck on the dash it's still hard to fiddle with compared to a big screen mobile.

To expand on my previous statement suggesting the Kenwood TM-V71A, I have mine hooked up to an Austin Spectra antenna, which is claimed to be good for up to 100 watts TX on both VHF and UHF, along with 800mhz and lowband receive. I have only put 50 watts through it, so I cant validate those claims. The lowband reception obviously isn't applicable to this radio, but I have found the antenna to work very well and is a great match for the radio, if you can find one. They have become increasingly hard to find, they are not cheap, and they are definitely not subtle looking.

Thanks! I am definitely looking into the TM-V71A and the TYT 9800. I guess none of the radioddity or anysecu's have 800 rx from what I can tell, which is a shame because they have some nice mini dual/quad band radios.

 

[IC-R20]

I have a Icom IC-R20 I do that all with including the LoBand. Back when drive thru still used analog intercoms I could pick up the sonic on 30 MHz 2 miles out at home.

 

[Mountain343]

I have a Icom IC-R20 I do that all with including the LoBand. Back when drive thru still used analog intercoms I could pick up the sonic on 30 MHz 2 miles out at home.

The R20 is a great little receiver but handheld, not a mobile radio which is the main thing I'm looking for. Thanks!

 

[MTS2000des]

The V71A is a top notch dual band workhorse. Superior ham band performance, and the wideband receiver works well on VHF 150-162 and 430-470, but the 800 sensitivity is trash. A portable nearby will put a signal into it on 8 TAC, but the 8 TAC repeaters at my two sites can't be heard on it connected to a Diamond X-300 from 5 miles away. These are Quantars fed into transmit combiners from a high site. Portables can hear them at -75 to -80dbm with a stubby, so the sensitivity is in the millivolt range not microvolts, but an analog 800 scanner is about free 99 these days for that purpose.