The big problem in the low band version of the radio if you put both 10 and 6 meters in it is the antenna. There are very few antennas available that will do both ham bands.
There is a company that has made a plug in board to replace the PROM board to allow computer electronic programming of this model radio.
I knew a guy that ran tuned lengths of coax and a 1/4 wave 10 meter whip on one side of his SUV and a 1/4 wave 6 meter whip on the other side.
Drake T-4X and R-4 twins. I've got the twins, MS-4 speaker and power supply
Maybe I am just an old time die hard that likes radios built like a tank. There are several radios that come to mind. I guess the one I like to wrap my arms around the most is the Motorola Syntor X9000. It came in basically 3 flavors. Low band, VHF and UHF. The UHF versions are a tad few and far between, but the low band is the most common and then the VHF model. I happen to have all 3 versions in my stock and installed.
The low band will actually spread from the 10 meter FM band all the way up into the 6 Meter FM band. The best part is you don't need to tune it at all except the VCO. You can get 100 watts out on both bands. I choose to crank the power down to 85 watts and be able to talk as long as I please. Just have to release the PTT button now and then when the time out timer I set complains and shuts off the transmitter, reminding me I need to un-key and key back up to continue talking.
All 3 models have good receiver sensitivity. There are several control heads you can use and set the programmable buttons to do just about what you want.
You can change out the memory chip and expand the number of channels the radio can have. There is a jumper to tell the radio the size of memory chip you install. Some control heads may have a jumper also for the number of channels. Other heads with the soldered in memory chips are already able to use the max channels (modes). It also lets you be able to program a selection of all 32 transmit PL tones. This way you can make the radio just about a dial a frequency radio. It will also let you have zones. So as you drive around to different areas, you can select the zone of frequencies for that area. This is not model restricted.
The big problem in the low band version of the radio if you put both 10 and 6 meters in it is the antenna. There are very few antennas available that will do both ham bands.
One word of caution here is there is a Motorola Syntor, without the X9000 after the name. This radio has the same construction and same boards in it except the control board. It used a one time PROM that you used to program the radio. There is a company that has made a plug in board to replace the PROM board to allow computer electronic programming of this model radio.
My next selection of radios is the Motorola Spectra. I find for wide band use, these are great for ham use. They are a little lighter and smaller in the 100 watt versions. They came in several power selections. Even had a dash mount version. All the ones I have seen for ham use are the VHF and UHF models.
I do have several of the large Yaesu HF base station use for ham use. They are fine radios.
They last selection of radios I like is the Motorola XTL2500 and XTL5000 mobiles. These can be programmed for the VHF and UHF ham frequencies. If you need wide band operation, you will probably need to get with Motorola and arrange for a wide band file from Motorola to be able to program the radio wide band.
YEAH! The real hotshots had IC-2AT, IC-3AT and IC-4AT radios all on their belts at the same time, with the high-capacity battery packs. Find out how many extra notches you had to pull your belt in to keep your pants from going to about your knees...Even though I had an HF rig, I spent a lot of time on two meters after I got my license in ‘79. I’ve owned a lot of good radios over the years, but nothing beat the simplicity of a 2AT. They were hanging off everyone’s belt in those days. Tough little guys. No repeaters in the area had tones back then.
YEAH! The real hotshots had IC-2AT, IC-3AT and IC-4AT radios all on their belts at the same time, with the high-capacity battery packs. Find out how many extra notches you had to pull your belt in to keep your pants from going to about your knees...
Tempo One, very old school, manual tuning, 16 tubes, real "S" meter, glows in the dark, has an old radio smell when it warms up, big size, analog VFO, incandescent bulbs for S meter and VFO, no excess number of controls, excellent manual with alignment instructions, operates excellent on CW and SSB, clear audio. My first radio back in '77.