Start up 'Portable' HAM with Scanning for beginner

[DSmith3]

After many years of being a scanner enthusiast, I'm leaping into the HAM radio hobby. I'm just begining my new endeavor, and I'm looking for some advice on which radio to purchase.

Here are some of the features that I would like to have:
1. Portable between the house and my car or boat.
2. The ability to double as a scanner. (trunking would be nice, but I don't know if it's possible)
3. I'm sure the prices could range all the way up into the thousands of dollars, but I have no intentions of selling a Kidney to buy this radio. I'd like to keep it under $600.00.

Do any of you have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!
DSmith

 

[NeFire242]

2. The ability to double as a scanner. (trunking would be nice, but I don't know if it's possible)

I'm not aware of any ham radio that allows trunked scanning or will follow a trunked system.

Do any of you have any suggestions?

What do YOU want to do in ham radio? Just voice, or do you want to do such things as APRS and PaKet? The Kenwood D700A has a built in TNC which allows this. Plus it is dual band (V-V, U-U, V-U) and includes some other features such as cross-band which would allow you to use a portable in rough areas when you need the extra power to reach a local repeater.

 

[elk2370bruce]

Ditto on the lack of trunked scanning on VHF/UHF amateur radio gear. There are a number with "extended listening" capabilities however. My Yaesu 7800R does have the capability to scan aircraft (118-136 AM), High band VHF, and upward and some of the ICOM units do the same. Why have both in one if you already possess a scanner than you are happy with. Both can coexist with a little bit of planning so the front end of the scanner does not overload when you are transmitting on 50, 144, 220, and 440 amateur bands.

 

[kb2vxa]

Hi D and all,

"After many years of being a scanner enthusiast, I'm leaping into the HAM radio hobby."

LOOK before you leap!

"I'm just begining my new endeavor, and I'm looking for some advice on which radio to purchase."

NEVER ask such a question, all you'll get are opinions and the only one that matters is your own. Do your own homework, only YOU can determine which rig or rigs can suit your individual pupose. Once that has been done and the field narrowed considerably you may ask about certain features and functions to make your final selection. Specific questions get specific answers, as it stands at this point there is too much to swallow in one gulp.

Here are some of the features that I would like to have:
1. Portable between the house and my car or boat.

Any mobile rig will do for that purpose.

2. The ability to double as a scanner. (trunking would be nice, but I don't know if it's possible)

Ham rigs have memories and band scan plus programmed band scan function, extended receive, PL and all that jazz but we don't do trunking.

3. I'm sure the prices could range all the way up into the thousands of dollars, but I have no intentions of selling a Kidney to buy this radio.

Why not? Unless you already sold one you have a spare.

I'd like to keep it under $600.00.

That's part of your homework, DIY.

Do any of you have any suggestions?

No, not at this time. When you have come to the point as stated above we can talk turkey. Meanwhile I can make ONE, join a local Amateur Radio club as a prospective ham or just sit in until you feel comfortable and learn more about us and our service up close and in person. That sure beats the heck out of trying to do it by remote control over the Internet.

 

[bobbybeachbum]

Since you're talking new (Technician) ham that means VHF/UHF. Portable between boat, car, or house would mean a hand held unless you want to go for the option of more power (>5W) and expense for an external 12V power supply for the house, grounding , external antennas, feed lines etc. to move a mobile unit from place to place. A possibility which will give you much better performance, but whether that is a truly portable solution is up to you. As you have already heard from previous posters there is no trunking capable HT. No market for it, too much compromise in performance, and besides niether Uniden or RS is in the Ham business! So there you go.
In any case may want to know how many bands you'll need. I bought a tri band Yeasu VX-7R which I love but I never use 6 meters, so I could have saved some money by buying a dual bander. Icom or Kenwood have some nice HT's also. You're probably talking 300 to 500 bucks for somthing nice. Call the folks or google Ham Radio Outlet, they gave me some good advice when I got started not too long ago. Do a search for your area + ham radio and you might come up w/ a list of repeater frequencies in your are posted by the local club. Good luck on getting your ticket. Then after you become a Tech start working on the code so you can join us on the HF bands where all the fun (and craziness) is .

 

[kb2vxa]

Hi Bobby and all,

The general concesus is do NOT start off with an HT unless one wants to be sorely disapointed at being limited to one or a few local repeaters IF there is one in range at all and that range is VERY short. That's the best way for a new ham to lose interest and quit rather than advancing in the service. Save the HT for later IF one has the need and the working phrase is "I need", not "I want".

 

[jay427]

Dsmith3

You can spend as munch or as little as you want in HAM radio. When I teach my Tec class this subject always comes up.

I try to shy people away from the HT. HT's are a pain to use in the car as compared to a moible rig and you take a power hit. As a general rule it seems that 10-25watts work well for most repeaters while mobile.

I think you will find that you will end up with one HT, one VHF/UHFMobile Rig, one HF rig.

I have been a HAM for about 15years and I find my intrest change within the hobby. One year its PSK31 the next year it paper chasing on HF or what ever. Thats the great thing about the hobby, many things to try.

Buy whatever you think you will enjoy and go for it, you will find what works for you with a little time.

One thing I do urge you to do though is to upgrade to a General or Advanced.

I see a lot of people come thru are test sessions and 90% take a Tech test and they never come back for a upgrade. HF is just to fun to pass up.

Good luck and have fun

Jay, n0mdf

 

[kingpin]

I agree with the HT thing. You can work local 2 meter repeaters but you've very limited especially when trying to use it in a car. Try getting in contact with a local ham radio club and see what everybody else is using. You can get a nice 50 watt 2 meter mobile for around $160 that will give you great coverage and will get you started. Don't do like I did and just sit on being a "local ham" for years. Work on your code requirement and join us on HF. I've meet some really great people on HF and the thrill of working a station cross country is worth the studying time.

I'll take a picture of this tonight but I bought a lot of Kenwood radios from a company and they had a "go radio" (lol) that was mounted to a wooden cutting board with a cut out hole for a handle. Had the mic hanger and UHF extender mounted on there as well and had it wired so all he had to do was plug the mag mount antennas into the antenna jacks and plug the radio into the cigarette lighter plug. He could throw it in the truck on the fly or hook it up at the office on the base station antenna. Pretty portable and neat idea. It was only a 25 watt Kenwood so it didn't over work the wiring for the cigarette lighter. Just some ideas.

 

[DSmith3]

Thanks guys for the great information. This is one of the reasons I look forward to Ham radio, the people are great!

 

[jay427]

you are most welcome,

you will have lots of fiun

Jay, n0mdf