Suggestions for ht?

[krokus]

The FT-60R ... is the only HT with an optional alkaline battery case when TSHTF. The newer batteries have better life than the FT-60R, but when the power is out, a couple of sets of AA alkalines are your best friend.

Kenwood makes alkaline cases for their handhelds. I have them for my TH-D72 & TH-F6. There is one for the TH-D74, too.

 

[krokus]

I'm now to the point where I'm deciding between the VX-6R and the FT-60R. Looking at the Yaesu website the biggest difference I can find is the VX-6R will receive everything from 0.5Mhz to 999Mhz and the FT-60R will receive most of that with a few intermittent gaps. Assuming I'm not interested in receiving any of those "gap" frequencies that the FT-60R doesn't receive and the VX-6R does, are there any other notable differences between these radios other than the VX-6R being submersible?

Do not get too attached to the HF/MF receive capability, only the stronger stations will be picked up. An external antenna helps, but is not the best reception.

 

[ClemsonSCJ]

Do not get too attached to the HF/MF receive capability, only the stronger stations will be picked up. An external antenna helps, but is not the best reception.

Oh I’m not. Like I said, IF the radio has the capability the only thing I could think of I might be interested in having us public safety stuff. But since our stuff is P25 I can’t get it and honestly couldn’t care less. It would just be a “because I can”. I’m in LE and I’ve got an APX6000 with more of those channels than I care to have.

 

[WB9YBM]

Kenwood makes alkaline cases for their handhelds.

The majority (if not all) the H.T.s I've seen that offer removeable/swap-able battery packs have empty packs (among other types) you can stuff your own batteries into; it's nothing unusual...

 

[jaspence]

One other thing I like about the FT-60 is the FPP sequence. I ave used both VX and FT series Yaesu radios and find the FT easier to remember. My first FT series was a FT-47, and they have kept the same basic FPP throughout the FT ht series.

 

[ClemsonSCJ]

Ok guys I ended up going with the Yaesu FT3D. I went back and forth between that and the FT-60 and after watching tons of reviews and videos on the 2 I decided to drop the extra money on the FT3D.

So far I’m super happy with it. I got the RT Systems software and cable with it as well as an SMA to BNC adapter to run my Signal Stick antenna on it. I’m tech savvy enough to muggle my way through the basic functions, program it, and move between banks and channels and actually look like I know what I’m doing.

The scan feature is outstanding. Probably faster than my Icom so that was a very pleasant surprise. Having an interest in CB I even programmed those channels into a bank and can listen to those if I like. It’s weird though cause you can program in virtually any frequency you want for receive, but it will not let you manually enter the CB frequencies in VFO mode. Not sure what that’s all about.

 

[wa8pyr]

If it was me, I'd not invest in a proprietary digital mode like Fusion. Even D-star, while it's not proprietary, is very limited in some areas.
For any sort of travel, you'll find analog is still the de facto standard. If I was looking at digital, I'd go DMR.

Second the comments on digital. D-Star and Fusion are "niche" formats to say the least; and in some ways D-Star seems to be on the wane; DMR is at least based on an international standard which isn't limited to ham radio.

 

[ClemsonSCJ]

Second the comments on digital. D-Star and Fusion are "niche" formats to say the least; and in some ways D-Star seems to be on the wane; DMR is at least based on an international standard which isn't limited to ham radio.

I don’t disagree at all and the digital mode played very little into me wanting this radio. I have several DMR repeaters around me and only 1 or 2 fusion repeaters that are remotely close to me, so DMR would have definitely made more sense if digital was a primary concern. The problem is the better HT’s out there are made by companies with their own proprietary digital modes so I was either stuck compromising features that I really wanted for a feature I cared little about vs getting what I wanted and compromising a feature I “might” want in the future.

 

[WB9YBM]

It seems like every time someone thinks up a new reason to come up with another digital mode to address yet another niche problem, we add another digital mode to the pile of those already in existence. We could certainly cut down on the confusion if someone could come up with a "one size fits all" type of solution...

 

[MFG_rrt]

It seems like every time someone thinks up a new reason to come up with another digital mode to address yet another niche problem, we add another digital mode to the pile of those already in existence. We could certainly cut down on the confusion if someone could come up with a "one size fits all" type of solution...

It's difficult for companies to differentiate themselves, I guess. I agree though, too many digital modes.

 

[ClemsonSCJ]

It's difficult for companies to differentiate themselves, I guess. I agree though, too many digital modes.

No different than Windows vs iOS/Mac vs Android vs ChromeOS etc...it seems DMR is the Android of the bunch.