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2m/70cm Handheld recommendations (5 replies and 2 comments)
Hi Chris,
I have an Alinco DJ-500, which has given me good service. I bought it when I was first licensed, on the strength of the good reviews I had read. It's an analog-only dual band HT. I have received good modulation reports using it. It costs about £110. It's IP54 certified (not that I have tested that out!) and has a solid feel to it. It is computer programmable, but only with Alinco's own software - unfortunately it is not supported by Chirp. The Alinco programming software can be downloaded for free, but you will need to buy a programming cable (which isn't cheap). It can also be programmed using the keypad, which is not too difficult.
For DMR, there are a few options - e.g. Retevis RT83, Retevis RT3S, Ailunce HD1, TYT MD-UV380, but I don't know them first-hand and therefore cannot recommend any particular radio. Anytone have a handheld called AT-D878, which seems to be very popular. It's very similar (both in terms of features, operation and codeplugs/software etc) to Anytone's mobile radio, the AT-D578. It's more expensive than the Retevis/TYT radios, but cheaper than the Yaesu FT-5.
I've not used D-Star yet and therefore can't recommend any radios.
For C4FM (Yaesu System Fusion) your choice is pretty much limited to the Yaesu FT-5, its predecessor FT-3 (which I believe has been discontinued but you may still get them new in some places) and the Yaesu FT-70 (about £170).
Waters & Stanton currrently have a used FT-3DE for £300. I've not used one myself, but from what I gather there is not a lot of difference between the FT-3 and the FT-5.
The Chirp programming software supports a lot of handhelds (and mobile radios as well), for a list of supported radios see this page:
https://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Home
You can get relatively inexpensive programming cables from Ebay or Amazon, but there is a risk that they may use fake chips and don't work. I bought some programming cables from this place: https://shop.technofix.uk/cables/programming-cables
They were more expensive than Ebay, but they were delivered quickly and they do work.
Whether you go for a Fusion, D-Star or DMR radio will probably depend on which system is available on repeaters in your local area (although the Brighton area seems to be well served by analogue and all three flavours of digital repeaters), and also which system the people you want to talk to are using.
Nevada and Waters & Stanton are based in Portsmouth, not too far from where you are - it may be worth giving them a call to find out what they have and what they can recommend. They may even let you have a play with a radio to get a feel for it before buying it.
Hope this helps.
73
George M0URB
Thanks for a very helpful and comprehensive reply George. It is appreciated. In the meantime I had "bit the bullet" and did fork out for a FT5DE & the RT systems cable and software. As luck would have it Amazon credited me in full for the UV-5 so that made a small difference to the hurt. However I am now going down the APRS "rabbithole" as well as looking at using the FT5 as a node for wires x for fun. So I will need a second bit of kit. The FT-70 seems to fit the bill so I will look out for a SH one of those. I will park the DMR/D-Star for now but will come back to it I suspect.
The reason for focussing on digital is that the 2m/70cm is quiet round here. CQ's get nothing and although I can pick up further away analogue repeaters I cannot reach them. A better fixed antenna is next on the shopping list. The Ventnor (GB3IW) repeater is pretty busy.
Many thanks and 73
Chris M7DJX
'BED did a good effort with his guidance. So hopefully you'll find more YSF usage on simplex than we have around here (ghost town YSF simplex wise). After all, the YSF capable HH'S are a bit too pricey to end up being only used digitally with hotspots and WiresX nodes.
I don't regret my FT-70DE purchase as it's proven a lovely FM set (better in ways than my VX, although I'd prefer the VX for FM in crappy weather).
If you do venture to DMR at some time, the 878's and DJ-series Alincos are about as much as you get for max bangs per buck feature and flexibility wise. But if you can forgo a bit of the 'feed the hams' features, and use with zones and channels, there's still good cheaper DMR items if you want a cheapie to add. I have an RT73 mobile (a mini mobile) that's sometimes used with a portable battery back manpack wise for when I'm chasing outdoors DMR DX (10/20W Tx), and the set itself cost less than my 878UVII DMR handy.
In fact the RT73 with the improvised manpack kit only combined cost a bit more than the 878, so remember - think wide and far and you'll find bargains and hidden treasures.
As a DMR mobile/base/manpack, the only sour note to RT73 ownership is it's a total PITA to program vast codeplugs with (I have pretty much every UK repeater and simplex gateway programmed in, all the simplex frequencies, and pretty much every commercial/PMR and UKFS allocation (Rx only) included, so when I say a wide codeplug it ain't no lightweight), but a hidden gem once configured and set as you need it.
A good intermediate antenna would be, from experience, an SMA-male equiv to the Diamond 771 although you could buy and use an adaptor with. My preferred and absolutely loved to death long-range handy antenna is an Abbree 42" tactical with I bought for the 878 (only seems to be available with SMA-F fitting) but used frequently with the FT-70DE when I'm chasing long distance YSF simex or wanting to hit distant YSF gateways and repeaters.
Suffice to say, in my experience with the Abbree, pretty much I can keep either radio on low power out and rarely need to use middle or high power unless it's real DX type range for 2&70 HH. Can't recall the claimed specs dB wise, but mine turned out to be better than spec when tested and analysed in anger.
Sorry it has taken a while - but yes I did go for an 878 in the end so have made some contact on DMR. And yes - I have yet to ever have a YSF simplex contact. I am lucky enough to have a local repeater/gateway that caters for DMR and YSF.
I have the Radioddity GD77 2/70 analogue/DMR which I've had for a couple of years. Last weekend I changed the firmware to the OpenGD77 system and this has (in my view) raised my handheld from a so-so handie to one that's about 500% better both from operating and performance. Would now recommend it to anybody.
I love buying affordable radios and modifying them with firmware etc. some great features to be had for cheap, but obviously the quality will never be the same as the big names in the game!
M7WWI (Phill)
have a look at ML&S ( http://www.hamradio.co.uk ) and Moonraker ( moonrakeronline.com ) both provide excellent mail order services and you can visit them as well, ML&S are at Stains off J13 M25 and Moonraker are just outside Milton Keynes both have shops and staff that are knowledgeable and very helpful being hams themselves
you also have hams with their own businesses like hamgoodies.co.uk and technofix.co.uk, technofix are also a authorised distributor for genuine RTL-SDR dongles (they cover 500khz - 1.5Ghz) if you want to play HF recieve at an affordable price (£40ish) with a laptop and free software like SDR# on PC or cubic SDR on a Pi
if you get a DMR / Fusion / Wires-x handheld then it is easy to by a MMDVM hat for a Pi (£40-£50 for good one with a good TCXO) and make your own hotspot using Pi-Star firmware so you can talk world wide over the internet with the hotspot as a gateway
so many options and things to try / play with
Peter M0PWX
(not M0PSX who runs this site)
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Hi all, I recently passed foundation and practiced with a UV-5R+. This has now died but it served its purpose. I was looking at a FT5-D but horrified by the add-on prices, charger, software etc. To get kitted out to the same level it is an extra £100, over a price I was already unsettled by.
So I was wondering what people here would recommed ? Analogue and digital repeaters are high on my list of wants, as is the ability to program it using software.
73
Chris