Recommendations for a small 2m VHF?

[Darren McDonald]

I geekdom has gone up a level as today I passed my foundation radio
exam/course (100% pass mark of course), and I was wondering if anyone
who passed during the hackspace course has any recommendations for a
cheap but good VHF radio and 2m antenna?

Darren

[Michael Shiloh]

i've been extremely happy with the yaesu ft-60. i use a hood mounted
dual band antenna on my car. can't remember the brand but it's pretty
common.

--
Michael Shiloh
Artist, designer, teacher, tinkerer, geek
KA6RCQ
www.teachmetomake.com
teachmetomake.wordpress.com
Interested in classes? Join http://groups.google.com/group/teach-me-to-make

[Kal]

I am one of the ones who recently passed my foundation license at LHS.
It really depends on what you want, if you are planning on using local
repeaters and moving around a lot then a handheld (ht) or mobile rig
makes sense. If you interested in long range communications then you
are better getting something in the HF band, instead of 2m and having
a fixed rig.

I bought myself a wouxun kg-uvd1p with in intent to use it for local
comms on 2M and 70cms. With a bunch of accessories it cost £150, a
price you simply cannot beat for the performance (I read a lot of
reviews saying the same).

Just spent the weekend playing with it, managed to reach watford and
reading from the top of richmond park, via repeaters on 70cms and 2m
respectivly. With the stock antenna and running 5/4 watts.

My plan is to stick with this and buy a better less mobile antenna for
home use to really boost range

Kal

[Seth Kneller]

I would say go for any of the Chinese 2m or dual band handhelds that
have come on to the market in the last couple of years. They are just as
good as the main brands, and you can pick one up for <�100.

If you want to use them at home or in a car, then you can buy an SMA to
BNC/SO-239 adapter and connect them to a proper antenna. I did this for
quite a while before I got a mobile radio.

Seth
2E0ZSK

[Adrian Godwin]

West London radio rally is coming up if you want to look at the
traders there - it's always nice to see this sort of stuff yourself
rather than compare reviews.

http://www.radiofairs.co.uk/

Icom, Kenwood, Waters & Stanton, Martin Lynch will all have things to
see, and you might get a decent buy on the bring-and-buy stand.

-adrian

[Tweaker]

Hi,
May I add this one to the mix:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BAOFENG-
UV-3R-136-174-400-470-DUAL-BAND-FM-88-108-mini-radio-UV3R-FREE-
earpiece-/170701937930?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27bea0dd0a For
£20 plus freight!You cant go wrong really!
It will work with an as above mentioned SMA/UHF/BNC adapter and an
external duobander aerial.
But don't think of fixing it if it goes wrong.I think they are
disposables,and should be seen as that for that price.
If you want something more sturdier,look for 2nd hand Icoms/Yaesu
early versions.Or modified Motorolas/Stornos.Single band,though(2M).
I'm partial to Icoms,but thats because I used to repair them,and
Yaesus.I say Icoms beat Yaesus,with 1/2 a mile!
P.S. I have no financial interest in ad above,just picked randomly by
many others on ebay!
D.S.

T

On Oct 18, 2:05 pm, Adrian Godwin <artgod...@gmail.com> wrote:
> West London radio rally is coming up if you want to look at the
> traders there - it's always nice to see this sort of stuff yourself
> rather than compare reviews.
>
> http://www.radiofairs.co.uk/
>
> Icom, Kenwood, Waters & Stanton, Martin Lynch will all have things to
> see, and you might get a decent buy on the bring-and-buy stand.
>
> -adrian
>
> On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 11:39 PM, Seth Kneller
>

[Adrian Godwin]

Bargain, quite tempted to have a play at that price.

-adrian