Good Dealers foir HT's

[n2ize]

In addition to fixing my old VHF/UHF FT-470 I am thinking of also buying a new unit, either a single band VHF or dual band VH/UH(F) unit. Just wondering, if anyone can recommend any reputable dealers ? It's been a long time since I've purchased and ham equipment.

[KG4CGC]

What is your budget and would you consider a Chinese model from ebay? I believe they have received good reports and if you drop one in the East River it's no big loss. You want bells and whistles an mil spec, go Yaesu or whatever. You gonna sit at the window indoors? Chinese crap.

[PA5COR]

For our business fairs i got 2 Wouxun dual band handhelds, with speakerphone and 1700 Ma battery's, and they perform excellent.
I also have a Icom Q7, and the Kenwood Th-7E, both good, but the Wouxun outperforms both for a lot less.
Sturdy, excellent reception, good standard antenna and good display.

They get a lot of abuse in these weeks but keep on ticking, for less as 1/3 of what a comparable yeasu/kenwood/icom would cost.

Just my 2 € cents...

[N8YX]

I have a couple Alinco DJ580s plus accessories (batteries, chargers, etc) which are surplus to my needs.

Drop me a PM if you want more info.

If you want new I would go with either Universal Radio or HRO.

[W2NAP]

I have a couple Alinco DJ580s plus accessories (batteries, chargers, etc) which are surplus to my needs.

Drop me a PM if you want more info.

If you want new I would go with either Universal Radio or HRO.

the DJ-580 is pretty decent HT.

If your going to buy new. I also agree HRO or Universal Radio, i had good luck with AES to. but last time i bought anything myself was damn near a decade ago

[n2ize]

Well, figure I'll be fixing the Yaesu so once fully repaired that will be more or less my "state of the art" radio as it has all the features I would want i.e. 2 bands, extended receive capability, documented & undocumented programming features, cross band repeater, etc.

In addition I wouldn't mind having an inexpensive, single band VHF unit. I'll look in to some of the suggestions made here.

[KG4CGC]

There is an HT, Alinco DJ 580 for sale on QRZ for a C-note. Check it: http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?t=275925

[n2ize]

I have a couple Alinco DJ580s plus accessories (batteries, chargers, etc) which are surplus to my needs.

Drop me a PM if you want more info.

If you want new I would go with either Universal Radio or HRO.

I sent you a PM concerning this. I am interested.

[n2ize]

What is your budget and would you consider a Chinese model from ebay? I believe they have received good reports and if you drop one in the East River it's no big loss. You want bells and whistles an mil spec, go Yaesu or whatever. You gonna sit at the window indoors? Chinese crap.

Yeah, I'm looking at various radios. The Chinese ones can be had pretty cheap I know. I've been looking around at a few and seen a few for as low as $70.00 for a single bander and about $100-$125 for some dual banders. I saw one "dual bander" made by a company called TYT that can be had for $125. Pretty cheap for a 2 band radio and it seems to have good reviews. Only drawback, according to one reviewer, is that it is not a true "dual bander"... in that it can only lock onto and receive 1 band at a time as opposed to a true dual bander that can receive both simultaneously. But for $125 who can complain.

The Alinko's look interesting, single banders can be had from them pretty cheap and dual banders for not too high a price. I am considering Alinco as a possibility. Icom and Yaesu both look god although a bit more pricey.

In any event I'm going to keep looking them over and trying to decide.

[n2ize]

Okay, I decided to go with a new radio. I'm looking at a couple of single and dual band radios. A found an Alinco that looks interesting and a Yaesu that also seems pretty nice and has some excellent reviews. Hope to make my decision over the next couple of days and have something on order soon.

[n2ize]

Okay. my final decision was to go with a new monobander. I went for the Yaesu FT-250R. At first aI was a bit hesitant to go with Yaesu as my FT-470 was quite problematic. But, the FT-250R has very good reviews and, it came highly recommended. Hopefully I should have it sometime next week, or, soon after Xmas and I'll be able to put it through some rigorous testing. In any event I'll be finished fixing my FT-470 as well so that will provide my 70cm capabilities.

[KC9ECI]

I've had 3 of the Chinese brands of late. One of the Wouxun dual band rigs. 2M/70CM that I got off 409shop via ebay, a Puxing PX-2R single band 70CM HT and a Puxing PX-888. I sold the 888 as it was surplus to my needs. The Wouxun developed a scratchy audio pot near the end of the summer after I dropped it in a creek camping. Still works great, just a little scratchy noise if I adjust volume. The PX-2R is a pretty solid little shirt pocket rig. Down side is no DTMF to control an IRLP node.

[NQ6U]

If you don't need 70cm and with the FT-250R going for $119 at Universal Radio, it seems like a good choice over one of the Chinese radios. While the Wouxun dual-bander has gotten good reviews, it probably won't last as long as the Yaesu will.

[n2ize]

If you don't need 70cm and with the FT-250R going for $119 at Universal Radio, it seems like a good choice over one of the Chinese radios. While the Wouxun dual-bander has gotten good reviews, it probably won't last as long as the Yaesu will.

The reviews on many of the Chinese radios was pretty good and I could have gotten a Chinese dual bander (not a true FDX radio) for the same price as I'm paying for this Yaesu monobander. However, I decided to go with a radio that is a bit more rugged. Plus the 250 has some great reviews and was recomended by a local who owns one. I was thinking of getting a VX-3R dual bander (which has extended receive coverage from the AM Bcast band right on up through 999mhz) but I figure how often am I going to listen to HF when I'm out portable and, optimum HF receive will probably require an external antenna anyhow so might as well just use one of my dedicated HF receivers at home for that.

When I was using my FT-470 I mainly used 2 meters 99% of the time. rarely did I ever talk on UHF and for the most part the UHF repeaters around here are silent. Still it's nice to have the UHF coverage but, my old 470 will be fine for that... it transmits fine on 440. I'm alkso considering some dual band equipment in the near future.

My main interest is in the HF world between 1.8 - 7.4 mc. And with cell phones these days there is less of a need to carry a HT as a communications device. Putting all these things together I figured I'd opt for the Yaesu monobander. I am sure it I'll like it. I just hope it's not anywhere near as problematic as my old 470.

[KC9ECI]

Just a FYI moment, I grabbed a can of radio shack contact cleaner and gave the audio pot a good soak overnight and it's as good as new now.

[n2ize]

I got the new radio yesterday. So far I like it. It reminds me of my FT-470 cept the 470 was dual band. . The keypad / dial functions & operations are the same as on my old FT-470. Albeit there are some functions on this radio that the 470 didn't have. But the keypad/dial is the same, right down to the beep tones when you press the keys :)