Haven't heard it yet but if you are thinking about a HAM - the one that Sean picked up is a solid unit. Best Mobile Ham Radios
I am at least a little interested in a hand held. I read in the BS thread that you could get one for just over $100? Got a link to support that?
Heads Up Rob.. this is what my friend in the radio business says to buy. http://wouxun.us/ 110.00 $$ his comments : "buy a brand new one wouxun.us kg-uvd1p 2meter 70cm dual band i have one and love it. it will do all you need and more."
I will be back with that $100 radio but in the meantime... Ham to Internet to Ham repeater http://www.irlp.net/
ICOM $99 http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-010434 ICOM $116 http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-010433 Yaesu $114 http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-010075 Yaesu $124 http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-010076
KG-UV2D 136-174 & 350-470.. Can program from the keypad. No computer cable needed. Simple. Type frequency and then talk. Add private tone, then talk. Battery lasts about 4-6 hours.
Same for all of the radios. The nice thing about the computer and cable is that you can share your set up with others. As much as I like a bargain, I personally would choose a Kenwood, Yaesu or ICOM. But that's me.
This is a good place to see reviews of HAM and HAM related equipment... http://www.eham.net/reviews/ The Wouchin http://www.eham.net/reviews/review/97328
One other point... I lend out my handheld every time I go out. With the exception of some canyon areas the handheld seems to do very well. To be on the safe side and to get more distance, you may want to get a mag mount external antenna and get better range.
Hey, I am totally a Name Brand kind of guy, but I am being told to buy the WOUXUN by a Kenwood dealer. I know he bought one to try it out, and got hooked on it. He is totally a radio geek, so I don't question his judgment. Keep mind, it is also a Dual band radio.. the others you listed are all 2m unless I missed something. He has been using it for about a year now and to my surprise, still likes it.
Lending out is a good way to make sure you can talk to the next truck! I have the little GMRS radios for that... works great in camp to keep up with the kids.
For the price it seems like a bargain! Having dual band is nice for FRS monitoring (depending upon your radio, it may not allow you to tx at a low enough wattage to be legal) Did someone say legal? Price is good enough to get a few!
MURS Designated Frequencies MURS 1 = 151.8200 MURS 2 = 151.8800 MURS 3 = 151.9400 MURS 4 = 154.5700 MURS 5 = 154.6000 FRS Frequencies Ch Frequency in MHz 1 462.5625 2 462.5875 3 462.6125 4 462.6375 5 462.6625 6 462.6875 7 462.7125 8 467.5625 9 467.5875 10 467.6125 11 467.6375 12 467.6625 13 467.6875 14 467.7125 15 462.550 16 462.575 17 462.600 18 462.625 19 462.650 20* 462.675* 21 462.700 22 462.725 * Nationwide emergency and road information calling. Nationally recognized coded squelch for 675 emergency repeater operation is 141.3 Hz. Unless you know you have access to a repeater on this frequency pair, do not expect this channel to be of any practical use in emergencies. Low power simplex portables on 462.675 will not attract much attention. A cellphone is much more reliable.
