wrote in message
ups.com...
Are old say 80's 2 meter all mode any good for a base station at home?

Some are

Is not having pl capability a problem?

Yes a big problem -- repeaters in many places are require PL (PL is a
motorola trademark by the way)
CTCSS Continuous Tone Coded Squelch System ia a better term
But You can add a PL tone generator if need be -- see
http://www.com-spec.com/index1.htm

How do I tell if a repeater in my area has pl?

See Repeater guide at URL:
http://www.artscipub.com/repeaters/

I have found a few of these on ebay for about 200 bucks or less. This
leads me to another question, is ebay as good and cheap a place to find
used equipment as say a ham fest?

No for e-bay -- tends to be higher priced -- Ham Fests are usually a better
deal -- In either case a question arises "Is the rig fully operational in
all respects and meets mfg specs?"

From e-bay -- I always e-mail the seller asking that and a money back
guarntee.

For Ham fests -- sale is often -- as is -- but since they are local --
hopefully you can get back to them -- ask the same question of the sellers
at Hamfests as well.

Some Hamfests will have the rig hooked up to a power supply so you can check
it to your satisfaction.


I am going to my first one in January.

Have fun -- lots of junk but some goodies too (:-)
--
Caveat Lecter