Alan Strawinski wrote:

Dave Hall wrote in news:3F547F14.5CF7
@worldlynx.net:

DH While your response was very rational, and to the point, as much
DH as I'd hate to say it, I sort of agree with DebbyDave's
DH conclusion, although not for the exact same reasons.

That's ok. I enjoy looking at things from different angles, and
appreciate the response.

Me too :-)



DH My experience with handhelds, both CB and ham, shows performance that
DH was not as reliable or robust as radios designed for permanent
DH mounting.

I've never had much grief with handhelds that I've owned in the past, but
such is the nature of anecdotal evidence. One guy thinks something is
great based on his experience and expectations (valid) and another
doesn't think so based on _his_ experience and expactations (still just
as valid).

Of course. The standard disclaimer (YMMV) applies. Such is the nature of
subjective criteria.


DH Most handhelds can be run from an external power source, but they
DH lack the power line filtering to block things like alternator whine
DH from being superimposed on the transmit carrier. Noise blanking is
DH also seriously lacking on the receive side as well.

I've had alternator whine issues on both mobile and handheld radios (in a
vehicle of course g). In fact, I've noticed that Galaxy DX959 of mine
is a bit susceptible to it. I corrected the problem on it by running
power straight to the battery. As a funny side note: On two occasions
I've been able to forsee and alternator's demise by a sudden and
substantial increase in alternator whine. Maybe it's not so bad! (just
kidding)

A similar thing happened to a friend of mine. He normally had a bit of
the typical high pitched whine in his background audio. One day the
noise changed to a lower pitched, and much louder, hash sound. Shortly
thereafter, his battery was dead, and it turned out that the alternator
was shot as well.


You know, I never noticed that handhelds didn't have NB circuits. I
suppose this is because it's largely unnecessary when being operated on
battery power. I would HOPE that handhelds - like the Midland I used as
an example in a later post - would address these filtering issues on
radios that are being marketed as being suitable for mobile operation. I
suppose the only way to find out is to buy one and try it out, eh?

In the name of battery conservation, circuits like noise blankers, are
usually removed. Especially since they are normally used to suppress
ignition noise. I would guess that simple ANL type noise gate diodes
would be easy enough to add to it. Although they only tend to "smooth"
noise, rather than eliminate it.



DH It is also harder to work an awkward small handheld radio while
DH driving, and the potential for driving distractions increases.

Now THAT is an excellent point that totally escaped me. Come to think of
it, one of the things I like about my Galaxy is it's big S/RF meter. It's
easy to read while driving. You're right - the controls on handhelds are
much smaller, and the tiny LCD display on newer models is hard to see
while driving.

DH Another point is that while there are CB handhelds which are rated at
DH a full 4 watts, they often fall a bit short of that value. Typically
DH 2.5 to 3.5 watts is the usual norm for output power. More power out
DH means greater battery drain, so they often keep that in mind when
DH designing a handheld radio. Handhelds are designed to work best on
DH battery power, and many of their circuits were trimmed back to
DH facilitate longer battery life.

I never thought of that either, though I've admitedly never checked the
carrier power on a handheld. I suppose one could pop the handheld open
and perform a proper alignment, if anything just to see how the radio
performs from the factory. It shouldn't require a full alignment. If it
does out of the box, then it's a safe bet that the manufacturers quality
control is suspect. At any rate, while you're in there you can try and
get the carrier power up to 4 watts. Another interesting test would be to
see if handhelds that are otherwise cabable of modulating a 2.5 watt
carrier 90% could do the same on a 4 watt carrier. None of this ever
occured to me. Of course, if you're going to go through all the trouble
of popping a handheld open to to make it suitable for mobile operation,
then perhaps you'd be better served just picking up a known good mobile.
Great points, Dave.

The thing is, if you want the handheld to perform well AS a handheld on
battery power, it would probably not be a good idea to raise the power
output. If, on the other hand, you use it more as a mobile, then it
might be a better idea to pick up a mobile radio more suited to the
task.


DH The price of a full featured handheld CB is also usually more than an
DH equivilent mobile CB. So unless you have a specific need for the
DH portability of a handheld, you would be better served with a mobile
DH rig.

You're right about that, too. I suppose this is why I haven't bought any
handhelds in recent years. I haven't needed the portability of one. (Side
note: I found two old Realistic 3 channel handhelds in my garage
yesterday. I didn't think I still owned any!) I'm still considering the
purchase of a modern one for my motorcycle.

Thanks for the reply and for shedding a different light on things. The
original poster now has ALOT of good information to make a decision with.
That's what it's all about, isn't it?


That's what this group is supposed to be about. I know we've sort of
lost sight of this recently. We need more topics like this to get back
on track.

Dave
"Sandbagger"