On Thu, 18 Mar 2004 20:35:48 GMT, Gary S. Idontwantspam@net wrote:

On Thu, 18 Mar 2004 07:56:07 -0600, Bob Miller
wrote:

On Wed, 17 Mar 2004 08:39:08 -0600, ned wrote:

Just joined Public Safety organization. Looking for inexpensive
($150) VHF (156.xxx). Have been watching Ebay and see some Kenwoods,
Yaesu/Vertex and Motorolas that might work, but I'm not sure which
models are easily field programmable without sending them off for
additional expense. Looks like many Motorola models require a rather
difficult interface (something other than a cable and PC software).

Can anyone suggest a FAQ or give recommendations as to which older
radios might be a good choice and relatively easily programmed?

Why don't you ask the people at your public safety organization?

As Bob implies, standardizing with the people you are working with is
very helpful.

Because of legalities from the FCC, any unit working in the commercial
range cannot be easily programmed in the field. A licensee is only
authorized for specific frequencies, and this includes public safety
organizations.

Most ham HTs do not need to be sent away for programming, very much
unlike the commercial rigs you seem to be familiar with.

If you have two of the same model, you can cable them together and
"clone" the memory from one to the other.

Alternately, you can get software for a PC (not Mac) which emulates
the other radio, and you can process a file on your PC to load into
the radio. Typical pricing is about $20 for the cable, $20 for the
software, no matter how many times you use them. Generally, you will
need a different set of S/W for each model you are dealing with.

If you really mean 156.xxx, that is well outside the ham bands, and
would require a commercial solution. There is no legal way to put any
ham HT into that frequency range.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)

Thanks Gary for the informative reply. As should be obvious, I am
unfamiliar with radio frequency band allocations and exactly where
they split. I probably picked the wrong newsgroup for asking this
question.

My situation is, I need a radio that transmits on 153.xx and receives
on 156.xx as mentioned above. I ASSUME any 2 or more channel radio
capable of opereating in the 148-174MHZ range will work. There is no
"standard" radio for the organization I'm with. I tried asking the
local radio shop about changing a Motorola HT220 to the required
frequencies (had this one from a previous job), but was told it would
be a waste of money.

So...I started looking on Ebay for reasonably priced used radios.
Quickly discovered that some older radios are more easily programmed
than others. It occurs to me that, over time, I may want to add or
delete a frequency to monitor other nearby organizations, etc., and
that at $20-40 a shot to have someone program it, doing it myself
would be advantageous. I thought there would be some reviews, faq's,
etc., that would state which radios were more "user friendly", but
apparently it's not that simple. I don't believe there is anything
unethical or illegal about re-programming as long as you only transmit
on the licensed frequency, but if I'm wrong please let me know.
Thanks. Ned