I'd ignore the Steve fellow. He's not participating with all his
facilities.

Your location and its VHF/UHF activity would play a role in which
radio would be a better option for you. For example, if you're in an
area where nobody used 440 then buying a duo-bander HT wouldn't really
be too much more useful than buying a simple 2m HT. I've noticed that
a lot of 2m/440 HT's are much more susceptible to intermod and
intereference from strong nearby pager signals whereas all my 2m HT's
never even noticed their existence.

If you wish to use this with an external mobile and house antenna,
perhaps an HT with a BNC connection on top with its antenna would be
best. The SMA connection found on some HT's is a bit more annoying for
such purposes. A simple PL259/BNC adapater could be used then in your
car for the mobile antenna.

Be aware, though, that using such adapters and external antennas can
cause a lot of stress on your HT at the antenna input spot. This extra
stress could cause components to break in that area. I've seen that
many times.

Good luck, jennie. Also, don't be afraid to listen on-air as much as
possible to pick up helpful advice on-the-air and to determine which
local VHF/UHF users are complete idiots. I recommend determining which
local radio ops are completely clueless and avoid at all cost any of
their advice. The last thing you want to do is ruin a brand new HT
because some local idiot on a repeater gave you some very bad advice.
I don't know where you're located but in the Pacific Northwest, the
bottom of the barrel can be found on 2m.


On Sat, 6 Nov 2004 16:42:51 -0500, "Jennie" wrote:

the technician's test today....Not sure of what type of handheld to buy?
Appreciate any help in selecting my first piece of equipment...

I want a handheld with an antenna, and be able to put up an antenna on the
roof of my car and in my attic...

Under 300 if possible.


What is the best Code training stuff out there?

Thanks