Does Yaesu, or any other manufacturer make a radio capable of TX in
this range? Curious since I am a firefighter and have seen numerous
radios on eBay that can. All of them are Asian made, and I am hesitant
to buy a "cheapy" radio from one of those sellers.

Thanks,

Scott

I believe my original post was very vague. What I was meaning to ask
was if there are less expensive options than the usual hand-held radios
made for TXing in the 137-174. I.E. Motorola. I see numerous Ham
rigs on the market capable of programming from the keyboard, or a
cable. Where there's a will, there's a way to mod some of these. I.E.
Alinco, Yaesu, etc. I have reviewed several hand helds on eBay from
makers such as Linton, Weierwe, and I am not convinced that they would
but quality.

Scott


Motorola SM120 Mobile.

--
Pierre Salinger Memorial Hook, Line & Sinker, June 2004

COOSN-266-06-25794

) writes:
I believe my original post was very vague. What I was meaning to ask
was if there are less expensive options than the usual hand-held radios
made for TXing in the 137-174. I.E. Motorola. I see numerous Ham
rigs on the market capable of programming from the keyboard, or a
cable. Where there's a will, there's a way to mod some of these. I.E.
Alinco, Yaesu, etc. I have reviewed several hand helds on eBay from
makers such as Linton, Weierwe, and I am not convinced that they would
but quality.

Actually, the vagueness hinted at what you really wanted to do.

The radios are expensive because they meet certain specs. And that
includes the type approval or whatever the current equivalent is, that
is required for radios that are used in the public service bands.

Nobody requires 137 to 174MHz transmit. I can't remember what's down at
137MHz, but whoever uses it is not going to be using the band up at 148 to
174MHz. And neither users are going to be transmitting in the 2meter ham
band at 144 to 148MHz.

There is no way that you can use a ham transceiver for the public service
bands. They aren't type approved for the 148 to 174MHz band. It doesn't
matter even if the specs match, without that type approval it's illegal
to use there. And what people often forget is that it's a two way thing,
if firemen can use amateur transceivers, then what's to keep them off
the 2meter band? After all, the units will tune across there with no
problem.

Michael

Thanks for all of the info. I was asking because I was looking for a
less expensive alternative than buying a Motorola HT-1250 or similiar
radio. I guess the brain wasn't fully engaged when thinking about
using a Ham rig and modifying same. I just need to suck it up and
purchase the appropriate radio. Anyone have knowledge of the handhelds
offered on eBay? Several manufacturers are Weierwei, Linton, Jintong.

These radios are cheap. Very cheap. Audio is 'tin can' quality. The
people I know say that the receiver part of these handhelds are
mediocre at best. They suffer from severe intermodulation problems. A
Yaesu VX-170 is a better choice. This handheld is near perfect and easy
to modify.

However, when transmitting, the supplied antenna is only guaranteed to
work within the 144-148 MHz range (+ or - a few MHz). If you use it
'out of band', you might damage the transmitter (high SWR). You will
have to buy a second antenna that is designed for the frequency you
want to use.

Hans

schreef:

Thanks for all of the info. I was asking because I was looking for a
less expensive alternative than buying a Motorola HT-1250 or similiar
radio. I guess the brain wasn't fully engaged when thinking about
using a Ham rig and modifying same. I just need to suck it up and
purchase the appropriate radio. Anyone have knowledge of the handhelds
offered on eBay? Several manufacturers are Weierwei, Linton, Jintong.