There are no new full-duplex HTs on the amateur market. The Icom IC-W32a was the last nit to have true full-duplex.

What? The TH-D7 is full duplex AND contains 1200 and 9600 baud Satelite Packet TNC's to boot... And complete two-way global messaging and APRS built in.

I overlook the Kenwood TH=D7A(g) because it is a battery hog and much older technology than what is now avalable in amateur HTs.

Interesting. If you turn off the TNC when not in use, and set power save, it is no different from any other radio I think. And nothing has changed in FM "technology" in 30 years... I don't understand your bias...

Especially, when you can send Email from the TH-D7 anywhere in the world via any of the APRS amateur digital satellites.

See all about using this HT all aloine, in your hand to send an Email anywhere, any time... http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/sset.html

If one is going to get an HT for satellites, it makes sense to me to get one that also does all the digital satellites too.

Bob, WB4APR

Clint Bradford wrote:

...

...

...which handheld do you use or which

handheld is "the best" for sats. It must be full duplex.

There are no new full-duplex HTs on the amateur market. The Icom IC- W32a was the last nit to have true full-duplex.

The Kenwood TH-D7A is still being manufactured, and has full duplex. I've used it with great success on AO-27, SO-50 and AO-51, and (just last night) on the voice repeater on the ISS. Browse back through my blog at http://brainwagon.org for some recordings that I've done off the air, using the TH-D7A, an Arrow antenna, and a little sony voice recorder. It makes a very nice setup.

Knowing that, the feature that is needed in an HT is the ability to RX on one band, and TX on another.

So you have dual-band, dual receive HTs (TH-F6a from Kenwood...user un-friendly VX-7R from Yaesu) that can do it - obviously. I overlook the Kenwood TH=D7A(g) because it is a battery hog and much older technology than what is now avalable in amateur HTs.

While it's fairly ugly, had terrible battery life and the like, I don't think it should be so quickly written off. I wish it had a more modern replacement, but it has a unique set of capabilities that still make it a quite reasonable buy.

But there are also HTs that are dual-band, single-receive that work excellently. I show off the Yaesu FT-60R for my demos and sessions. 1,000 memories, strongest belt clip of any HT on the amateur market, built tough, 108-to-a-gig receive, easy to program...and, when using its optional AA dry cell case, you are working at FULL POWER! Unlike the TH-F6a - when you use its AA case, you're at 1/2 of one Watt.

Al that in a radio for well under $200. See a picture of it in action in the December, '07 issue of CQ Magazine, where I am using the FT-60 with an Arrow antenna to wow an audience at a fair demo.

The FT-60 is indeed an excellent little radio, and a great buy. I'd recommend that people who operate half duplex be especially careful about being polite on the FM birds though: you can easily double an existing QSO.

Clint Bradford, K6LCS / KAF3359 909-241-7666

On Feb 1, 2008, at 1:10 AM, amsat-bb-request@amsat.org wrote:

...

I would like to know which handheld do you use or which handheld is "the best" for sats. It must be full duplex. Thanks in advance!

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There are no new full-duplex HTs on the amateur market. The Icom IC- W32a was the last nit to have true full-duplex.

Hi Clint,

The D7 Kenwood is very much a full duplex radio, and is still available. Chad specifically said he wanted full duplex. I applaud him for that. If everyone followed the AMSAT recommendation to use full duplex on the FM satellites, there would be less of a logjam on the uplink, especially on the east coast.

73, Drew KO4MA