Re: Which Handheld...
...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.
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.
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.
Clint Bradford, K6LCS / KAF3359 909-241-7666
On Feb 1, 2008, at 1:10 AM, [email protected] 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!
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, [email protected] 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!
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
On Feb 1, 2008 1:46 PM, Clint Bradford [email protected] 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.
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.
Just to be clear, though: the TH-D7A is full duplex, if by that you mean you can listen to one band while transmitting on another. Moving your receive frequency might take a couple more button pushes than the simplest case, but it really is quite easy. Furthermore, it has a TNC built in that can receive the 1200 bps and 9600 bps AFSK transmissions made by many birds. Data from the satellites operating in APRS mode can be viewed on-screen without an attached computer.
Though I'm sure the other HT options are excellent, I'm glad I got a TH-D7A because it has offered a quite easy path to exploring the digital birds and terrestrial APRS in general.
73, Bruce VE9QRP
On Feb 1, 2008, at 1:10 AM, [email protected] 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!
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
I avoid that radio, just because it is so much a battery hog, being older technology. I couldn't in good faith sell it to prospective customers without making them add a second battery pack or secondary power source to their arsenal...
Clint Bradford, K6LCS / KAF3359 909-241-7666
...dude, don't ignore the TH-D7a...
Yes, I apologize for misrepresenting the truth...(grin)
And I even own one of them...
If one MUST have true duplex, then that's is, indeed, the only currently-produced model.
Clint Bradford, K6LCS / KAF3359 909-241-7666
The original poster also stated that funds were limited...
YES, ideally, full-duplex is the AMSAT way to go. But compared to a TH-D7a, one could purchase a FT-60R *AND* and Arrow 146/437-10WBP and have twenty bucks left over to send to AMSAT...
Clint Bradford, K6LCS / KAF3359 909-241-7666
Did Kenwood ever fix the KISS mode in the 9k6 TNC?
My D7 has the following:
TASCO Radio Modem AX.25 Level 2 Version 2.0 Release 08/18/98 2Chip ver 1.00 Checksum $F0
Has there been a newer rev?
73, Mike N1JEZ AMSAT #29649 "A closed mouth gathers no feet"
----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Bruninga" [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, February 01, 2008 1:14 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Which Handheld...
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
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
participants (6)
-
Andrew Glasbrenner -
Bruce Robertson -
Clint Bradford -
Mark VandeWettering -
n1jez＠burlingtontelecom.net -
Robert Bruninga