The best argument against having fire or police frequencies on the same radio you use as a ham radio is inadvertently using the wrong frequency. Let's say you have a commercial radio like you mentioned that is programed for local repeaters and simplex with a couple of "Just in Case" public service frequencies. You're on the road, throw your callsign out thinking you're on your favorite repeater, but instead you're on the police dispatch frequency. You may or may not keep your license and radio, but at the very least someone is going to ask you to explain why you thought it was a good idea to have a radio like this. That person may not too understanding.

N5RWJ,

This post started as "Big Nuclear Booms (Plural) Come." I was simply addressing the concerns most of the posters to this thread had about a large scale "Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)" scenario. I said in the first sentence "I can't see any plausible scenario where the U.S. would be involved in anything remotely resembling the massive nuclear exchange possible up to the early '90's could happen in 2012."  I never discounted the very real threat of a single shipboard bomb detonated in a major harbor. Perhaps if you read my post again you will see the issue I was addressing. Nuclear WW3, not terrorist attack. I just think too many people still believe we face the same nuclear issues we did during the cold war, when clearly we do not.

I can't see any plausible scenario where the U.S. would be involved in anything remotely resembling the massive nuclear exchange possible up to the early '90's could happen in 2012. First off, during the cold war there were only two major players-NATO (The U.S.) and The Soviet Union (Russia). We are no longer enemies locked into an ideological struggle. I was a member of a nuclear unit at the height of the cold war over two decades ago, we avoided it then and while nothing is impossible, I don't lose any sleep over it today-although I once did. A simple count of the warheads remaining is misleading because most of these warheads are low-yield short-range tactical weapons, not 5-20 megaton ICBMs. The few rouge nations who posses warheads lack the delivery systems to hit us. As an example, even if North Korea had a few ICBMs that didn't self-destruct shortly after launch as their last one did, do you really believe the could make to U.S. soil before being shot down or rendered nothing more than an unguided dirty bomb (no EMP here) by a close-proximity defensive nuke? NORAD was prepared to track and counter hundreds to thousands of ICBMs from the USSR-I doubt we have lost the ability to deal with a handful at most that could be launched by suicidal lunatics. A limited exchange in the Middle-East is possible (it would be VERY limited since The Israelis would be involved) , but the EMP won't affect anyone in the U.S. I think a realistic risk assessment would reveal that there are more realistic concerns to consider such as an outbreak of hemorrhagic fever, a virus affecting the food supply, a state-sponsored cyber-attack or global warming's affect on our climate.  The cold war as it relates to nukes is over. I don't understand why people would still obsess over it, but everybody need a hobby.

Could someone please recommend a voice to text program that is simple to install and use? I live in a county of 400,000. Our local ARES group maintains a linked 2m system that gives good county wide coverage and, thanks to W8FSM can be listened to online. I've talked to enough people to know that  during a Skywarn, public service or emergency net many potential emergency responders listen to us online. Emergency rooms, schools, and fire stations  are among them. Is there a program that will allow you to convert the audio, as it is streamed online to a text file that can be maintained as a permanent record? This would allow someone who was away from the desk to stay up on what's happening. Would it be possible to use an Android or Iphone to do this as well?

Also, what program do you suggest I use to convert audio to text directly off the air? I haven't used the computer for for much beyond browsing and email until recently, so KISS is good but I'll tackle whatever I need to. I need to learn more about computers.

73, Mark K9DDR

   I thank all of you for your information and advice. From what I can tell fair market value on these radios is around $400.00 used. Add another $150.00 for software/cable/manual. I wouldn't pay $550.00 for a somewhat limited 2 meter FM radio unless it made me sound like Walter Cronkite. But since I already have these radios, $150.00 for software/cable/manual breaks down to $75.00 per radio. That seems like a bargain for a rig that has the specs of the TK-790H, so we're putting them on the air as soon as we get what we need to program them.  I think it will suit me fine as a base station.

   I would like to ask a few  more questions:

 1) How does the signal quality compare to Motorola? A fellow ham has a Motorola desktop that has a better sound, both transmit and receive, than most ham rigs.
   
 2) I have the stock non-DTMF noise canceling microphones and would like to use a desk mike. Should I go with the KMC-9B or can I adapt a ham mic to the 12 pin connector on the 790?

 3) Is the programming cable something that a person with good computer skills could build, and if so, where can I find specs/schematic? Beside Kenwood and Ebay where can I buy a cable?

 4) There is a lot of activity around here between 152Mhz and 156Mhz.Should I plan on using a bandpass filter?

   It looks like my son's 1st radio will be a nice one.

73

Mark
   

 This summer I stopped at a yard sale with my wife. I saw two mics and a couple of radios with SO239s in a box along with some scrap home electronics. I paid ten dollars for the lot planning on scavenging the radios for parts. The box was put in a closet and forgotten about until a few days ago when my son said he was ready to get his license. I pulled out enough gear so he would have a functional shack to use as soon as he got his callsign. Among the things I gave him were the two Kenwood TK-790Hs with separation kits. He called me that night informing me that he had both of them powered up and weakly receiving one of the weather freqs on 162Mhz. As far as we can tell, we have two functioning radios.

   I have never worked with commercial radios on the ham bands before and would like to ask for opinions and advice on whether or not to invest in software/programming cables/ service manual. Is there a way to test these radios short of programming and going on the air? Are they just so Hell-For-Stout that if the lights come on it probably works? From what I have read, no physical mods are needed to get it to function on two meter, but it wont go below 145Mhz. Is that correct? Are there any programming quirks, firmware changes or anything of that nature we need to be aware of? Is there any internal alignment that calls for more than an SWR meter and multimeter? 

   Another thing I would to ask about is frequency agility. How well would one of these work for an interstate mobile rig? I've only had my license for a year now and have yet to go mobile outside my local area, but plan to. I would prefer having  access to all frequencies, but it seems to me that 254 channels would cover most of the voice channels on two meter. The manual refers to user selectable pl tones. It says only 16 tones are available in the field. In my area half the repeaters use 100hz. Will 16 pl tones cover the most common used? Would it be feasible to leave a computer connected to it (at least when using it as a base) to enter simplex/odd split/pl tones?

   I hope to make this a father and son project. Thank you for any information you can give us.