Buying my first rig...

[KD5RYQ]

Posted this on strays as well...

getting ready to buy my first rig...and am trying to get the most bang for the buck.  Am leaning towards an HT (Icom t81A or Kenwood TH-f6A) because of it's abilities as as scanner as well as a transceiver.  the power of a mobile sounds great, but I want to be able to use it out of the car as well.  Not sure that I want a base station, since I would only be able to use it in the house, unless the antenna is mobile in some way...I am (hopefully) working with a $500 budget for this purchase, and have seen WAY too many specs so far.  

Can anyone offer me some real life experiences with your rigs, and what I, and newly ticketed Technician, can expect in whatever direction I end up going...??  I appreciate your insights....

[WB2WIK]

I hate to recommend anything, but here's some advice:

Remember an "HT" is just that.  It will never be a mobile or base station.  Whether it be Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood, Radio Shack, Alinco or whatever, these multiband hand-held units, especially the ones with scanning abilities outside the amateur bands, can become virtually crippled when connected to an outdoor antenna (any antenna larger than the "rubber duckie" they come with) -- signals are too strong for the receiver and create overload, intermodulation distortion and all kinds of evils.

As such, the thought that "I'll buy a hand-held, and use it everywhere, including connected to my mobile whip in the car, and a ground plane at home" usually doesn't work, especially if you are in or travel to densely populated areas.

My TH-F6A works great with its little rubber duck.  If I plug in a 2m gain antenna which is mounted on my chimney above the roof, it is immediately saturated and becomes unusable.  Period.  Can't hear anything.

Same goes for pretty much every "HT" I've tried, with the rare exception of some of the older single-band units that have no "outside the ham band" coverage.

So...since this is a geographical issue, you might try consulting with other hams in your immediate area, via a local radio club meeting, to see what they are using!

73 & congrats on the ticket!

WB2WIK/6

[KD5RNN]

so far my only rig is an HT an Icom T7H to be exact. I love this little radio. It hits repeaters up to 45 miles away with the supplied rubber ducky. One thing i do suggest is to get a radpid charger ( It has a 3 hour battery life @5watts) and it takes 15 hours with the supplied recharger.

73 congradulations you will never regret it!
KD5RNN