2M HT Ordered

GeoTracker90

Adventurer
I guess I'll be joining the HAM community over the next week. I just ordered a VX-170 and on February 7th I'll be taking my Technician and hopefully my General licensing tests. A couple of other people in the local 4X4 club appear as if they will be testing too.

I have a lot to learn but can't wait to add this capability to my arsenal of tools.

Mike
 

gary in ohio

Explorer
I guess I'll be joining the HAM community over the next week. I just ordered a VX-170 and on February 7th I'll be taking my Technician and hopefully my General licensing tests. A couple of other people in the local 4X4 club appear as if they will be testing too.

I have a lot to learn but can't wait to add this capability to my arsenal of tools.

Mike

Good luck. I would also order a mobile antenna as well. You can always connect the 170 to the mobile antenna and with a speaker mic its easy to drive and use the radio..
 

GeoTracker90

Adventurer
Yeah, I was kicking myself for not ordering a vehicle antenna at the same time. Does any one have a recommendation on what antenna to get, what has worked well in the past?

Looks like the radio will be here on Wednesday. I can't wait!

Mike
 

kellymoe

Expedition Leader
I use the VX-170 myself as well as the Icom V8 HT. Between the two I prefer the 170 for ease of use. Good choice and good luck.
 

KG6BWS

Explorer
ive got a yaesu vx6r (triband) that i really like. when in the truck ill plug it into a diamond hood mount with a diamond antennae on it. considering it only puts out 1 watt on 220, its got pretty damn good performance. on the other side of my hood i have another diamond mount and antennae that is hooked up to my mobile, a yaesu ft8800.
 

gary in ohio

Explorer
Yeah, I was kicking myself for not ordering a vehicle antenna at the same time. Does any one have a recommendation on what antenna to get, what has worked well in the past?

Looks like the radio will be here on Wednesday. I can't wait!

Mike

Mike, The best antenna for VHF is a Hustler G7 mobile antenna, Only problem its about 7ft tall and not to popular with people with garages. Regardless of what you get I would get a a dual band for later growth. The antenna mounting location and vehicle will drive somewhat the antenna but AntennaX or diamond both make nice range of antennas.
 

KG6BWS

Explorer
do you want a permanent mount antenna or a detachable mount?

Most folks seem to like using a detachable mount with a handheld radio.

If so, get a decent dual band magnet mount and find a convenient place to put it and the cable.

If you're gonna be using the radio in the vehicle a lot, I'd seriously suggest getting a mobile radio as well as a permanent mount antenna. You'll get much better reception and transmitting than you will with a handheld radio and you won't have to deal with the radio having power and antenna cables attached to it when you pick it up to use.

I use both, vehicle mounted for the power and better coverage, HT for convenience and portability. I do use a better antenna on my HT made by Comet, replaced the "rubber ducky" antenna with it, much better. I also have a magnet mount for using the HT if needed and a Diamond/Comet dual band mounted on the Suby all the time for the mobile.

Almost forgot, congratulations on joining the Ham fraternity. I hold a Technician's license right now, hoping to get my General later this year.

only problem with magmounts is that technically theyre not really all that detachable. every time you put it back on youre supposed to tune the antennae. thats why i like the hood mounts. while not optimal, they get pretty decent performance, without having to worry all that much about tree branches or garages.
 

gary in ohio

Explorer
only problem with magmounts is that technically theyre not really all that detachable. every time you put it back on youre supposed to tune the antennae. thats why i like the hood mounts. while not optimal, they get pretty decent performance, without having to worry all that much about tree branches or garages.

If you plunk down a mag mounts in the same general area you dont need to tune anything. Heck, I doubt you would find any difference anyplace on the roof that would make a difference. Many mag mounts dont even offer the option of tuning.
 

KG6BWS

Explorer
If you plunk down a mag mounts in the same general area you dont need to tune anything. Heck, I doubt you would find any difference anyplace on the roof that would make a difference. Many mag mounts dont even offer the option of tuning.

all antennaes have some sort of tuning. even steel whips are tunable. magmounts usually have a small set screw that you loosen to adjust the antennae.

would you really want to chance burning out the finals on an expensive radio just to have a magmount??
 

gary in ohio

Explorer
all antennaes have some sort of tuning. even steel whips are tunable. magmounts usually have a small set screw that you loosen to adjust the antennae.

would you really want to chance burning out the finals on an expensive radio just to have a magmount??

Still on a magmount its a waste of time to play the tuning game. 1:1 or 1:5 match isnt going to make much difference to the radio. People get hung up on SWR way to much. Most every modern radio has SWR protection circuits built in.

Your SWR will change everytime you pass a car or truck or go by a tree. Your radio can handle a mismatch. Moving a magmount isnt going to require retuning and the SWR isnt going to move that much regardless where you put the mount.
 

GeoTracker90

Adventurer
I'll probably make a hood / fender mount for the 2M antenna. And just so that I understand things correctly I can run a dual band antenna with my 2m only HT.

Just for kicks here is a picture of a mount I built for a mag base CB antenna.

CBMount.jpg

Mike
 

crawler#976

Expedition Leader
Take a look at a Larsen NMO 2/70B

http://www.universal-radio.com/CATALOG/hamantm/larsenm.html

It is a relatively compact dual band that offers ease of removal from the base mount. A couple quick turns and it's off the roof - that's handy if I need to get into a parking garage or in very heavy trees. I've been very pleased with it's performance as well. I've have clear clean contacts at 108 miles range (15 miles south of Williams, AZ to Smith Peak near Aguila, AZ).

Mark
 

soonenough

Explorer
I recently purchased a Comet SBB-5 NMO antenna for my dual band (Yaesu 7800) install. I liked it because it's not too tall and it has a fold-over feature so it doesn't have to be completely removed if you need to pull into a garage.

I can't comment on its performance personally since I haven't used it yet, but a family member (and 30-year ham user) used one for several years and said his performed well. It's received 100% positive reviews on eham.net as well.

sbb5.jpg
 

GeoTracker90

Adventurer
Guys,

Thanks for all of the information on the antennas. I recieved my Yaesu VX-170 today and can't wait to put it to use. The licensing test is on Saturday morning. Any insight on how long it takes to get into the FCC database after passing the test?

Mike
 

Luke

Observer
If they file your paperwork through the mail you can expect to wait about 2 weeks or so for your call sign. If they file it over the internet (the prefered technique) you'll have your call sign in just a couple days.
 

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