[amsat-bb] Re: Is TH-D7AG the only widely available full-duplex HT??

[Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)]

Hi John!
1
> I was trying to help out another ham get started with satellites, and
> just checked the on-line HRO catalog.  They no longer list the Icom W32A,
> only its accessories.
>
> Does that mean that the TH-D7A[G] is the only HT being made today which works
> well on FM satellites???   Are there other vendors besides HRO to check?

You're correct.  The IC-W32A might be available from other vendors, and if
HRO's web site no longer has the W32A listed then their stores have probably
sold their remaining stock of those radios.

As for the IC-91A/AD that Icom is advertising as the replacement for the W32A,
it is not a full-duplex radio.  In fact, it will take some manual
effort to use the new
HT with satellites, since its memories won't accept frequencies in
different bands
like many Kenwood and Yaesu dual-band HTs.  I played with the IC-91A at
Dayton, and asked specifically about the radio's capabilities related to FM
satellite work.  It sounded like it would be as useful as my IC-T7H -
it can work,
but with swapping the TX and RX frequencies manually to work the passes,
and not full-duplex.  :-(  Seems like Icom replaced the cross-band full-duplex
capability of the W32A with D-Star.

73!



Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK - Phoenix AZ
http://www.wd9ewk.net/