[amsat-bb] Re: Which Handheld...

[Mark VandeWettering]

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, amsat-bb-request at amsat.org 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!
>>     
>
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