Simple radio

GlennA

Adventurer
Is there a simple mobile 2M or 2M/70cm radio that you can dial in the VFO and PL from the front face/ control head?
I'm traveling and move every three or for days. I want something that doesn't require me to reprogram using my computer all the time. thanks
 
Last edited:

Tennmogger

Explorer
The Kenwood TM-281A is about as simple as modern radios get. You can dial the frequency in, or you can coarse dial the MHz digit then fine tune the kHz digits.

I do not know of any radio that lets you 'dial in' the tone frequency from the front panel. They all require a menu item selection first, then dial selected tone.

If you dial in and use the frequency on the dial in VFO mode, it's easy to put it into memory.

Another negative: setting squelch takes two button pushes.

We hams need a simple radio as you describe!! Using a menu while driving is impossible to do safely.
 

GlennA

Adventurer
Thanks for the response. It seems the manufacturers are only interested in selling units that have all the bells and whistles.
 

BigJimCruising

Adventurer
I used to check out pawn shops for older radios and had some great finds, plus back then most pawn shops didn't have any idea of the value of the radios so I often got pretty good deals. With the internet that might not be the case anymore but it's worth a few stops to find out. Flea markets were hit and miss. If you're in a larger city look for estate sales, I've found a few radios that way.
 

Bill Idaho

New member
Try thrift stores. I found a 10 meter mobile rig for $6.00! I usually go through the electronics section looking for nicer CB radios, and came across one with heat sinks sticking out of the back. I instantly figured it was not a CB, and did a quick search on my smart phone. Sure enough, a 10 meter rig. I gladly paid for it and within minutes of getting home, was listening to someone on the opposite side of the US! For just listening, I figure an 11 meter antenna (CB) was close enough to work on 10 meter. (I have since put up a proper 10 meter antenna, BTW.) Thrift stores -stay away from pawn shops-yard sales, etc. A friend of mine found a nice Kenwood dual-band at a junk yards parts counter tossed in with all the CB's taken out of wrecked/junk cars.
As far as the setting as your described.........any more they are all too complicated to do much more than change a channel while driving.
 

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
The short answer is no, not really. One of my gripes with amateur radio, actually. :rolleyes:
.
Anyway, I think the short answer to your issue, though, is to get a repeater or frequency guide and simply pre-program any frequencies or repeaters you're likely to use. Shouldn't be hard to do, the internet offers a huge number of sources for info. As long as you have a general idea of where you're going you should be able to find out all the info you need.
.
IIRC most modern 2m or dual-band units allow a huge number of pre-sets - something like 1000, I think, more than most people can use. You can program each one with the offset, CTCSS codes, etc, and then save it as a pre-set.
.
Trying to do it "on the fly" is dangerous - akin to texting while driving.
.
HAM will never be as simple as CB where you can simply switch a channel while driving (and IMO that is why CB remains as prevalent as it is - for all it's downsides, it is easy to use and it works.)
.
I know there has been talk here (and elsewhere) about GMRS eventually replacing CB and if that happens, I think it will be a good thing. GMRS offers the advantages of VHF/UHF FM clarity and CB-level simplicity. The only downside to GMRS now is that there just aren't that many people using it.
 
Another option would be to embrace the feature creap and get a radio with enough memories to cover the areas you travel to. Then you'll never need to reprogram regardless of travel.

My id-5100 can cover 80% of every repeater on California in a single memory set. That same number of repeaters covers every state in the gulf coast.
 

7echo

Adventurer
About the simplicity and CB issue-

@Martinjmpr and others mentioned programming the repeaters into the radio. Does any manufacturer do that already? From reading about the radio options it always comes up that we need to program the radios and that it is a simple process. Seems like a smart manufacturer would ship pre-programmed radios.
 

GlennA

Adventurer
About the simplicity and CB issue-

@Martinjmpr and others mentioned programming the repeaters into the radio. Does any manufacturer do that already? From reading about the radio options it always comes up that we need to program the radios and that it is a simple process. Seems like a smart manufacturer would ship pre-programmed radios.

There are thousands of 2M and 70cm repeaters throughout the US. If I wasn't traveling, I would just program in my locals and forget about it.

I guess I need to "upgrade". My current radio is a Motorola CDM 1250 that covers the 2M band. However, it only has 64 channel of memory.
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
Last edited:

Forum statistics

Threads
185,530
Messages
2,875,572
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top