2m HAM (Dual): Monitor two 2m frequencies?
- Thread starter woytovich
- Start date
DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
Maybe, I'd have to read the manual. I'd be very surprised if it could not do 2m+2m or 70cm+70cm at the same time. There may be some limitations, though. My dual band/dual VFO Yaesu radios can only do extended receive on the main band, meaning air band AM, wide band broadcast FM, etc. But both sides can do the core standard 2m/70cm FM.
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DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
That's just telling you the radio can't receive anything between 174 to 375 MHz. It also cannot listen below 118 MHz or above 550 MHz. Note that these are just the range it can receive. It will only transmit on the ham bands, 144 to 148 and 420 to 480 MHz.
Hopeless Diamond
Explorer
I set my Kenwood up this way. Very useful for long rallies where you would have a general frequency for the rally info/ etc, then a frequency for your traveling buddies. What I ended up having to do was use an external speaker for one of the transceivers. That way I could tell which frequency was coming over, otherwise it was just a guessing game.
It's been a while but on my Kenwood I did have to go through the menu and tell it to use VHF and/or UHF on both radios.
It's been a while but on my Kenwood I did have to go through the menu and tell it to use VHF and/or UHF on both radios.
Hopeless Diamond
Explorer
Here is one that I recently came across that looks interesting. Don't know anything about them but it does say you can have the same frequency range on both radios, i.e. VHF/VHF. You can also change the background color on the display for each radio. This would allow you to identify which side is receiving, etc.
www.alinco.com
ALINCO
www.alinco.com
craig333
Expedition Leader
The 2730 can definitely do two 2m frequencies at the same time though I can you from experience its difficult to listen to two conversations at the same time 
For what you want I don't think you will want to "scan". As for which vfo transmits, on my radios you must manually push a button to choose which vfo is active to transmit. Be careful you don't accidentally transmit on the run frequency when you meant to chat with your friends. I may have done this more than once
For what you want I don't think you will want to "scan". As for which vfo transmits, on my radios you must manually push a button to choose which vfo is active to transmit. Be careful you don't accidentally transmit on the run frequency when you meant to chat with your friends. I may have done this more than once What you circled in red indicates the frequency range that the radio is able to listen. So in the case of this radio you can hear any frequency in those ranges.
The spec you are looking for is called dual watch, priority watch or dual receive. The radio you linked above its called priority watch.
The one you linked can listen to 2 freqs at the same time, one on the a side and one on the B side. With this radio you can also set one "priority channel" on the A side and one on the B side. What the means is a "priority channel" is checked once every 5 seconds for traffic.
So you could set A side to 140.000 mhz and B side to 140.250 mhz and it will listen to both.
You could also set a "priority channel" on both the A and B side, and effectively listen to 4 frequencies. In that case you would be listening to both 140.000mhz and 140.250mhz at the same time and every 5 seconds it would check what ever "priority channels" you have set to see if there is traffic.
I do not own the above radio, but this is from the radio manual
IC-2730A/IC-2730E | Manual Download | Support | Icom America.
Icom,America,Land Mobile,Marine,Aviation,Amateur,Network,Systems
www.icomamerica.com
Hope that helps
Shawn
lugueto
Adventurer
As mentioned, yes dual VFO radios will listen to two frequencies at the same time and only be able to transmit on one side at any given time, which you select. You can move freely between both sides. It could be VHF/VHF, UHF/UHF or VHF/UHF (and viceversa). You can toggle between transmit sides super quickly and easily.
I personally own an Icom 2730A for this precise reason: I wanted to be able to monitor the local repeaters while travelling on one side and have my convoy on the other. It works GREAT. Also, It was the only analog dual VFO radio I could find out of the reputable brands, which was another very specific item I was looking for, I dont need digital modes.
I personally own an Icom 2730A for this precise reason: I wanted to be able to monitor the local repeaters while travelling on one side and have my convoy on the other. It works GREAT. Also, It was the only analog dual VFO radio I could find out of the reputable brands, which was another very specific item I was looking for, I dont need digital modes.
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Pacific Northwest yetti
Expedition Medic
My quad band FT-8900R will do that. I use it for medical Events. Ex: One side) Dispatch, one side my teams, etc.
I don’t think Yaesu makes the 8900R anymore. It can be a lot. As far as staying organized, keeping track, and changing things quickly. When I bought it, it was something like $600, not including the special antenna.
It may be better to use two handhelds with speaker/mics though? As well as giving you extra portability, and redundancy… Advice from someone who has spent a lot of time on multiple radios for natural disasters and emergency work. Everything is a tradeoff though. And I think radio prices have come down a lot.
I don’t think Yaesu makes the 8900R anymore. It can be a lot. As far as staying organized, keeping track, and changing things quickly. When I bought it, it was something like $600, not including the special antenna.
It may be better to use two handhelds with speaker/mics though? As well as giving you extra portability, and redundancy… Advice from someone who has spent a lot of time on multiple radios for natural disasters and emergency work. Everything is a tradeoff though. And I think radio prices have come down a lot.
I currently have a 2m handheld and a single band mobile in the truck. Certainly those will do the job... and since I'm not needing the dual "listen" function frequently....
craig333
Expedition Leader
Fairly easy to switch if you aren't bouncing along a dirt road
waltermitty
Member
I'm pretty sure my dual band Kenwood TM-V7a can monitor two channels, same band at the same time. I'll need to fire it up and refresh my memory. I removed it from the truck while I was having the pop-up topper installed.
In addition to the built in speaker facing up, the rear panel has dual phono jacks, one speaker for each band (or each monitoring channel)
lugueto
Adventurer
Fairly easy to switch if you aren't bouncing along a dirt road
Well both the Mic and the faceplate have a button to change sides. I don't prerun or drive anything over 50 on somewhat flat dirt roads, pressing the button on the mic has always been super easy for me ! It can be a little bit confusing to know what side you're receiving and what side you're transmitting if there's a lot of activity on both sides. I generally keep the repeaters on a lower volume and only listen out for information and mayday calls.
I would definitely bet on the fact that the TM-V7 has that same capability. Same as yours, the IC2730A has two speaker outputs: one has both channels if you wish to run a single external speaker (I do, works great) or you can run them separately to have a speaker for each side of the radio.
kidphc
Member
It will stay on frequency till you change or scan.
To transmit, you need to choose the appropriate vfo, select it and transmit.
Fortunately, on the ftm300,ftm400 and ftm500. There are a/b buttons on the mic to choose the vfo or simply choose it on the face.
I chose the ftm400 and didn't upgrade because:
The ftm400 has the largest screen of the three. (Mostly for the touch screen for aprs).
I wanted it to use smsgte and winlink via aprs.
Aprs was the biggest deal breaker for me. Yes, the kewood is a better aprs radio. But to fully leverage it, I would want a laptop. I however, don't have the space really for a laptop in the driver area of the lc100.
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