Decided to go with 2m.. but need help choosing..
- Thread starter Longrange308
- Start date
Longrange308
Adventurer
With this setup, I have been able to successfully TX right around 100 miles thus far (keying mic momentarily, listening for repeater courtesy tone after mic key). The repeater is in the mountains on the other side of the Los Angeles basin. The RX from this repeater has been crystal clear, so Im happy with the performance of this setup so far.
Oh, also, I got everything from HRO in Anaheim, based on their recommendations. They have been a great bunch to work with.
Longrange308
Adventurer
Dougherty03
New member
Same here. I programmed another to toggle hi and lo power.
I did exactly the same! This is the easiest radio to operate from the mic keys ever.
Jeff Dodgen
Explorer
Does anyone run the Icom 2300? Thoughts? The primary reason I like it is it fits perfectly with no room to spare in the spot I have for it. Its the smallest of all mentioned. The Yaesu seems nice but is lower powered than the Icom and Kenwood. The only complaint I have read on them is the knobs are flimsy. This will be my first radio as well.
DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
This is called kerchunking the repeater. Please do not do this. It's marginally legal and certainly poor amateur practice. When range or radio checking just go ahead an announce your call sign and say you are performing an on-air check. The FCC requires hams not to broadcast, which is transmitting without an expectation of initiating a conversation. We are allowed and expected to occasionally do on-air tests and those are acceptable just as long as you identify your station. By announcing that you are just doing a check other hams listening (1) know who is talking and (b) to standby and don't respond.
Yes, I had one for awhile, then changed it out (part of a swap). I liked it better than the 2200.
None of the radios the OP listed have a fan, they all use a heatsink for cooling. Putting one in a tightly enclosed area isn't a good thing to do. They can get pretty hot, especially if you're running high power. I found this out several times when I had a Kenwood TM-281A mounted on my center console and put my leg against it during a few long qsos.
And don't let the power ratings affect your decision. The difference between 55w and 65/75w is negligible, far less than 1 S unit. Your coax and antenna will have far more impact on how far you'll get out than the difference of a few watts between radios.
DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
uli2000, it's actually even less than that. The jump from 50W to 75W represents a 1.363 increase in power, which is 1.35dB. An S-unit is 6dB of power change or an increase by 4 the amount of power.
Also power vs. range follows the inverse square law. To double your range you need to increase power by 4. IOW, a magnitude increase of 1.4 results in a roughly estimated range increase by the square root of the power increase, about 1.2 times the range.
For that 20% more theoretical range (in the real world it's a wash) you consume at least 25 watts more electrical energy and probably more. So the full power transmit drawn from the battery goes from around 8A at ~12V to around 10-to-15 amps. IOW, 25% range comes with something on the order of 40% or so more energy. The FT-2900 draws 15A at 75W, in fact, compared to about 8A for a FT-8800 at 50W.
A jump by a factor of 10 gets you roughly 3 times the range, which is why going from an HT to a full power mobile makes such a big difference. However the jump from the 50-to-100 watt radio necessary to see real world changes must be into the 500W to 1.5kW level.
Also power vs. range follows the inverse square law. To double your range you need to increase power by 4. IOW, a magnitude increase of 1.4 results in a roughly estimated range increase by the square root of the power increase, about 1.2 times the range.
For that 20% more theoretical range (in the real world it's a wash) you consume at least 25 watts more electrical energy and probably more. So the full power transmit drawn from the battery goes from around 8A at ~12V to around 10-to-15 amps. IOW, 25% range comes with something on the order of 40% or so more energy. The FT-2900 draws 15A at 75W, in fact, compared to about 8A for a FT-8800 at 50W.
A jump by a factor of 10 gets you roughly 3 times the range, which is why going from an HT to a full power mobile makes such a big difference. However the jump from the 50-to-100 watt radio necessary to see real world changes must be into the 500W to 1.5kW level.
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Jeff Dodgen
Explorer
I bought a 2300 and plan to mount it to my roll cage. I just want simple communication from vehicle to vehicle on trail rides. I'm not trying to contact Mars.
It's a good radio. I'm sure you will be happy with it. I've run 2m rigs in my cars/trucks for years. Only advice I have is to run the power 1 level below max, or less. Just using voice communications, it'll last forever that way. Oh, and make friends w/ local hams, so you have somebody to talk with on the repeaters. Hams will help out anybody, but better when they know your voice/call already. Congrats!
prerunner1982
Adventurer
And unfortunately it isn't a good indicator of how far you can successfully communicate. You may be able to break squelch but your signal so poor that nobody can hear you or make out what you are saying.
You can easy contact Mars.