Yaesu HAM radio opinions?

[cruiseroutfit]

Great information guys, thanks for the help. I think I'll pull the trigger on the Yaesu 1900R and take the advice of hauling around a manual with me so I can learn as I go.

Ha Greg in the same boat myself.. Good stuff...

I wish both of you were in town last night, Jack & Ryan (Wasatch Cruisers) did a phenomenal job covering the basics at our class. Their setups are pretty damn cool.




As far as 2M versus a dual band 2M/70cm. For the first time I am left wanting. I've got 2M in both vehicle, a HT 2M and a 2M setup on my workbench in the garage... never before had I missed out. Well last night we really covered the guts of the IRLP, I knew about the basis, everything you read to get your tech that is but had really never given it second thought for my uses. Well now that I'm looking into it I'm finding that there are far more repeaters running IRLP on the 70cm in Utah than there are on 2M. In fact in all of SL County area there are really only 3 2M IRLP's and all are restricted to my knowledge. I did some trade work with a customer for a HF base unit, now I need to get it up and running so I can play around with the 70cm stuff.

Beyond that, everyone I've ever been on the trail with has had or been using 2M. Many of the commonly uses repeater systems including the popular Sinbad Repeater system covering the Swell and such is 2M though many likely have 70cm, etc as well. I don't regret getting myself setup in all 2M stuff but now that I'm confident I'll continue to use the radios often I'm ready to move into some new realms. :sombrero:

 

[crawler#976]

It's worth mentioning that the 7800 doesn't have this capability. You have to step up to the 8800 for true dual band/dual receive. The 7800 does VHF and UHF, but you can only use one at a time.

The 7800/7900 does fine scanning memory channels - IE I program what freq's I need, and set a memory bank with those specific channels on it. The scan rate with 3 or 4 channels is almost instantaneous, so if someone comes up on one you can talk to them.

 

[7wt]

The 7800/7900 does fine scanning memory channels - IE I program what freq's I need, and set a memory bank with those specific channels on it. The scan rate with 3 or 4 channels is almost instantaneous, so if someone comes up on one you can talk to them.

My VX6r is like that. You program memories from what ever band into a certain bank and you can scan that bank and any freq in it. What you can't do is listen to a 440 band while you are operating on 2M. Scanning programmed memories works great as long as you took the time to program what you need in that bank. It seems a little cumbersome to do it for everything you may use along the route of a trip...at least by hand. I haven't messed with computer programming yet.

 

[CanuckMariner/Nomad]

It's worth mentioning that the 7800 doesn't have this capability. You have to step up to the 8800 for true dual band/dual receive. The 7800 does VHF and UHF, but you can only use one at a time.

Absolutely correct! Good point.

Also, I use the AMDS programmer software to program all of the western half of N. America (yup, Mexico included) into my Yaesu FT7800R.

 

[gary in ohio]

Dual band is a good thing. Allows you to monitor two frequencies at the same time. eg.

A Dual band DOES NOT allow you to monitor 2 freq at once. A dual band allows you to access 2 bands. Dual receive allows you to monitor 2 frequencies at once. Not all dual band radios are dual receive.

 

[CanuckMariner/Nomad]

A Dual band DOES NOT allow you to monitor 2 freq at once. A dual band allows you to access 2 bands. Dual receive allows you to monitor 2 frequencies at once. Not all dual band radios are dual receive.

As the FT7800R is no longer made, the FT7900R took its place and straight from Yaesu's site..."FT-7900R 2 Meter / 70 cm Dual Band FM Transceiver...The FT-7900R is ideal for the active Ham who has a need for simplex, repeater, or FM satellite operation on both bands"

 

[Cabrito]

A Dual band DOES NOT allow you to monitor 2 freq at once. A dual band allows you to access 2 bands. Dual receive allows you to monitor 2 frequencies at once. Not all dual band radios are dual receive.

As the FT7800R is no longer made, the FT7900R took its place and straight from Yaesu's site..."FT-7900R 2 Meter / 70 cm Dual Band FM Transceiver...The FT-7900R is ideal for the active Ham who has a need for simplex, repeater, or FM satellite operation on both bands"

I would say that both of you are correct but are getting stuck on some details without clear explanation.

Let me help to clarify what I think both of you are saying.
I own four mobiles and a couple of hand helds.
A few that I own are the Yaesu FT7800 and the FT-8800
Oh, and feel free to correct me on any of my points here. I like to learn.

Yeasu FT-7800 Dual Band. On the FT7800 you can only monitor one frequency at a time. You can monitor both bands but it would have to be in memory mode while scanning, but you could only monitor one freq at a time. So technically the 7800/7900 are a dual band radio with the restrictions I already mentioned.

Yaesu FT-8800 Dual Band with dual display so you can monitor two frequencies at once. It really is like having two radios in one.

One thing I really like about the 8800 is that you can monitor and use either 2m or 440 on both sides. I have a set up for a weekly net where I have a 2m repeater on one side and a 2m simplex on the other. This has also come in handy at events where I need to monitor and use two different frequencies at once.

By the way. I absolutely love all of my radios. They all have their own pluses and minuses. I find the Yaesu mobiles to be really easy to program and use. The Icom is a little bit more difficult for me but it was my first mobile so maybe that helped me with the Yaesu programing. I have the software for most of the radios I own but prefer to only use it for backing up my info. I like to keep the manual programming skills fresh so I don't forget how to enter new frequencies.
As another note, I can't get by without my "nifty" wallet cheat sheet for my Yaesu VX-7b hand held.

 

[ntsqd]

While I like the remote mount faceplates, I'm unconvinced that a dual band will serve my needs any better. I've never used a repeater or had a need to use one. I feel that sometime I probably should just in case I need one for an emergency, but that hasn't been a priority.

 

[CanuckMariner/Nomad]

I would say that both of you are correct but are getting stuck on some details without clear explanation.

Let me help to clarify what I think both of you are saying.
I own four mobiles and a couple of hand helds.
A few that I own are the Yaesu FT7800 and the FT-8800
Oh, and feel free to correct me on any of my points here. I like to learn.

Yeasu FT-7800 Dual Band. On the FT7800 you can only monitor one frequency at a time. You can monitor both bands but it would have to be in memory mode while scanning, but you could only monitor one freq at a time. So technically the 7800/7900 are a dual band radio with the restrictions I already mentioned.

Yaesu FT-8800 Dual Band with dual display so you can monitor two frequencies at once. It really is like having two radios in one.

One thing I really like about the 8800 is that you can monitor and use either 2m or 440 on both sides. I have a set up for a weekly net where I have a 2m repeater on one side and a 2m simplex on the other. This has also come in handy at events where I need to monitor and use two different frequencies at once.

By the way. I absolutely love all of my radios. They all have their own pluses and minuses. I find the Yaesu mobiles to be really easy to program and use. The Icom is a little bit more difficult for me but it was my first mobile so maybe that helped me with the Yaesu programing. I have the software for most of the radios I own but prefer to only use it for backing up my info. I like to keep the manual programming skills fresh so I don't forget how to enter new frequencies.
As another note, I can't get by without my "nifty" wallet cheat sheet for my Yaesu VX-7b hand held.

Bang on Michael! I use my 7800 in just that way. I leave the first memory slot in Bank 1 open and program all my other frequencies in the other banks/memory slots (over 1000 = 20 Banks at 50 memory slots each and then some) then I program the first memory slot with one frequency and input the other programmed memory slot and it bounces back and forth between them very fast. As soon as someone transmits on either, it stops on the right frequency. Hence my version of dual band. I think the dual band Yaesu meant was because it can use either 2M or 70cm. Not both at the same time like the 8800. However, I have had GMRS frequencies (440) and simplex (146.46) monitored at the same time.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Saratoga]

I've ended up with a Yaesu FT8800. I looked at a variety and it was either going to be the 7800 or the 8800 but the latter came up unexpectedly. The one important difference I have found is the 7800's buttons light where as the 8800's don't.

The get around this is having a light of some kind shining down on the display at an angle or just remembering where the buttons are.

Your milage may vary, as they say. However, the 8800 is a wonderful rig and can be easily set up for a variety of work at the touch of a button. A friend who often borrows my car has his own button set up for when he's helping out at events and I've got the others setup for local and national roaming.

In the beginning everything was complicted. I managed to get it setup for as I liked it and then kept returning to learn more where I could. I'd also reccomend you get the software to program the radio up from G4HFQ Yaesu Radio Software. I have found it invaluable!

Once the rig is setup as you like it then you can have it permanently mounted in the vehicle without having to remove it.

Good Luck