Travel HT Recommendation

[Nashua Area Radio Society]

I just got my Technician license and am researching my first radio.  Recommendations seem to be for the BaoFeng radios with the warning that programming them can be difficult and it is best to get a cable and appropriate software to make it easier.

I plan to take this radio with me when I travel (lots of motorcycle) and don’t want to have to break out my laptop to program the unit.  Note that I don’t intend to use the radio while in motion.

Do you have a recommendation of a handheld that is reasonably easy to program from the keypad?  Would APRS be useful for this application (I usually have 1 or more navigation GPS sources that will provide lat/long)?

Thanks!

[Nashua Area Radio Society]

Firstly, congrats on the Technician license! I would definitely not recommend the baofeng for your use case.

Do you have a budget limitation? If not, and you’re interested in APRS, the Yaesu FT3D is a great HT for you. Yaesu manuals are very easy to follow and programming their HTs is fairly straightforward. If you’d like something a bit cheaper, the FT70 retains digital capability but loses the touchscreen, GPS, and built-in APRS modem.

 

Let me know what you think and I’m sure others will add their input as well.

 

73s

Patrick, KC1WRX

[Nashua Area Radio Society]

Hello Wayne,

I’ve used my Baofeng UV-5R while on ADV motorcycle trips; works great.  Combined with an upgraded antenna (I use the Diamond SRH77CA) and the RepeaterBook app for my mobile phone, it allows me to make contacts while camping.  The HT menu is pretty easy to input a new freq, however I don’t have experience with other brands to know the pro/con differences.  This HT is cheap and if it ever gets wet or damaged, I’m not out of a lot of $$.

I’ve recently purchased a TNC3 that pairs nicely with my HT for APRS.

[Nashua Area Radio Society]

Is it worth it to even buy the repeater book from the ARRL?

[Nashua Area Radio Society]

I would say no if you’re going to have your phone available. The repeaterbook app is nice and you can search by location and band

[Burns FISHER]

Are you actually thinking you need to program your HT on the road?  I think I would look up what I might need ahead of time, use the programming software at home to add the repeaters and such that I wanted in my HT on the road.  Of course maybe your itinerary is a bit too flexible for that.

[Nashua Area Radio Society]

Budget limitation: well, price is always a factor.  I guess I’d like to keep it under about $200, if possible.  I’d be willing to consider more expensive, but there would probably have to be something pretty enticing about the higher priced alternative.

Programming:  we are often in areas with poor cell phone coverage and I was hoping this might provide a potential means of communication in case of emergency when my cell phone is useless.  If it requires breaking out my laptop and connecting a cable to program correctly, it probably won’t fit the bill.

Pre-programming itinerary: Our last major trip (pre Covid) was a loop around Lake Michigan.  Perhaps I’m wrong, but I can’t imagine pre-programming so that my radio would be prepared for that entire route.

Patrick, the FT70 seems like it would fit my budget better than the FT3D, especially for my first radio.  How would the higher priced model work better for me in the application I am describing?

Thanks.

 

[KU1V]

Have you considered a DMR that will also work area repeaters.

If interested,  check swap section on our web site as I have one nearly new that I have not plans to use.

Mike KU1V

BridgeComm 878UV – Nashua Area Radio Society (n1fd.org)

[Nashua Area Radio Society]

Thanks for the suggestion.

I bought a Baofeng bf-f8hp.  I purposely did NOT purchase the programming cable at that time so that I forced myself to learn to program it from the keypad.  The google led me to a number of web pages and videos that, together, taught me enough to be able to program it on the side of the road.  Now that I have solved that issue, a programming cable is on the way.

Cheers.

[Author]

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