Looking for some ham gear to go with my new license. Need an in-car unit to help out at Black Bear. They told me on course to look for something with large, easy-to-use, easy-to-read knobs and display, preferably lighted. Also going to want a 5/8th mag mount antennae. Anybody got something to part with? How about any ham swap meets coming up?

Doug,

While one can easily purchase a used radio, I generally advise against it - especially if you are new to things. Ham folk[this includes me, but not for the following] generally (in my opinion) don't seem to understand the concept of depreciation, and also have a habit of doing 'poor' (eg not factory quality) repairs when things do go wrong.

I've been doing the radio thing for a while, and have purchased used rigs in the past - In general, I won't do it again - unless it is an item that is no longer for sale, or comes from paticular individuals.

The iCom V8000 as the other Doug mentioned, is probably the best bang for your buck these days - I'm not a huge fan of iCom as I have had some issues with thier top-of-the-line handheld - but some of the underpinnings of the 8000 I belive is common with thier commercial grade radios, which are actually decent.

Remember, to run anywhere near max output, you do need to run [fused] power directly from the battery - don't even think about using the cigarette plug - it may work briefly, but its a bad idea for many reasons.

Any questions, lemme know.

Jamie

P.s. Avoid shopping at radioworld, yeah yeah, I know thier somewhat local, but cutomer service is a forgien notion to them, it would seem (even when you go in and drop 2 grand in under 10 minutes, they couldent care less).

Another plug for the Icom V8000. My wife got me one for Christmas a few years ago and it has worked well and I have always been able to be picked up almost anywhere at Pines.

With the price less than $300, it almost makes buying used not worth bothering.

Excellent advice in this discussion.  I'll add my bit about the power source.  I wire directly to the battery with 10 or 12 gauge wire but I always use a circuit breaker rather than a fuse as close as possible to the battery. You can buy them at any auto parts store in various breaker levels - 10-15-20-25-30 amp generally available.  Also be sure to solder all joints.

Over the years I cannot count the number of times radio operators at rallies have run into difficulties trying to power radios off a cigarette lighter source.

For connector from the power lead to the radio Princess Auto sells an excellent heavy duty 2 prong trailer connector that works perfectly.

Okay, you guys have convinced me. After hearing good things said about the Icom V8000 and checking out the Durham Radio site (the link took me right to it, how convenient), I see you're right. For the price why fool around with used? I can get it and a 5/8th whip for under $300, and Whitby is only about 1 coffee away.    Good idea about using a ckt brkr instead of a fuse. Either the auto or the manual reset C/B is going to be better than looking for and running out of spare fuses (they're so final), especially if all you did was create an accidental short, say when connecting up.                        

Check out Anderson PowerPoles if you want some handy connectors (not just for radios!)... They have become THE standard in the ham crowd, especially with the "emergency communications" types. I use them on all my radios/powersupplies/gell cells and love them. I payed $10 for 20 connectors, if I remember correctly.


see http://www.powerwerx.com/category.asp?CtgID=1001 for further info/photos