I passed my general license test on January 28, 2018, in part thanks to an amazing class put on by W7DAO at my local Red Cross office. Taking the class was a fantastic boost to my confidence in taking the test, but it also backfilled a lot of missing math and basic electronics information I need to be a successful ham. If you get a chance, I highly recommend taking a general class. And you'll meet some great ham contacts!
As a result of passing, I now had to decide which radio I wanted, for what purpose, and in what form. My little Baofeng was serving me well, but I needed an upgrade so I could do HF traffic. Several wise Elmers warned me to avoid the all-in-one radios - if the radio promises to do everything, it won't be good at anything. So for HF traffic, I went with a computer friendly Yeasu FT 891. It's small enough to be mobile when I need it, strong enough to reach out and touch someplace far away, and smart enough to control with my laptop. The big drawback is that it isn't a VHF/UHF radio, so I'd still need a second radio for those functions.
I bought the Yeasu online via Ebay, and it's also coming with something called a 63 foot end-fed antenna that says it doesn't require tuning (because of harmonics). The real question will be if it works - but if it does, it's a very inexpensive solution compared to the other Yeasu antenna options, and one that could potentially be mobile, especially on RV camping trips in the woods.
For the UHF/VHF function in my vehicle, I've purchased a Kenwood TM-V71A. It looks to be a powerful little mobile radio that can handle basic radio traffic with ease. It can do 50 watts when needed, but can be throttled back to 5 watts when I want to play with low power testing. I expect this to be a solid daily-use radio that should hold up well. I'll use the mag-mount antenna for now, but I hope to install something more permanent later.
I cannot wait to hear how your antenna wire works!
ReplyDeleteDoug