Looking to buy a portable

[m6rkw]

Hi there,

I am looking to buy a portable of some type and have broken the options down to three radios:

yaesu vx8r ( or the lower versions?)
icom ice91 with D-star board
or the icom e92

Most of the time the unit will be fixed into the car as i travel many miles in the year working, so a mount for the car would be nice and a good external mic, the dilema is the whole D star thing as i know very little about this and it use in the UK.

Any thoughts tips welcomed on my choice..

 

[Moleculo]

The first piece of advice is that if you're planning on having it fixed in your car most of the time, I would seriously consider purchasing a mobile radio instead of a handheld. The price will be the same (or less), but you will have something that will put out more power and will be much easier to use in the vehicle while driving. There are quite a few mobiles with detachable faces that allow you to put the body of the radio under your seat. Using an HT as a mobile is certainly doable, but it is a compromise. If you really are going to use it mostly mobile, I would think twice about doing that with an HT.

Regarding D-Star in the U.K., check out the listing of repeaters and see if any of them would be accessible to you during your commute. This site seems to have a pretty good listing for the U.K.: D-STAR Repeater Listing

One neat thing about D-Star is that it is linked up worldwide (of course IRLP and Echolink are, too.) so you can talk to people all over the place while commuting. Unfortunately, it's an Icom only thing right now, though.

Regarding choosing between one of those three HT's, really the deciding factor would be on the importance of D-Star to you. The VX-8r also includes APRS, 6 meters and 220Mhz, so that is also something to consider.

I know I probably haven't made the decision any easier, but I hope it helps a little.

 

[ke7vvt]

My thoughts too. 8r is nice and does a lot but is a pain to operate as a mobile compared to a real mobile. Unless you are going to be spending most of your time hiking around outdoors and/or have other people you are looking to stay in contact with (search and rescue) I would go with a real mobile. Kenwood D-710 does everything that the 8R does (does not D-Star though) but also can TX at 50W (compared to 8r @ 5W) and interfaces with a computer with no additional hardware (just a cable, you will need an external TNC for the 8R). There is a free program called XASTIR that you can use (Mac or Linux) to play with APRS.

I got an 8R as my first radio. I have learned much, and it probably is because I could sit here in my office with the radio in my hand and play with it all of the time. I'll end up getting one of these D-710's eventually.

Kenwood TM-D710A TMD710 APRS Mobile Radio

You will probably end up getting both a mobile and HT eventually. Find out about D-Star around you, if there isn't much going for it that will help narrow down your choices.

 

[WX2MIG]

As already pointed out, you should check on the number of and locations of the D-Star repeaters before jumping into that arena, I do know there are a few in the UK as I've talked to a couple hams from there via the D-Star gateway...(I can also tell you with a lot of certainty that it's even bigger in Australia)

Using an HT as a mobile is a pain in the ass, if you do a lot of inner city driving the tall buildings will kill that 5 watt signal, if you drive out in the country the trees will do the same. The key to maximum distance in any VHF / UHF radio is antenna height, and since you can not achieve very much antenna height in a mobile application, you have to make up for it with raw power. A mobile radio with the ability of producing at least 50 watts for when you are in a difficult location, and 25 watts when you are within range of the repeaters is the best approach for a mobile radio.

Another thing to think about when using an HT (or any radio) for a mobile application is ease of operational use. I have never owned or operated a Yeasu VX-8R, but knowing all the functions that radio is capable of performing, I would tend to think it could be a little on the complicated side for mobile operation, and any distraction while driving can be a serious issue....in some states here in the U.S. if you get into an accident while being distracted with an outboard device...(cell phone, CD player, GPS unit, 2-way radio)..... it could lead to extended legal issues.

Based on the fact that I prefer Icom products, and I'm into D-Star, I would tend to go in that direction first. Although it's not on your list, I would recommend the ID-880H D-Star mobile radio, however if you are set on using an HT I wouldn't get the 91AD since it tends to get very hot while transmitting on high power, and you can not get a GPS speaker-mic for that unit. The IC-92AD is a better radio all around, it's built like a tank, water proof at 1 meter for 30 minutes, doesn't get hot like the 91AD, and has the option of a GPS speaker-mic that can be used for APRS applications, and of course has the D-Star digital voice and messaging.

If D-Star is not in the cards for you then I wouldn't count out one of the APRS ready radios from Kenwood either, they may not do as much as the Yeasu VX-8R, but they may be simpler to operate, especially as a mobile unit while driving.....