2 Meter Radio / OffRoad Use (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Elbert
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Hmmm. No one here likes the Kenwood TM-271A? I have been very happy with mine. Inexpensive, small, loud and clear front firing speaker, etc.
Just wondering.
Just wondering.
Look into the Yaesu FTM-350R; probably the best dual band, easy to use rig out there. Yaesu is noted for crappy manuals and this one is no exception. But the rig can be run almost without the use of the manual, a first for Yeasu.
k0dar
k0dar
Cruiserdrew
On the way there
Yes, but by specs at least it's 5 times the radio.
I want one! It looks good, has APRS built in, can do cross band repeat.
I want one! It looks good, has APRS built in, can do cross band repeat.
rusty_tlc
Dain Bramaged Member
There is a whole discipline of electronics we call spec-manship, I'm just sayin.....
The FTM-350 AR (R is disco) is quite good. I plan to add this to my rig to complement my hand held. Who am I kidding the 350 is just bad ass.
350R FWIW: Yaesu FTM-350R with APRS Product Reviews
You've never been on a trip with James aka Redline have you?!
Argh.....
Let's not go there!
1911
chupacabra
Yes; they require enough amerage to run at high power that they typically want full voltage. But the engine does not have to be on, if you have a good enough battery. I have Odyssey (or the Sears Platinum Die-hard equivalent) batteries in both of my 4WD trucks, and both will run a ham radio for a long time without the engine running.
- Thread starter
- #33
I have a dual battery setup, gold top autozone battery which is a good battery. No matter how good the battery is with the engine off you only get 12 volts. I'll check the battery but my assumption is that it is good. I assume the radio is very picky about 13+ volts.
I'm running 10 ga wire from the drivers side battery all the way to the radio. The radio is mounted on the console between the front seats.
Im totally green with the radio...I assume its on low power and I just turned it on to make sure it works. After looking at the pdf manuals for the two radios I initially referenced...I would say Yaseu needs to go back to school and Icom seems to do a fairly good job on their literature. I own the Yaseu so I'm still in process on reading and understanding the manual I have.
1911
chupacabra
10 AWG is plenty good for your power cables.
All I can say is, I run my Yaesu FT-2800M (and my Kenwood TM-D710A) from the battery, without the engine running, frequently and it always works great. During a public service project, I'll run it all day from the battery with no problems. I never bother looking at the voltage shown on the radio face anymore, because it always works.
I agree completely that Yaesu manuals are badly-translated into English and leave much to be desired. I'm not crazy about Yaesu's menu organization either. They're great radios, just not as user-friendly as some others. I own three Yaesu and two Kenwood ham radios (both are made in Japan), and the Kenwoods have much better manuals and menus, so I don't think it's just the fact that I am a non-Japanese foreign barbarian devil either
rusty_tlc
Dain Bramaged Member
12V sounds low for a fully charged automotive battery, it should be around 13.5 to 14V. Try putting it on a charger overnight and measuring the voltage with the battery out of the truck.
This is a false statement. 12v automotive batteries have six cells producing 2.2 volts each. 2.2 x 6 = 13.2 volts A battery in good condition will read exactly 13.2 volts. My Yaesu FT-2900R works just fine with the engine off. My battery is not in new condition and typically reads 12.6 to 13 with the engine off (2.1 volts per cell).
Dynosoar
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #37
Ok I was wrong.... should not have said 12volts.
http://www.autobatteries.com/basics/voltage1.asp
fully charged should be on the high side of 12 volts as others related.
Don't know why my radio does not come on until engine is running...maybe I have a loose connections on the power harness. I had to extend the Pos and Neg wires of the power harness to reach the battery and I assume that might be the reason (some loose or improper connection). OEM harness looks to be 10 AWG and I used the same to extend the harness.
I'll see what I can figure out later in the week after work.
http://www.autobatteries.com/basics/voltage1.asp
fully charged should be on the high side of 12 volts as others related.
Don't know why my radio does not come on until engine is running...maybe I have a loose connections on the power harness. I had to extend the Pos and Neg wires of the power harness to reach the battery and I assume that might be the reason (some loose or improper connection). OEM harness looks to be 10 AWG and I used the same to extend the harness.
I'll see what I can figure out later in the week after work.
Last edited:
rusty_tlc
Dain Bramaged Member
I did a test with my FT-7800 this morning, it comes on and the display read 12.5V. HOWEVER I had to hold the power button down for what seemed like a long time before it lit up.
- Thread starter
- #39
Ok another follow up..
12.6 V on passenger side battery (main battery)
11.6 V on driver side battery (secondary battery) radio wired to this battery.
Ok I think I've found the issue... #2 battery is not in good shape.
Right now I just have a small isolator relay that controls the 2nd battery...looks like its a piece of junk or maybe the battery is bad.
Appreciate the feedback...I thought / assumed both batteries were good...and they were not.
12.6 V on passenger side battery (main battery)
11.6 V on driver side battery (secondary battery) radio wired to this battery.
Ok I think I've found the issue... #2 battery is not in good shape.
Right now I just have a small isolator relay that controls the 2nd battery...looks like its a piece of junk or maybe the battery is bad.
Appreciate the feedback...I thought / assumed both batteries were good...and they were not.
rusty_tlc
Dain Bramaged Member
If it is one of the continuous duty relays commonly used for powering trailer connections they rarely go bad. To check it apply 12V to the coil and measure the contact resistance, it should be very low ie <1Ω.
Most auto places (Oriley, Autozone, etc) will test batteries for free.
