Was thinking of moving up to Dual band FT8800R and would like some of your thoughts and opinions on dual band radios. Additionally I'd like to be able to use an installed mobile as a repeater when parked near the trail and hiking.
Dual Band
- Thread starter primer7
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
The FT8800R is a great dual band radio! One of these days I'm going to move up to either the 8800 or the 350R. When I've been out exploring there have been quite a few times over the past couple years where it would have been nice to have been able to monitor another frequency [i.e. repeater(s)] while communicating simplex/other band.
There are quite a few guys in our group using the 8800 and at least one on our last trip that had it and a 350R in his truck. I've never heard a complaint about them!
There are quite a few guys in our group using the 8800 and at least one on our last trip that had it and a 350R in his truck. I've never heard a complaint about them!
rusty_tlc
Dain Bramaged Member
In the strictest sense you cannot legally use the FT8800 as a repeater, the technicalities are lost on me.
But in the real world, they work well in that function, and I very much doubt any one would every question your use. I've used my FT 8900 that way a number of times and it works great. For example you could set the FT-8800 up to repeat to a wide area repeater on one side, the other side could be set to a 70 CM band. then you would have access to a wide area repeater with your 70CM HT.
Pretty nice if you want a safety net when you are out hiking around or hunting.
But in the real world, they work well in that function, and I very much doubt any one would every question your use. I've used my FT 8900 that way a number of times and it works great. For example you could set the FT-8800 up to repeat to a wide area repeater on one side, the other side could be set to a 70 CM band. then you would have access to a wide area repeater with your 70CM HT.
Pretty nice if you want a safety net when you are out hiking around or hunting.
From a legal standpoint, it appears the issues are whether the unit provides proper ID'ing and control functions when configured as a repeater.
From a technical standpoint, the FT8800 only supports cross band repeating (UHF-VHF, VFH-UHF).
I prefer dual transceiver radios because they allow me to concurrently monitor two channels, such as the club's simplex channel and a local repeater... or use one transceiver for APRS. For APRS, the FTM-350AR seems to be cat's meow (though I wished it could also serve as digipeter).
-- Kurt