Is this a good budget 2M radio?

[Fast Eddy]

I have only a cheap HT, but I find myself using 70cm a lot more than 2m. Cross-band repeating would be ideal for your 3-4 miles out on the trail situations.

A mag-mount 1/4 wave antenna for 440mhz is about 6" tall and gets me a very clear signal to a repeater 30 miles away, line-of-sight with 5w.

 

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

Hi all,

I bought the same model Yaesu 15 months ago and run in my Tacoma pu. It is a great 2m radio for the $$.

I have an older Yaesu radio (got it ussed) in my FJ40 for trail use. 2M is really the way to go on trail communications, so much betterthan CBs.

Regards,

Alan

I was out wheeling with the club this weekend and was the only one not running 2M, and was envious of the fact they could chat with camp and those running trails on the other side of the ridge. Wife OK'ed the purchase as long as I can keep it cheap. So here is the question, is this a good basic 2M radio, Yaesu FT-2900R for $137?

Is there a better vendor out there? Is the kit needed pretty much the same as a CB (antenna, coax cable, etc.)? Sorry for all the NOOB questions, but I would love your help and yes I will get my license prior to use.

 

[Kofoed]

I think the 1/2 wave antenna is pretty damn versatile (from a mounting standpoint) I have run them on a metal roof rack and the gutter of a fiberglass 4Runner top, no ground plane/counterpoise required. Get a rubber ducky if you deal with trees on the trail and switch out with the other where no trees.

 

[Mad Matt]

Who makes good mounting brackets for the rear hatch? I see that LabRak makes them, are there turn key solutions out there?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

The Diamond K400 Lip mount is very good. I've used 2 of those. You can also make your own similar to the LabRak one for about $3 in materials and an hour or two of time. Note the labRak mount is a hard mount and not on the hatch. The down side of a hatch/lip mount is that the antenna moves with the hatch and the coax has to be run to accommodate that movement.

 

[Brentbba]

x2 on the Diamond mounts. One for ham and one for CB. Not cheap, but worth the price IMHO. Gets the antenna up above the roof line.

 

[ntsqd]

FWIW I put a Larsen NMO 1/2 wave NGP on top of a mast that snakes up beside our pop-top camper. Thoroughly impressed with it's performance. I had to take the long way around on a Great Basin trip and at about 50+ miles away the trip leader hit me simplex over one mtn range. Two ranges killed comms, but one was fine.

 

[Mad Matt]

How warm/hot do these radios get with normal trail chatter? It looks like the Kenwood TM281A could easily fit in my free DIN slot below my stereo.

 

[george_tlc]

How warm/hot do these radios get with normal trail chatter? It looks like the Kenwood TM281A could easily fit in my free DIN slot below my stereo.

You can adjust the output power, most rigs have a few output settings to choose from - so if you're on the trail and spread out only a few miles at most, 5W would likely do just fine. Temperature is really a non-issue - the HAM stuff is built pretty rugged, it's not CB 'quality'...

cheers,
george.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

The nice thing about the Kenwood in that circumstance, is that it has a front firing speaker. The Yeasu has a bottom speaker and would require a remote speaker.

Regarding power levels, the Yeasu wins here-4 levels 5w, 10w, 25w, 75w. The Kenwood has 2 levels, 20w and 60w. THe cast aluminum fins of either get warm if you yak on high power constantly. But as George says, they are designed for just that, and most of your coms will be on the lowest setting.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Antenna, antenna and more antenna....Above the roof line will net better performance then just about any radio with an antenna below the roof line.

A hand held with a 5/8 wave antenna in the center of the roof can smoke my 65W with an antenna on the bumper.

If your needs are only trail communications any radio with any antenna will work 100X better then a CB

 

[Fast Eddy]

A hand held with a 5/8 wave antenna in the center of the roof can smoke my 65W with an antenna on the bumper.

I would guess that is true due to the ground plane of a metal roof. On a 40, the hood would probably be a better choice.

 

[Elbert]

another 2m radio to consider would be this one in my view.

http://www.gigaparts.com/Product-Lines/2M-Radios_2/Icom-IC-V8000.html

 

[Elbert]

Who makes good mounting brackets for the rear hatch? I see that LabRak makes them, are there turn key solutions out there?

diamond makes a number of mounts like I think you are asking about.

 

[jonheld]

x3 on the Diamond mounts. I have the K400CNMO on each truck with an RG316 extension cable to make it to the dash. My white 80 has the Kenwood TM-271A in the single DIN below the stereo and my LX450 has the Kenwood TM-V71A in the same location. I thought I'd need a separate speaker for that, but it works really well in that location. I can hear clearly even at highway speeds.
I am not a fan of the hatch bolt ons that are pictured in this thread. I have seen more than 1 get tweaked on the trail. My LX came with 2 of them and I want to dump them and go back to stock before body damage happens. I mounted the Diamond mounts pretty high up on the hatch and they're protected by the body of the truck.
As far as hiking with the family, you can't beat a Baofung UV-5R for value. Battery life on these is fantastic and they are pretty rugged. There are 2M repeaters everywhere. http://www.repeaterbook.com/

 

[Fast Eddy]

There are 2M repeaters everywhere.

I only have to go about 30 minutes driving and 30 minutes mountain biking to be in a complete amateur radio and cell phone dead zone. At least WRT handhelds. One of the biggest reasons I became a state park volunteer is because they have LEO repeaters in the park and now I have access to them.

 

[jonheld]

I only have to go about 30 minutes driving and 30 minutes mountain biking to be in a complete amateur radio and cell phone dead zone. At least WRT handhelds. One of the biggest reasons I became a state park volunteer is because they have LEO repeaters in the park and now I have access to them.

According to repeaterbook.com, there are 233 repeaters within a 25 mile radius of 95037. There will always be dead spots depending on terrain and frequency, but for the majority, there will be a repeater to hit. If you're in a dead zone, then you're in a dead zone. Get a sat phone.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

I only have to go about 30 minutes driving and 30 minutes mountain biking to be in a complete amateur radio and cell phone dead zone. At least WRT handhelds. One of the biggest reasons I became a state park volunteer is because they have LEO repeaters in the park and now I have access to them.

Don't let a marginally performing HT cloud your judgement. A hard mounted radio with a good antenna is far superior to a HT and the crappy antennas they usually have. Even an upgraded antenna is still marginal at best.

Also, on an FJ40 there are few places to get a good ground plane and a 1/2 antenna works well here. I have normally mounted a Larsen NMO150 1/2 wave on the 40 but stole it last year to mount on the rack of my FJ60, which should be a crappy location, but works quite well. For Rubicon this year, a friend borrowed my FJ40 and we just used a 5/8 mag mount stuck on a fender. Worked great. Not saying it's the best, or even good, but for quick and dirty, leaving in 15 minutes, it was fine and we could talk from one end of the Rubicon to the other with no problems.

 

[Kofoed]

AIf you're in a dead zone, then you're in a dead zone. Get a sat phone.

...or an HF radio....

 

[FJ60Seth]

I poo poo'd 2m until I watched a buddy hit a repeater about 40 miles away with an 8000' mountain between us. He was using a 5w HT with a 2m antennae on a pole.