The short answer is it doesn’t feel like much…
I’ve spent a lot of time in the last 2 weeks on YouTube and some websites trying to do some learning. All I’m working with right now is 2 UV5R Baofengs, both with upgraded Nagoya whips that I’ve been playing with. I’m pretty sure the antennas are bootleg, but they’re still better than the stock antennas the radios came with.
The first thing I’ve learned is that I’m in a bit of a wasteland as far as repeaters go. I live too far south to be considered metro Atlanta, and too far north to be metro Macon. All of my surrounding counties have a repeater somewhere in them, but my county does not, so I’m not able to access and use anything with my ht. From where I’m at, I have a repeater that’s 12 miles away, and 2 that are about 20. I’m able to hit all 3 of these repeaters with my radio and trigger them, but the audio is so weak that I’m pretty much unintelligible. One of the towers I can hit is an Echolink repeater, so I’m able to listen to myself on my phone app while transmitting. Someone heard me the other night and tried to respond, but I couldn’t be heard anymore. I finally had to answer him thru my phone, but that isn’t a “real” contact to me. There’s another repeater that I’m occasionally able to trigger that’s almost 25 miles, but its not as consistent as the other 3.
This does give me a lot of confidence that as soon as I can get a mobile and an antenna that I will easily be able to hit all of those towers without any issue. If I can hit them with 4 watts on a cheap radio with a bootleg antenna, then a reasonably good mobile with 25 or more watts and a decent antenna should reach without any problems.
The next thing I’ve learned is there is a LOT of options for radios, and they run the gamut in pricing. Of course, I already knew this when I decided to get into this hobby. But, even though I anticipated a lot of options, it is still overwhelming. The “big 3” as I’ve seen them referred to (iCom, Yaesu and Kenwood) seem to be great, but they’re expensive. Reviews don’t really help much. If its one of the big 3 radios, the reviews will be absolutely glowing. Most of the folks writing those reviews seem to be fanboys and probably have a tattoo of their favorite radio’s logo on their calf. If its one of the “cheap” radios, i.e. anything that’s not one of those big 3, then the reviews typically say “Its good for what it is”. It seems that most of the radios on the market right now are pretty capable, and that a lot of the price that you pay is for a name, or a few extra bonus features that may, or may not benefit the end user. I understand you do get what you pay for, and that some of those “cheap” radios might have spurious emissions, but at least they’re affordable.
So far, the only thing I’ve been able to hit from my house is 2m repeaters. I’ve had my ht with me when I’m away from home, and hit a couple of 70cm repeaters, but those are hooked up to the same 2m repeaters that I can hit from my house anyways. So, I don’t see much point in having or using 70cm right now. That’s why I’m leaning towards getting a simple 2m radio, probably one that’s just “good for what it is”. I’ll need to get a power supply also.
I do already have a Tram 1480 antenna, I just need to get it put on a mast, and get some cabling run into the house.
I’ve already began to explore WinLink, and APRS. Once I get a better radio, I expect to be able to send emails. One of those above mentioned repeaters is a WinLink gateway. The security minded part of me is a little sketched out at the idea of APRS… I pulled up a map the other night and watched someone drive from south metro Atlanta, thru Macon and stop at Bucees. I closed my laptop with the tab still open. The next morning, when I opened my computer, that guy was in Orlando. I don’t think I’ll be letting folks track me, but I was intrigued by all of the possibilities.
Feel free to let me know if you have any thoughts.