Rinse and repeat, for 44 years (starting with a Midland 13-500 in 1978).
The VHF station at a local FD site this past weekend consisted of a 2m/70cm radio that just might be a keeper, so I ordered one - a BTECH Mini UV-25X2, and it arrived today.
Here are the marks it hits:
- 25 watts
- Small. Tiny, in fact. Will fit anywhere, even in glove box of car when not in use.
- Cheap. If it stops working after 2 years, it won't result in financial ruin. Reminds me of a one-liner from Mitch Hedburg (RIP): "I bought a $25 pen because I got tired of losing pens and not caring". This radio represents the opposite of that philosophy.
- It's a weather radio when I want to hear about the approaching hurricane as I dive home from a POTA.
- Maybe it will work as a cheap downlink receiver to work FM sats in conjunction with the IC-705 on uplink.
I ordered the recommended programming cable with it and had no problem loading some of the 2m and 70cm repeaters into the radio.
Received audio sounds good; reports of transmitted audio are equally positive.
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Hello John, yes a nice VHF/UHF radio. Seen them on the radio rally lately. Not my piece of cake. The only thing I would use them for is indeed working SATs. I have a couple of UHF/VHF HTs which are more then enough for my needs. Still have my IC-706MK2G which is capable of little more power on those bands. But rarely use it for that. I'm more kind of a HF HAM. 6m and 4m are exceptions....they are more a mix between VHF and HF. Good luck with the new radio! 73, Bas
ReplyDeleteHi Bas, not really my piece of cake either but there have been occasions since moving here that it would have come in handy. A few POTA interested people wanted to meet at a park and talk on the way there. I went to a second FD location and would like to have monitored their 2m activity as I drove. Plus, it's always a wx radio - not a bad thing to have when on the road. But maybe the pattern will continue and I'll sell it in two months ;-)
Delete73,
John