Lots of good information here! I've got the pig tails and and aftermarket antennas covered, but definitely need some spare batteries and a hand mic. And no doubt a copper j pole is an awesome antenna for not a lot of money! Great video! ~ 73s KO4RGI
@@oldwolf1928 Do you think I could get away with having it only 10 or 15 feet in the air. My slim jim roll up antenna hit a repeater from inside my house but the signal wasn't very good
@@KB9VBRAntennas Correct I just mentioned that with the roll up to give an idea. So with your Jpole outside at 10 feet should work just fine? Thanks!!!
I recommend an additional battery case that will allow you to use AA or AAA. We don't always have access to a charger, or don't have time to wait for the dead battery to charge. Being able to just toss a dozen AAs in your kit can alleviate this issue.
Hi Morgan! I know it's been a year since you posted this comment, but would you care to elaborate? I'm new at this, but the HTs with which I'm familiar all require proprietary batteries. Can you point me at some attachment that lets us use AAs? Thanks! 73 John KK7JBZ
Another great addition is a Tiger Tail (video for making your own on youtube). It's basically a wire cut to a quarter wave (~19" for 2 mtrs) mounted at the ground connection on the HT antenna. Adds signal strength, to where a repeater we couldn't hit without it we actually hit when we added it.
A good HT pouch to go on the belt is a nice thing to have, often time much more secure than a belt clip. Been buying a few to test out with various HT's to see how they are built and which ones might work with different models.
GREAT, great video Michael, especially for the ‘starting’ ham. My first mobile....a Baofeng into a mag-mount, just like you described. THANK YOU for contributing to & keeping the hobby alive and strong! 73! N4BDW
Great video; here is my article on "A Well Equipped Handheld" A Well Equipped Handheld When responding to an event with your handheld you should have the following additional items in the kit bag for the radio. 1) A head set with boom mike or a speaker mike with an earphone a. For operation in noise environments or hands free operation b. Do not use VOX operation 2) A 12 Volt adapter a. For operating in a car 3) A mag mount antenna with the necessary adapter(s) to connect to the handheld a. For operating in a car 4) A manual or quick guide for the handheld a. In case there is a need to program the handheld in the field 5) A battery holder for AA batteries a. Most agencies can supply you with AA batteries at the event 6) A spare antenna 7) A spare charged battery 8) A kit bag for holding the above equipment
A couple specific questions about the VX8DR: 1. Have you found an antenna for the VX8DR that works on all the bands that this particular HT supports? 2. Do you see any value in doing the Bluetooth upgrade on the VX8DR? I think my next upgrade is going to be the desktop charger.
Will a antenna 144/430 work for Ham & GMRS. Thank u so much I'm new to HAM & GMRS you're video's teaching me a lot thank you very much Merry Christmas Happy New Year
Your statement about getting the antenna away from your head is incorrect. These mobile radios are designed with your head in mind. Your head actually helps act as a ground plane and helps propagate signals. Try it, grab your radio and the worst antenna you have, now try to hit a far off repeater with the hand mike. Now try holding the radio up to your head and contact the repeater. You'll notice a significant improvement of the radio transmission. I have tested this out near Cowpen lake in Florida, with my Anytone 878UV+ and its stock rubber duck antenna.
Also, a mag mount antenna works well indoors, mounted to the top of a refrigerator or a metal cookie sheet. I have a 5/8 wave mag mount antenna set on a cookie sheet at my home shack. I use it with my Wouxon HT.
It appears no one is mentioning this. Love or hate them, the Baofeng line is the only ones I found with a charge port in the battery that allows USB charging. USB charging like you computer jack or car cigarette lighter, USB. This allows the use of a solar battery bank (size of a phone) that uses solar to recharge it's onboard battery. They have 2 ports to allow radio charging and phone charging. A built in flashlight seems standard. The Baofeng radios will charge while operating, like your phone. No matter your negative concerns about Baofeng, this deserves some consideration.
Excellent video. But everyone talks about equipment, but I don't hear many people actually talking on the air. I live in a metropolitan area of almost 3 million people. The 2M bands are virtually dead 95% of the time. I think it's important for the hobby that people be encouraged to actually get on the radio and start talking!
I was hoping the J-Pole would make an appearance on this one. I've had my "Copper Cactus" for about 20 years, and after a nice cleanup and fresh Liquid Tape, it's ready for another 20. Wide-banded and low noise floor, and since it is "DC grounded" by design, it's a cinch to gain good static/lightning immunity, paired with a good grounding/bonding system. Don't forget to add the 3-pack of ferrite beads to the j-pole order (if you're using fat coax) or coil up some RG-8x into an air choke (I use 5 turns at 2" diameter with good results) so that common mode currents are choked off at the antenna end, away from the station. Performance? Oh yeah. At 16' AGL, I had full quieting to a repeater about 15 miles away with only 200 mW, and about 2 Watts did the trick hitting one about 35 miles away. 73 from KB0IEY
I'll add a few to the list 5. Get a battery eliminator so you can run the unit if your battery is dead and have access to a power source but not the charger. they look like a battery pack but instead of batteries they have a power plug. 6. Pretty much goes hand and foot with the above, a solar panel (like the MOOLSUN 25W Solar Panel) that's able to power said radio thought the battery eliminator. 7. Get the battery pack that uses alkaline batteries.
I would add (as a few others have said) another power source, for running &/or charging your batteries in the field. Like a 12v cigarette lighter plug, or the newer style USB to charger base, wire converters.
The antenna comes unpainted. You can paint it with clear lacquer or a non-metallic spray enamel to protect it from the elements or help it blend into its surroundings. If left unpainted it will develop a dark brown patina. This won't affect performance. More information on painting the antenna can be found on my blog. www.jpole-antenna.com/2011/01/04/painting-the-j-pole-antenna/
I never go anywhere without my homebrew roll up J Pole. If cut for the 2mtr band, it will work fairly well for 70cm as well. Great addition to anyone's grab bag or walk about kit. Thank you for sharing.......
I'll throw out there to look on the website you bought your radio from. Most sites will have the radio listed like the Yaesu Ft3d and have a accessories tab which list a lot of items you might want for that radio. Then I also suggest look up the radio you own in RU-vid. There are a lot of videos about a lot of radios. Several in different antennas, accessories, you name it someone has probably made a video about it. KB9VBR has a lot of great content along with a bunch of other operators, all can be very helpful
Great advice. I have a 2 meter radio (or two, or... well lets change the subject) in the shack that I generally only use for nightly nets with the clubs I belong to. But... I have a low cost hand held on the front porch connected to a hand brew antenna about 12' off the ground for those evenings that porch sitting is so relaxing. With my home brew and the low cost radio I can hit the two closest repeaters one is about 6 miles the other is 36 miles. What a great hobby where you can spend $35 or $350 just to razz friends on the net.
I would change the SMA to SO-239 pigtail adapter to a bnc to SO-239 with a sma to bnc on the radio as not to stress the the sma connector but really depends on one's use case. thanks!
I like a magnet mounted antenna pl 239 connector from bnc a fibre glass whip. I use for mainly scanning. great advice for anyone considering entering the world of ham. thanks for your advice great video. 73
A portable solar panel system with a voltage converter to attach to a charging platform to charge your batteries would also be of great help say if you're limited to pawer alternatives like a car battery.
Good advice. Especially the spare batteries. Nothing worse than be in a great conversation and your radio starts to die. I have at least 3 spare batteries for each handheld radio.
The 'less expensive radio' when connected to mobile 50cm long antenna goes numb. I could not receive signal from less then 2 km distance when in the city center. On rular or less populated areas it works ok.
That's a common issue with handheld radios. Urban areas are an RF rich environment and all the noise overloads the front end of the receiver. Concrete and steel construction also limits your transmitted signal.
Very strong RF signals can be distorted in the front-end of the receiver. This is more pronounced in handheld radios when a high gain antenna is attached as the transceiver does not have the level of filtering that a mobile or base radio may have.
@@KB9VBRAntennas exactly it's good for portable installation. I thought you were trying to say a copper J Pole would be good for portable installation.
