People are underestimating that usb c port. A single universal port may be one of they most if not they most important features of a shtf radio for me.
I would like to suggest the Kenwood TH-F6A it has AM, FM, SSB, and CW on 0.8MHz to 1.6GHz. I would guess even without the extended battery that it would last 10x as long as the TH-D74
I have been using the TH-D74 for my radio and have two since one is not enough. Charging is better with the 12v charger becase its higher current. I hope the D75 has fixed what was less than perfect on the D74 and will get some.
Great radio for sure! My buddy Phil just got a deal on a 2nd one himself. I hope they fix the not so great things too. Hopefully more details come out before too long.
Stop it with all the melodrama and dramatic music. Give me a break! What do people think they are, secret agents? Nope. Just talk about the radio and stop it with all the dramatic crap.😂
If you have an iPhone or iPad and want to get more out of your TH-D75, consider getting the B.B. Link adapter. This adapter allows iOS devices to work with the Kenwood TH-D74 and TH-D75 over Bluetooth. With it, you can run apps like RadioMail for emails and aprsfi for GPS positioning and messaging, leveraging the powerful built-in packet TNC in the radio. A great compact portable setup for off-grid communication.
Glad to be living in the Netherlands, where encrypted radio is perfectly legal. My friends and I use Retevis digital radio's equipped with the Motorola digital encryption protocol. I'd have to look up which Retevis model exactly we got, but we paid €100 for each portable radio, a pretty decent price I think.
We don't have 1.25m here so I'd prefer 6m. It's still gonna be a crazy radio. Hoping the pricing is not going to be ridiculous but I'm sure I'll need to sell a kidney to buy it. 😟
I hear you. Would be great if it was a quad-bander with 6m. Would be interesting to have. DSTAR capability on 6m I believe the only radio with that capability at the moment is the Icom 705. I'm sure the price will be kidney selling territory unfortunately, but hopefully not too crazy. On the plus side, it should bring the cost of the D74 down to realistic prices on the used market.
@@The_Comms_Channel yes, very true. I have seen adverts of D74's trying to sell high before the D75 comes out. There may be changes in the final release as they mentioned at the show. Wishing it will all be good news. :)
$800!!!!! This will SHTF my bank account plus get you tangled up into over priced batteries and accessories!!! There are just too many options to get strapped into such a high end PRICED not value delivering package.
SHTF = affordable and maintainable in my book. If the SHTF happens and you have not way to modify, back up and make it work with nothing it is not much of a SHTF radio. In addition if you spend your whole SHTF budget on comms I guess that is okay but a more balanced approach for food, defense, hygiene, shelter!!! Basically I assume this is a great radio but I see a picture in my head of a skeleton sitting at a desk or in a chair, radio in hand just hoping there is another person out there that spent their whole SHTF budget on their radio too.... OOPS food might be nice tooo..😏@@The_Comms_Channel
@@AtTheBarnyep, never said comms before food, shelter, medical.
24 дня назад
Great radio but way too delicate for the price. Water resistance sucks and Kenwood is worthless on their warranty policy. It will never survive even a mild SHTF situation
Totally agree about this video. I bought 2 of the D74's specifically for the 220MHz DSTAR capability. The only way for regular folks to decode that would be via an SDR and you need specialized software and knowledge to do that. Not many folks have that. There is 1 fatal flaw with the D74 that you need to be careful of - there was an issue that I have read about using the micro USB charger charge controller having issues. Not sure if they ever fixed that - I've used the desktop drop in charger for mine ever since getting it - but something to be aware of.
That is good to know about the Micro USB Charging. I bought mine used and it didn't come with the drop-in charger, but he included a USB charger that charges via the DC-IN port luckily.
I had a preorder with HRO and let it go because the lazy slobs at kenwood didn't add a bandscope. Its unacceptable for a radio at this price range not to have it. The $30 Quan Sheng I own with custom firmware (thank you Russias) now has a bandscope and can do HF receive AND transmit. The only thing the $30 modded radio can't do is transmit on SSB, but this radio can't either, its only receive and it can't even transmit on HF. All thats shows is Kenwood COULD make this radio with a bandscope and HF transmit (with SSB) but chose to just make another D74 with a USB C port, while marking it up $150 for nothing more than the now mandated European standard of USB C. Screw Kenwood.
Waterproof is definitely good and one of the good things about the Yaesu as it can be completely submerged. While the Kenwood isn't IP65 like the UV9R, it is IP55 and I've had it out in the rain with no issues. Just wouldn't want to end up in the drink with it. But if that is a concern, it could be put into a dry bag before going in/on the water
Ich verstehe nicht warum man immer noch so altmodisch daher kommt, voll digital, komplett SDR, alle Modulationsarten.... So ein riesiger, dummer Klotz.
@@The_Comms_Channel This is the first time I have seen one of your videos. I like your presentation being information based rather than brand loyalty or comparison for pointing out “which is a better radio”. Yes I subbed and gave a thumbs up.
Appreciate your comment! All brands have their pluses and minuses, but being a brand fanboy helps no one and I see too much of it out there. Thank you for the sub!
What is the mobile radio equivalent? I’d like something that pushes 20-50W, is / can be modded to transmit & recieve as many bands as possible, and can be put into a ammo can for use in the field or in a vehicle.
Nice ... looking at yaesu ft5dr and this one. I don't care about aprs and there is no dstar repeaters near here ... my club members only use dmr. Is there any reason I've overlooked why I should buy this over the yaesu? Thanks
If you don't care about APRS/Packet Radio or DSTAR, I would go with the Yaesu VX-6R unless you have a need for C4FM. If you do think APRS/Packet Radio is something you might explore, I'd definitely go for the Kenwood.
I do have the icon ID 52 radio which is also good radio to have, because of the D-star much more efficient, than all the other digital modes, the only occupies 6.25 kilohertz, unlike DMR p25 infusion occupies 25 kilohertz,
I have one on pre-order. Even though it doesnt have everything I would like looks like a solid option for my fleet. Lookijf forwarded to future 75A content. Subed!
Like the guy said 1 month ago I just came across your channel. WTSHTF this old man will just hunker down and do with what I got.. I would like to have a TH D75 but at the price point I can't see $750. It sounds like it would have so many bells a whistles that I couldn't keep up with them.. I'll just stick with my old Kenwood TS 520S. Also while I've got your attention your series on LoRa mesh is great, something else for this old man to learn. TNK
Great concepts, thank you. Yes, the D74 battery life is not happy. Additionally, the leakage current with power off is not great either. Fully charged, power off, it will drain in 4/5 weeks. Only my radios with a combined analog hard power/vol switch (Alinco, Motorola, Vertex) will hold a charge for a year and then some. My TH-F6A is very good holding charge, but the receiver outside of the amateur bands is not great. For bug out I would probably carry the D74 and a Tecsun PL-880 (great battery life, USB charging), or a Xiegu for HF.
I had the VX6 and the area where I live sucks for receiving on the HF bands which means the Yaesu receiver sucks so if the Kenwood is better that would be a plus
@@The_Comms_Channel no I was using a Jetstream tri band antenna the issue I have here is I live a block East of a ship building company and I have hills to the East and to the West of me which creates noise on receive and it has only gotten worse as the ship builder has expanded I liked the VX6 but the SWL feature was useless because of the noise I am lucky I can hear stuff at least on 40m (7MHZ) with my Kenwood TS2000 and the 2 102 inch whips I use in di-pole configuration with my constant S-5 noise
Thanks for this very informative video. I plan to get this radio as soon as it is available. The USB C charging is essential to me. I have a BLUETTI AC200 MAX Li Fe Ph battery charged by an Off Grid TREK 220 watt solar blanket and can always charge items like this radio, Also when hunting I can use my E- mountain bike's USB A outlet to charge it since I have lights that use the C port cords.
I wouldnt say its ultimate,but flexability yes,something i constantly see with usa is mars mods,thats fine but with one caveat! Do not use the stock antennas supplied,they are very tight bandwidths out of band ive found. Best to use a commercial resonant antenna or a blade tape type thats wider bandwidth. 👍 fab vid Rob.P 73's
Since buying an HT with color display I am skeptical about them. The radio I bought is totally unuseable outdoors under normal daylight conditions. The display is unreadable! My cheap Baofeng UV-5R has a better (monochrome) display for outdoors in daylight. How readable is the display on this Kenwood radio outdoors in daylight?
Valid concern for sure. I've not had any issues with the readability of the TH-D74A and Don Arnold has a video of the upcoming TH-D75 out in the sun and looks readable as well His video is here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sBML0Au9ztU.html&feature=share9
Thank you for the informative video. I currently use the Yaesu VX-8DR as my SHTF handheld. It transmits on 4 frequencies, has a very broad receive capability and it's submersible. However, it does not RX on SSB. The ID-52 is also a great radio due to its waterfall, since it allows you to quickly find transmissions. I recently put a reservation on the TH-D75A. Looking forward to testing it on my. hikes. BTW.. What program are you using to view the airline routes?
Sure thing! Not a program, but a website: ADSB Exchange globe.adsbexchange.com/ You can also pick up the planes using a Raspberry Pi and SDR. I'll likely do a video on it before too long.
Good video. I'd also suggest people look at the AnyTone 878UVII (I have 3 of the first gen which are basically the same thing). It is dual bandwidth, but I don't really see the need for 1.25M, especially if your comms are to enable reaching out to others, not just your "team". Most people won't be able to receive there anyway. The 878s allow for great encryption (which is legal - get an FCC roaming business license - they grant it for "shooting clubs", "backpacking clubs", "whatever clubs") if you need it. Just remember, regardless of the freqs, half competent people with an SDR will be able to find you and triangulate your position. These are comms, but the tactical use might be limited.
What frequency can you get this "roaming business license" for? Encryption is not legal on the Amateur Radio bands and it is not legal to conduct business on the Amateur Radio bands. While I happen to think that the Anytone HTs are good radios, they are primarily intended as DMR radios. They are a PITA to program and while you can put in a frequency in VFO mode, they are especially a PITA to program on the fly without a computer.
All good points. The main reason for using the 220 band for me was because it's less crowded. That of course means your group you want to communicate with will need to be on 220 as well. I've not looked at the AnyTones much myself, but may have to give them a closer look. Another commenter mentioned them as well. Good info on the business license. I've never really looked too deep into it because I thought you needed to provide proof of having a business, but I'll look into it if they are able to give it to clubs. Thanks for the info! We'll be doing some testing with packet Radio and the KrakenSDR to see the difference between tracking voice comms and packet Radio soon so stay tuned for that! Thanks again for the info and comment!
@BryanTorok I've not heard of the "roaming business license" he mentioned, but I imagine he's just talking about the frequencies that the FCC has allocated for businesses.
Gotta hand it to Baofeng bf-f8hp (No short wave) but - 1.25, 2 meter, frs/gmrs, murs, marine and some air band. It is also capable of data transmissions.
Didn't think that one did 1.25. I thought it was 2m/70cm. It's true that you can do data, but would need to attach a TNC or another device to it, whereas the TH-D75 has a built-in TNC
@@The_Comms_Channel Yes, you need an attachment. Yes, the BF-F8HP will give you 1.25. You need to lower the frequency range through chirp and toss on a 220 antenna for better signal propagation. It works and it does ok.
@@The_Comms_Channel It was not advertised as a 220 "tri band" but, i noted its capability once adjusted through chirp. I have tested it and was able to get 15 miles 220.300 , (that is in my local.) I probably won't make it my "go to" but.. thats nice shit to know in a shtf situation ya know?
Comms and Wx? Count me in! Currently got GR2A and GR L3 up right now watching the spinners crossing my county in Florida. Edit: B roll box misspelled *Built* as Bulit. That's amazing.
APRS relies heavily on the internet to function so as a tool in a disaster it may not be reliable! Also APRS doesn't function well in remote areas for that matter most of the country, it's 0nly practical in large cities where there may be many digipeaters in operation! While the thD75 is a good radio I thing there are way better alternatives for emergency comms. One suggestion would be the IC705! With this radio you have full tranmit and receive and all hf bands including 6m, 2m, and 70cm. It's light weight and has its own battery. Or can run on any 12v DC source of at least 6a
The APRS/AX.25 protocol itself doesn't rely on the internet at all, but I understand where you're getting at. The current network of digipeaters is definitely heavily reliant upon the Internet, but it doesn't have to be that way. My friends and I use digipeaters here locally and on a different frequency from the usual 144.390 with good results. It's all about getting the infrastructure in place and testing before something bad happens. We wanted to avoid relying on the internet at all and is why we went this route. I have an Icom 705 and totally agree with you there. Great radio for SHTF too and may do a video on using it for SHTF as well eventually. Thanks for the comment!
Being able to listen for people on FRS with a better receiver in nonemergency situations is still handy. I can pull out and turn on a FRS radio if I need to.
That is my setup in the video. I'm an aviation enthusiast so 3 of them are dedicated to that. The 4th I just have scanning whatever I want, but it's generally scanning FRS/GMRS, MURS, and CB.
I've not used the TH-D75, but I'm sure it will be similar to the TH-D74 I have. If so, you could definitely use it for just basic functions while you learn the more advanced features over time.
No official word yet on if this radio will be able to have the MARS mod, but I think it likely will. Are you already familiar with MARS mods or are you wanting to know more about it?
I have a USB-C PD power bank, and with it i keep a USB-C PD to 12V barrel jack cable (it has a trigger so the power bank outputs 12V, it's not a 5V to 12V converter in the cable) and a few adapters to charge my radios.
@@The_Comms_Channel It's a GreenCell PowerPlay Ultra, my instinct would be to buy one with PD 3.x like Anker 737 for future proofing, but 12V support is optional in PD so maybe i was just lucky with this power bank. But at least some radios with barrel jacks seems to support up to 16V input, and 15V is a standard voltage so if all your radios can tolerate that it might be the easier way to go. Otherwise you have to read carefully or ask the manufacturer if it does 12V. Either way, i got it to run an entire portable lab. It can output up to 20V so i can even use it to charge laptops, and if they don't have USB-C, there is adapters for most laptops that tells PD to output 20V, i even used one such adapter and a small lab PSU module to make a small USB-C lab power supply. I also have a USB-C PD compatible soldering iron. It's a bit of a wall of text, but my point is; it's quite expensive if you want to just charge phones and radios, it might be still be worth it to you but for me i got it for the other things and the radio charging was a bonus.
I just got the VX-6R and really like it, if I was into digital I'd hate it though. I was able to hit a local 220 repeater with the tiny 1.5 watts output and it probably was not even doing 1 watt because I was on the regular battery for it. Only problem, there was nobody doing on 220 in my area of Utah county, Utah!! So what good did it do? I scan all the 2m, 440 and 200 repeaters and simplex frequencies (over 150 VHF and UHF channels) on my receive only Uniden SDS200 and I've virtually have never heard anyone on 220. Not one time ever!! I am hoping I can get some locals on 220 soon before we not only lose the repeaters on it, but we lose from the FFC taking it away!! I'm waiting for the new Kenwood too.
The VX-6R is a nice rugged little radio for sure! Same here on 220, there's a few people on occasion, but it's mostly unused. I also have the SDS200 and use it with ProScan. Great radio as well!
@@The_Comms_Channel I just heard a couple of guys on a 220 repeater for the first time in my life last week! One guy had a fake or expired callsign that doesn't check out in the FFC database. So looks like some use the 220 band as a clandestine band for a little outlaw ham goings on. Since they figure they are not monitored as much as 2m and 440. The other guy had a legit callsign at least.
I have a question for you, I have the Yaesu VX-6 and would love to know where you got the connections for the banana clip to connect to the radio. Also, what kind of speaker wire are you using? That is definitely a quick setup. Thank you. KO4UWU
That little Yaesu is a great radio! Amazon sells some decently priced 16 gauge wire and is what I'm using in the video. Here's links to the Wire and the Banana connectors Banana Plug connectors: amzn.to/3NSTryp Speaker Wire - 50' amzn.to/3NWtu0X
Still no pricing for this radio unfortunately. It will likely be the most expensive ham radio HT on the market so not the best if you're on a limited budget. My guess is it will be around $700. A LoRa device running Meshtastic is the much cheaper option for sure if you don't need voice comms.
@@The_Comms_Channel this is why I’m being inspired to build CrunchComm, an open source project building a LoRa based and very inexpensive way for preppers to use off the shelf and abundant components. I’m hoping my video will help preppers to communicate using open source software. Although most developers are using Arduino IDE, I’m using Thonny IDE using MicroPython.
Me being in the US, I like 1.25m, but one commenter in Australia said he wishes it was 6m since 1.25m isn't available there. Would be great if it was quadband.
I am new to radio communication and have a question. In the event of a devastating incident that disrupts most common means of communication used by everyday people, such as TV, mobile phones, internet, and normal radio stations we usually tune into for music, would what you are doing be one of the only ways to communicate and gather news updates, etc.? Additionally, can you listen to some of the very old broadcasts I watched on documentaries, where they replay broadcasts from the Soviet Union era, for example?
If your local sources of communication go down, then shortwave news broadcasts and HF ham radio communications can give you some insight into what is going on. Not sure about the rebroadcasts, it would generally just be current news events.
I have one, I think it's a cool radio and love that it has a waterfall in an HT. Any radio is better than no radio of course, but for the price of the ID-52, I think there are better options out there for SHTF. Some things it does have going for it though is GPS and D-STAR (which I feel is the best digital mode and will be doing a video on why later). Since it has GPS and such a large screen, I wish it had some mapping capability for the display. Even if it was just a basic map. It would be cool to display where other D-STAR users are located on a map. For its current price and capabilities of the ID-52, I would go for the new Kenwood when it comes out. I imagine it will cost a little more than the Icom, but hopefully not by much.
I'll be doing a video on it, but a big part of it for me are the Icom apps available. If you have a D-STAR radio with Bluetooth, you can easily pair your phone to it and download the Icom RS-MS1A app and text back and forth from your phone and send pictures stored on your phone. While you can send text messages using DMR and Fusion, it's only via the radio itself, and the interfaces are terrible. Being able to text from the phone is much quicker and easier.
I had the TH-D74 and the battery life was terrible in standby. The cheap Baofeng radios lasted days in standby. The TH-D74 lasted maybe a day in standby. I also don’t appreciate fancy radios blocking FRS/GMRS etc. yes it’s illegal, but it is not illegal in emergencies which is what brings most people to the HAM community so n the first place.
What a crap review. What a disingenuous review. Long time ham here. If you take this persons advice and make Kenwood your SHTF radio then you will be as lost as this RU-vidr when it comes to survival. Kenwood first of is one of the most ridiculous radios to try to program. Battery life on the Kenwood is paltry at best. I wonder if this youtuber got a free radio or an incentive to review this abject junk.
You think I got a highly sought after radio a year before it was released to the public and for free to top it off? You must think I'm way more important than I am. Thanks, I guess 😊
I have to laugh at these prepper angled videos with their ominous background music. It was great content and I learned some stuff about the TH-D74 that I too actually own. When I meet new prospective hams at ham club meetings and say they are interested in ham radio to be prepared for armageddon I turn that conversation around and talk to them about all the joys that ham radio can bring to your life like lasting friendships, learning about the tech (radios, antennas etc) and finally giving back to the community through using radios to support events like marathons, bike rallies or whatever. This prepper mentality breads contempt with the community that thinks all hams are conspiracy theorists. Smile and have a great time in life. David K9AT
I'm glad you found some usefulness in the video and learned something new. I moved to a new state where there were no friends or family and met the majority of my friends here through Ham Radio, so I definitely can see the joys it brings, but I see nothing wrong with seeing the preparedness side of it as well. There are organizations such as ARES and RACES after all.
I didn't mean to upset you and if I did I'm sorry. And yes there are organization like ARES and RACES within ham radio promoting preparedness. It too bad that Ham radio operators sometimes are pigeoned hole in the crazy category when we do all sorts of good with our radios. Best 73, K9AT
@@MacsForever1 Not upset at all. Just saying there's plenty of room for both. I've not run into much of it, but if people want to call us crazy and laugh, that's their own problem. I had some friends and acquaintances that used to, but after 2020 they had a sudden change of heart and became more interested in being prepared. 73
@thecommschannel4082 I mean it's not worth the price tag. You can get 90% of those features in a mobile for half the price. 5w means shit with all that jammed into. Ht. You need repeaters for most of that shit and in shtf you cant rely on that
@@tehlolercaustyou can't completely rely on it . But a lot of repeaters are privately run and have generators . If shtf for real your cell towers will be down in literal minutes by providers . But repeaters depending your location may give you a chance of hearing your loved ones or giving them final destination goals before it's too late . A repeater is the last glimmer of hope before you may never see the people you care about again.
