HAM radio guys

I have a few questions.

1) I’m not a fan of rechargeable batteries. I deal with mha batteries daily and I’m not impressed with them as far as long term use goes. Most models I find are rechargeable. What’s a good one that takes batteries?

2) With handhelds how many watts do you need to reach 10 miles?

3) What brands and models of handhelds and base stations do you recommend?

Thanks

1 not sure about batteries

2 in all things ham radio the question is , what's your antenna , terain and frequency with the right antena bouncing a repeater 25 miles away with 5watts is no problem and the person your talking to might be 50 miles away the other side of the repeater in a truck with a 5/8 wave at 20 watts
*** atmospheric conditions apply ***
**** if your running CW 5 watts might get you around the world ******

3 I like my Yeasu mobile and used a freinds Kenwood HT kenwood is very good stuff

I have not been very active in a few years

Baofeng. Cheap Chinese but works good. Hate buying Chinese but can't beat it.

Motorola 8-10X the price , better but way costly.

Batteries ..... most new ones have Lithium Ion Batteries there is still some with nickel metal hydride battery's.
They seem to work a long time and very well.

Distance ..... IT varies with your antenna, height, obstructions etc. Will you reach 10 miles with a rubber duck antenna ???
Maybe, under the right conditions you might reach a lot farther. Myself, I can reach 25 miles to a repeater and talk to someone
25 or 50 miles farther out and that is with a 5 watt HT which most of them are now. I have reached 20 miles to another person a
few times but I was partway up a mountain. Now with a 50 watt Mobile and a 5/8 wave mag mount antenna 30 to 50 miles easy.

Brands .... Personally I like Yaesu radio's I have Icom also and have used Alinco, Kenwood and a few others. Forget Motorola,
leave them to businesses. Too hard to impossible to get programming material.

Now I will get to that cheap Chinese thing called Baofeng, hey they are cheap and they work. Not as good as a Yaesu but cost
a lot more. Sometimes you can get a brand new one for $25 bucks. You drop it and it breaks, you just throw it away and buy another
one. I got 3 of them, fun to play with, there is lots of frequency coverage, a siren, a flashlight, flashing light mode and FM radio.
If you decide to buy one get the original Baofeng programming cable. Its got a chip in it, others seldom work. Use CHIRP for programming.
I think all of the Baofeng's are dual band radios 2 meter and 440. You can program FRS frequency's in one but not legal. If you have
a amateur radio license you know the rules. If you don't you can get into some serious trouble with one of these radios
by transmitting where you are not supposed to.

Good luck
It's a great hobby

Ed
*

It is a great hobby,I hope it stays that way and doesn't go the way of CB.No license,no radio is the way it should be

Yes sir, I hope it doesn't go to no license either. Enough people on bands causing interference as it is.

I have to set up my ICOM SSB again I think. Took it out of my sailboat before I sold it and it has been sitting in a box since we moved here to the hills. i could run a wire between two isolators from one tree to another and talk to folks in Australia from here I would think.

Thanks for the replies. I’ve got a couple books coming for beginners. The rechargeable ones worry me a bit. No juice to charge the batteries equals no communication! Can you do the test online or do you have to go somewhere to take it?

I have used a Baofeng with a longer antenna and have always done well. Yes, my understanding is you have to test at a facility. The rechargeable batteries are all I’ve used. The more you transmit, the quicker your battery will draw down. How about a couple battery packs and a solar panel? Just a thought. I have been off the air for quite a while now. It’s a fun hobby that can be put down and picked up up again any time. Take care.

KD8WVI

hamtestonline.. where i did mine. you can work your way up to extra and its always with you on a phone, tablet.... to continuous study

that will get you ready for the test once you pass 2 to 3 times with 90+ each time....arrl has test sites like a library or other places where you go do your test in an evening.

Thanks

It is a good hobby. Don't remember exactly when I did get my license? It's been a while.

Get yourself one of the test books, one that's up to date. Read the question and highlight the answer. As far as I know you can still take the practice test online, only need a 75% score to pass. Unless they've changed it.

I took my test at a town park, me and 2 of my buds, we all passed on our first try. Honestly, it's mostly common sense. And the questions on the test were word-for-word from the test book. No big deal.

My first radios are Icom's, I have a couple others now. I've not been active for a while either. But from here at the house or outside, I can hit 3 different repeaters, with my handhelds and talk to folks in PA and Ohio. I live in eastern WV. So you're looking at 200 miles or so?

Simplex, I think the rule is line of sight, plus 10 percent. Up on top of the mountain, that's a long way.

My mobile units are 12V, and I think go up to 55 watts. I can almost always hit one or 2 repeaters. Most ham's are decent people, you won't hear much bs, and if you'd ever find yourself in a bind, someone will be glad to make a phone call. That comes in handy when a feller don't have cell service and you need help.

Not trying to highjack this thread but with things swinging more anymore towards satellite comms, SSB / HAM is on its way out other than for hobbyists. Over the last couple of years, I have taken SSB radios out of boats and installed satellite based networks. So the people on board had internet, weather charts and e mail wherever they are. With the low orbit satellites that space X is putting up, this will become the mainstream and SSB will fall by the wayside.

what about weather conditions or failure that would inhibit satellite linkage? I think its still a good back up system if nothing else.