Eastern Railroad Discussion > Scanner died...need info on handheld ham

The ole scanner finally gave up the ghost yesterday. I was thinking of replacing the scanner with a handheld transceiver. I just began studying for a ham license, but what do I need to do when purchasing a two-way radio now? What brands are better? What are the differences in sensitivity that handhelds have over a base model? What needs to be done to the radio, if anything, given I don't have a license yet? Does the radio need to be "tuned" for RR frequencies? Where is the best place to go?

I'm a Yaesu man myself. I don't use hand held radios much anymore, but the best ham radio HT's I ever used for railroad scanning were the Yaesu FT-411E and the FT-23R. The 411E is good to go right out of the box. The 23R needs to be modified to receive the railroad freqs. The 411E also has more memories, so it is probably your best choice. I have not been overly impressed with the railroad reception of the newer multiband HT's on the market (VX-5, etc.). They are great ham radios, but leave a lot to be desired out of band.

I my truck, I use a Yaesu FT-2500M for railroad scanning and it does a fantastic job.

As for buying, I recommend R&L Electronics in Hamilton, Ohio. http://www.randl.com

Good luck on getting your license & 73 de K8DTI

The GCDRA swears by the Relm MP-32/SmartComm SCV32 (same radio, different names), with transmitting feature disabled. Our pusher:
http://www.radiohq.com/
Be sure to get the 1000mah battery upgrade, it's well worth the additional cost.

The radio is user-programmable and holds 32 channels, so you'll have to pick-and-choose what AAR freqs you want.

Reception is outstanding -- I've heard trains calling signals in Sullivan, IN, from Clinton, IN, a line-of-sight distance of some 36 miles! Another GCDRA member reported picking up the West Springfield, MA defector from Voorheesville, NY, and I routinely hear the Guy Park, NY detector from Guilderland, NY, some 20 miles distant.

-Dave
http://www.trainweb.com/gcdra/davehonan/

If you are looking for a top notch performer handheld receiver, you may want to consider a used Motorola Radius GP 300. The GP 300 is a 16 channel handheld transceiver that scans and has a priority channel. They are built to military specs so they can take a lot of punishment and keep right on working. They can also be programmed with PL tones and repeater pairs as well. You can find them all of the time on eBay for about $200.00 - programming included.

For comparison, my GP 300 with the stock rubber duck antenna was receving railroad radio traffic that my friend's top of the line Yaesu dual band mobile (FT8100R) with a high gain antenna was oblivious to. It even gives my Motorola Maxtrac with a tuned railroad band antenna a run for its money. Sixteen channels should be adequate for your needs and then some. The only drawback is that the radio is not user-programmable like a scanner.

Having been a ham for over ten years now, I hope you continue on with your studying and get your ham license. It is well worth the effort. Good luck!

Keary
W8NKP

I have had an Icom IC-T2H for over a year now, it does a wonderful job both TXing and RXing. They have come down in price and I think they are around $149 now, I purchased mine for $175 from Ham Radio Outlet in Woodbridge, VA. Very good little radio. I recommend that with any 2M handheld you purchase you get a better rubber ducky than what comes with it, most rubber duckies that come with handhelds that I have owned/seen are nothing better than dummy loads. I picked up a good rubber duck at a Hamfest for about 14 bucks last year and it has done real well.

Chris Starnes, KG4IKI
Gate City, VA

Rail Hams Email List
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RailHams

Yaesu makes the best vhf/2 meter handhelds. Icom is OK, but stay away from Kenwood. I use the FT-530 dual bander with a RD-9 antenna and am very satified. K8DTI is correct stating R & L has the best prices.