Radios for Newcomers
Radios for newcomers.
It is perhaps a good idea to ease yourself into the hobby on the VHF and UHF bands. Later as you discover more about our diverse hobby you can follow your interest and buy an HF radio and build your station to suit your interests. There is quite a good market for second hand HF radios locally with the club being asked to sell surplus equipment; there is also an active Facebook group that offers to sell local amateurs equipment.
We asked Tony Wiltshire Sales manager at Martin Lynch and Sons what radios they would recommend for newcomers to the hobby. Here are their recommendations. There are of course other brands and suppliers available and whether new or second hand it should be possible to find a radio to fit your budget.
Handhelds:
Wouxon uv9k propack: Approx £125.00 – everything you need to get started in 2m/70cm including programming leads adaptors etc.
Yaesu FT-70: Approx £170.00 Well built Yaesu branded vhf/uhf handheld with c4fm (system fusion) capabilities.
TYT MD-UV380 vhf/uhf DMR: Approx £75.00 Rugged entry level handheld for DMR use. Lots of code plugs widely available to download.
Base station transceivers:
Yaesu ft-450d: Approx £700.00 Hf/6m built in auto atu. Now obsolete but still available as we speak! A great used buy if available.
Icom IC-7300: Approx £1200.00 the most popular hf/6m/4m transceiver on the market. Modern sdr technology, excellent UI like a smart phone. Easy to use with digital modes.
In addition to Tony’s list the Yaesu FTM-400XDE is very popular with club members.
Yaesu FTM-400XDE Dual Band Transceiver: Approx £390.00
A Digital Mobile transceiver, install it in your car or shack it is very versatile and you get a lot of useful features for your money, currently available with a big discount from Yaesu good for repeater and simplex work. Used in conjunction with a collinear antenna mounted on your car or on a chimney of your house you will be able to work through the C4FM repeaters in Portsmouth and Southampton as well as GB3IW and the other local repeaters depending on your location of course. Very good value for money.
All the radios listed are available from:-
