You'll end up like me with a bunch more radios in your collection. It's addictive.

[Bird 43 Wattmeter]

[Bird 43 Wattmeter]

[Bird 43 Wattmeter]

3 hours ago, WRXN668 said:

Were the plug-in elements included in the $200 purchase or did you have to spend extra, and if extra, what are they going for these days?

I also have a Bird 43, mine came with N-type connectors and a single plug-in element, a 400-1000MHz 250W unit.  A bit too strong for GMRS on an HT but I'm also licensed for amateur.

It cost me another $50 extra per element. The prices are all over the place for them depending on power and frequency range. Looking on eBay they’re going for as little as $30 to $100 to $200 used. I’ll just have keep looking at the swaps and see what shows up for a good price.

[CA-2x4MB Scans.jpg]

These are the SWR scans for the Comet CA-2x4MB dual band antenna I had on my old Jeep. I have a photo posted of the antenna on the Jeep. The antenna is a non-ground plane type so the luggage rack mount works just fine.

So far this is the ONLY dual band antenna I've tested that works with an SWR under 2:1 on both the Ham VHF / UHF bands and the MURS / GMRS bands too. The scans were done using a RigExpert AA-1000 antenna analyzer. I wished Comet still made this model but it's been long discontinued.

The one on the Jeep is still in decent shape other than the fold over spring is too weak to hold it in place, fixed with tape to keep it in the socket and not flip over while driving. It's been like this for years and no further issues. I do take the antenna off the Jeep once in a while to clean it.

I do have a spare, I purchased two at the time. The spare has never seen the outside, so no visible wear. Looks like new. If the one I have on the vehicle gets wrecked I have a spare.  

[CA-2x4SR]

5 hours ago, wrtq652 said:

This is nice efficent setup!

When I lived in an apartment there wasn't much for options. VHF/UHF was about it with operation through local repeaters.

[Never enough antennas on mobile.jpg]

Mobile antenna installation idea and examples. Yes this is real, but not mine.

[UHF Antennas.jpg]

Antennas for UHF are fairly simple to build. You don't need much if the antenna will be used indoors.

The square loop is built for 432 MHz for the Ham 70cm band and sideband. It uses a simple hairpin type match. This was built, using some 12 Gage copper wire,  to test some simulation results. It came out reasonably close. The hairpin matching section is sort of touchy.

The antenna on the right was built using a cheap BNC panel connector and some buss wire. It's a 1/4 wave ground plane type with elements about 6 inches long. The simulation results showed it should have an SWR under 2:1 from 430 MHz to 470 MHz. The measured results where close making the antenna usable on the Ham 70cm band and also for GMRS. I built another one and use it in my office at work with a cheap CCR used as a scanner. The antenna is on top of a book case for better range.

[TK-3170.jpg]

This is a TK-3170. A number of people like these for GMRS. They're small, light weight and use Lithium Ion battery packs. This radio model is my typical carry radio for GMRS and UHF Ham use. It is Part 95 certified by the way.

https://pdfs.kenwoodproducts.com/9/TK-2170&3170Brochure.pdf

And the identical looking TK-3173 with trunking. Both use the same programming software.

https://pdfs.kenwoodproducts.com/12/TK-3173BrochureRev.pdf

I recommended one of these for a buddy at work for GMRS who was hooked on Baofengs. Now that he has this one I don't think he bothers with the cheap Chinese radio anymore. 

These radios use the same speaker microphones and programming cable as the common Baofeng type  radios so they are cheap and easy to find and share accessories. 

[Busted Flat Cable - 4 Edited.jpg]

This is the broken flat flex cable in the TK-2170. The break is in the red box. The fat trace is the power connection between the main radio's PCB and the On/Off volume control. The end of the cable for the power trace is soldered on the edge of the PCB making the repair a PIA. The cable has to sit at 90 degrees to the PCB making the job very tricky not to get solder on the surface mount parts close to the edge. You can see the solder point. It's the large solder blob at the 90 degree corner on the PCB on the right side in the other photo.

[Motorola XPR6550.jpeg]

I have a few Motorola radios. The XPR6550 is a good choice. You can buy them for reasonable prices. They also use a standard SMA type antenna connector. The XPR7550 is a better radio, but they are expensive used and have a funky stud type antenna port. So, if you need to use an external antenna you want the XPR6550.

The XPR6580, with instructions found on the Internet, can be hacked to get it operational on the Ham 33cm band. No hardware modifications are necessary.

Radio specifications are here:

https://www.motorolasolutions.com/content/dam/msi/docs/business/products/two-way_radios/portable_radios/wide_area_large_business_portable_radios/xpr_6500/_documents/static_files/mototrbo_portable_spec_sheet.pdf

[TK-5320-1.jpg]

One of my TK-5320 UHF P25 radios. Uses the same case style as the NX-200/300 NXDN radios. Makes them hard to tell apart without looking at the model tags on the back side. I also have the VHF version too.

The 450 MHz to 520 MHz band split models have Part 95 certification so they can be used on GMRS FM mode only.

Detailed spec's:

https://comms.kenwood.com/common/pdf/download/TK-5220_5320_Specsheet.pdf

[TH-79A.jpg]

I got this fairly clean looking Kenwood TH-79A at a local Ham swap for $30.

https://www.kenwood.com/i/products/info/amateur/th79.html

If you shop around at the swaps/flea markets you can find some great deals.

[First HT.png]

World's first HT?

[2117323252_BatteryPackTesting.JPG]

Battery pack testing using a lab grade electronic load. Battery pack is discharged using constant current mode. Rate is set at 0.2 times the rated battery pack capacity. This is one of the typical rates used for capacity rating by manufacturers.

The Kenwood Lithium Ion battery packs have a rated output voltage of 7.2/7.4 VDC. There is a protection circuit in them, over charge and over discharge, which shuts the pack down if the charge voltage goes too high or discharge voltage too low, around 5.7 VDC more or less. The HT's typically will alarm out/shut down around 6 VDC so that's my discharge cutoff voltage. 

Data sheet:

https://siglentna.com//wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2019/04/SDL1000X_DataSheet_DS0801X-E01E.pdf

[NX-300.JPG]

This is one of the NX-300 400-470 band split radios. Just got it back from service and testing it out at the office by letting it scan.

The 450 MHz to 520 MHz band split models have Part 95 certification so they can be used on GMRS FM mode only.

I also have the NX-200 VHF versions too. This radio is easily setup for railroad monitoring if you are into that. The railroads use either FM or NXDN digital so the NX-200 is perfect for that.

These are very nice radios.

Detailed spec's:

https://comms.kenwood.com/common/pdf/download/02_NX-200G&300GBrochure.pdf

Depending on the generation of the radio they can be reprogrammed over the air remotely. You just need the master base radio connected to a computer running the application. For these radios the KPG-150AP package is required.

https://comms.kenwood.com/common/pdf/download/905_KPG-150APBrochure.pdf

[NX-820GH.jpg]

I got this NX-820GH mobile radio free from a buddy. Had to clean it up a bit. It's the 400-470 MHz band split version.

Detailed spec's:

https://comms.kenwood.com/common/pdf/download/10_NX-720HG&820HGBrochure.pdf

[My Radio Collection]

I collect mainly Kenwood HT's. I have a few Motorola, ICOM and various Chinese ones too. Some of the models I own several units of them, multiple units per box and several boxes for the larger numbers. The storage boxes are sorted by model type. The model type is written on the end of the plastic storage box using a black Sharpie pen.

Many of the radios are UHF since that seems to be where the majority of the Ham digital voice activity is found. Not so much on VHF. In any case I do like to get both the UHF and VHF versions on the various models.

I'm currently looking for a good deal on a few Kenwood NX-1200DUK2 radios in like new, or new, condition to add to my collection.

I recently picked up an Air Band radio, an ICOM IC-A16. While some VHF radios have air band receive a special purpose radio would also include the transmit function too. Air band radios are AM only, so this one is rather unique in my collection.

I also just recently purchased some ICOM radios that do FM and dPMR digital, not to be confused with DMR, for the VHF and UHF bands. One of the dMPR radios was converted to NXDN by a repair center by accident when I sent it in for some repair work. They can't get the dPMR firmware from ICOM so they had to refund the cost of the repair. I used that money to purchase another dPMR radio of the same exact model from the same seller. I wanted at least two dPMR radios, UHF, that could talk to each other in digital mode to experiment with them.

I now have radios for the following digital modes: D-Star, DMR, P25, NXDN and dPMR. Nothing for System Fusion yet. Not really sure if I want to get one since that mode is specific to Yaesu radios. All the other digital modes are available from multiple manufactures.  

I was hoping to program the dPMR radios for dPMR446, BUT there are some differences between dPMR446 and dPMR that seems to render the two modes incompatible. This is based on my reading for the two ETSI standards. Looks like I might have to pay up and get an official dPMR446 radio even if they're limited to only 0.5 watts. I would like to get a Kenwood TK-3701D in that case. The radio appears to be based on the NX-1300 series radio. That means I likely can modify the radio and replace the crummy fixed antenna with a removable one by replacing the fixed antenna with the original design SMA socket the regular NX-1300's use. Then using the external antenna port I can use an external power amplifier to boost the power up to around 4 to 5 watts, more like a regular HT.

I have a spreadsheet I put together so I can remember which programming software is used for which radio. 

I also have separate folders for each radio model, and sub folders if more than one band split is available, for the code plugs for each one.

When I receive a used radio I try to save the original code plug. Part of the fun collecting these is trying to figure out who, or where, they were originally owned by or came from. One I figured out was used by the maintenance staff at a nuclear power station on the east coast. 

Fairly current list of the radios: 

Tri Band:
TH-D74A VHF/UHF tri-band analog/D-Star Digital (MARS/CAP mod)
UV-5X3 VHF/UHF tri-band
TH-350 VHF/UHF tri-band 128 channel

Dual Band:
TH-G71A VHF/UHF 200 channel (MARS/CAP mod)
TH-G71A VHF/UHF 200 channel (No mod's)
TH-79A VHF/UHF 80 channels xband repeat built in
UV-5R VHF/UHF 128 channel
D878UV VHF/UHF 4000 channel analog/DMR Digital
KG-UVD1P VHF/UHF 128 channel

Multi Band:
FT817 HF/VHF/UHF (MARS/CAP mod)

VHF:
TK-270G-1 VHF 128 channel
TK-2000 VHF 16 channel (International Version)
TK-2170-K VHF 128 channel
TK-2140-1 250 channel (European Version)
TK-2140 US version 250 channel
TK-2160 VHF 16 channel
TK-2360 VHF 16 channel
TK-2180 VHF 512 channel
IC-A16 VHF 200 channel AM (air band only radio)
TK-D200E VHF 512 Channel analog/DMR Digital
TK-D200EG VHF 512 Channel analog/DMR Digital
NX-200 VHF 512 channel analog/NXDN Digital
NX-200G VHF 512 channel analog/NXDN Digital
NX-1200DVK2 VHF 260 channel analog/DMR Digital
XPR6550 VHF 1000 Channel analog/DMR Digital
TK-5220-K VHF 512 channel analog/P25 Digital
IC-F3162DT VHF 512 channel analog/dPMR Digital

UHF:
TK-370-1 UHF 32 channel
TK-370G-1 UHF 128 channel
BF-888S UHF 16 channel
TK-3170-E UHF 128 channel (European Version)
TK-3170-K UHF 128 channel
TK-3212L UHF 128 channel
TK-3212 UHF 128 channel
TK-3173-K UHF 128 channel
TK-3160-1 UHF 16 channel
TK-3200 UHF 2 channel
TK-3360-1 UHF 16 channel
TK-3140 UHF 250 channel
TK-3180-1 UHF 512 channel
TK-3180-2 UHF 512 channel
NX-300-K2 UHF 512 channel analog/NXDN Digital
NX-300G-K UHF 512 channel analog/NXDN Digital
NX-300G-K2 UHF 512 channel analog/NXDN Digital
NX-320-K5 UHF 260 channel analog/NXDN Digital
NX-320-K2 UHF 260 channel analog/NXDN Digital
NX-1300DUK5 UHF 260 channel analog/DMR Digital
NX-1300NUK5 UHF 260 channel analog/NXDN Digital
NX-411 UHF 512 channel analog/NXDN Digital
TK-D340U-K UHF 32 Channel analog/DMR Digital
TK-D340U-K2 UHF 32 Channel analog/DMR Digital
TK-D300E UHF 512 Channel analog/DMR Digital
TK-5320-K2 UHF 512 channel analog/P25 Digital
XPR6550 UHF1 1000 channel analog/DMR Digital
XPR6580 UHF 1000 channel analog/DMR Digital
IC-F4162DT UHF 512 channel analog/dPMR Digital
T5720 (Motorola FRS Radio)

Charger Collection:

These are the base units. I don't have the 120 VAC power supply for all of them.

KSC-25L
KSC-25
KSC-25 (Chinese Clone mod'ed with Anderson Power Pole Input)
KSC-16
KSC-23
KSC-35S
KSC-32
KSC-32 (Chinese Clone)
KSC-30
KSC-31
Impress Motorola
EC1
BC-160

Various chargers for specific Chinese and non Chinese Ham radios.

 

 

[Battery Pack Testing]

35 minutes ago, PACNWComms said:

Ok, I am liking this. And priced well too. Tired of transporting a Christie CASP1000 everywhere, which condition charges but is not a good load. I may have to get one of these now. Thank you for sharing.

I got the cheapest one they make. For battery pack testing and playing with solar panels you don’t need the more expensive models.

[Battery Pack Testing]

On 3/19/2022 at 5:49 AM, Radioguy7268 said:

Nice!  How do those leads attach to the battery? I can't say I've seen ones like that before.

If you look closely at the battery pack terminals there are holes in them. The easy-hook test clips just fit through them to make a good solid contact.

[solar And antennas]

I'll bet the cat killed the output for the string the panel is in where the cat is sitting. Or at the very least for the one panel if they are all connected in parallel.

Big splashes of bird poop and other trash on the panels kills the output too.

Big panel arrays need to be cleaned periodically, otherwise the output suffers after a while.