New Here looking for Advice

[ducke]

Hi all
Cough cough The general board looks to be a little Dusty.Cough cough
No post since mid 2006.Cough cough
My question is this "I am new to Ham radio I am presently studying for my license and I was wondering if anyone has any suggestion as to what I should get as a first Rig"

Cough cough 8-)Ducke Cough cough

[va3css]

ducke said:

Hi all
Cough cough The general board looks to be a little Dusty.Cough cough
No post since mid 2006.Cough cough
My question is this "I am new to Ham radio I am presently studying for my license and I was wondering if anyone has any suggestion as to what I should get as a first Rig"

Cough cough 8-)Ducke Cough cough

My advice to you would be to get a mobile rig. You can, of course, run it on a power supply inside your house. A 20A power supply is sufficient for any 2M or dual-band mobile rig in the house.

That's the best thing to get for a FIRST radio, IMO.

Many would say to get an HT first, because they're cheaper. But they're not really a lot cheaper. You can get a new mobile rig for under $200. That's for a brand spanking new one, warranty and all.

If there are any hamfests coming up soon in your area, check them out. You can get the same thing for less there.

The problem with an HT is that unless you are close to a repeater, you can't reach anybody. Most HT's have 5W maximum power, and on batteries, that won't last long. Their small "rubber duck" antenna has zero gain to them, and are easily blocked by trees, buildings, steel-framed buildings, etc.

A mobile will have 5W minimum power, and a maximum of 50W or 75W, depending on the model you choose. Plus, at home, you'll have to have some sort of an external antenna for it. A simple J-pole made of ordinary copper water pipe will work wonders. Even just sitting on top of your roof or outside on a balcony will improve your signal by leaps and bounds.

With the proper adapers, you can still connect an HT to that same J-pole, and that will help immensely, but the power still won't be more than 5W.

All that said, I do think that having both an HT and a mobile are a great idea. But for your FIRST rig, get a mobile.

Just my two cents.