Looking for and easy (wallet and prog.) HT for Ham use

[geo815]

I don't diddle much with the HT world and I'm looking for something simple and inexpensive that will program up in the Amateur range. Is there such a creature? I'm not looking to spend a bit less than what I paid for my Kenwood F6A, which was $300 or so. Simple tuning in a perfect world would require little more than what it took to get the Quantar repeater I acquired ready for battle.

[Tom in D.C.]

Most, if not all, of the Motorola 900 mHz HTs will not cover 902-928 mHz as they
come out of the box. They require mods to the software to cover the ham band.
Current pricing of the popular GTX 900 HT is anywhere from $75 to $150; it uses
the GP300 style charger, battery, and speaker/mic. The unit you look for is the
H11W for 900 mHz (the H11U is the 800 mHz version).

[Jim1348]

It sounds like you are looking for a reasonably priced Motorola that is field programmable. You may want to start watching for a Motorola JT1000. They can be had for a fairly reasonable price.

[d119]

Except this was posted in the 900MHz forum, and there aren't any 900MHz JT1000's (that I know of).

I recommend an MTX 9000 or MTS 2000 in the full keypad variety.

[n1oty]

I haven't paid more than $105 plus shipping for any used 900 MHZ MTS2000 handheld. I once paid $150 for a NIB MTS2000 900 MHZ from a Motorola dealer looking to unload it. I purchased an MTX9000 for $25 plus shipping. My friends have purchased GTX handhelds for anywhere from $30 to $100. My point is that there are plenty of M 900 MHZ handhelds available for cheap money. This is a classic case where there are plenty available and little demand. The prices squarely reflect that supply and demand reality.

John

[N4KVE]

In my experience all 900 mhz GTX HT's work well in the ham band. Simplex use isn't that good on repeater output freq's but repeater use is great. Jedi radios are a mixed bag. Some work great, some don't at all & need Murata filters installed. Depends on when made & which revision, but I don't have that info. Even though the GTX's work great, you will have to get modified software to program the GTX to work in the Ham portion of the band. GTX's can usually be found for under $100. I live in the middle of Palm Beach County & with my GTX HT I can use the KR4DQ 900 mhz rptr on the Dade/Broward County line, 2 counties south. Hope this helps. GARY N4KVE

[n5api]

I haven't paid more than $105 plus shipping for any used 900 MHZ MTS2000 handheld. I once paid $150 for a NIB MTS2000 900 MHZ from a Motorola dealer looking to unload it. I purchased an MTX9000 for $25 plus shipping.

Another vote here for the MTX9000. Every one that I've ever touched, and I have worked on over a dozen now for local hams, have required at the most a quick tweak to the VCO voltage limits to get them to do talkaround. I just picked up a model II off of eBay for well under $100 including shipping to add to my collection. The MTS2000s are nice radios too, but you have to be careful what version of firmware you get, too old and you may not be able to get it to scan conventional channels, program some button combinations, etc. Neither the MTS, or MTX will work over the entire 33cm band, but they work just fine for repeater operation, and simplex in 927MHz.

The GTX900s are ok, but they feel cheap to me, don't have an alpa-numeric display, and only hold 10 channels, versus the 160 channels of the MTS and MTX. With my MTX radios, I can program in every 900 repeater listed in the Ohio APRS list, and still have some room left over.

73,
John, N5API

[AEC]

For 900 portables, the hands down easiest winner will be the MTX9000.

For whatever reason, it is not as stubborn to make operational in the 902-928 segment, and all I've had and worked on in the past were easy to make functional on simplex as well.

The MTS2000 seems to be far more touchy even though the RF sections are similar.

I thought about selling or trading my collection off, but decided I am better off with what I have, then to buy something else to take their place.

In short, my vote goes to the MTX9K.
But don't sell the GTX portables short either....I've owned several and have found them very reliable if but a little deaf(nothing serious though).

[John G]

If you don't need a lot of channels, I suggest the MTX950. They work very well and have been cheap. They seem a little pricey on eBay right now but look around for a while. I have seen them go below $50. If you want to look outside Motorola, the Kenwood TK481 is excellent.

[Jim1348]

In the February 2010 issue of Monitoring Times there is an article that mentions a Chinese Puxing brand. I have absolutely no experience with these, nor do I know anything about the quality, etc., but you could read up on it on Eham. I am pretty sure it is nowhere near the quality of a Motorola XTS5000, but if you want very inexpensive, they are out there. Since this is a Motorola site, I guess I ought to mention the ones I do have. I have a pair of Motorola GP2000s. I have one for VHF and one for UHF. I don't do a whole lot of talking on either 2 meters or 70 centimeters, but they are Motorola, they are inexpensive, and they are field programmable.

http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/6221

[motorola_otaku]

In the February 2010 issue of Monitoring Times there is an article that mentions a Chinese Puxing brand.

Yeah, but they don't make 'em in 900 MHz. ;p

Just in case anyone was wondering why no one makes an amateur 900 MHz transceiver, it's because it doesn't exist anywhere else in the world. In Japan it is (or was) used for SMR mobile radio (915-938 MHz iirc) and in most other locales (notably Australia, the UK, and Europe) it's a GSM mobile phone band.

[John G]

I don't believe 220 Mhz is a Ham band anywhere else and transceivers are still made for that band. I would just like to ask the big 3 Amateur labels why no 900. Actually, I kind of like it this way.

[WB6DGN]

Actually, I kind of like it this way.

Me too! If you could buy a ready-made rig for 900, especially a rice box, it would be just another ham band to me; not particularly interested. It's the challenge and reward of modifying the equipment that keeps me interested in 900. The only band left like that below 2.4Gig. Sure hope they don't mess it up; OR take it away.
Tom DGN

[AEC]

The real problem in my particular area, is that what 900 machines there are, many suffer from lack of maintenance, so when a problem arises, they sit, idle and unusable for months, if not a year or two.

We have one such machine on Pinal Peak, on 927.8375 that has been dead for about two years.
The excuse has been that they need a part to repair the antenna, and the A.R.A refuses to invest in a NEW antenna and reuse the damaged junk, so it has not been on the air for about two years now!

Since this is an A.R.A machine, and club owned, I can't talk the club to sell it off so I can get it back on the air.

This machine had phenomenal coverage to the valley, north to Payson and south well into Tucson....better than ANY 900 machine that is on that 'hill' to date.

And being in Globe, the second A.R.A 900 machine is linked to several 2M machines 24/7, which defeats the purpose of having a separate 900 system in the first place.

I have yet to be able to get them to take it off link and make it commandable for this reason.

Links: 147.200(pinal pk) to 147.36(Mt. Ord), to 146.72(green's pk), 147.14(Mt. Elden), 927.4125(pinal pk) There may be more linked continually here, but I don't have the required information at my disposal at the present time.

Far too many machines linked all the time..And WHY link two machines on the same peak?
The 448.475 Pinal Peak machine used to be linked to all of the above as well, but again, lack of maintenance on the antennas and controller dropped it, and it's been a stand-alone ever since.

This is why I let my membership lapse; NO work being done to maintain the lesser used radios.