Batboard

I have had to come to a cold hard decision as of recently that I worried about for some time.

We know have a narrowband/splinter freq repeater we now need to use for EMS work. Therefore I have to now move away from the Spectra 110 watt A9 head radio and get a narrowband capable radio.

Well due to budget issues on my own I have to either go with a 50 watt Kenwood or a 50 watt motorola. NO problem as I like both radios, however it comes down to the ham side of things.

I prefer to do a lot of simplex instead of repeater talking on VHF and the 100 watt spectra worked out great for this. But now the 50 watts I know will not cover it do to the landscape of where I live (a lot of hills and valleys).

So I thought not to worry I will look at getting a power amplifier but here once again lies an issue. It seems there are public safety moble power amps and ham mobile power amps but none really seem to cross freqs. Publis safety version go down to 150 Mhz and no more (this is what the dealer said and showed me) and the ham ones state that it is for 144 - 148 Mhz only.

However, I looked on the mirage website (http://www.mirageamp.com) and was reading on some of there models and when it came to oax it states that it has to be 50 ohms and able to handle 200 watts at 150 Mhz.

So does this mean a mirage can go up into the public safety band so therefore I can use one radio for ham and public safety???

So why not run two radios in the car???? Well I do not have that much room due to these newer cars and in addition the wife does not want our vehicles turning into or looking like a mobile command post.

In addition I do not want to have to install a coax switch and remember to switch antennas everytime I switch channels. It could be very easy to forget and boom ruin or blow something out.

So therfore anyone use a mirage amp or know if they can go all the way up to about 159Mhz????

Unfortunately, Mirage makes two products lines and they aren't interchangeable. You have the 2m amps, they will cover about 140-150, and then the commercial units that easily cover 150-174.

I had a commercial unit that would put out almost 100w down to 147 and then it sharply dropped off. While later i had another unit of the same model that dropped of sharply below 149. So it's hit or miss getting some extra coverage out of them.

The 2m amps, i have only had one, won't go much past 150, let alone 159. Just the way they are designed.

Though the wife is a concern, been there done that, it sounds as if the best overall thing you can do is install a second radio. Two remote mount head's wouldn't be to much in the way. The added benefit is that the second radio can always be on the new EMS and other PS frequencies while the Spectra is on the ham band. Dual monitoring. A lot cheaper than buying a new radio and playing around with amps to cover two different bandsplits.

Just tell her one radio is for work, and one radio is for play! And if she thinks its too many radios refer her to the pictures of my install, three X9000's and a laptop computer, and the wife uses them just as much as i do.

Mirage at one time was a highly respected maker of VHF and UHF amplifiers. I haven't heard anything about them in several years now though.

Mirage is now part of MFJ. MFJ's reputation for quality control makes Galls look like the best stuff on earth. I can't say I'd rely on anything from MFJ, especially for public safety or commercial - where money is at stake - use. Heck personally I wouldn't buy their ham gear either. Mighty Fine Junk is the most commonly heard moniker for that company.