Suggestions?

I have not used a radio, other than PMR, for years. I was licenced & I know I could get my ticket back. But it has been years & I am not sure I want it back.

Looking around the best options. Price wise,  it seems a new radio, makes most sense. 

I still remember sufficient, to realise that these so called high power radios are offering much less than a single S point over their lower powered & thus presumably  cooler running & longer surviving cousins. So power is not a big issue for me. 

Looking around I see several dealers offering the President Lincoln 2 plus, but with images of the 2 & not mentioning the lower frequency of the plus.

If I buy a radio, will it have both the American & UK channels? As I do remember they are on different systems. 

Basically, what are the best options & what do I need to look out for?   

Looking around the web I have found what my old radio was. It was something called a Belcom LS102L. It weighed almost as much as I did. 

I got it operating on 26 to 30 MHz. Something lighter,  less likely to drift & slightly better at rejecting strong signals would be good. 

Hi Seasick ...

I found the Alinco DX-10 to be a nice little starter radio, with the added benefit of being able to switch over to the 10 metre Amateur band (should you ever want to get your ticket back). 

Cheers

Nick

Pappy Nick wrote:

Hi Seasick ...

I found the Alinco DX-10 to be a nice little starter radio, with the added benefit of being able to switch over to the 10 metre Amateur band (should you ever want to get your ticket back). 

Cheers

Nick

 

Thanks, but I  think I am looking for something a little  more like what I used back in the early days. I guess  that ideally, I want something with some memories that I can program for FM CB, so I have those available as 40 channels, plus maybe a few extra to play with & then a VFO for the rest of the band. 

I am not sure I need repeater ability, but that would make it feel more like a 10 meter radio & less like an FM CB.  

I certainly don't need the extra bands that my old FT-7 gave me & I want something lighter,  more stable & with a better front end than the old Belcom that I had in the truck. But preferably something without echo & roger beeps.

Just to add, I have nothing against echo units, an amateur radio  friend introduced me to echo units for Medium Wave & HF QSO'ing. Not for the echo effect, but because, when set up correctly, they make your audio punchy & clearer & thus they will make a low power signal travel a lot further & give you a much better readability when your signal is weak.  A decent echo unit has real benefits, especially on AM, but that is a big difference from a cheap echo mike or module within a CB with no settings, other than echo level.

Mitch wrote:

I would've sugggested an Alinco DR-135 but it looks like the DX-10 has replaced it.

Looking around the DR-135 & the  DX-10 are the same radio. Just badged as DX-10 now. 

What really puts me off the Alinco is the lack of VFO. It only has 6 bands & although they can be programmed with up to 60 channels per block, that means the channels will not match the old 40 block CB channels, which potentially  makes it confusing to work with easily when mobile. And it just feels like a step backwards from the radios we used back in the early 80's. 


Back in the early 80's it was possible to buy a 160 channel radio with a legal uk 40 board fitted, as an off the shelf radio. 

All I want is a simple to use radio, that I can put in my van & easily operate whilst mobile. Something that covers 26 to 28 mhz, with the option of 28 to 30, if I do ever do decide to get my old licence back. Something that does not require multiple presses of a button to achieve everything. Something that can be run both as a US 40 block & a uk 40 block, plus via a VFO. 

I just want something lighter in weight, more stable & less prone to overload than my old Belcom, but something that  can be used as a channelised radio too.


Edited to add. Am I over confusing this? Do people still navigate the spectrum via channels or is it via frequency now? If I were talking to someone on say US 40 AM, or UK legal 40, would they qsy to,  channel number or frequency? 

I am assuming SSB is all done via frequency, so having an easy to use VFO is important there.  But do you still need channels? I don't want to drive with a list of frequencies in one hand & a microphone in the other. Or is that what people do?

TBH in this modern times I don't think there is a modern radio that will do what you want mate ,thats why I like the radios of the 70s and 80s ,there's too much of pushing menu buttons or computer programming to do anything on radios now

NUBSTER wrote:

TBH in this modern times I don't think there is a modern radio that will do what you want mate ,thats why I the radios of the 70s and 80s ,there's too much of pushing menu buttons or computer programming to do anything on radios now

Maybe I need to look out a modified old radio then.

Edited to add. I remember the 80's & never before had I even considered it to be the decade that progress stopped.  Who would have thought it? The 80's,  the pinnacle of something other than awfulness. 

Ha!

They say that's a definite sign of getting old Nick. We went to the moon, we fought for equality, we had supersonic passenger travel......then we invented the internet.

I wouldn't mind but back with our illegal radio transmissions we spoke to each other on air as well as face to face with our neighbours. Now we have the most advanced communications ever known in human history yet live in a conversational desert.

????? 

.....and radios you can hook up to a USB but have awful usability

I have heard someone from NASA say that the technology used in the moon landing module was less then, than now exists in the average family car. 

And as you say, we used to talk face to face, as well as on radio. Not just at radio clubs & at rallies, but also at random gatherings. It was as much part of the hobby as the RF was. I travelled a lot with work, first doing electromechanical plant engineering & then as an HGV driver, thanks to the RAF, who helped me get an HGV 1 licence as a teenager.  A radio, especially on CB frequencies, was a great way of meeting people face to face.

A basic electronic watch has more tech than that which sent man to the moon. As for CB with a VFO I don't know of any that ever had one as standard, your Belcom was a 10 metre ham radio modded for CB band, most export type CB's have a channel change with a course tune to get between channels. Unless you get another Belcom (be hard to find a good one these days) you're going to be struggling to find anything suitable though of course you could buy a ham radio that's widebanded.

Yeah but if a car goes into limp mode they tell you to turn it off and get out for it to reset.....much harder to do on a lunar lander & orbiter module!

Who knows Nick? Now that we're in a situation where we can't socialise people seem much more up for it, chatting, (or clapping), with neighbours and even started buying radios again. There may be hope yet


I hope you manage to find a radio that does what you need, but I wouldn't hold your breathe for those old 'eyeball' days mate.

Victor wrote:

Yeah but if a car goes into limp mode they tell you to turn it off and get out for it to reset.....much harder to do on a lunar lander & orbiter module!


I hope you manage to find a radio that does what you need, but I wouldn't hold your breathe for those old 'eyeball' days mate.

I did some car recovery work for a few years &  the number of cars we had to transport hundreds of miles because of what would have been a minor & easily fixable fault on an older car was incredible. God knows what it's like now, at least then most cars came with a spare wheel. 

As for the radio, I am thinking I may buy a mobile HF amateur radio. They seem to cost very little more than a President Lincoln 2 plus & they would give me bands other than CB. Sufficient memories to use for uk & US 40, plus plenty of others, plus most have dual VFO & 100 watts. And I could hide the radio under the seat of the van & use a remote head.