Amateur Radio

[RidgeRunner]

Ok, Jerry, so which one are we going to try out on April 19th??


Mick

[Jerry]

Oh Jeez, Mick, I don't know if I will have either of them hooked up by then. The 7800 is back in its box and the 706, power supply and mag mount antenna are draped and sprawled all over my little office. Only 3 hours ago I tried checking in on the local 2-meter net, but they couldn't hear me. Evidently I messed something up while tinkering with the menus. It worked great last Monday. Also, we will be driving Evelyn's Ford Escape on the 19th and it will be the last car to be fitted with a ham radio. So to answer your question, .....breaker, breaker, Rubber Ducky

Looking forward to seeing you in Moses Lake!
Jerry

[Jerry]

The only thing I have against the FT-7800R is the burnt orange LCD screen. yuck! -moxta

Now I know what moxta means about the orange LCD. As I type this I am sitting in a darkened room with the Yaesu 7800 sitting next to the computer monitor and its orange screen is about to drive me nuts. It really IS ugly. I am hoping to learn the menus today and/or tomorrow and get the darned thing installed in my wife's Ford Escape before I see RidgeRunner (KE7PIT) this weekend. The only saving grace is that where I have in mind of installing the radio places the screen WAY below eye level.

I am also re-thinking my decision of buying the 50 watt, dual band Yaesu 7800. We don't have a lot of traffic on 440 around Yakima and I don't expect there is much anywhere else in the nether-lands other than in or near the bigger cities. So us back country folk might be better off with a more powerful single band 2 meter radio. Probably the 65 watt Icom 2200H like Mick runs or the 75 watt Icom V8000 would be better choices for emergency communication from backroad, overland, off-road vehicles. If I buy radios for the other vehicles I will definitely think twice.
Jerry

[Steve]

I had always wondered about how popular the 440 band was here in the Northwest.

Steve

[Photog]

Jerry,
The orange screen would match my factory dash lights.

Is the light adjustable for brightness? I wouln't want it blasing me in the face while driving at night.

[Jerry]

The 7800 has a choice of "Dim 1, Dim 2, Dim 3 or Off". I have not messed with it so couldn't tell you which setting it is on out of the box. I suspect the brightest.
Jerry

[Jerry]

Just got the Yaesu FT-7800 VHF/UHF installed in my wife's Ford Escape. The Yaesu is sitting atop a Uniden PC22 single-sideband CB radio.


NOT TOO CONVENIENT TO PROGRAM, BUT OUT OF THE WAY


SHOULD HAVE CLEANED THE CRUMBS OUT OF THE CUP HOLDERS


WE INSTALLED THE ANTENNA IN THE ROOF...YES A HOLE!!!
IT SCRAPES THE GARAGE DOOR, BUT WHILE THE ESCAPE
SERVES AS A GROCERY WAGON THE ANTENNA WILL BE
REMOVED AND REPLACED WITH A PLASTIC CAP.

I ALSO HAVE A TALLER ANTENNA FOR REMOTE AREAS

[Photog]

Nice install, Jerry.
It may be more difficult to program; but it looks convenient to read, and use while driving.

Once the programming is done, how often or why, would you need to do more programming?

[Jerry]

Once the programming is done, how often or why, would you need to do more programming?

Not very often, but it may be necessary to program a new repeater frequency or correct something already programmed.

I had an opportunity to test the radio last Saturday when we did the Ice Age Flood Tour. Mick and Alan had their 2-meter rigs and after the tour the three of us went in all different directions. We used the CB until we lost our signals then switched to the ham radios. They worked great for awhile, until distance and topography prevented contact. Mine was the least powerful at 50 watts and I also had a shorter antenna.

[SafariAWD]

Wow - you guys are quite serious about your communication devices .... your other half aka wife must be equally happy and benefited ...

The only reason why I might upgrade is for the 2-channel monitor or chatter noise monitor. I am using an older but small Realistic 40-channel CB where whatever channel I am on that is it - manual ;p

BTW I think I will order the Wilson antenna and give it a try. Photog's suggestion to slip around the door frame may work - worst cause is I will pinch the cable or it will always get wet as it will run on top of the weather seal.