[AA6BD]

AA6BD

August 13, 2020 at 9:16 PM #12194

KN6DJS here (Technician License)

I am looking at getting a mobile radio for my truck. The radio I’m looking at is:

Kenwood Original TM-V71A 144/440 MHz Dual-Band Amateur Mobile Transceiver, 50 Watts, 1000 Memory, EchoLink Sysop-Mode Operation, True Dual Receive. I thinking that it will give growth and is still usable now.

Is this a good entry level radio or too much. And if it is too much what would be your recommendation?

Can you also recommend an antenna.

Thanks
Gene Bastian
KN6DJS

[AA6BD]

AA6BD

October 2, 2020 at 12:27 PM #12223

Gene,
I currently use that Kenwood radio for most of my 2 meter contacts, mostly the local nets, as well as just starting to use it for packet radio communications. I have found it to be a great radio. Relatively simple to program with out using a program. One oddity is the need to assign a hot key to use the mic keypad to enter a frequency. I have used mobile radios from all 3 Big name makers and have liked them all. I especially like the readability of the Kenwood screen.
I would suggest getting a external speaker to plug in the back of the radio, especially if you are planning to mount the radio body under/behind the seat. I am currently using a small Uniden speaker that does well in directing the volume more directly.
Hope the late reply is helpful.
Scott
KJ6QIQ

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