2m, 6m, or 10m Ham radios which is best, why

BUY A FT-100 at your own risk .....

 

I would vote for 2 meters as best from the choice of 10, 6 or 2. Simply due to the greater number of people to talk to, and the prevalence of repeaters on 2 meters. Assuming your goal is the maximum possible communication for the investment. 6 is pretty dead and boring most of the time, 10 meters is going to be mainly skip and I never cared all that much for 10-10, I prefer rag-chewing. Actually in my book this puts you on 80 meters if you like interesting conversations on many various subjects and the large number of old timers with interesting history to tell. If your goal is many boring signal reports then maybe 10 is for you. It helps to know if you are remote rural or in the confines of a densely populated area to answer a question like the thread title. Still, I vote for 2 given the three choices in the question. Plus you can have great fun finding all the burpers and kerchunkers if you live in a large city. This was so bad in a big city I once lived in during the 90's it actually drove me to packet, which I discovered was actually fun.

 

yep 2 meters .... for DX ...

 

WA4GCH yep 2 meters .... for DX ...

For DX Bruce? I assume you think I am too ignorant to see the sarcasm inherent in this? Above is the post which started this thread. Nowhere do I see Him mention DX. My answer was honest, genuine, correct. I suppose boring 10-10 is worth investing in 10 meters when you are faced with choosing one of three bands, wanting the best use for the investment? You really should learn to treat people with more respect here when they are honestly trying to give the best advice to the person asking a question. Especially when you are interjecting yourself and your attitude in between a person asking advice and another trying to give it, said conversation having nothing to do with you. He is a driver and in all the decent sized towns He will be in during boring down time 2 meters will give Him more people to talk with plain and simple. Besides there are links He could use which would greatly extend His range.

What this town needs is an enema.

 

Repeaters CAN be fun no one said anything other than that .... no one said 2 meters might not be a good choice for a trucker.
As for 10 or 6 meters I don't see in a truck unless you have the room for a good antenna either one working well.

On to 2 meter DX ...... I have 20 states confurmed ..... A local here has over 40 ......




While repeaters are well known and for many the best choce there are many who ENJOY wrking DX on 2 meters .... Can you work a WAS on you bet you can is it easy heck NO .....

The best radio is going to be 2 meters and you can buy one cheap like a FT-1900r under $140 40 watts and fully programable ....
I donot recomend 2/440 radios UNLESS you have a need to use one ....IF you going to sink money into a radio go get a FT-857d then you have ALL the bands in one radio .....

I work simplex on 2 and have for almost 50 years same with 6 meters ... I am not a big fan on 10 but do run it at times ... in a truck you will be limited by how much antenna you can run so 2 meters wins again .....

Get a FT-1900R run it on reduced power ( on high they will get HOT ) and your all set .....
Have fun on the repeaters but don't be shocked when you go on simplex and work 300-50 miles on tropo ..... yes it can be done ...

Look for me when your going through TAMPA on 146.520 OR 147.550 Im on most evenings ....

6 meters in Jan 1974 .....



Have fun with your new toy .....

 

I just found this thread and I'm glad I did! I've been a ham for 5 years now as I got licensed when my 10 year old son learned about ham radio in scouts. We both got our tech and then general in a couple months. He is(ki4ssf) and I was (kifsse) but got a vanity (wb4bbq).

I'm now in the process of a career change and will be getting my CDL later this summer. Not sure where it will take me but if I go OTR I will be moving my Icom markIIG into the rig and getting another base station for the hamshack.

Does anyone know if there are any scheduled Trucking Nets and if so when and where?

I would love to hook up with some trucking hams on the radio!!!

73 Todd WB4BBQ

 

While we are on the subject, is anyone familiar with the Icom 7000? Any gripes? Would you buy one again? One of my beefs with the IC 706 was the squelch that popped in and out with no "hysteresis", or allowance for weak stations to get in. If you wanted to hear weak stations you had to tighten up the squelch, which made me miss calls, or the weak stations popped in and out. If you loosened the squelch, then the thing popped in and out with periods of noise. IOW, the squelch is "hard" and does not allow for "either or". I like a bit of squelch at the end of a transmission that lets weak stations in, but closes the squelch after a couple seconds. I have not gotten to listen to a 7000 enough to tell if it has the same "hard" squelch of the 706. Any thoughts on the 7000?


GF

 

I have not heard of any problems with the 7000 but your right on the 706 squelch too bad they don't have a seting for it in the menu

 

Check 14.302.5 +/- MHz.This is not a formal or directed net but just a sort of meeting spot,I have not monitored this freq in quite sometime so I can't say how active it is now days.

 

Thanks! I'll check it out