As a continuation of my last post, let’s get these new hams on the air!

After reading my post about becoming a ham radio operator, you followed the steps and your call sign has shown up in the FCC database. Now, to exercise those new privileges you are going to need a radio. More specifically a transceiver.

When selecting your first radio, keep in mind that this is your first radio, not your last. You can always upgrade later so it does not have to be the newest, fanciest, meanest radio on the market (but if that’s what you want to get then go for it). Most people start off with either a VHF (2 meter), UHF (70 cm), or dual-band (2 meter + 70 cm) radio when entering the hobby. Find out what frequencies your local repeaters are on and/or the repeaters in areas where you plan to be using the radio and get one that will work with those systems you wish to talk on.

After you have decided what bands you want this radio to be able to use, the next decision would be whether you want a base, mobile, or handheld radio. While base station radios are nice, they generally have lots of bells, whistles, and features that increase their price and do not usually make them major candidates for a first radio. One viable “base station” option would be to get a mobile radio and use that at your base station. Many seasoned hams do this as a low cost alternative for monitoring the local repeater while working 2 meter single-sideband with their base station.

With mobile radios, whether you put them in the house or in the car (where they were intended for), some additional considerations need to be made. Mobile radios need to be connected to a power source and an antenna at all times when in use. The power is not really a problem when using a mobile radio at home because they are generally used with some sort of power supply that can be plugged in to any household outlet. In the car, the power issue becomes something to think about as you will need to get 12 volts of DC power to the radio whenever you want it to be on. Yes, the cigarrette lighter/accessory outlet can be used for this but puts you at risk for noise on the signal (caused by the alternator) and blowing fuses (how much power does the manual say the radio needs when transmitting and how big is the fuse for that circuit). Replacing the fuse with one that could handle the power draw might solve the fuse-blowing issue for a SHORT period of time, but puts you at major risk for an electrical fire in your vehicle so please DO NOT DO IT!

The other consideration for a mobile radio is the antenna. If you are indoors, you will get the best performance and least amount of interferance if you have the antenna outside (preferably up high) and many hams have towers at their homes and/or antennae on their roofs. However, I know from experience that a mag mount inside the house will work. On your vehicle, there are pretty much two choices for antennas for a mobile radio: use a mag mount or drill a hole. Depending on the mounting method you choose, the hole(s) from the antenna mounting may not even be visible to the casual observer after the antenna is removed.

Now that you probably don’t want a mobile radio for your first radio, there are some great things about them that cause a large amount of new hams to start with a mobile radio. Because they need to have a power source to work, most mobile radios are “installed” to a point where they are always there and always in the same spot (now where did I put my radio) so will not be lost or forgotten. Another benefit to them always being “plugged in” is that you never have to worry about your battery dying during a conversation. They can also put out a lot more power than a handheld (usually at least 50 watts compared to 5 watts with a handheld) and have a better antenna system that also helps to improve the performance.

Now some thoughts on handhelds. Getting a handheld radio (or HT - standing for handheld transceiver) for one’s first radio can be a good choice as well. With a handheld radio you are not limited to one place, you can be in your car, at home, in your other car, at work, at the park….anywhere and still be able to use it. It runs off batteries and has it’s own little “built-on” antenna and can go anywhere you can go. Also, powering the thing is easy….some even come with an adapter that plugs in to the accessory outlet in a vehicle to recharge the batteries and almost all of them come with a charger that can be plugged in at home or the office.

With less power than a mobile radio your performance (both range and quality) will likely be down compared to a mobile radio, however this can be improved by improving the antenna. With the correct adapter, nearly any antenna used for a mobile radio can also be used for a handheld.

Before buying your first radio, figure out what you are going to need it to be able to do and where/how you are going to want to use it. Then, when you think you know what you want, start shopping around and comparing different radios that are available to find one you feel comfortable with. Ask another ham if you can borrow or at least use for a few minutes the radio(s) that he/she has and see if they will fill your needs.

Remember, this is your first radio, not your last. You will likely upgrade to more and different radios in the future. Worry about the features, bells, and whistles then. My first radio was an Icom IC-2100H 2 meter mobile and I got an Icom IC-Q7A dual band handheld about a week later. Still have them both and rarely use either.

For everyone who didn’t need to read this post (because they have long since past the first radio benchmark) but did anyway, let me know what your first radio was. Just post your answer as a comment below.