Sunday 17 April 2022

New Radio...

The Easter Bunny delivered a new radio to my QTH this week, a new FT5Dr, 144/430 C4FM handheld.  

Originally I had the FT2Dr handheld, but recently it was traded for another mobile rig.  That was a mistake, for some reason I forgot that I like to take a HT along with me when I'm off to do a POTA activation.  We have a large contingent of POTA activators here in Kingston, and it's a good way to keep in touch with them on the local C4FM repeater, and keep track of where they all are.  That way two or three operators don't show up independently to the same park to attempt an activation.

This is a great HT.  The RX and TX audio is probably the best I have heard from a small radio before, and so far I have had many compliments on the audio quality.  I have changed out the stock antenna for a Diamond SRH77CA dual band antenna, but to be very honest I don't hear much of a difference between it and the stock antenna.

Is there a downside?  Yes, it takes a full nine hours to charge the battery.  I did purchase extra the AA battery pack for the radio.  I figured I could use that to finish a QSO, or continue to monitor while the main battery charges.

I haven't really started exploring the capabilities of this radio yet, but I very much like what I have seen so far.  Would I recommend it?  Yes, with no reservations.

Stay safe out there !!

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