Ham Radio Forum

viper · Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 1 Location: Washington state

I've been thinking about getting into ham radio recently, and the two types of radios I've thought about are either a hand held 2 meter or a mobile 2 meter transceiver. Anyway I had a couple of questions first: What is the range of a 2 meter handheld, is it enough to talk to astronauts on the ISS? (one of the main thing's I'd like to do.) Also, what is the power source for a mobile radio? Do they plug into the cigarette lighter? Is there a way to use them in ones house?

~ Thanks in advance guys Wink

avdrummerboy · Joined: 19 Dec 2007 Posts: 19 Location: Apple Valley

A 2 M HT (hand held) is good for line of sight as is all VHF/UHF. The range you'll get depends on the power output of the HT as well as how good the antenna on it is. Most handhelds are 5 Watts or less, some of Icoms I believe go up to about 6-7W but I don't even know if they are still in production. Anyway, power is only half the ordeal, the better the antenna the more range, period. The rubber duck antennas that come standard on all HTs are terrible. Get a good antenna. Also get into using repeaters with your HT. In terms of talking to ISS It might be possible with a decent beam antenna. I have never done it so I don't know.

As for a mobile, the power source is the car battery. NEVER plug into the cigarette lighter, once you start pulling too much current you start melting things and this is a potential fire hazard. You need to hard wire directly to the car battery with proper fuses. People use mobiles in the home all the time; You can even eventually set it up so that you can get done with it in the car and pull it out and bring it inside and use it.

Hope this is at least some help; good luck
_________________
pk
KD7WNJ
ham radio rules Smile