GoFastBroncos.com

I have an ICOM F121 and a Kenwood GM707 multi band in my Bronco.
Two totally dissimilar gadgets. The ICOM is a klutz to program and very unfriendly to use. Won't show the freqs just the name. No squelch, etc. On the other hand the Kenwood is sweet, easy to program and enough controls to allow all the functions that are commonly needed. That is the way with most HAM radios the HAM guys demand ease of use and ease of programing and lots of features. Its easy to do a search on the Internet to get reviews on HAM radios Thus easy to make a choice.
All that being said the ICOM has far reaching range and works as advertized especially if you only use a couple of freqs. Just fine for the racer Horrible for the pit guys, a chaser, or spectator.
Bottom line is people pushing the 121 are doing a dis service. There has to be a better commercial band radio that is as easy to use as my Kenwood. Oh well I don't care. Its not rocket science.
PW
Another rant by Paul - sorry

PaulW wrote:I have an ICOM F121 and a Kenwood GM707 multi band in my Bronco.
Two totally dissimilar gadgets. The ICOM is a klutz to program and very unfriendly to use. Won't show the freqs just the name. No squelch, etc. On the other hand the Kenwood is sweet, easy to program and enough controls to allow all the functions that are commonly needed. That is the way with most HAM radios the HAM guys demand ease of use and ease of programing and lots of features. Its easy to do a search on the Internet to get reviews on HAM radios Thus easy to make a choice.
All that being said the ICOM has far reaching range and works as advertized especially if you only use a couple of freqs. Just fine for the racer Horrible for the pit guys, a chaser, or spectator.
Bottom line is people pushing the 121 are doing a dis service. There has to be a better commercial band radio that is as easy to use as my Kenwood. Oh well I don't care. Its not rocket science.
PW
Another rant by Paul - sorry

Kenwood TM-271, Cheap, easy to use, and works great!

ok since i am going to playing a role in communications for this race we are doing up here, i was talking to a local radio outfit(not to intune with what we do with ours haha) anyway he has this http://www.rigpix.com/alinco/dr605t.htm
for sale, any of you know radios? i can get it for cheap. fully programable,dual band 50 watts......

You need to ask if it can be modified to work in the 150 -158 mhz range.

good point......i'll find out.

gunit wrote:You need to ask if it can be modified to work in the 150 -158 mhz range.

===
Google "model # frequency modifications" that should get you a HAM site with detailed mod instuctions. Done that for several radios with success.
PW

Let's see what I have these days VX-6000 110watt radio, VX-2200 50watt radio with ether the RRP600 4 place, or the RRP350 2 place and depending if im racing or not i have my full custom ear buds or the H42 Ultimate behind the head headset. But it's all just old stuff lol j/k

RuggedRadios wrote:Let's see what I have these days VX-6000 110watt radio, VX-2200 50watt radio with ether the RRP600 4 place, or the RRP350 2 place and depending if im racing or not i have my full custom ear buds or the H42 Ultimate behind the head headset. But it's all just old stuff lol j/k

Show off...

I have two radios... the icom 2100H and then a Motorola Maratrac. The Maratrac is hard mounted on the truck and the primary radio. It's a commercial/emergency service radio. Used by police/sheriff depts, fire depts, public services, etc. The radios have been around for many years and many departments are getting rid of them and upgrading to newer units. They are absolutely bullet proof. They are 99 channel, 110Watt channel selectable, VHF 136-174MHz. The radio is crystal clear in transmit and receive. You can get them on ebay for a song. I got mine for about $75 complete (they were about $1,800 new).

There are some drawbacks to this radio. First, you have to program it with a computer and you can only read the channel numbers, not the frequency. To mitigate this, I just carry a small frequency sheet and have all the frequencies I need. I really only end up using a half a dozen freqs anyway so this hasn't been a limiting factor.

I good friend of mine has figured out how to program the radios, so that isn't an issue either... When we talked with the owner of Racer-X, he had us purchase and program one for his truck! They are just awesome units.

BajaF250 wrote:I have two radios... the icom 2100H and then a Motorola Maratrac. The Maratrac is hard mounted on the truck and the primary radio. It's a commercial/emergency service radio. Used by police/sheriff depts, fire depts, public services, etc. The radios have been around for many years and many departments are getting rid of them and upgrading to newer units. They are absolutely bullet proof. They are 99 channel, 110Watt channel selectable, VHF 136-174MHz. The radio is crystal clear in transmit and receive. You can get them on ebay for a song. I got mine for about $75 complete (they were about $1,800 new).

There are some drawbacks to this radio. First, you have to program it with a computer and you can only read the channel numbers, not the frequency. To mitigate this, I just carry a small frequency sheet and have all the frequencies I need. I really only end up using a half a dozen freqs anyway so this hasn't been a limiting factor.

I good friend of mine has figured out how to program the radios, so that isn't an issue either... When we talked with the owner of Racer-X, he had us purchase and program one for his truck! They are just awesome units.

hey Tom,
Those Motorola Maratracs..... i just popped on ebay and saw them. They look super affordable, how do you control the channel? Is it a base unti for power, then external mic, and external display for the frequency? I ask because I currently have a Kenwood tm-271, but I am looking to add a second radio.

tcm glx wrote:hey Tom,
Those Motorola Maratracs..... i just popped on ebay and saw them. They look super affordable, how do you control the channel? Is it a base unti for power, then external mic, and external display for the frequency? I ask because I currently have a Kenwood tm-271, but I am looking to add a second radio.

Yeah, the Maratrac has two major components, the transmitter/reciever and the control head. There are three secondary components, the umbilical connector cable, the mic and the speaker. In order to program them, you need an antiquated computer, a 286 or 386, motorola dos driven software and a programming cable. A good friend has the computer, cable and software and we program them here. They can't be programmed on the fly. But again, I've not really needed to.

The control head changes the channels, volume scan etc. It doesn't have an external squelch, it's controlled by the internal computer... works well.

I mounted the t/r on the rear of the cab, behind the passengers seat and the control head is mounted under the dash on the driver's side. I mounted the speaker and the mic on the center of the dash for easy reach and audio. The darn thing has like a 35Watt power source for the speaker and it's LOUD! So, trackside, I just turn it up and I can hear it pretty much anywhere in camp.

At My old job, we had a cargo container full of used Maratracs and Maxtracs............. The scrap guy wouldn't take them..........

BDKW1 wrote:At My old job, we had a cargo container full of used Maratracs and Maxtracs............. The scrap guy wouldn't take them..........

Give 'em to me! These are great radios!

I have a Motorola Radius GM300 radio - ex-FD radio from Warpy. Anyone know anything about them - I think they have similar programming requirements like the other Motorolas mentioned in the thread.

Todd Z.

toddz69 wrote:I have a Motorola Radius GM300 radio - ex-FD radio from Warpy. Anyone know anything about them - I think they have similar programming requirements like the other Motorolas mentioned in the thread.

Todd Z.

Hey Todd,
I don't know a whole lot about the Radius. But I understand that they are difficult to program and the RSS (programming cable) is very hard to come by. If I'm not mistaken, they are a follow on, or model deviation of the MaxTrac. The later models do vary quite a bit from the earlier models and from the MaxTracs. That's about all I know, I don't know anyone who runs them.

BajaF250 wrote:Hey Todd,
I don't know a whole lot about the Radius. But I understand that they are difficult to program and the RSS (programming cable) is very hard to come by. If I'm not mistaken, they are a follow on, or model deviation of the MaxTrac. The later models do vary quite a bit from the earlier models and from the MaxTracs. That's about all I know, I don't know anyone who runs them.

They were an newer version of the Maxtracs. I think the used/scrap radio guy took all the ones we had. Anybody interested in going 450MHZ? We had a boatload on 860 Kenwoods in there also....... I think there are only about 3 teams running 450, no sharing channels or interference from other teams.......

BDKW1 wrote:

BajaF250 wrote:Hey Todd,
I don't know a whole lot about the Radius. But I understand that they are difficult to program and the RSS (programming cable) is very hard to come by. If I'm not mistaken, they are a follow on, or model deviation of the MaxTrac. The later models do vary quite a bit from the earlier models and from the MaxTracs. That's about all I know, I don't know anyone who runs them.

They were an newer version of the Maxtracs. I think the used/scrap radio guy took all the ones we had. Anybody interested in going 450MHZ? We had a boatload on 860 Kenwoods in there also....... I think there are only about 3 teams running 450, no sharing channels or interference from other teams.......

====
Search for XX-860 mods and find out how to make the radio operate outside the freq bands it came with. Usually the mods are pretty simple. Such as removal of a jumper. Trouble is you may end up with a radio that [ossibly could transmit harmonics on other freqs that are not intended. Worth a try if you get a radio for a low price.
I have a dual band Kenwood with mods and it works fine with no issues about messing with other freqs. Works now on 4 bands now instead of the stock 2.
Paul

Would a 50W be fine for race and chase radios or is 110 the way to go? I only want to buy it one time, if you know what I mean.

50w would work very well for race/chase. IMHO 110w would be ideal for base.and too much for race.especially if you have a chase crew.

bajascott wrote:50w would work very well for race/chase. IMHO 110w would be ideal for base.and too much for race.especially if you have a chase crew.

When it comes to race radios...no such thing as too much power.