New dual band mobile with airband RX.

[m0lsx]

I have just had a message from Moonraker to say they will soon be stocking a new dual band (2mtr & 70cm) transceiver that also has an airband RX fitted.
Looking at it, I did wonder why they were calling a wideband RX airband, but this only covers 118-136 MHz, with the 2 & 70 bands being capable of covering 136-174 MHz & 400-490 MHz by the looks of it. Then I looked at the frequency steps which are 2.5 / 5 / 6.25 / 8.33 / 10 / 12.5 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 50 KHz so a proper airband RX with 8.33 khz.

Moonraker INTEK HR-2040 link

[SilverShadow]

Oh yes that is a nice looking radio...



TX on 2 and 70 plus VHF airband is nice, but for £200 they are competing with Yaesu who's popular FT-7900 series does the same thing for about the same price. To be honest though I'm hoping this BFDX company make the new digital/analogue radios widely available soon, I'm covered by a UKG licence and would like to try digital for our own coms, TRBO and Nexedge are too expensive, or rather Motorola and Kenwood are, heck even a digital PMR446 is not cheap, but these new Chinese models have the AMBE+2 vocoder DMR standard so it would be nice to have a play with these and have digital and analogue all in one.

[DX Jim]

I have been looking at this one



and these are its impressive specs



So here you have a multi band mobile radio from hf 28mhz and possibly cb/27 all the way up to 480mhz uhf at a good price of not much more than £200 http://www.446shop.com/views.asp?hw_id=203

[m0lsx]

Presumably if it covers the four bands it does, then it has a repeater shift. I love 29 FM, but I have a cheap converted CB that does the job on 29 FM repeaters & I only work SSB on 6 & 2, so like a lot of people these radios are of little use to me. It a good radio ruined by lack of thought. What we need is a 10, 6, 4 & 2 meter FM / SSB radio.

[Allan]

I have 2 Yaesu FT8900s ,,One in my house, And a modified one in my car....I modified with help from a friend the car one a couple of years ago,Removed a diode and it is now capable of transmitting across its receive freq which is most of the VHF/UHF.Fantastic bit of kit.As you prob know 29/50/145/433/ Megs,Plus wide receive.

[rob2278]

Has anyone bought one of the Intek HR-2040 radios??

[m0lsx]

I saw a review of one on some where like eham & it was not especially good..Personally I do not use FM on 6m, 2m or 70cm, so it is not my type of radio..

[rob2278]

Finally found an online review of the radio, quote from the findings -

These are my summary thoughts on this radio after using it extensively since I acquired it.

It's a good basic radio with a lot of nice features. The RX audio is LOUD but it does have some harshness issues that will annoy certain individuals. There is a bit of a high pitched hiss and when receiving both VFOs simultaneously, a high pitched whine is present. After using the radio for a while, I've gotten used to the harshness and it really doesn't bother me.

The rig has terrific TX audio and just about every feature you can want in a VHF/UHF rig. The built-in fan and heat sink keep it nice and cool. The included separation and programming cables provide good value for the price point, although the rig should probably cost a little less. The USB port is useless for anything but charging a phone or similar electronics. The mic is actually quite nice and the programmable buttons on it are very useful. The software is typical Chinese programming software - bare bones and void of basic features like edit, copy, paste, and insert. It lacks input for external interfaces like TNCs or computer interfaces.

If you need a full featured VHF/UHF mobile radio for under $300 that includes programming software, this radio is for you. If you can spend another $100 for a radio, the Kenwood TM-V71A is a better all-around radio without the harsh RX artifacts while including support for external interfaces like a TNC. I will likely keep this radio as an inexpensive, use-anywhere radio but would probably recommend the TM-V71A as a better buy for most people.