Subj : Re: TX on Aviation band with 2M Radio
To   : alt.ham-radio.vhf-uhf
From : Carl / W6VDC
Date : Thu Oct 13 2005 19:26:39

From Newsgroup: alt.ham-radio.vhf-uhf

Chris,

Forget about killing two birds with one stone, kill the whole flock. 
I have a Vertex Standard VXA-700.  It is an outstanding radio.  It covers:

Airband.
Nav band/VORs
2m FM
WFM for broadcast
Weather channels.

I bought it for my aviation backup radio.  Air/Nav makes a good 
backup.  Then I thought, 2m gives me more options if I go down in a 
semi-remote area and the more options you have in an emergency, the 
better.  For example, here in San Diego the 2m repeater is good up to 
100 miles out to sea, well outside the range of cell phones.  The 
deserts also have poor cell coverage but great repeater coverage.

The radio works great on 2m.  I get full quieting on the repeater and 
good reports all of the time.  I have only used it airband to cover 
2-3 miles with okay reports.  My antenna is strictly 2m and I suspect 
that finding a dual band 2m/Air antenna would be a challenge.

Oh, and the VXA-700 is submersible to 3ft for 30 minutes...not that 
I'd submerse it on purpose.

Carl

.