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Inquiring minds wanna know... Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

The TH-8600 may have to be programmed to open up the bands. The manual says it only operates from 144-146 mhz in stock configuration.

I ran an HT & external antenna for 3-4 years when I first got my Ham ticket and never felt like I was underpowered. I later got a used 20W amp to use with it, but didn't seem like it added much, except in extreme backcountry areas. When I finally got a dedicated dual-band mobile that could...

I don't condemn Baofengs. I have a UV-5r myself and it's a lot of radio for the money. That said, it is pretty complex to program, which is why I don't often recommend them for beginners. OTOH, once programmed, they're pretty easy to use and are great for the trail, particularly when combined...

I forgot about half-waves, as I've never used one on a mobile.

Well said.

The antennas don't affect radio output. Aluminum can serve as a ground plane, fiberglass cannot. Grounding wire won't work. One way to achieve an effective ground plane on a nonconductive surface is to mount a suitably-sized metal plate beneath your body mounting point. It can also be done...

Yes. With no gain, your signal looks something like a sphere or donut around your antenna. Easier to hit a repeater or another mobile on a mountaintop above you. Once you begin introducing gain, imagine that donut getting squashed. Signal is being pushed toward the horizon, at the expense of...

Chorky, it sounds like the other posters have given you some good advice. To put it into even simpler terms though, think of 2m Ham, GMRS, MURS, and even CB, to mostly be line of sight (5-6 miles) when communicating mobile-to-mobile. If you have a repeater nearby, 2m can have a range of 20-50...

Check out the free Trimble Outdoor navigation app. Includes sat photos, contour maps, topo maps, and more. If you pay for the subscription version, it allows you to download the maps, etc for use in areas where you don't have data coverage (or don't want to pay the data surcharges). Sent from...

Add to the fact that the maps are already 2-3 years old by the time Garmin/Magellan get them incorporated into their product line. Sent from my Verizon phone using Tapatalk

Mobile rig, for sure. You can get a good, solid used 2m rig (Icom, etc) for around $100-125. About 20 years ago, 440 was used a lot in the SE U.S. Not so much now, although there are still a lot of 440 repeaters that are still being maintained. For this reason, i dont find my dual-band that...