[aprssig] what rig to get

[lawrence labranche]

Hello,
    I have the hardest time deciding on what rig to get. I keep wanting to go 
digital comm. One reason is the geek in me, the other is making things out on 
the radio. Being in the Army for ten years hasn't been that great on the 
hearing. I keep thinking of APRS. I'm a cheap person with expensive tastes. With 
being up in the mountains, the mW range will not cut it.

   I don't own a radio yet, but tax refund being good, I have permission to go 
forward. I currently use various APRS apps on the iPod touch. I have no sound 
output on that, and out of warranty. I have a 5/8 vhf ant I can move between my 
work vehicle, and the mag mount on my personal vehicle. At home I built a vhf 
j-pole. For radios, I have a commercial hand held 5W, that doesn't go below 146 
I borrowed from work. I like it, because the channels are named. I don't like it 
for any channels I want to change I have to bring it in to work to redo it, 
reverse sma ant connector(male with female pin), and power only through desktop 
style charger(takes 12vdc but not a great setup for mobile use). I'm also 
borrowing a vhf/uhf. The only thing I don't like about it is the lack of naming 
the channels, and the simplicity of just turning the knob for changing channels. 
I would like to do weather aprs at my home eventually. 


  I think it would be interesting with our local parade, and other functions.

   Right now I'm watching aprs.fi on my wii. Not many use it regularly. I have 
been enjoying hte archives of this group, to find out the wide range of freq 
bands it is employed on. I lived on Fort Huachuca from 2000 to 2004, but before 
I was a ham. I like the simplicity of a single radio doing voice, aprs, and gps 
together. However I don't like the high cost. I like the flexibility of a 
hand-held.

Lawrence LaBranche KI6ZQY