Nice job, Garrett. Very cool.

Dustin

I just asked on the TT4 mailing list if there were cheap radios other than the 2720h that work really well with the TT4. I'll let you know what I find out.

I'd also suggest shopping in the forums at QRZ.com.  There's a Kenwood TMD710a for $400 right now.

Craig

So I'm taking the test tomm. I have a line on a radio from a guy at work. It's a Yaesu ft1900. http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-010077

My question is...for me the absolute newbie to HAM and I'm just going to use this for trail comms. Can i get by with this?

If you're looking for a small, detachable faceplate unit, I'd give pretty good marks to the Icom IC207H/IC208H models.  they'll do both 2 M and 440 cm, FM only.  The ond drawback is that the mic cord has to connect to the radio body.  But the connector is a RJ-45, so you can get extension cables just about anywhere.

In my old Tacoma, I built a small adapter plate that mounted directly above the rearview mirror. The face unit attached there and the radio body could fit either under the front seat, or directly behind the front seat. 

Check out the reviews on any radio you interested in at www.eHam.net.  I've purchased a lot of used gear from that site without any problems. 

looks like that is a great radio for a rig. for trail runs 2m is all you really need and with 55w of output you should be doing fairly well. as you get more into the hobby you may want more but that is a good starting point esp if you get a good deal on it. the main reason i didnt get a ruggedised 2m was because i wanted to be able to run aprs while on the trail

So I got my "rig" all set up this morning. Everything works as expected and holy crap it sounds way better than my CB. I'll post my install pics later. For now I only plan on using this for Vehicle to Vehicle comms, but this morning I was messing around with the scan and found the local police radio station. Now my question is: I have the Thurston Co dispatch tac channel freq. along with a PL number. I'm assuming the PL number is the CTCSS tone number and if I plug that in I should be able to hear Thurston Co's dispatch all over the county right? 

Here's what I ended up with. The Yaesu FT-2900r and a Diamond NR72bnmo antenna.

Makes sense..Thanks.

 Would anyone have a recommendation for a simple, inexpensive (maybe used) two way amatuer communication device? 

I have used them back when I was racing but never had to shop for one. I would like to have something other than my cb for my trip in August and maybe be able to use it to communicate between trucks on a group trip.

Thanks in advance!