Hello everyone, this is KF8EYE.
I am on the lookout for a cheap, but good base/mobile station setup for technician level privileges. I’d just like a simple VHF/UHF setup. Everything is so expensive now days…. I have looked on Amazon, there are several great deals on mobile stations that I could use as a base station. Most of them are around 50W for high power.
If you all have any recommendations, I’d appreciate them!
73s,
KF8EYE 
I suggest looking in specialty stores online like DX Engineering and Ham Radio Outlet, since on Amazon there is a higher likelihood of getting a piece of trash.
On a similar note, a person in my radio club just offered me a VHF base station. Join a club, get lots of info there, look at hamfests, you’ll find something eventually.
QRZ.com can have some great deals if you scroll down to the stuff for sale. Just keep in mind that the sellers like to sell the product to another person in the middle of the buying process, which is stupid.
Yeah, most of the radio stuff on Amazon is junk. Only a few aren’t. Thank you for sharing your knowledge! I’ll keep a lookout on those websites for sure!
You may want to consider the radio you want based on the digital modes you are interested in. For DSTAR it would be Icom or the new Kenwood coming out at the end of the year. For Fusion go with Yaesu. For DMR maybe Radioddity or Bridgecom will have something for you.
That is a great point! I never thought of that. Thank you, Jim!
The cheapest one I found on DX Engineering:
Run a Icom 2300. Look on eBay but you’re not buy anything from China. Japan is okay or somewhere else. I’ve been real happy with mine in the past year. I have one in my van and one setup as a base station.
Definitely look around at used rigs if you can. I got a Kenwood TM-731A which is a 50W dual-bander and all I had to so was replace the coin cell battery in it. I paired it with an Ed Fong DBJ-1 and it works great! Depending on your budget (mine was pretty tight) I also have an AnyTone AT-778UVII in my car. It’s less powerful at 25W, but was $120 brand new, and the vast majority of the time 15W gets the job done, even in the hilly SW PA terrain. It works great and didnt break the bank, and considering phone operation is really what I enjoy most, it was a win win!
Thank you all for the great feedback! Someone I know is going to let me use their Yaesu FT-1500M 2M radio until I can get my own VHF/UHF radio for a base station.
My only issue now is, trying to figure out what to do about an antenna grounding system. I can’t bond the ground rod to my main house ground. Perhaps I could run a piece of grounding wire from my antenna grounding rod the the other side of my house’s main ground. Would that work? I’m not an electrician by all means, but that’s all I know of doing.
I don’t ground my HF station at all because I keep it up for only a few hours at a time and then take it down. I think the main reason for grounding is because of lightning (someone please tell me if this is incorrect), so I just don’t keep my antenna up during storms. One of the people in my radio club told me that the ground thing on the plug would be enough for this kind of thing, so, uh, yeah?
We did a video for the Ham Radio Prep side about shopping for used gear. https://youtu.be/O2COCX4GUu0. You might want to give it a look.
I sure will! Thanks!
73,
KF8EYE