[222mhz] 220 Mobile Advice

[QSY220@aol.com]

Group -

To me, the rig depends on several factors.

For instance, in many of today's vehicles, there just isn't much room for 
mounting a ham rig. In my wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee for example, I mounted an 
Alinco HT on the console (where the small recessed tray is located just in front 
of and to the left of the gear shift.) It runs 4 whole watts to a roof 
mounted quarter wave and works great for our purposes. If more power is required, a 
small amplifier will handle that.

On the other hand, I use an Icom IC-37A in my vehicle and an Icom IC-38A for 
fixed operation. I prefer the IC-38A over the IC-37A even though the IC-37A is 
smaller. The tone DECODER (UT-29) board for the IC-38A is rather difficult to 
find (provided you can find the IC-38A!) but encode is included from the 
factory.

I'm sure the prices on the Icoms have declined from the $300 or so they were 
bringing before the Alinco and ADI rigs hit the market. But, they probably 
don't have all the bells and whistles that those rigs do. 

I also have a Kenwood TM-321A and it runs a distant second to the Icom rigs. 
I once owned a TM-331A but sold it shortly after it arrived as part of a 
package deal. I have seen some new Kenwood 331 rigs for $500 at AES. But, that 
seems to be a little bit much to me considering they are more than 10 years old.

Regards,

Bill