So it seems like there are a few on here that have a radio or interest in amateur radio. I just got a new antenna for my hand held (aka handi-talkie or HT) so I thought I'd share. I've owned the FT-60 for almost a year now and I'm really happy with it. If you're looking to get into the hobby this is a good radio for several reasons. I've gotten a few PM's here and other forums so I thought I'd put down my experience.

The FT-60r is a dual band radio, in this case it's a 2 meter band (UHF) and 70 cm band (VHF). I primarily use 2 meter but it's nice having the 70 cm there while traveling or using established systems in certain regions. The radio will receive from about 144 to 999 mhz with some frequencies in between blocked (cellular, military, etc). This makes the radio a scanner for those frequencies. Some police, some fire, commercial (tow trucks, buses, etc).

I got the FT-60 because it's relatively cheap, I think I paid $120 shipped. It's been around a while so there may be used ones out there worth snatching up. I also got the Yaesu because I have a Yaesu FT-2800M in the 4Runner. Both radios have enough similarities in programming and operation that I felt it was the way to go. Another reason for this radio is it's small size. It fits in a pocket, belt, pack, chest harness, etc, well and isn't big, heavy and bulky like other radios (even other Yaesus).

Here it is out of the box with the stock rubber duckie antenna.





After programming the radio I started playing with it. For the most part receive (RX) in the house didn't work all that well. Not a surprise considering our cell phones don't work well in the house either. Outside the stock antenna was OK but not great. To my benefit I have many repeaters near by some that reach from the Bay Area to the west side of the Sierra.

Since I got the radio to use on the road and radio support (bicycle events, races, Western States 100, CIM, etc) I needed something reliable and better reaching than the stock duckie. After some research I ended up with a Diamond SRH77CA dual band antenna.


It's a great antenna. It fits the SMA antenna port snug, the quality is very high and overall it's a durable antenna. One issue that comes up is it's length especially when wearing the radio in a chest harness. It's kind of hard to tell but the antenna is quite long for a small palm sized radio.



After running the SRH77CA for awhile I started looking again. I ended up getting another Diamond. This new one is a Diamond SRH519. It's much shorter and the diameter much smaller. As a result it's less likely to poke your eye out, easier to use in a vehicle but it is visibly not as robust.

Here are the 3 mentioned antenna side by side for reference.