I believe we have some Isuzu owners, who is in this hobby also. I just got my US HAM radio license (KI6BLP). Before it was Ukrainian, but long time ago. I don't have any equipment yet, and need to install something on Trooper. Any suggestions are welcome.

73.

I like the Yaesu FT8500 for simple 2 band operation (144 MHZ/2 meter & 440MHz/70 cm) I use it with the Mr PotatoHead mike. That's what makes it great.

It puts all the controls on the microphone--very sweet because every control point is unique (you can operate by feel) or you can lift it up to your face to look at it while you drive your [color:"blue"]Isuzu BlueMigo[/color]. Every other radio I had I needed to work through menus to get where I wanted--try driving and lifting the whole radio display to your face, then hitting buttons.

But from reviews, I see the following:
1. If you buy used, don't hate it if you get a cheap deal and the radio doesn't work right.
2. You either love or hate the microphone. Actually, I saw that in pretty much every review (QST magazine, on-line ham spots, etc.) I love it.
Review: http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/415

It's older, but older means used which means used/less expensive. I've owned two of them. (First one drowned)

While I like Yaesu for rugged, if you want to go HF[color:"red"]*[/color] (as well, the Icom 706 series gets great reviews.
[color:"red"]*[/color] HF = This was consider "high frequency" in the 'old days' which means in the KHz band like AM Radio, not MHz band and up. I work on Transmit/Receive stuff now that goes well over 50 GHz!

Kenwood also has really upped the ante with their radios, building both a TNC[color:"red"]*[/color] and APRS[color:"red"]*[/color] in. I own their TH-D7AG handheld
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/1332
(like it says; bigger battery and better antenna make a big difference) and use it to transmit my GPS coordinates; it disappoints me that all mobile (car) radios don't have this standard now. The car equivalent is the TM-D700A This saves you from buying a TNC to integrate into your radio.
[color:"red"]*[/color] TNC = Terminal Node Controller. Lets the ham radio work with digital data, similar to a computer modem or LAN connection.
[color:"red"]*[/color] APRS = Automatic Position (or Packet) Reporting System That page also has a slide show by the presenter

Why is GPS + Ham Radio cool? Because when you turn it on, your friends/family can keep track of you. Here's who's active around Orange County. Click on a station to get more details....including (in some cases) the speed. (Don't let the wife know about it) and you can use it to send messages from your ham, to the internet that they see when they pull your call sign up.
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/map-near.cgi?zip=92865

73 back to you (click for meaning--and I'm using the *modern* usage)

Wa7yne (yes, I'm that nerdy--that is my ham radio call sign)

Congratulations, but per the posting standards of this forum, I am going to have to lock this thread.

After some very good input from some members, I realize that I jumped too quickly on this one. I have re-opened the thread.

It would have been more helpful if the subject of the thread were phrased in a way that all of us could understand, not just the (few) hams in the crowd.

My above post has been suitably edited. And I've been pm'ed by other Isuzu hams, including a "nerd challenge."

Much of this will be like when the audiophiles discuss DVD/amplifier specs, or you guys discuss ring gearing; I don't understand half of what Dan Houlster says, but I look it up and ask when necessary. We're a varied Isuzu group.

Let me try a better example of why HAM + GPS = pretty cool. Let's say you're out 4x4ing. Of course, in your [color:"blue"]Isuzu BlueMigo[/color]. Your wife wants to know did you really go to Moab?

Now she can follow your tracks all around. Remember to turn it off before driving to the bars and just swear you were in camp all night. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/evil.gif" alt="" />

And when your weakened CV finally blows on the way home and your point doesn't move for a couple hours...she'll know, without you having to call. (Or when you drive 16 hours from Dallas to Phoenix, or 6 hours from Dallas to Arkansas, mom can just look you up on the internet to check on you.)

CB is limited to 4 watts, AM. Ham radio is limited to 1500 watts and most common rigs (144 MHz/440MHz) rigs are FM. True, you don't want this behind your head (and you'd need that 2nd or 3rd alternator), but 50 watts is common in a mobile rig. A ham station at MOAB and some ham equipped Isuzu vehicles would probably give total park coverage, especially if you have a mobile repeater (or cross-frequency repeater) set up at a high point....or floated up in a tethered balloon. It's your own comm system and you don't have to depend on the phone companies.

Plus, I've never found a cell phone that works in the bottom of the narrow Grand Canyon. When I leave my ham radio running up on top (with a solar panel providing additional charge to the [color:"blue"]Isuzu BlueMigo[/color]), and the repeater on, and carry my handheld down....works great for emergency communication. Especially when you build a directional antenna that points down towards you.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanaghan/40225802/

Licensing is a very easy test. Cell phones are killing ham radio as personal communications devices, but I love them. And, your kids learn a little about electronics if they study for the test, and you can build home projects to get their interset going.

Here is the list of stations operating near Orange County
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/map-near.cgi?zip=92865

Here's a message from a guy in Orange County.
Tells you when it was sent, altitude, speed, direction of travel (I forgot this earlier) and his simple message, "En Route" (you try putting a message in with only a dial to scroll through the alphabet and a button to select that letter).
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?KG6VNR-10
Click on his vehicle icon for additional detail.

Note: You can pre-set messages in your radio using a computer ahead of time. I like "En Route," "Broke Down" "Break/Food" and a few others; typical messages when I'm traveling in my [color:"blue"]Isuzu BlueMigo[/color] (hopefully not the broke down; that's a just-in-case). But they can be much longer.

For some OC guys who like the messaging (and probably have a keyboard) see this text message exchange. (and again; all ham communcation is free and not only nationwide, but world-wide if you get a good enough bounce or hit a satellite, or if you hit someone who set up a radio to internet back to radio relay across the ocean)

Here's what's going on around Moab on the APRS band.

Scroll down and this is a weather station
CW4541 __ . __ ** __ 38.02750 __ -109.12250 __ 38.4 __ 00:00:15:25
Click on the name for station details & raw data packet.
Click on the ** for the weather details
(On that web page, all names/**'s are clickable)

I sent in a data packet this morning from home:
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=WA7YNE-1

Please note the Isuzu content in the raw data packet up at the top of the link.

I mentioned the idea of tracking but didn't include an example. Here's one now:
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/track.cgi?call=N5AC-10
You can see where he's been for the last 10 days.

I know the maps are crude--FindU used to use Mapquest, but Mapquest took the ability away. The guys behind FindU went mapless for a while, then switched to the ham-community basic maps (but free). Now they're transitioning to Google maps.

KG6WEW at your service. And my wife Sharon is KG6WEX, she was sooo jazzed that we got consecutive callsigns. I have a Kenwood in the Amigo(model number and pics upon request) and just put the same model in our Jeep but won't go into details on the Jeep install. The Amigo I'm using a remote head kit and mounted it behind the access door on the top/center of the dash, and the radio is mounted between the body and inner pannel just behind the driver (just in front of the wheel well). So the only thing you can see is the antenna (if you know what you're looking at) and the mic.

Model & pics please.

Thank you Jim. I think this thread make sence for our forum, because some people really want to combine 4x4 and HAM. And we want to discuss how to instal HAM equipment on ISUZU. So, it still be a Isuzu related.