As our club repeater is on the 1.25m band, we highly recommend that all club members purchase a radio that can operate on that band. This repeater is our primary resource for emergency response and, while other repeaters in the area can and likely will be used, we will first attempt to use our own club repeater.
Club members have found several radios that work well on this band. The most popular handheld radio is the TYT TH-350, which is a tri-band radio available online for around $72. Several members of the club have these radios and they work very well. For mobile use, the Anytone AT-5888UV III tri-band radio is a popular choice... unfortunately, these radios are difficult to come by. Several club members recently participated in a group buy to purchase ten of these radios directly from the manufacturer for approximately $265 per unit. Future orders will need to be in lots of 20, so if you are interested in purchasing one or more of these radios please enter your interest on this form.
When evaluating radios for the 1.25m band, please make note of the power that the radio can output. For example, while the Yaesu VX-6R handheld can transmit on the 1.25m band, it can only do so at 1.5W. The TYT described above can transmit with a full 5W of power on all three bands. The Anytone AT-578 UV, a DMR radio that also works in analog mode, can only transmit with 5W on the 1.25m band while it can transmit with 50W on the 2m band.
Other radios are listed below. If you have or know of another radio that operates on the 1.25m band, please comment on this page and it will be added to the list.
Handheld Radios
- Kenwood TH-F6A (tri-band, 5W on 1.25m band, no longer being produced but available on the used market)
- Kenwood TH-D74 (tri-band, 5W on 1.25m band)
- Yaesu VX-6R (tri-band, 1.5W on 1.25m band)
- Yaesu VX-7R (quad-band, 300mW on 1.25m band, out of production but available used
- TYT TH-350 (tri-band, 5W on 1.25m band)
Mobile Radios
- Alinco DR-235 (single band, 25W on 1.25m band)
- Anytone AT-5888UV III (tri-band, 25W on 1.25m band)
- Anytone AT-578UV (tri-band, 5W on 1.25m band)