KG4TYK
06-29-2002, 07:12 PM
I've had an HTX-200 for several months now...It has some ups and downs worth considering if you are looking at one. #First they are cheap...I bought it on sale for $129 I believe...I see they are now on clearance for the same price perhaps they will drop some more at some point. #It does have 30 presets...enough for what O do certainly....it's VERY small and handy,,,hardly larger than a text pager. It has a decent battery life off 2 AA cells...scan feature an expanable transmit range ...shares PTT/earbud setup with motorola and several other 2 pin headset FRS radios (if you happen to already have them) #and at 2 watts it is a decent usable radio in most applications. #Now the downside is power...you need a 9V input to get 2 watts...the rest of the time is 200 milliwatts...that's kinda lame...though it is a decent "around town" HT as one local ham put it. #I would like to have seen it just a tad larger with an extra batt or two pushing at least half a watt...the features outway the power. #It has all the features you need and a minamum of "extras" once you get it programmed and set up it is a joy to use...there are few buttons so you have to remember a few combination keystrokes to access some features in the field....again there is no numeric keypad so making a phone patch requires an additional dialer unit and expense....so how do I feel overall?? #Well I'll end up keeping it...it's a handy grab and go unit even though a bit underpowerd...it certainly is handy. #It is a good around town unit...daily beater...toss and go...whatever you wish to call it. #It is NOT my ideal radio...but it can be called upon to do medium duty chores when introduced to a 9V power source of a good 1000 mah or so...hooked up to a simple roll up J-pole made from 300 ohm TV antenna wire and a 9V DC rechargable power pack in my bedroom it can do anything I need though not exactly streamlined at that point...the same setup minus the power pack would be handy to take out backpacking or camping/hunting ect. #Even so I would want a bit more power...it is best considered a handy in town model I think...if you have good repeaters in your area it will likely be a decent choice for a handy daily tag along unit....I guess for the money I can't truely complain...compared to the resale value I think I'd rather just keep it and realize it's limitations...OUT http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif
