This is a nice, rugged, and very economical 2 meter handheld transceiver I recently acquired for amateur radio emergency comms. One thing I discovered in the course of programming it, was that it's helpful (necessary?) to activate the auto repeater set-up mode with the sub-audible tones turned on. Most repeaters in my area here require the tones to access the repeaters. It has three transmit power levels: 0.5 watts, 2.5 watts, and 5.5 watts; and it only comes with a AA battery pack. With a good antenna up high, it's very effective even at a battery saving 0.5 watts output.

Icom V80 Sport handheld transceiver.

Hey Sotto! Thanks for bringing that extra cool value to our attention. Why don't you get your self a Cushcraft Ringo Ranger AR2 antenna up on the roof and see how it works out. I hear they're nearly bulletproof in salty, foggy SoCal air. That and the radio will only set you back about $150.

(Sorry, I talk to myself all the time. May as well do it here, too.) ;-)

BTW, the Ringo Ranger AR2 went together flawlessly once I drove all over town night before last finding the two stainless steel screws the dolts forgot to put in the parts bag. (I arrived at West Marine just in time to watch them lock the doors at closing time, 7 p.m.) At any rate, it's now mounted about 40 feet up on some scaffolding and working fly. When I first got on 2 meters 37 years ago it cost more money for less quality.

When I'm really board well...

Lee

This little radio is really loud. It's across my living room at about half volume and filling the room with sound. I've been using it a lot since Wednesday and it's still running on the original set of AA batteries.

"When I first got on 2 meters 37 years ago it cost more money for less quality."

You can say that again! There are some incredible buys in quality UHF and VHF transceivers these days, and it is amazing what $100 will buy. My only complaint is that engineers seem determined to cram in all kinds of useless bells and whistles that just make the radios more complex to operate. Simple is good!

Just a follow-up. The Icom V80 Sport is still percolating along well, but it does not have a 12 volt cig lighter input jack so you can run it off the car/truck battery. I looked around, and also picked up an inexpensive Yaesu FT270R that does have a 12 volt input on the radio, and I discovered I already had the correct 12 cig lighter cord. Suweet.