On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:21:54 +0000 (UTC), Meat Plow
wrote:

I've also had grounding problems with
this radio. Makes the audio howl when you turn it up past 50% on 70
centimeters.

That's not grounding. It's microphonics. The 440 PLL is getting
mechanically modulated by the audio from the loudspeaker. Get the
phase right and you have a howling oscillation. I use bees wax, hot
melt glue, or if desperate, RTV, to reduce the mechanical sensitivity
of the VCO. You might also try a rubber foam pad between the PCB and
the front panel to acoustically decouple the PCB.

Other than this, the radio has worked well, the batter has held up
remarkably and the audio is robust. I also have a dual band FT-60. Rock
solid radio, very loud audio with little distortion. Bought it back in
2006 from AES. They had a special on the radio and drop charger that I
couldn't resist.

The local animal rescue volunteer group all got licenses and
standardized on the FT-60. It's a better radio than the VX-5 but is
too much for many of the users to operate. It also has the irritating
WIRES function which must be disarmed before it can be used. They
would have been better off with channelized commercial radios but the
ham stuff was cheaper.

I bought a Diamond SRH320A antenna for it. I've worked
repeaters 50 miles away outdoors on 2 meters with that HT.

About 2 years ago, I gave a demo on HT antennas. It didn't take much
to demonstrate that bigger is better, no matter how weird looking. I
placed a field strength meter at a fixed distance from the radio, and
tried various antennas. The best on 440 MHz was an AMOS/Franklin
monstrosity that I conjured for the occasion. It was about 1.5 meters
overall, with the HT in the middle, which had to be held horizontally.
On 2m, it was a flex PCB antenna I had etched into a sheet of mylar,
representing something like a 3 element Yagi. The usual base and
center loaded dual band rubber ducky antennas were horrible by
comparison, but were greatly improved by the addition of a
counterpoise.
http://www.k6gph.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=1& id=10&Itemid=7
Incidentally, I brought an inflatable UHF loop yagi antenna that used
a 1 meter long rubber sausage shaped balloon for mechanical support
and insulation. I didn't have time to try it as I ran out of time.
(Hint: I use the stock rubber ducky as everything else is too big and
clumsy).

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558