"Guy Acheson" wrote in message
...
I have heard pilots expressing their enthusiasm for
2 meter shortwave radios. (ie. clear channels, repeaters
provide extended range, ability to make telephone calls)
I would like to hear comments on specific models so
Santa can make a certain little boy happy.

If you're in the U.S., spend the six bucks or so it costs to take the test
to get the Technician amateur radio license.
When I took it , it was 55 questions, from a known question pool. Radio
Shack has a book called "Now You're Talking" for twenty bucks, and it has
the question pool, or you can probably find them on the net.
Studying for the test will give you a good idea of what you can expect from
the radios, and if you talk to the volunteers that give the tests, you can
get lots of opinions on what the best brands are.
The Morse-code-free Technician license gives you access to 50 MHz and up,
which includes the two meter band, but not the lower frequencies that are
usually referred to as "shortwave".

Vaughn wrote:

Does that "little boy" have an amateur radio license? It is the
requirement for licensing (which requires passing a rather stiff written
test) that pretty well keeps two meter radios out of glider cockpits. I
have been a licensed amateur radio operator far longer than I have been a
glider pilot and I have never even considered taking a 2-meter radio
flying
with me. Why would I want to carry yet another radio?

Vaughn (WB4UHB)

Well, I found the test to cover such complex concepts as "Don't stick your
head in a microwave oven", and "Don't stick your fingers in the light
socket". I found a test site on a Wednesday, my wife and I studied the
question pool the rest of the week, and we both passed on Saturday morning.
Perhaps it's harder now. It's certainly not as expensive as ninety or a
hundred bucks to take the glider written.

As to why you'd carry one, it's not that unusual in the western U.S. to be
able to hit a repeater but not a cell phone site, at least on the ground. A
dual band (2m/70cm) HT with a collapsible gain antenna and the ARRL repeater
guide can be useful.

If you want to chit-chat, it leaves the crowded air-band frequencies a
little less congested.

Tim Ward
KD6UTW