Kenwood Handhelds
Kenwood TH-D75A
Kenwood TH-D74A
Kenwood TH-D72A
The capabilities of this handheld CAN NOT be overstated! While it has a very unassuming look, what you see in front of you is arguably the best APRS enabled handheld, as well as the handheld of choice for satellite chasers.
The TH-D72A supports the full gamut of APRS functionality + it can act as a standalone digipeater (digipeating capability was added back in the D75 - see above).
For anyone that's worked ham sats, you know how important it is to hear whether or not you are making it into the repeater on the satellite in question. There's really only two ways to accomplish this:
- Use two radios - one for transmit and one for receive
- Use THIS radio - as it is a TRUE Full Duplex radio in that it can transmit/receive simultaneously.
Unfortunately, it might be a long time before Kenwood makes a proper full duplex handheld radio. It's possible that it may never happen.
All we can do is cross our fingers and hope the powers at Kenwood understand the requirements of satellite chasers.
...but I digress! Off soapbox! :-)