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Not enough can be said about the importance of an amateur radio while chasing storms. They allow you to communicate with fellow amateur radio operators (hams), communicate with the National Weather Service & Skywarn, and APRS tracking. There is much more on APRS in the software section from the Chaser Gear section.
There are several amateur radio manufacturers. Some of the big players in the
industry are ICOM, Kenwood, and Yaesu. The radios today offer so many options, I will barely scratch the surface here, but I believe every chaser should have at least a 2 meter
amateur radio in their vehicle.
Some radios have a dual band feature which you can use to monitor 2 bands at one time, the most popular being 2 meter & 70 centimeter. Also important, if you are not good at memorizing frequencies, is a radio with an alpha-numeric display. You may also want to consider a radio with PC programming abilities. This will allow you to type the frequencies and names into your home pc (or field laptop) and download the data to your radio. If you have ever manually programmed a radio with 50
frequencies and named them all, you know the benefit of having this option!!
Kenwood makes a line of radios that are APRS compatible and have a TNC built in. A TNC can convert data into a radio signal and broadcast it. It can also
receive a broadcast and convert it into data. I like the Kenwood radios for ease of setup. They also have a GPS port on them for an easy connection to your GPS. There is more information on APRS in the software section of the chaser gear page, but for those of you who want a basic APRS system, this is the way to go...especially if you want to avoid toting a laptop around with you!
You must be licensed in order to operate an amateur radio. Your local radio shop will be more than happy to help you to
acquire your license.
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