Subj : Todays New Gear Tip To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Sun Jul 16 2017 12:07 am Accessories & Special Features Along with the items included with your radio, other common accessories can be a great help in the convenient and effective use of your radio. The most important accessory for a mobile radio is the antenna; we covered that previously. For a handheld radio, antennas and batteries make the most difference. * Battery chargers: Recharging a battery with a wall wart supply can take hours for one of the larger packs. This is often unacceptably long and is a good argument for having a spare battery pack. Charging time can be reduced dramatically by using a quick charger or smart charger. Your radio's manufacturer will probably offer one as an accessory. A desk or "drop-in" charger holds the radio conveniently upright while charging, too. * Detachable front panels: Some radios can operate with their front panel detached from the body of the radio and mounted in a convenient location with the radio out of sight below a desk or seat. An accessory control cable is required to connect them. Some radios require the microphone to be connected to the radio and not the control panel, so check carefully before planning where to mount the radio! * Smart microphones: Handheld microphones or hand mikes for mobile and base radios are available with enough keys and buttons to act as miniature front panels of their own. There may be several variations of microphones available for your radio. * Headsets: Base station radios come with a hand mike, but third-party desk microphones and headphone-boom microphone combinations called boomsets may be more convenient and provide somewhat higher quality transmitted audio. Headphones can help you hear other stations more clearly, particularly in noisy environments such as a busy emergency-operations center or an outdoor event. (Driving with a headset or headphones on is illegal in many areas; check your local regulations.) * To tune your antenna, an SWR bridge or RF power meter is a "nice-to-have", measuring the amount of power flowing to and from the antenna. By watching the meter when you transmit, you can tell when an antenna is not tuned properly, whether the wrong antenna has been attached, or whether some part of the antenna system is broken. Be sure the bridge or meter is designed for the frequency you'll be using; VHF/UHF or HF. --- þ Synchronet þ The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org .