[VHFcontesting] Icom & 222

[Dana]

Marshall and all
I don’t get it either, the big 3 all had 220 gear at one time 
Back in the day…
You can buy 3 band hand helds now, some even cover 50 - 600 Mhz! 
Boefeng and whole constellation of other companies in China are cranking them out cheap.
So yes they are FM… but the point is its hardware that covers 222.

Someone suggested that in Japan 222 is used by the police etc and the big 3 wanted to stay clear
….not really sure if that’s an issue
given that yes the major market for gear is Japan… the US/R2 market is a “subset”…
BUT
Even so, technically adding 222 should not be a biggie … software defined radios abound
so the coverage is  not an issue, filters are cheap, PA modules are from Mitsubishi and others…
You could simply design the product ONLY for Region 2… with the extra band…

I would think ARRL RAC and IARU could put some squeeze on these guys to 
make the gear, but I suppose the demand isn’t there…. I mean how many do you 
think they can sell?? … how many have they sold that cover 144 and 432? 
I’d like to see the stats by country….

Anyway, I’m fine with a transverter… but one box in the car would be UFB
The Q5 5 band transverter is slick…

73 Dana VE3DS