[aprssig] Re: HT-220 HT's for APRS

[Chris Kantarjiev]

> There was the HT-220 "Universal" model that did have a PTT relay. It 
> somewhat thicker that the "Slimline". Took fatter batteries as well.

That's consistent nomenclature with the MT500, sort of.

There are three distinctions: Slimline, Omni, and Universal. The first
two have to do with case depth - Omni is deeper than Slimline, to
hold a bigger battery and optional components. Universal means that
there's an external connector for a speaker/mic or other accessories.
I can easily believe that only the Universals had t/r relays.

My conclusion about these radios is that they're worth building up for
a remote solar-powered digi, because they have very low current demand.
But for a tracker, it's overall cheaper to buy a HTX-202 or similar
synthesized HT.

That's the dollars&cents (dollars&sense?) conclusion. For fun value, I
enjoyed learning how to tweakalize the MT500 while retuning... 

73 de chris K6DBG