Good news here is that it doesn’t take much of a radio to do packet. With a decent gain antenna, 5 watts should take care of it. Actually MFJ makes a dedicated packet radio based on its low overhead requirements. I would not recommend you go out and buy the MFJ but if you have one, then give it a try.
The big question is to dedicate a radio to you packet station or not. My answer would depend on available radios. I find myself with an extra or two so for me, its nice to dedicate a unit to the packet station. This however is not required.
Just so you know, you can do packet on UHF and HF. If just getting started however stick to VHF. As you become more experienced, you will outgrow these pages and do what appeals to you.
So thats it on the radio. You don’t need tone. You don’t need a working display (if you can get it set to 145.090. You don’t need an offset. You may however need the manual. Many of the radios have some special setting to work packet. Keep the manual handy if setting up a new station.
