Trail Comms

3j7 said:

Is Jeremy Dickenson on here james? He would know where he got them... love mine as well, never had good luck with cbs

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I'm not sure. Im lost in a sea of screen names! :****:

clemsonjeep said:

James and Scooter...I'm gonna need a crash course on the handheld along with which channels I should load. It's been a long time since I operated a CB, and I've only had limited experience with these radios and some 800mhz with work.

I ordered the UV-5R which should be here tomorrow.

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It ain't too bad! Kinda like your first smart phone. Just start pushing buttons.

Nothing useful to ad to this topic, but glad it came up. Been curious about using these instead of a) walkie talkies or b) getting out to stop/talk/read the map/randomly guess which way to turn etc.

I've got a few of these hand helds. My buddy bought a pallet of retired police radios (hand held and mobile motorolas) and sold them to the group. The mobiles were 50w and the hand held is 5w. He needed an old laptop with a serial cable to program them, which I happened to have, so I traded the laptop for a hand held. They worked awesome and were completely clear talking across golden mountain.

Since then I've bought a pair of baofeng 8w hand helds. They don't seem quite as high quality as the Motorola, but they work great and are simple to program. They are cheap so no worries about having them out in the elements.

Re:

I looked at the 5 and 8 watt versions. I figure a pair of them in the rig will allow me to talk to at least one person in the group. That's a helluva lot better than the fiasco we had last week with no cell service and no fuel.

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I ordered 2 myself.

i run a Motorola vhf in my work truck (i have my vhf/uhf license for both land and water) and a 40w baufung in my person truck. always used handhelds in the wheelers since i went away from cb radios. they work great

side note. you "need" a license depending on watt's for vhf/ uhf but here in western canada at least i have never been asked for mine. on the water however they are strict. know what your doing and dont be accidentally tuning into the marine channels and talking on them wont go over well i promise you

Re:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00CW8YACW/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1508165545&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=baofeng+5+watt&dpPl=1&dpID=51ZVixUfgoL&ref=plSrch



Is it worth getting 5 of them? It's about the cheapest wheeling item I've purchased in years.

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I'm not a radio expert, but based on the limited channels and low watt (<5) rating I suspect these are more like the family radio stuff than a "real" UHF/VHF set-up and may not be a whole lot better than a CB. I have the Baofeng BF-F8 HP they show there and it seems to function well and have good range - but of course it costs 5X as much

I picked up an ICOM F5021 radio from a fellow cross country racer a few months back to put into this new rig but haven't installed it. He said that others use Ruged also but that he couldn't honestly tell a difference in the two. I guess my biggest problem is one I need to learn how to program it and two no one else that I ride with uses this type radio. They all still have the traditional CB radio. I couldn't make my self mount both in this rig with antenas flopping everywhere. So I guess I will mount the icom in there atleast just for the emergency channel and weather. If any of you know how to program these please shoot me a PM.

Thanks,

My group and I have been talking about getting some radios for a while now

I have read up on stuff but get so lost in the technical jargon of it all, I know virtually nothing about radios. I do know about the Rugged/Baofeng thing so if possible I will buy Baofeng to save a few bucks since I am not using it for racing.

few questions that maybe someone that knows more can answer...

--Does Baofeng make a comparable "base" radio with headset/antenna and all that? I would prefer to not have a handheld in my buggy...its just one more thing to keep up with and I would probably not hear it over the motor anyway.
--Can the handhelds also talk in "group" with these base radios?
--Is there a bluetooth option like Rugged has so that I can listen to music/talk to codriver/cell phone through the same headphones?

I know I am asking a lot out of a radio...and dont necessarily need it all, I also dont want to spend $1000 on a set up either...so I am willing to give up certain aspects to lower price.

from reading these posts it looks like the baefung/rugged radios are the direction to go. Can someone that knows more about how these units function find an open channel and designate it to be the "hardline" channel.

I bought the 8 watt, they work great on flat ground. 4,5 mile. At Harlan,,,not so far......

Re: Re: Trail Comms

poolman said:

I bought the 8 watt, they work great on flat ground. 4,5 mile. At Harlan,,,not so far......

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Are they good for a half mile at Harlan?

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Re: Re: Trail Comms

lowbudgetjunk said:

Are they good for a half mile at Harlan?

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Yes, I'd say so.

1 came and the charger didn't work, and it seemed like the mountain just killed it. I can't swear a half a mile but definitely 3-5 on flat ground



I wish I would have got the 25 watt model

Re: Re: Re: Trail Comms

poolman said:

Yes, I'd say so.

1 came and the charger didn't work, and it seemed like the mountain just killed it. I can't swear a half a mile but definitely 3-5 on flat ground



I wish I would have got the 25 watt model

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Is that the base station version?

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poolman said:

I bought the 8 watt, they work great on flat ground. 4,5 mile. At Harlan,,,not so far......

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Did you change the antenna? I got almost 2 miles on hilly back roads in Knoxville. I don't expect that in the mountains though. Got a new antenna but haven't tried it yet. What channel were you running? We have a 25w base coming to try out next week and from what I have seen and read that's the better option.

Re: Re: Re: Trail Comms

lowbudgetjunk said:

Is that the base station version?

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No, handheld



uote author=GNorton link=topic=57401.msg684748#msg684748






Did you change the antenna? I got almost 2 miles on hilly back roads in Knoxville. I don't expect that in the mountains though. Got a new antenna but haven't tried it yet. What channel were you running? We have a 25w base coming to try out next week and from what I have seen and read that's the better option.
[/quote]








Post up if the new antenna helped out please

slravenel said:

My group and I have been talking about getting some radios for a while now

I have read up on stuff but get so lost in the technical jargon of it all, I know virtually nothing about radios. I do know about the Rugged/Baofeng thing so if possible I will buy Baofeng to save a few bucks since I am not using it for racing.

few questions that maybe someone that knows more can answer...

--Does Baofeng make a comparable "base" radio with headset/antenna and all that? I would prefer to not have a handheld in my buggy...its just one more thing to keep up with and I would probably not hear it over the motor anyway.
--Can the handhelds also talk in "group" with these base radios?
--Is there a bluetooth option like Rugged has so that I can listen to music/talk to codriver/cell phone through the same headphones?

I know I am asking a lot out of a radio...and dont necessarily need it all, I also dont want to spend $1000 on a set up either...so I am willing to give up certain aspects to lower price.

Click to expand...

Baofeng does make several base units but I am unsure about the headset feature. I installed a base unit I found on a RZR forum that is IP67 waterproof and is 20watt UHF and 25watt VHF.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/TYT-TH-8600-Dual-Band-25W-Mini-Mobile-Radio-with-Free-Cable-Software-US-Seller-/292047646655?epid=603176390&hash=item43ff656fbf:g:LyMAAOSwOgdYvdpS

The handhelds can talk in groups with the base radios. All you have to do is make sure you are on the same frequency. The frequency lists that clemsonjeep and myself posted earlier in the thread can be programmed in to the radios to make it easier to determine which frequency or channel you want to be on.

As far as a Bluetooth option like the Rugged, I am unsure. I know that several of the Rugged radios are rebadged Baofeng radios so it is a possibility.



The handhelds are limited to 8watt by the FCC for health reasons. For some reason the FCC says that you shouldn't have more than the 8watts to limit the amount of radiation that close to your head.
Something that can help is a better antenna. From what I have learned, UHF/VHF radios are not effected by the antenna length as much as a CB style radio. However, the interference caused by a cage or cab will shorten the range. You can purchase an adapter and cable to mount an external antenna to a vehicle. The adapter allows you to connect the external antenna to a handheld radio. This helps with range. One of the guys I ride with used his 5watt handheld with an external antenna during the Hardline ride at Harlan and he was impressed with the range and ease of use. Not sure on the distance though.

I've had great luck with baofeng handhelds, tough, cheap and easy to program and use. i used a 8 watt hanging in a carry bag ziptied in my utv, you can get a magnetic 24" antenna to mount on your roof for better range, and they do make helmet kits for them. The pinouts on baofeng is the same as kenwood handhelds. I was able to rewire the push-to-talk button on the helmet kit and extend it to a momentary switch on my steering wheel.

These are what i used...

https://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-BF-F8HP-Two-Way-136-174MHz-400-520MHz/dp/B00MAULSOK/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1509114203&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=baofeng+bf-f8hp&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Authentic-Genuine-Nagoya-UT-72-Magnetic/dp/B016SIJX28/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1509113383&sr=8-19&keywords=BTECH
https://www.amazon.com/Motorcycle-Earpiece-Headset-Microphone-Kenwood/dp/B0090QE952/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509113506&sr=8-1&keywords=baofeng+helmet+kit
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00865N1L6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


For a base radio this one is made by baofeng, great reputation and you can't beat it for the price, pair it up with a big mast antenna like a ringo-ranger

https://www.amazon.com/BTECH-MOBILE-UV-50X2-Mobile-Radio/dp/B06XK83VRV/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1509113075&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=btech+radio&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/CUSHCRAFT-ARX-2B-135-160MHz-MARINE-BUSINESS/dp/B00KCWYITU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1509113710&sr=1-1&keywords=ringo+ranger

got my GMRS license today WRAF336. It is only $70.00 for 10 years and allows you to broadcast up to 50 watts. It is way too cheap to risk IMHO. Also, allows anyone in your immediate family to communicate with you as well.