scooter60
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2013
- Messages
- 414
Last weekend at Harlan, Kel and I talked for a short time about trail communication and alternatives to CB's. The conversation started when Kel saw our group getting our UHF radios synced on the same channel. This past weekend happened to be the first trip I got the chance to use my new UHF/VHF radios I purchased strictly for trail comms. In the past, I have always used a CB radio for trial communication with mixed results. I never took the time to have my radio and antenna properly tuned and I know that had a lot to do with my results. My experiences with CB's were never the greatest. Sometimes they worked great and other times they were horrible or completely useless depending on the location. Not to mention the big ass antennas flopping around driving me nuts. I have been interested in these new Rugged Radios for a while but could not bring myself to pay the price they are asking. I am a tight ass and will always look for cheaper alternatives. There is a thread on another site that I visit from time to time discussing this very thing. A lot of the research the folks over on CORE have already done. Waffle on here is on that site and he did a lot of research and posted his results on that site. I need to give him and CORE a lot of credit because most that I know about this subject came from there. I am by no means very knowledgeable about these radios or the FCC laws that govern them. I am also not going to get into the laws and specifics of what wattage can be used on what channels and what licenses are required for what frequencies. I recommend anyone that is looking in to these radios to research the FCC laws and regulations and then make your own choices as to which route you would like to go.
Here is a link to the thread over on the CORE site:
http://www.cincyoffroad.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11951
The first radio I purchased after a local club had a few members gave some great reviews after using it for their club runs. It is a basic UHF/VHF dual band handheld transceiver that runs at 1 or 5 watts. This can be programmed with 127 channels and can operated in either UHF or VHF. I programmed it with the basic 22 FRS channels using the keypad on the front of the radio. No special software or equipment is required. The 22 FRS channels are the same channels that the multi radio packs that you can purchase at all the big box stores. Those radios operate at .5 watt and don't have much range over line of site regardless of what the package says. Here is a link to that radio on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-UV-5R-Dual-Radio-Black/dp/B007H4VT7A/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1507810344&sr=1-4&keywords=baofeng
The Baofeng radio has worked flawlessly. I have used it on several occasions since its purchase and I am very impressed. On the high power setting I have talked to people at least 3 miles away. The audio is always very clear and there isn't all the crazy adjustments and tuning required like a CB. I will be purchasing another Baofeng HT in the near future but it will more than likely be a 8 watt unit for a little more range.
The second radio I purchased is a 12v unit the mounts in my rig similar to a CB. This unit is 20watts on UHF and 25 watts on VHF. This radio was brought to my attention by my cousin who found it on RZR forum on Facebook. There is a guy on a forum called RZR Crazy that sells a IP67 waterproof rated radio for $200 that he preprograms. The price isn't bad but I wanted to see if I could find something cheaper. Ebay was the ticket:
http://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
This is listed at $109. I bought a dual band antenna for about $20 got it installed in the rig and then started to learn to program the radio. The radio comes with the programming software and cable. I used the same channel list I used to program the handheld and after about 30 minutes had the radio programmed and working. So, for under $150 I have a high power mobile base unit that is comparable to Rugged Radio and at a fraction of the cost. I have heard reports of people talking up to 10 miles apart on this radio and I believe it. No matter where I was on the mountain this past weekend was I able to talk to my group. Even after the wire fell out of the antenna mount(I forgot to tighten the set screw), it worked flawlessly. I have now updated the program to include all the NOAA weather frequencies and the MURS VHF channels. There were several people in our group using the UHF radios this past weekend and I think everyone seemed to be impressed. They work with the cheap box store radios as well.
Again, I am leaving it up to you to research the laws and regs and decide for yourself if you would like to make the jump. I am taking a chance with the high power output I know. I figure if Rugged Radios can get buy with selling the high power units without a license, I should be ok as long as I am not using it for commercial purposes.
Here is a link to the thread over on the CORE site:
http://www.cincyoffroad.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11951
The first radio I purchased after a local club had a few members gave some great reviews after using it for their club runs. It is a basic UHF/VHF dual band handheld transceiver that runs at 1 or 5 watts. This can be programmed with 127 channels and can operated in either UHF or VHF. I programmed it with the basic 22 FRS channels using the keypad on the front of the radio. No special software or equipment is required. The 22 FRS channels are the same channels that the multi radio packs that you can purchase at all the big box stores. Those radios operate at .5 watt and don't have much range over line of site regardless of what the package says. Here is a link to that radio on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-UV-5R-Dual-Radio-Black/dp/B007H4VT7A/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1507810344&sr=1-4&keywords=baofeng
The Baofeng radio has worked flawlessly. I have used it on several occasions since its purchase and I am very impressed. On the high power setting I have talked to people at least 3 miles away. The audio is always very clear and there isn't all the crazy adjustments and tuning required like a CB. I will be purchasing another Baofeng HT in the near future but it will more than likely be a 8 watt unit for a little more range.
The second radio I purchased is a 12v unit the mounts in my rig similar to a CB. This unit is 20watts on UHF and 25 watts on VHF. This radio was brought to my attention by my cousin who found it on RZR forum on Facebook. There is a guy on a forum called RZR Crazy that sells a IP67 waterproof rated radio for $200 that he preprograms. The price isn't bad but I wanted to see if I could find something cheaper. Ebay was the ticket:
http://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
This is listed at $109. I bought a dual band antenna for about $20 got it installed in the rig and then started to learn to program the radio. The radio comes with the programming software and cable. I used the same channel list I used to program the handheld and after about 30 minutes had the radio programmed and working. So, for under $150 I have a high power mobile base unit that is comparable to Rugged Radio and at a fraction of the cost. I have heard reports of people talking up to 10 miles apart on this radio and I believe it. No matter where I was on the mountain this past weekend was I able to talk to my group. Even after the wire fell out of the antenna mount(I forgot to tighten the set screw), it worked flawlessly. I have now updated the program to include all the NOAA weather frequencies and the MURS VHF channels. There were several people in our group using the UHF radios this past weekend and I think everyone seemed to be impressed. They work with the cheap box store radios as well.
Again, I am leaving it up to you to research the laws and regs and decide for yourself if you would like to make the jump. I am taking a chance with the high power output I know. I figure if Rugged Radios can get buy with selling the high power units without a license, I should be ok as long as I am not using it for commercial purposes.