griffinit
Lil-Rokslider
Which two way radios does everyone use/recommend. That are in the 100-250 dollar range? Reliable, fairly small/lightweight. Thanks
Good quality Radios
- Thread starter griffinit
- Start date
COlineman78
WKR
I got some Cobra HH450 Dual's and will be trying them on our fishing trip to Canada in a couple weeks. We will be fishing with 2 boats so got them for that purpose. Decided on them because they are waterproof, dual frequency and support both rechargeable and AA batteries. There are some reviews saying that the volume is too quiet for some of the frequencies. If you don't mind VHF only there are some other models that are cheaper or have integrated bluetooth (MRHH500FLTBT).
BATTLEBORN
WKR
Interested in this as well, im on my second set now and haven't been happy with either.
- Banned
- #4
jm1607
WKR
Good luck! I haven't found crap that works well besides illegally using Baofeng ham radios (not recommended, don't judge me, if anyone is reading this I don't really)
Interested also. I dropped one of my midland radios a while back and haven't replaced. I found with those they worked decent if in the same canyon but had issue if someone was a canyon over.
Weston
Lil-Rokslider
Griffinit,
Check out the Kenwood TH-K20A at the Antenna Farm. If you get the modification (extra $35) you can run the marine frequencies and as long as you aren't around any big bodies of water that they would be used on you shouldn't have any problems. We use the Kenwoods and some higher end Motorolas and there is no comparison to the cheap walkie talkie type radios.
Check out the Kenwood TH-K20A at the Antenna Farm. If you get the modification (extra $35) you can run the marine frequencies and as long as you aren't around any big bodies of water that they would be used on you shouldn't have any problems. We use the Kenwoods and some higher end Motorolas and there is no comparison to the cheap walkie talkie type radios.
I have one of the higher end motorolas. I think it was around ~$200. Like Jfronk said they definitely work better than any of the cheapos. We've used them coyote hunting and they easily cover several miles. Wherever it was we ordered them from programmed our selected frequency and also set them for max watts.
The only downside is they are heavy.
The only downside is they are heavy.
Phillip Hathaway
WKR
Ive used midlands out west and in the midwest with very few problems. Just dont leave them out overnight in the snow like I did oops.
- Banned
- #11
GKPrice
Banned
what about the ones that you're supposed to be able to text between one another with ? does THAT work or is it a sales ploy ?
- Banned
- #12
jm1607
WKR
I had some of the Rhinos thinking that was a great idea.. Just like all the other radios I thought the range was a bit disappointing..
COlineman78
WKR
I should make something similar to Beartooth using some 900 MHz 1W radios we used on our senior project in college. We tested it out to 27 miles line of sight.
Beartooth
Beartooth
The midlands are fine line of sight (I used them when moving to talk between vehicles with miles between) its up/over ridges that I'd want.
Greg Beck
WKR
...Nice radios!COlineman78
WKR
Marine radios work on VHF which is what makes them longer range. Most of the cheaper off the shelf radios you buy operate in UHF (GMRS). With radio frequencies, the higher the frequency the better the quality but the shorter the range. So, VHF (marine) radios will have longer range, but worse voice quality.
So of all the folks using UHF or VHF radios, marine or otherwise, have you had any issues with the HAM police bothering you? I am toying around with buying some marine VHR capable radios for hunting in the backcountry. Guess who has two thumbs and doesn't plan on getting a HAM license? Thiiiiiiis guy!
Last edited:
moxford
Lil-Rokslider
What they're talking about doing is using the Baofeng (or similar) to broadcast on the same frequencies (usually) as the normal FRS/GMRS bands used by the Motorola/Midland/etc UHF-radios.
FRS does not require a license but limits you to 0.5W of power. GMRS does but it's a pretty stupid "pay it small fee online for 5 year license and print it out" : h ttps://www.fcc.gov/general/general-mobile-radio-service-gmrs and that will let you legally use the GMRS channels (at a higher transmit power) on the Motorola/Midland/etc radios. They also now allow some detachable antennas and such, along with transmit up to 5W.
Those Baofeng's radios are not FCC-compliant to due to a few technicalities and (IMO stupid, but them's the rules) kinds of issues. Like "it has a detachable antenna ... not allowed to transmit on those frequencies. They're field-programmable. Not allowed to transmit on those frequencies. Even if you run them in the lower-power modes to "comply with the spirit" it's still technically illegal to transmit on those frequencies. Radios need to be Part 95 certified (note that Baofeng DOES make one ... ) for some of this stuff. They're not Part 95 compliant so even if they "fit" they're illegal to use.
HAM bands are a different story and now that they've dropped the morse-code requirement it's supposed to be pretty easy to get licensed. However, you'll still piss the HAMs off with hunting chatter.
Here's most of the regs if you're interested. =)
Read all about it here: 47 CFR Part 95 - PERSONAL RADIO SERVICES | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute
Use of marine-class radios will also get you into trouble with the FCC, FWIW.
If you don't want FRS/GMRS, you might checkout MURS at 2W transmit. You still need Part 95 certified radios to be legal...
Multi-Use Radio Service - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In cases of life-and-death situations I believer you're allowed to transmit on any channel and at any power.
For what it's worth, even with 5W SAR radios we still hit issues with hills and dense trees - that's just part of using a radio.
IANAL - do your own research before you go breaking any rules. My advice: Go pay the trivial GMRS fee and use those channel (or go MURS) and don't worry about it. There are enough things to worry about back there besides wondering what LEO is two hills over listening to you chatter because you're blasting at 8W (and you probably don't want to be listening to every yahoo back there broadcasting at the same power....) Just because your buddy cannot hear you doesn't mean that everyone else can't. =)
-mox
FRS does not require a license but limits you to 0.5W of power. GMRS does but it's a pretty stupid "pay it small fee online for 5 year license and print it out" : h ttps://www.fcc.gov/general/general-mobile-radio-service-gmrs and that will let you legally use the GMRS channels (at a higher transmit power) on the Motorola/Midland/etc radios. They also now allow some detachable antennas and such, along with transmit up to 5W.
Those Baofeng's radios are not FCC-compliant to due to a few technicalities and (IMO stupid, but them's the rules) kinds of issues. Like "it has a detachable antenna ... not allowed to transmit on those frequencies. They're field-programmable. Not allowed to transmit on those frequencies. Even if you run them in the lower-power modes to "comply with the spirit" it's still technically illegal to transmit on those frequencies. Radios need to be Part 95 certified (note that Baofeng DOES make one ... ) for some of this stuff. They're not Part 95 compliant so even if they "fit" they're illegal to use.
HAM bands are a different story and now that they've dropped the morse-code requirement it's supposed to be pretty easy to get licensed. However, you'll still piss the HAMs off with hunting chatter.
Here's most of the regs if you're interested. =)
Read all about it here: 47 CFR Part 95 - PERSONAL RADIO SERVICES | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute
Use of marine-class radios will also get you into trouble with the FCC, FWIW.
If you don't want FRS/GMRS, you might checkout MURS at 2W transmit. You still need Part 95 certified radios to be legal...
Multi-Use Radio Service - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In cases of life-and-death situations I believer you're allowed to transmit on any channel and at any power.
For what it's worth, even with 5W SAR radios we still hit issues with hills and dense trees - that's just part of using a radio.
IANAL - do your own research before you go breaking any rules. My advice: Go pay the trivial GMRS fee and use those channel (or go MURS) and don't worry about it. There are enough things to worry about back there besides wondering what LEO is two hills over listening to you chatter because you're blasting at 8W (and you probably don't want to be listening to every yahoo back there broadcasting at the same power....) Just because your buddy cannot hear you doesn't mean that everyone else can't. =)
-mox
First- "Moxford's" post above, has great points.
My 2 cents:
With "real" radios, transmission watts are higher and that's great, but it is really mostly about having a quality antenna. Generally speaking, the longer, the better. So you need a radio w/a detachable antenna. Unscrew the stock rubber ducky and install a longer dual frequency antennae if you want FRS/GMRS and VHF functionality. I use the Nagoya NA771 antenna (approx. 16 inches long). Stunning performance. Just toss the stock rubber ducky that came w/the radio because it's a poor performer- or keep it as a spare.
PRO-Tip: Any hand held radio (even blister pack) is best held/used w/antenna oriented vertically for best antennae performance. It may look cool and casual to have your antenna tilted or parallel to the ground, but you're only looking cool to yourself when you're near the max transmission distance of your unit and can't understand your partner's transmission.
My bro and I carry cheap, blister packs Midlands that are water resistant for actual hunting scenarios where we're w/in half mile or so of each other. They work great with push to talk ear bud/boom microphones and their stubby rubber antenna are never in the way. You can drop them, abuse them and they still work! They last for days on one set of batteries.
For communicating to/with a base camp that's several miles away in seriously mountainous terrain, I use a Baofeng at prescribed contact times... but this is really just overkill when you're within any reasonable distance of your partner and quite frankly, like "Mox" stated above, it's incredibly rude to continuously transmit on high power like a buffoon, stepping on everyone else with the high output.
PRO TIP: You can program Baofeng's w/multiple channels and have some channels programmed to function at lower watts and some programmed at higher watts. Then you can select your lower power channels and save power when it's not needed, this also avoids the buffoon factor of rudely stepping on others. Don't be THAT guy.
When not in use, my Baofengs have their antennae removed and battery pulled since the radio bodies are not water resistant at all. Radio and battery then live in waterproof heavy duty ziplocks in my backpack lid between usage. Antennae stores alongside or inside my bugle tube in my side pocket on my pack.
OOPS TIP: NEVER, ever install a radio's battery unless the antennae is already installed. If you hit the transmit button by accident w/o the antennae on, odds are good you can toss that radio in the garbage.
DOSE OF REALITY TIP: With a good antenna, there is probably not too much performance/range difference between the dual power 1-4 watt Baofengs operating at 4w and the tripower 1w-4w-8w Baofengs that cost twice as much, when operating at 8w. If buying real estate is all about location, location, location-- using a radio is all about antenna, antenna, antenna. Antenna performance is purely accretive. However, transmission power works based on some sort of geometric function (I don't know the specific equation), but bottom line is that 4w of power does not give you any where near 4 times the range over 1w of transmission power; similarly, 8w power will not give double the range of 4w. But 8w power, will certainly burn your battery MUCH faster than 4w or 1w.
DOSE of REALITY TIP: Programming Chinese radios (yes-- I said "Chinese") has a steep learning curve and is a bit of a PITA the first time around.
Get yourself a HAM Technician's license (this is the most basic/easiest test take) so you can avoid regulatory problems, I have started studying and it doesn't seem like too much effort.
Here is a link to a study guide: http://www.kb6nu.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2014-no-nonsense-tech-study-guide-v20.pdf
The test is multiple choice, 35 questions and you only need 26 correct to pass. Page #1 of the link above gives you all the facts...
JL
My 2 cents:
With "real" radios, transmission watts are higher and that's great, but it is really mostly about having a quality antenna. Generally speaking, the longer, the better. So you need a radio w/a detachable antenna. Unscrew the stock rubber ducky and install a longer dual frequency antennae if you want FRS/GMRS and VHF functionality. I use the Nagoya NA771 antenna (approx. 16 inches long). Stunning performance. Just toss the stock rubber ducky that came w/the radio because it's a poor performer- or keep it as a spare.
PRO-Tip: Any hand held radio (even blister pack) is best held/used w/antenna oriented vertically for best antennae performance. It may look cool and casual to have your antenna tilted or parallel to the ground, but you're only looking cool to yourself when you're near the max transmission distance of your unit and can't understand your partner's transmission.
My bro and I carry cheap, blister packs Midlands that are water resistant for actual hunting scenarios where we're w/in half mile or so of each other. They work great with push to talk ear bud/boom microphones and their stubby rubber antenna are never in the way. You can drop them, abuse them and they still work! They last for days on one set of batteries.
For communicating to/with a base camp that's several miles away in seriously mountainous terrain, I use a Baofeng at prescribed contact times... but this is really just overkill when you're within any reasonable distance of your partner and quite frankly, like "Mox" stated above, it's incredibly rude to continuously transmit on high power like a buffoon, stepping on everyone else with the high output.
PRO TIP: You can program Baofeng's w/multiple channels and have some channels programmed to function at lower watts and some programmed at higher watts. Then you can select your lower power channels and save power when it's not needed, this also avoids the buffoon factor of rudely stepping on others. Don't be THAT guy.
When not in use, my Baofengs have their antennae removed and battery pulled since the radio bodies are not water resistant at all. Radio and battery then live in waterproof heavy duty ziplocks in my backpack lid between usage. Antennae stores alongside or inside my bugle tube in my side pocket on my pack.
OOPS TIP: NEVER, ever install a radio's battery unless the antennae is already installed. If you hit the transmit button by accident w/o the antennae on, odds are good you can toss that radio in the garbage.
DOSE OF REALITY TIP: With a good antenna, there is probably not too much performance/range difference between the dual power 1-4 watt Baofengs operating at 4w and the tripower 1w-4w-8w Baofengs that cost twice as much, when operating at 8w. If buying real estate is all about location, location, location-- using a radio is all about antenna, antenna, antenna. Antenna performance is purely accretive. However, transmission power works based on some sort of geometric function (I don't know the specific equation), but bottom line is that 4w of power does not give you any where near 4 times the range over 1w of transmission power; similarly, 8w power will not give double the range of 4w. But 8w power, will certainly burn your battery MUCH faster than 4w or 1w.
DOSE of REALITY TIP: Programming Chinese radios (yes-- I said "Chinese") has a steep learning curve and is a bit of a PITA the first time around.
Get yourself a HAM Technician's license (this is the most basic/easiest test take) so you can avoid regulatory problems, I have started studying and it doesn't seem like too much effort.
Here is a link to a study guide: http://www.kb6nu.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2014-no-nonsense-tech-study-guide-v20.pdf
The test is multiple choice, 35 questions and you only need 26 correct to pass. Page #1 of the link above gives you all the facts...
JL
Last edited:
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