Posted: 12/30/2014 3:59:36 PM EDT
| Not Ham particularly. Help me pick out some handheld radios. (4) units. Need to have 1.) earpiece compatibility 2.) Real World 3 mile range in woodland environment 3. under $50 apiece. Thanks. Hot links appreciated. |
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Get the hand held Baofeng radios
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1701896_PSA___Baofeng_UV5R__28_on_Amazon.html |
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Get the hand held Baofeng radios http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1701896_PSA___Baofeng_UV5R__28_on_Amazon.html What is the real world range on these? |
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Quoted: What is the real world range on these? Quoted: Quoted: Get the hand held Baofeng radios http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1701896_PSA___Baofeng_UV5R__28_on_Amazon.html What is the real world range on these? Even at 5 watts there is no guarantee to get the range you are looking for. If by your screen name you are a cop, nothing much better than you get with your hand held radio. The range is dependent on your location, elevation, line of sight, etc. Biggest factor on "range" with any radio is the antenna. The typical stock rubber duckie antenna suck. But those Baefeng will decently reach 2ish to 3 in a typical outdoor activity. If you are withing an urban area with tall buildings less, IN an enclosed vehicle even less, don't count on anything working inside of structures. The Baefeng are cheap ham radios which are open to other analog frequencies in the VHF and UHF band. At least with those radios they are adaptable with better antennas to include using a mag mount to operate from inside a vehicle and microphone options. And they include a rechargeable with desk chargers. You can program the FRS frequencies and technically I believe it's a no-no, but the FCC, nor would anyone else give a shit. Just don't transmit where you are not supposed to UNLESS it's a life or death emergency. The bubble pack FRS radios are very limited and virtually no antenna, battery, or microphone options other than what you get. The Baofeng's wil run about $40 a piece. At least it opens the door to get a ham license and you would have boat load of repeaters. ETA: make that about $30 a piece and 4 watts. It's a good buy. Line-of-sight: exactly what it says, unobstructed, if you can possibly see it, even with powerful telescope, you can talk to it. It's done all the time with hams using low orbiting satellites that we can't even see with hand held radios and directional periodic log antennas with 1/2 watt. So the range can be 100 miles. but not ground level. If you are on a boat expect 20 miles over open waters. In a level wooded forest maybe 4 or 5, hills even less. |
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If they put out a full 5 watts, much better than a FRS bubble pack radio you buy at Costco/Sam's Club/Walmart which only puts out 1/2 watt. (watts = power) Even at 5 watts there is no guarantee to get the range you are looking for. If by your screen name you are a cop, nothing much better than you get with your hand held radio. The range is dependent on your location, elevation, line of sight, etc. Biggest factor on "range" with any radio is the antenna. The typical stock rubber duckie antenna suck. But those Baefeng will decently reach 2ish to 3 in a typical outdoor activity. If you are withing an urban area with tall buildings less, IN an enclosed vehicle even less, don't count on anything working inside of structures. The Baefeng are cheap ham radios which are open to other analog frequencies in the VHF and UHF band. At least with those radios they are adaptable with better antennas to include using a mag mount to operate from inside a vehicle and microphone options. And they include a rechargeable with desk chargers. You can program the FRS frequencies and technically I believe it's a no-no, but the FCC, nor would anyone else give a shit. Just don't transmit where you are not supposed to UNLESS it's a life or death emergency. The bubble pack FRS radios are very limited and virtually no antenna, battery, or microphone options other than what you get. The Baofeng's wil run about $40 a piece. At least it opens the door to get a ham license and you would have boat load of repeaters. ETA: make that about $30 a piece and 4 watts. It's a good buy. Line-of-sight: exactly what it says, unobstructed, if you can possibly see it, even with powerful telescope, you can talk to it. It's done all the time with hams using low orbiting satellites that we can't even see with hand held radios and directional periodic log antennas with 1/2 watt. So the range can be 100 miles. but not ground level. If you are on a boat expect 20 miles over open waters. In a level wooded forest maybe 4 or 5, hills even less. Quoted:
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Get the hand held Baofeng radios http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1701896_PSA___Baofeng_UV5R__28_on_Amazon.html What is the real world range on these? Even at 5 watts there is no guarantee to get the range you are looking for. If by your screen name you are a cop, nothing much better than you get with your hand held radio. The range is dependent on your location, elevation, line of sight, etc. Biggest factor on "range" with any radio is the antenna. The typical stock rubber duckie antenna suck. But those Baefeng will decently reach 2ish to 3 in a typical outdoor activity. If you are withing an urban area with tall buildings less, IN an enclosed vehicle even less, don't count on anything working inside of structures. The Baefeng are cheap ham radios which are open to other analog frequencies in the VHF and UHF band. At least with those radios they are adaptable with better antennas to include using a mag mount to operate from inside a vehicle and microphone options. And they include a rechargeable with desk chargers. You can program the FRS frequencies and technically I believe it's a no-no, but the FCC, nor would anyone else give a shit. Just don't transmit where you are not supposed to UNLESS it's a life or death emergency. The bubble pack FRS radios are very limited and virtually no antenna, battery, or microphone options other than what you get. The Baofeng's wil run about $40 a piece. At least it opens the door to get a ham license and you would have boat load of repeaters. ETA: make that about $30 a piece and 4 watts. It's a good buy. Line-of-sight: exactly what it says, unobstructed, if you can possibly see it, even with powerful telescope, you can talk to it. It's done all the time with hams using low orbiting satellites that we can't even see with hand held radios and directional periodic log antennas with 1/2 watt. So the range can be 100 miles. but not ground level. If you are on a boat expect 20 miles over open waters. In a level wooded forest maybe 4 or 5, hills even less. Good info. Looking for woods work 1-3 miles small hills only mostly on foot. |
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Not Ham... handheld radios... 4 units... earpiece compatibility...3 mile range in woodland ... under $50 apiece. A most difficult set of requirements, and you may need to re-evaluate slightly. The issue at hand is that all of the easy recommendations put you at odds with FCC regulations, specifically the bits about radio type acceptance and licence requirements. It's very easy to recommend you a $30 radio that will happily transmit on bands it is not type accepted for and that you likely do not have a license for... and that's a COC violation, not to say anything about best practices. Furthermore, 3 miles in a woodland environment is going to be challenging no matter what path you take: even if you dropped hundreds of dollars per radio, you're asking an awful lot of a handheld. I know it seems a trivial distance in 2014, but all those trees present a huge problem to RF without even considering any topographical obstructions. If you'll allow me to break your $50 limit, I'll happily steer you towards a 100% legal, non-ham option that will give you a fighting chance at your other goals: GMRS, the right way. First up, you (and everybody in your group who is not in your immediate family) need to pay the FCC a $90 fee and get your license. No test, no fuss, just pay cash and get your GMRS callsign. Just do it here. Fringe benefit for you: you now have quality, legal comms with your family who may never want to take the ham test. Next, the hardware itself. CJan_NH has done a few most excellent write ups on his 100% legal GMRS setup, a quick search of Google will point you toward those details. In short, you're looking for some ICom Handhelds in the F40 series: they're 5W professional units that are good to go on GMRS. A hot link for a radio, battery, antenna, charger and free programming is here: as you can see, they'll run about $90. CJan_NH might come along with better recommendations, and I'm sure he'd answer a polite PM on the subject. None of this is particularly hard, it's just harder and more expensive if folks are adverse to going the ham route. You can still have mobile radios (50W) and repeaters on GMRS, you'll just pay a premium over ham gear to get them. Check out the stickied posts at the top for more good info, and feel free to ask questions. |
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Quoted: Good info. Looking for woods work 1-3 miles small hills only mostly on foot. Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Get the hand held Baofeng radios http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1701896_PSA___Baofeng_UV5R__28_on_Amazon.html What is the real world range on these? Even at 5 watts there is no guarantee to get the range you are looking for. If by your screen name you are a cop, nothing much better than you get with your hand held radio. The range is dependent on your location, elevation, line of sight, etc. Biggest factor on "range" with any radio is the antenna. The typical stock rubber duckie antenna suck. But those Baefeng will decently reach 2ish to 3 in a typical outdoor activity. If you are withing an urban area with tall buildings less, IN an enclosed vehicle even less, don't count on anything working inside of structures. The Baefeng are cheap ham radios which are open to other analog frequencies in the VHF and UHF band. At least with those radios they are adaptable with better antennas to include using a mag mount to operate from inside a vehicle and microphone options. And they include a rechargeable with desk chargers. You can program the FRS frequencies and technically I believe it's a no-no, but the FCC, nor would anyone else give a shit. Just don't transmit where you are not supposed to UNLESS it's a life or death emergency. The bubble pack FRS radios are very limited and virtually no antenna, battery, or microphone options other than what you get. The Baofeng's wil run about $40 a piece. At least it opens the door to get a ham license and you would have boat load of repeaters. ETA: make that about $30 a piece and 4 watts. It's a good buy. Line-of-sight: exactly what it says, unobstructed, if you can possibly see it, even with powerful telescope, you can talk to it. It's done all the time with hams using low orbiting satellites that we can't even see with hand held radios and directional periodic log antennas with 1/2 watt. So the range can be 100 miles. but not ground level. If you are on a boat expect 20 miles over open waters. In a level wooded forest maybe 4 or 5, hills even less. Good info. Looking for woods work 1-3 miles small hills only mostly on foot. The more powerful and better antenna Baofeng, 3 miles you should be GTG. I was looking around and also saw these: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GN5DHH4?psc=1 I imagine these are 1/2 watt UHF radios, but the antennas look better than a typical FRS bubble pack, they come with earpieces, and 5 radios with chargers for $88? ETA: 5 watts |
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In the woods you may do a little better on lower freqs MURS may be your best bet without a license how is the terrain - rolling hills? totally flat? that's going to impact your signal more than woods will Rolling hills yes, woods not to heavy. Please explain MURS. |
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Rolling hills yes, woods not to heavy. Please explain MURS. Quoted:
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In the woods you may do a little better on lower freqs MURS may be your best bet without a license how is the terrain - rolling hills? totally flat? that's going to impact your signal more than woods will Rolling hills yes, woods not to heavy. Please explain MURS. MURS is a lower set of frequencies than GMRS but basically the same idea - license free. are you planning on having all the radios portable or is this something where there could be a "base" station and portables? |
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MURS is a lower set of frequencies than GMRS but basically the same idea - license free. are you planning on having all the radios portable or is this something where there could be a "base" station and portables? Quoted:
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In the woods you may do a little better on lower freqs MURS may be your best bet without a license how is the terrain - rolling hills? totally flat? that's going to impact your signal more than woods will Rolling hills yes, woods not to heavy. Please explain MURS. MURS is a lower set of frequencies than GMRS but basically the same idea - license free. are you planning on having all the radios portable or is this something where there could be a "base" station and portables? Portable hand held, woods surveillance detail, 5 of us should be within 1-3 miles. There is no service for our linc radios . |
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Linc to Murs radios? And this id coming out of my pocket for now. MURS is a service and most of the decent radios for it are commercial radios - not like radios you can run out and get from the store starting link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-Use_Radio_Service I'm at work but I'll look for some radios when I get home |
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least sexy radios in history:
dakota alert IM for moar help if needed 
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I'd vote MURS as well, but you're not going to get a legal type certified MURS unit at 2W for $50, I'm afraid.
The Dakota Alert MURS is available for about $80. A Baofeng could be programmed to MURS, but it'd be breaking the law. Odds of getting caught are low, but it's $10,000 if you do. MURS is license free. If you paid for a GMRS license, you could run those (I think the Baofengs are legal on GMRS, not positive, in any case there's bubble pack GMRS radios available in your price range, but they won't work as well as MURS would, watt for watt.) |
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I'd vote MURS as well, but you're not going to get a legal type certified MURS unit at 2W for $50, I'm afraid. The Dakota Alert MURS is available for about $80. A Baofeng could be programmed to MURS, but it'd be breaking the law. Odds of getting caught are low, but it's $10,000 if you do. MURS is license free. If you paid for a GMRS license, you could run those (I think the Baofengs are legal on GMRS, not positive, in any case there's bubble pack GMRS radios available in your price range, but they won't work as well as MURS would, watt for watt.) may be some options on ebay for used moto gear |
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Way to go guys. Now you've confuse the shit out of the OP. It looked like it was going to keep it simple, but noooooo. Let's not do that. OP, this is what you get for asking radio questions from radio geeks. Lemme 'splain: MURS, FRS, GMRS, like CB and ham, are specific allocations of frequencies that are used in specific bands. Bands being the section of the frequency spectrum. Lower in the bands the radio works a certain way, and higher in the bands it works another way. Depending on your specific applications it will vary. CB radio is lower in the bands, around 28 megahertz (Mhz). CB radios is commonly used in the AM mode. Yes like the AM radio in your car. If you listen to it you may be able to pick up far away stations, sounds like shit and you hear phase in and out thats because those bands are affected by atmospheric conditions, more so by sunspot cycles and day or night. Not so much with weather. This is in the HF band. Any decent HF radio is not compact and require a level of expertise to use it to it's full potential. No CB radio attains this and definitely no hand held will, so forget it completely. MURS is in the VHF band. If you are LEO your agency might use VHF radio. Also your car radio has FM. This too is in the VHF band (30 Mhz to 175 Mhz) And like in your car it's typically used in FM mode. Better quality, far less affected by conditions but less range than HF. Border Patrol, US Forest Service, larger remote county and state agencies usually stick with this band because it works better over longer distances. MURS is a set of 5 frequencies allocated by the FCC. The FCC set limits of only 2 watts but if you get a Baofeng radio you can direct input those frequencies and use it with 4 watts. i'm sure the FCC will not shoot yer dag and raid your house for that. No license is required for MURS and is often used by businesses. You can often pick up fast food drive through comms using MURS. FRS and GMRS are in the UHF band. They start in the 200ish Mhz and go up to ???, I'm not sure, but what I do know 400 Mhz (406 through 470) is what is typically considered UHF. Many public safety agencies still use UHF. Specifically agencies who don't have a million dollars to spend to go 800 Mhz trunked. DEA and ATF use UHF radios. This band works better in urban areas as it works better through buildings. FRS and GMRS are some 22 frequencies allocated as channels and there are power limits whether you use a HT or a mobile. Again, FCC ain't checking. These are the radios you see sold at Walmart and boasting "32 mile range" which is BS. FRS doesn't require a license but GMRS does. Some people talk about using GMrS but I rarely see it widely used. Ham radio have access in all bands, and a lot of frequencies that's why it's very popular. Ham radio will identify a frequency used instead of a channel. A channel is simply an allocated frequency identified as whatever the user wants to call it. You can google MURS, FRS, GMRS to find out more about them but it doesn't appear to me you wanted that much research. I will give you my opinion that FRS bubble pack radios are weak and crappy. MURS programmed radios do a bit better but are fewer choices. These newer Chinese radios are flooding the market and seem to be decent quality, especially considering the prices. And in my opinion, 3 mile range, you won't notice a difference. A dual band Baofeng, at arounf $35 a pop with earpiece is a good choice if you have no clue and you can choose to either use MURS, FRS, or GMRS and you can program the frequencies right on the radio. The other option is the Amazon deals with 5 UHF radios which will cover FRS and GMRS only and you will need to use a computer to program the FRS frequencies. They have earpieces and 5 radios went for $90. I hope this covers it as easily and generic as I could, but I'm sure someone will add more to muddy up the waters. Or I can say, fuck it, Just get the dual band Baofeng and call it a day. You'll figure it out. |
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No prob. By the way, I'm throwing out my objective opinion based on my experience and training. Except for work related slave job (Tactical Communications, just because I'm a ham and my boss knew that), I don't work for any communications company or entity nor do I, or did I ever own Baofeng or other chink radio. I've played with them, used them on a limited basis. I have 4 other HT's which out performs them, and also out prices them 12:1. But, I recognize a good deal when I see one, I can google and youtube for info and reviews (research) and thus can provide an objective opinion. That and I have to teach (and do) TACCOM training to LEOs when I'm not doing LEO work myself. I routinely run into people at work who don't get why our radios (digital VHF) do not interop with other LEO comms systems (UHF and 800 Mhz). It ceases to amaze me how a $30 chink radio can have 2 bands while our $3000 plus radios at 3 times the size and weight only does one. Along with trying to explain in a 5th grade manner to a speshul agent as to why their HT isn't a magical device, like a cell phone, and they might not be heard while sitting in a bathroom stall taking a shit at Denny's even though he can hear everyone else's radio traffic. (true story- Mobile radios which put out 110 watts and vote scan repeaters vs. a 5 watt HT inside of a metal enclosure of bathroom stall and they could not locate the missing agent who didn't notify the others that he was 10-7/code brown when a surveilled target decided to shoot another POS who was trying to rip the target. Mayhem and panic ensued when others were trying to locate him and the radio was blamed by special agent derp saying it didn't work thus his life was in danger  . BTW, the surveilled target and POS were lousy shots. Mags were empty, zero hits except for their cars).So as long as you stay away from the shitters at Denny's, either MURS VHF or FRS UHF will work fine for 3ish miles in the woods with a few hills. Just get something programmable and stay away from the nonprogrammable MURS/FRS/GMRS only radios for the win. Nobody will notice, much less care, if the radio is putting out 2 or 3.5 more watts than what is allowed. Now that's the rest of the story. |
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No prob. By the way, I'm throwing out my objective opinion based on my experience and training. Except for work related slave job (Tactical Communications, just because I'm a ham and my boss knew that), I don't work for any communications company or entity nor do I, or did I ever own Baofeng or other chink radio. I've played with them, used them on a limited basis. I have 4 other HT's which out performs them, and also out prices them 12:1. But, I recognize a good deal when I see one, I can google and youtube for info and reviews (research) and thus can provide an objective opinion. That and I have to teach (and do) TACCOM training to LEOs when I'm not doing LEO work myself. I routinely run into people at work who don't get why our radios (digital VHF) do not interop with other LEO comms systems (UHF and 800 Mhz). It ceases to amaze me how a $30 chink radio can have 2 bands while our $3000 plus radios at 3 times the size and weight only does one. Along with trying to explain in a 5th grade manner to a speshul agent as to why their HT isn't a magical device, like a cell phone, and they might not be heard while sitting in a bathroom stall taking a shit at Denny's even though he can hear everyone else's radio traffic. (true story- Mobile radios which put out 110 watts and vote scan repeaters vs. a 5 watt HT inside of a metal enclosure of bathroom stall and they could not locate the missing agent who didn't notify the others that he was 10-7/code brown when a surveilled target decided to shoot another POS who was trying to rip the target. Mayhem and panic ensued when others were trying to locate him and the radio was blamed by special agent derp saying it didn't work thus his life was in danger . BTW, the surveilled target and POS were lousy shots. Mags were empty, zero hits except for their cars).
Thank you very much, you have been very helpful. So as long as you stay away from the shitters at Denny's, either MURS VHF or FRS UHF will work fine for 3ish miles in the woods with a few hills. Just get something programmable and stay away from the nonprogrammable MURS/FRS/GMRS only radios for the win. Nobody will notice, much less care, if the radio is putting out 2 or 3.5 more watts than what is allowed. Now that's the rest of the story. |