Ham radio?

[PahlMc]

I race in the desert. I have a Vertex 2200 and two hand held Motorola units. I just throw a handheld to a friend if they dont have a race radio when we crawl. But most of my friends do.

I like the icom V80 for a handheld and a modded icom v8000 for a hard mount orice wise.

 

[K.Hess]

That fits the budget....any down sides you've noticed?

I have had one of these for a few months now and the only thing I have noticed is you have to watch the hinge pin for the clip it likes to walk. I know it is minor with an easy fix w/ a drop of super glue

 

[Jump This]

Maybe Mark and I can pick an in dash model and a hand held.

 

[WB9YZU]

I was about to post a link to one of those. My father has ordered about 40 of those to give his fire dept's employees as a Christmas gift.

He's had one that he's worn on his belt daily for about 3 months and it's still in great shape. Works great.

At $35 they're pretty much disposable anyway.

One of the guys at work asked me about mine as I was exiting work. He's on his local VFD and was wondering if it would work for that.
I'm not real sure about the Beofeng's type acceptance as they are sold as "Amateur Radios".

But they are cheap I've used one for a few months. It's not fancy, or super high quality. And the receiver seems to be prone to intermod.
But for the $ you pay, they work.

.................................................
A link for those that want to use the Amateur 2m and/or 70cm frequencies...but are not yet, or currently licensed: http://www.arrl.org/getting-licensed
.................................................
-Ron

 

[markw]

Bao Fengs are actually type 90 certified for commercial use by licensed operators. You can always use type 90 gear on ham bands but not visa versa. Again the proper licensing applies. Of course with that being said, if your transmission is in the proper width for the band and you're not causing spurious transmissions then no one is going to know you're using a 2m rig on business band. You should also know how to adjust the power radio of your rig. 50-75W is probably overkill for on the trail, I keep mine at 5W/low power. "Minimum power necessary to carry out the desired communications" 97.313(a).

Here's the bao feng faq.
http://www.miklor.com/uv5r/UV5R-FAQ.php#certify

 

[WB9YZU]

Thanks Mark. I read that FAQ some months ago, but haven't verifying it since I don't use it on other bands other than 2 or 70cm, but it is interesting to know.

The aftermarket software is pretty cool too. You just tell it what are of the county your in, and it sucks in a repeater list for you from the web. You just adjust the memory locations for your purpose and import. It also has a transmit inhibit function so you can program in NOAA stations and not worry about accidentally transmitting.

Not super high quality, or an awesome receiver as I mentioned before. But all in all, the best $ I ever spent on a radio hands down.

-Ron

 

[GSequoia]

What I like about the Baefengs is they're so cheap I can loan them out without worrying too much if they don't come back. I can also strap it to my motorcycle, drive it all around Moab, break the housing at the antenna, and not feel too bad.

 

[sidewaysstarion]

What I like about the Baefengs is they're so cheap I can loan them out without worrying too much if they don't come back. I can also strap it to my motorcycle, drive it all around Moab, break the housing at the antenna, and not feel too bad.

Or if people forget to return them, just leave them the charger and head on down the road.

 

[Jon.ford15]

Rugged radio has some pretty good deals on radios. I use there 50 watt in my rig and race radio hand held.

 

[PahlMc]

Rugged radio is crazy expensive. I can always find the same radio cheaper on the net. Good service and product though

 

[David_Bricker]

Or if people forget to return them, just leave them the charger and head on down the road.

Hey, I've returned almost every one I've borrowed from Geoff.

David Bricker / SYR

 

[Tizzyusmc]

I guess I should update my jeep....

I'm still old school'n it.