- Location
- West Quebec
Me neither.. it's a nice to have and should be licensed under normal conditions but if it's for a SHTF situation I would get a rig who cares about licensing
Two Way Radio's
- Thread starter Canadian Bush Wacker
- Start date
I have a 5 watt UHF/VHF handheld a higher db antenna, spare battery, 12vdc charger, and a frequency list. I have played with programming, monitored traffic. This is my SHTF set up FRS are for camping.
I do agree people need to respect radio usage.
Randy
- Location
- West Quebec
That's a nice setup and will suffice in any disaster / weather condition
Get your HAM license. Your buddies don't need one if you've got a couple of handsets and set them up properly, and your buddies are arguably "under supervision". Especially if you are in the middle of nowhere using non-reserved frequencies.
Many places have radio repeaters which you can make use of if you've got your license and join the local club. In any SHTF scenario ham radio is a must for communications.
I've been reading for mine (haven't got it yet) because I've been building up our radio dispatch system for taxis. Plenty of fun having your own reserved frequency. If you haven't done the reading you'll never understand how they work and how to use them properly and get the best range from them. Having local fire and ambulance on the scanner is always interesting. I can get the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast from here, sadly the local cops are encrypted.
Illegal use of radio is one of those offenses where you're unlikely to get caught, but they pretty much throw away the key if you do get caught, so be forewarned...
Many places have radio repeaters which you can make use of if you've got your license and join the local club. In any SHTF scenario ham radio is a must for communications.
I've been reading for mine (haven't got it yet) because I've been building up our radio dispatch system for taxis. Plenty of fun having your own reserved frequency. If you haven't done the reading you'll never understand how they work and how to use them properly and get the best range from them. Having local fire and ambulance on the scanner is always interesting. I can get the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast from here, sadly the local cops are encrypted.
Illegal use of radio is one of those offenses where you're unlikely to get caught, but they pretty much throw away the key if you do get caught, so be forewarned...
From the study guide:
• Amateur radio stations may communicate with any station involved in a real or simulated emergency
• If you hear an unanswered distress signal on a amateur band where you do not have privileges to communicate you should offer assistance
• In the amateur radio service, it is permissible to broadcast: radio communications required for the immediate safety of life of individuals or the immediate
protection of property
• An amateur radio station in distress may use any means of radiocommunication
From the Cowichan Valley Amateur Radio Society
http://cvars.com/docs/lesson_1.pdf
If you want to stay legal, look at the motorola DTR650's. (Baofeng are not legal in Canada, although may be if you have an amateur radio license?? )
The DTR650s are much harder to eavesdrop on since they use frequency hopping, and I've tested them with VHF (5w) and UHF(4w), and in my opinion they were very comparable for range, and much better for audio quality (digital).
Also, their battery life is amazing compared to analogue radios.
The DTR650s are much harder to eavesdrop on since they use frequency hopping, and I've tested them with VHF (5w) and UHF(4w), and in my opinion they were very comparable for range, and much better for audio quality (digital).
Also, their battery life is amazing compared to analogue radios.
- Location
- West Quebec
^^^^^^ Indeed if the price was lower I'd be interested..
As a radio tech - may I offer some advice - First - re marine radios - don't - they are to be used only by those licensed for the waterways - There are some people in Alaska for example who carried aircraft crash ELTs (Emergency Locating Transmitters) - the older style on 121.5 MHz and 243 MHz - while technically illegal - no one was ever charged if it was used in a genuine emergency situation. - Today these frequencies have been replaced by new EPIRBS and require registration before use.
There are other radios that I can suggest that will work quite well.
Second - a quick primer in RF - The lower the frequency - the better the use in the bush. The reason the the radio waves tend to travel "along the ground" - or bounce between the atmosphere and the ground - UHF (400 MHz radios) - are LOS -Line of Sight. They work in an urban environment when there are buildings to allow the signals to bounce off of and scatter - but in the bush there are no such structures and foliage and terrain absorbs the signals readily. Now - the legalities - radios must be type approved (accepted for use in Canada) and used on frequencies that are available without a licence and must be operated with the appropriate power level allowed........OK - that is the technical and legal bit done for the most part.
I have dealt with Frank Corsi at North Trail (a member online here I believe). Frank carries the both the Puxing VHF and UHF series radios as well as the Wouxun KG-UV1DP - a dual band radio with UHF and VHF capability. The unit has a lot of good accessories / speaker mics / earpieces (surveillance) and headsets and longer antennas with higher gain - all useful in the bush if you wish. The programming cable and software is available through him as well and is easy to program. From experience the 1700 mah batteries under fairly heavy use - lasted me 11 hours. A typical portable radio's battery endurance is rated usually on a 5/5/90 rule - 5 min transmit / 5 min receive and 90 min standby. Most commercial portables are good for 6-8 hours - the nice thing with these radios is the batteries are inexpensive - easy to carry and for $10 or $12 dollars you can get the breakaway pack that allows you to use 5 AA batteries in a pinch to run the radio - at FULL power with no degradation in performance.(damn handy)
The radio as I said has UHF and VHF capability and with that you can program the GMRS frequencies for those who with to communicate with people who have them AND VHF frequencies which will allow for somewhat better performance in the bush. There are literally hundreds of VHF frequencies that are referred to as LPI (low power industrial). These are frequencies that are used by couriers / taxis / warehouse / security)
If you opt for such - I might suggest if you so choose - to use either the DCS or the Tone Squelch capability - this allows multiple users to share a frequency with out hearing each other. - Keep in mind - if you do - you will have to wait a second before speaking after keying up - to allow the receiving radio to "open up".
There are other radios that I can suggest that will work quite well.
Second - a quick primer in RF - The lower the frequency - the better the use in the bush. The reason the the radio waves tend to travel "along the ground" - or bounce between the atmosphere and the ground - UHF (400 MHz radios) - are LOS -Line of Sight. They work in an urban environment when there are buildings to allow the signals to bounce off of and scatter - but in the bush there are no such structures and foliage and terrain absorbs the signals readily. Now - the legalities - radios must be type approved (accepted for use in Canada) and used on frequencies that are available without a licence and must be operated with the appropriate power level allowed........OK - that is the technical and legal bit done for the most part.
I have dealt with Frank Corsi at North Trail (a member online here I believe). Frank carries the both the Puxing VHF and UHF series radios as well as the Wouxun KG-UV1DP - a dual band radio with UHF and VHF capability. The unit has a lot of good accessories / speaker mics / earpieces (surveillance) and headsets and longer antennas with higher gain - all useful in the bush if you wish. The programming cable and software is available through him as well and is easy to program. From experience the 1700 mah batteries under fairly heavy use - lasted me 11 hours. A typical portable radio's battery endurance is rated usually on a 5/5/90 rule - 5 min transmit / 5 min receive and 90 min standby. Most commercial portables are good for 6-8 hours - the nice thing with these radios is the batteries are inexpensive - easy to carry and for $10 or $12 dollars you can get the breakaway pack that allows you to use 5 AA batteries in a pinch to run the radio - at FULL power with no degradation in performance.(damn handy)
The radio as I said has UHF and VHF capability and with that you can program the GMRS frequencies for those who with to communicate with people who have them AND VHF frequencies which will allow for somewhat better performance in the bush. There are literally hundreds of VHF frequencies that are referred to as LPI (low power industrial). These are frequencies that are used by couriers / taxis / warehouse / security)
If you opt for such - I might suggest if you so choose - to use either the DCS or the Tone Squelch capability - this allows multiple users to share a frequency with out hearing each other. - Keep in mind - if you do - you will have to wait a second before speaking after keying up - to allow the receiving radio to "open up".
Sound good. Now, how does one contact him? Googling "North Trail" gets about a hundred RV dealership sites.
Ted
www.northtrailsports.com
Shawn
Directly from a Senior Engineer at Industry Canada:
"The Baofeng UV-5R is not legally to be used in Canada as it is not certified under Industry Canada RSS-119. Although the equipment is authorized to be used under a license from Industry Canada, it has to be certified first and to be labeled with a certification ID."
Therefore I'd assume that any radio imported into Canada has to be certified first and be labelled. However, again, i am not sure if Amateur Radio licence holders are exempt from this.
