Two Way Radio's

C

Canadian Bush Wacker

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Location
Winnipeg
I am looking to pick up a couple of them, I had a pair years ago, they worked fine on open water, but crap in the bush.

Is there any brand they is good in hilly or thick bush? I like the idea of the ear piece and mic idea.
 
Little tid bit I learned a few years ago from a guy at bass pro. I was looking at diff. Models, price etc, guy says all the info on pkg is bs. Up to 10 miles 5 miles etc. under Canada crtc? Law all hand held public devices are capped at 2 watt?? Not sure , output , regardless of what it says . If u want to really have a 4 watt + walkie u have to buy in the states. Ghh
 
Yup, best luck I have had was with VHF/ UHF radios when moose'n. prob was the ones I had were bulky and had to recharge them each nite on generator etc. I am sure they have a more compact version now , w better battery life. $$$$$ dollars though. ? The stateside ones I bought work better than any other canadian ones I have had in the past though, excluding the VHF/ UHF 's as I said they were great.
 
A lot of folks in our deer camp including myself have Garmin Rhino GPS's which have the radios built in. Accumualtor is correct the ones in the states are more powerful than the Canadian version. My Garmin Rhino in the states is 5watt, in Canada 2watt. Canadian regulations. The radio still works well though even in the bush and way better that those Cobra style walky talkies.
 
As others have mentioned due to Canadian laws radios on the FRS/GMRS channels are limited to 2 watts output. Buy from out of country for more power. But also look for radios with larger antennas. Better antenna means better reception. I use a hand held puxing 777 uhf 400-470Mhz. It covers the spectrum that the FRS/GMRS commercial radios use plus a lot more. 5W output and the antenna is around three times larger. I get tons more range on it than my old motorolas and I can pick up those weaker radios better due to the better antenna. get them on ebay for around 70$ ea.
 
Keep in mind that UHF which includes FRS/GMRS is mostly line of sight. Might push thru some trees, but intervening hills are a show stopper.

That's why serious GMRS uses a tall tower base station.

ht tp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Mobile_Radio_Service

"...As for other UHF radio services, reliable range is considered to be line-of-sight and the distance to the radio horizon can be estimated based on antenna height. Theoretically, the range between two hand-held units would be about one or two miles (about one and a half to three km); mobile units have higher antennas and a range of around 5 miles (8 km). A GMRS repeater with an antenna that is high above the surrounding terrain can extend the usable range over a wide area – for example, up to a 20-mile radius around the repeater station.[5] Obstructions such as hills and buildings can reduce range. Higher power does not necessarily give a proportional increase in range, although it may improve the reliability of communication at the limits of line-of-sight distance."

VHF otoh can get bounce from the ionosphere, which is helpful when you're battling intervening hills.
 
I'm a radio hack by profession, as was my Father since the days of Morse code. If you want a reliable radio system, get a multi channel vhf/uhf mobile ( like the ones they mount in vehicles), a magnet antenna mount , and a lighter plug, and mount it on your quad. Forget about licensing, cuz nobody checks. If the frequency is busy, go up a channel. I have some antennas mounted into tree tops on some hilltops, even though trees don't make good ground planes, we can still get 15 or twenty miles. Those junky consumer radios for a hundred bucks are nothing but toys for kids in a playground.

Since so much has gone to digital communications, there are lots of second hand radios for sale that go for little more than a song.
 
Baofeng UV-5R. $50. Look on e-bay, google search and read the reviews/youtubes
There is a whole "yahoo group" dedicated to this little radio.
 
rodregier said:
Keep in mind that UHF which includes FRS/GMRS is mostly line of sight. Might push thru some trees, but intervening hills are a show stopper.

That's why serious GMRS uses a tall tower base station.

ht tp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Mobile_Radio_Service

"...As for other UHF radio services, reliable range is considered to be line-of-sight and the distance to the radio horizon can be estimated based on antenna height. Theoretically, the range between two hand-held units would be about one or two miles (about one and a half to three km); mobile units have higher antennas and a range of around 5 miles (8 km). A GMRS repeater with an antenna that is high above the surrounding terrain can extend the usable range over a wide area – for example, up to a 20-mile radius around the repeater station.[5] Obstructions such as hills and buildings can reduce range. Higher power does not necessarily give a proportional increase in range, although it may improve the reliability of communication at the limits of line-of-sight distance."

VHF otoh can get bounce from the ionosphere, which is helpful when you're battling intervening hills.
Click to expand...


Hello thread resurrection! What's the repeater-for-dummies instructions on purchasing and setting up a repeater. Specifically, I have a cabin that I hunt out of and use gmrs radios. Would like to extend their pathetic range to at least 10 miles. I have a useless tv antennae mounted if that helps...
 
I am getting one of those Baofeng UV-5R radios as well.

The reviews for the most part are favorable just remember these are not 500.00 units but are still better than London Drugs FRS radios for 40.00.

Randy
 
Just got a quick question here guys. So with this Baofeng UV-5R can I add my own frequencies so I could talk with people on other motorola radios?
 
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