What kind of 2-way radios do you use hunting in the bush?

KDubya

KDubya

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How much did you pay for them, what kind of range have you gotten them to work at in the woods, what do you like / dislike about them?

If this has been beat to death elsewhere on CGN, please point me to it and accept my apologies!

Cheers -

KDubya
 
Motorola's
Cheap, (maybe$ 40/pair) easy to use, decent range (about 3k), some guys use AA batteries (me) some guys have the rechargable ones they put on a docking station at night
 
Get a couple 5 watters from 'thesicilian' on CGN. Programable VHF. Laws apply but you can review and comply. 10 times the radio as the little motorolas.
 
Even cheap motorola's work better than Cobra's and Uniden's in use by our hunt club. Everyone has switched to motorolas. The others work OK for the first year or two then turn to crapp after being exsposed to minor drops and moisture exsposure.
If you hunt in areas with a lot of Hills and valleys you may have some issues and may have to get dedicated single chanel radios
 
Garmin Rhino's

It is AWESOME being able to see *exactly* where everyone is on the map, especially considering the area we hunt is an hour from the closest road and huge.

We spend waaaay less time waiting for lost guys now. It's just a matter of saying "Head N around that lake and then walk west to my symbol on your screen"
 
Wrong Way,
How good is the radio on the Rino? It looks like a good unit but at $800 plus for a pair, I'd want to be sure I couldn't do better buying a GPS and separate high quality radios.

Thanks -

KDubya
 
Hypothetically speaking, if you were to get the American version.....the radio's would be five watts and outstanding for GMRS/FRS.....hypothetically ;)

Also, you don't have to get the 500 series, even the cheap ones will have the same radio and will GPS interact with the others, they just arent as fancy when it comes to features in the GPS/etc.
 
Hypothetically speaking, Wrong Way is very correct. US radio's are much more powerful. We use Midlands and anything (US) above the 500 series is a true 5 watt radio. Never expect to get the distance that they advertise but with our 5 watt midlands, (If we had them) we get about 5 miles decently in the far northwest of Ontario. You can get them on sale for about 40 bucks per radio and for that price you get a 3 year warranty. We had expensive VHF radios but these were cheaper than getting just batteries and the range was just as good. I still have 5 good Kenwood VHF's and one non functional and never use them.
 
I have the US version of the Garmin Rino. I like it, but its a bit bulky for a radio. The lithium ion battery is the main reason, and its great for lasting. I loaded a topo map into mine and its very handy. The see the other guy feature seems to require the other guy to intentionally transmit. They should have made it send an update at programmed intervals without having to key the mike.
 
Another garmin rino user here. Its great to see your friend's location, but you can also send a gps waypoint with a note. ie. saw a bull moose *there*. That way, communication can be silent, and everyones location is known to everyone else.
 
Not sure how yu'all are using your Rino's.
I just bump the talk button and it shows up on the other.
Neat feature is the ability to supress the beeeeeep on the units.
 
kamlooky said:
Not sure how yu'all are using your Rino's.
I just bump the talk button and it shows up on the other.
Neat feature is the ability to supress the beeeeeep on the units.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's all it takes. But getting the other guys to do it can be a problem. I see them where they were an hour ago because they don't. Too bad the radio didn't have an option for automatic updates, then it would occur without them remembering to do it.
 
Grizzlypeg said:
Yeah, that's all it takes. But getting the other guys to do it can be a problem. I see them where they were an hour ago because they don't. Too bad the radio didn't have an option for automatic updates, then it would occur without them remembering to do it.
Click to expand...

Last time I used this option, my buddies wife was walking through some
mirey/swampy chit up north and I clicked her and she clicked me.
There was a faint dotted trail where she walked on my screen.
Need to explore this option some more.
 
That sounds cool Kamlooky. I haven't experienced that. It might be because everyone else I've communicated with had the 100 series and mine is the 500 series. Maybe theirs doesn't upload tracks? Or maybe its an option you toggle. There is a lot in the menu options under every category.
 
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