Anyone want a handheld CB radio?

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GTSSportCoupe

GTSSportCoupe

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Sweatyforehead said:
you should buy em both and keep one as a seperate VI cruisers radio
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I don't feel like dropping $80 on a couple CBs personally. I suppose the club could own one, but technically we'd have to vote on that use of club money.

cruiserpilot said:
How come this over your little hand held radios that we used last time out?
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A lot of the cruiser guys and other 4x4 enthusiast still like to use CB's. I wouldn't mind a CB so I can communicate with them also when we are on wheeling events. True, I do like the FRS radios though.
 
GTSSportCoupe said:
I don't feel like dropping $80 on a couple CBs personally. I suppose the club could own one, but technically we'd have to vote on that use of club money.
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If we could find a bunch of these i'd chip in a share of the cost for the club
 
I agree, you should get them both nic. I installed a permanent one in the 42.
really good to have on the logging roads
 
Crap, they sold before I got to them. Ah well, you snooze you loose. Buyer probably saw my post here and went and bought em, haha.
 
I may have a contact who will be supplying my organization with a few handheld options this year. Some are just simple FRS but better than anything CT/Costco or big box stores carry. They sell for about $40 ea and are 5watt. They have a UHF or VHF version as well for $80 ea I believe. If interested I could get more info. They are imported from China...
 
Thanks for the offer PeeZed!

Personally I own a couple cheap FRS radios, and a VHF/FRS/GMRS 5W radio. So for what I need I'm good. The only reason I wanted to grab a hand held CB was just to make it easier to talk to those members who already have CB.

CB is used less and less as time goes on, so if the club were to adhere to a standard, I don't think I'd suggest we all invest in CB. The VHF/FRS/GMRS radios can be had brand new for $30-40 from China, and are really good little units (I bought the Baofeng UV5r, which is a popular radio here on mud). Nice thing is they can be used to tune into industrial (logging) frequencies, as well as marine frequencies. Nice in areas of active logging, as you could listen on the VHF frequency for safety reasons, but use the FRS frequencies for chatting with other cruisers.
 
I would like to get a pair of radios like the ones Nick has. Do these radios all share freq?
I don't know anything about them except
Cabela's, Outdoor Outfitters and the like all sell them in pairs for $30-40. Some even seem to have ranges of up to 10 miles, so in a
search and rescue situation, it would be seem feasible to think someone out there would be able to hear you. I see them cheap all
the time down here, but just haven't bothered to get a set.
I have to admit, being able to borrow and use them has proven to be valuable with a large group of trucks.
 
cruiserpilot said:
I would like to get a pair of radios like the ones Nick has. Do these radios all share freq?
I don't know anything about them except
Cabela's, Outdoor Outfitters and the like all sell them in pairs for $30-40. Some even seem to have ranges of up to 10 miles, so in a
search and rescue situation, it would be seem feasible to think someone out there would be able to hear you. I see them cheap all
the time down here, but just haven't bothered to get a set.
I have to admit, being able to borrow and use them has proven to be valuable with a large group of trucks.
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Jon, you can buy those little FRS radios at Canadian Tire as well: http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/home/...ine-phones-two-way-radios/two-way-radios.html They are limited to fairly low power, so although they advertise long distance communication, I don't know that they will really ever achieve their claims. Great little radios for the average cruiser run though. Yes, all the FRS radios talk to each other.

If you wanted something handheld that had more capability, you could pick up the same VHF/FRS/GMRS radio type I have. I can program the channels in for you, as I bought the programmer cable and found software. It can do 5W, where the little Canadian tire radios only do 0.5W. Though technically you're not supposed to exceed 0.5W on FRS anyhow... Anyhow, this is the radio I bought: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Baofeng-New-...Ham-Two-way-Radio-Walkie-Talkie-/221471250529 There are all sorts of colors/sellers/prices on ebay for the same radio, just take your pick.
 
cruiserpilot said:
So what is the range of 5W? I'm thinking west coast mountains, I guess we could test them next time we're out
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Yeah, not totally sure; there are many variables. Basically though, when you get into VHF it's a whole new world. Technically you need an amateur radio license to actually broadcast on VHF. You can learn how to use repeaters etc. to do long distance communication. It gets quite technical. I've seen dash mounted VHF radios that do up to 75W!! Wonder what the range would be on that, haha.

Anyhow, the little UV-5r radios are a big step up from the Canadian Tire FRS models, and have a lot more capability, so thats why I recommended it.

Toshi38 actually knows a lot about these radios also, and pointed me in the right direction with it a couple years ago.
 
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