BaoFeng dual band handy talkie $29 on amazon act fast (3 Viewers)

[TeddyBoy]

I already know the answer, but what's the report back from having the Baofeng at GSMTR?

Yup, an invaluable tool to have given the nature of GSMTR and Windrock. Dammit, I really wanted to flog on the HAM radio but I really can't. The only issue I have is that it requires a license and it has to be charged every couple of days, aside from that they're incredibly helpful.

Guess I'm gonna have to get an external antennae now to boost the range on out there. Carter had an 18" floppy antennae on his handheld which worked great but I'm thinking hard-mount to the rig.

 

[4xsteve]

It definitely didn't have quite the range I expected - only IRT going through obstacles though, LoS was terrific. I was also usually on narrow band and low TXP since I am not yet licenced either. I think I'll get an external too, one per rig probably so I can "hop" the radio around. I know I'd love the range and ease of use that'd probably come with having a larger, hard-mounted unit, but being able to have it on me was pretty nice a few times. For instance, while Ted would drive on up the trail at an intersection to scout it out, I could walk the other direction and immediately communicate my findings. Doing this instead of having to walk all the way back down, and possibly even up to wherever he'd had already gotten, was very comforting.

And I am still baffled as to how a radio that's more powerful than a CB can have a battery last for sooooo damn long! I think mine lasted for 2.5 days before dying, and even then it was largely because I accidentally left it on overnight.

 

[pillguy]

glad to hear everyone liked them and the ham radio concept. sorry I missed all at gsmtr.

 

[Sam Stewart]

I plan to have one for next year. Looks like all the cool kids are doing it.

 

[TeddyBoy]

That makes Robert and Andrew the original cool kids in our crowd then.

 

[GXO]

I just ordered one. I have wanted to go HAM, and since my CB Tx went out during GSMTR I figured why not?

 

[Sam Stewart]

What's the range like on the little hand held?

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

What's the range like on the little hand held?

If you are trying to hit mountain top repeaters 50 miles is not uncommon.

For the most part it works on line of sight. The more stuff between you and the other radio the weaker the communication. Compared to CB there is no comparison.

 

[TeddyBoy]

What's the range like on the little hand held?

In simplex, which means radio to radio w/o use of repeaters...

I can only speak from this past wkends experience using the included small antennae and it's kinda hard to say for certain but Line of Sight (LoS) was +/- 1.5 miles, once you got back into the terrain that reduced to far less than a mile I'm guessing. Like I said above Carter had an 18" antennae on his and got much better range than I did.

At one point our group of 7 rigs broke up coming down G1 after having run Tr 16, John and Steve took off ahead due to a broken shackle leaving the rest of us to work on a rig with engine problems. By the time they made the black top at the main parking lot we had made it half way down G1 and I could still communicate with Steve. You'd think that would be plenty but I can certainly see the need for an external antennae.

 

[Sam Stewart]

Good to know. I'll probably go ahead and order one. The hand held CB I had was absolutely garbage. Even a truck that was a few feet away couldn't hear me.

 

[GXO]

I saw that firestik makes an external antennae for 2m. May just abandon all hope of CB, install that and add coax to hookup to the handheld and use a mic to talk vs. the unit. Should make it a powerhouse.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

GSMTR 2013 I got separated with a truck that had a fuel leak. I was able to talk to Andy on his built in with my portable on simplex from about 3 miles but that was the absolute max. I think I was up high transmitting down to him at the time.

 

[GXO]

Which simplex frequencies are used most? I have them all in, but was curious.

 

[Sam Stewart]

I added the baofeng to my amazon wish list and got an email from them this morning (you know where they try to get you to buy the stuff...). Anyway, there's a bunch of different ones!!! How do you decide which one to get? Do you guys have a specific model number that you have been getting? Is there a difference that a noob would notice? Does it matter since I will only use it a couple of times a year???

 

[GXO]

I got the 5R. No real reason, but it is dual band, and the one I got is really bright camo

 

[Sam Stewart]

A bunch are listed as 5R, such as the 5RA, 5RB, 5RE, etc.

 

[4xsteve]

I did so much research before I got mine I don't even know where I'd start to tell you everything I found out.

Boils down to this though: If you use the Chirp software (free download) to do all the programming, the programming features on the unit itself aren't as important. Personally, I went with a tad bit nicer and newer model, the UV-82. Main reason being slightly more ease of operation and better form factor (better button/screen layout IMO). http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E4KLY34/?tag=ihco-20 Heck, it's even on sale at about the same price as all the other inexpensive ones. ~$35

 

[Sam Stewart]

I guess the more important question is: What are the most commonly used frequencies? Looks like most of them are 136-174/400-480MHz.

 

[GXO]

If you get a dual band you can hit the simplex ham and "emergency" FRS/GMRS frequencies

 

[TeddyBoy]

Looks like there's a new version of Chirp that claims to now supports Win 7 and 8. I installed on my win 7 pro machine but it still failed. I remember there being a driver for the USB cable on my XP laptop, anyone got a quick link for the driver.

http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Download

John, Nick -- got the channel programming uploaded to your radios successfully on my XP machine. when you get the back make sure you're using Ch. 22 (146.400) for the cove ride.