breid1970 327 Posted August 2, 2013 Report Share Posted August 2, 2013 The wife and I are looking for a set of survival radios. Here are a few of the must haves. 1. Water resistent. 2 25 mile range minimum. 3. rechargeable via solar, crank, or usb (so if it uses rechargeable batteries as long as I can recharge them via said ways I'm good.) 4. easily programmable for security reasons. 5. Under a hundred bucks. 6. able to use ear jack would be a plus. thanks in advance guys. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spartacus 1,619 Posted August 2, 2013 Report Share Posted August 2, 2013 (edited) Just my opinion, but the FRS "bubble pack" radios are crap. Signal is usually only good within a block or so regardless of those "35 mile" range claims. They are not much better than the CB walkie-talkies we used to play with as kids. There are some very cheap ($45 or so) Chinese made ham/commercial radios that work much better. They are 4 watts in power vs. 1/3 watt or whatever the old walkie-talkies were. The only drawback is that you need at least a ham tech license to use one legally on the 2m/70cm ham bands. That only takes a few evenings of memorizing test questions and a $15 test fee. Not difficult. I suggest you do read up on the legal use of the radio though, you definitely can get in serious legal trouble if you are stupid with the radio. I have a Baofeng UV-5R and it works well. You'll want to get a better antenna, add-on AA battery pack, ext. microphone, car antenna, 12v adapter ... that's about it for a solid setup. Around $100 per radio with all of the accessories. Oh.... be sure to get a programming cable for the computer too.... absolute requirement. The radio is capable of being programmed from the built-in keypad, but forget it, you go nuts. Super easy with the cable and free software though. You just need one cable for as many radios as you want. I do recommend getting the UV-5R instead of any of the similar models. Most of the accessories will fit the UV-5R and may not fit the similar models. There are better ham "HT" radios out there, but the cheap Chinese radios are an amazing deal and work pretty well. Also, just FYI...... the UV-5R does also cover the weather band as well as many local fire/police, public service and even the FRS and marine frequencies. The radio is capable of transmitting on those frequencies so be careful to stay legal. It would NOT be legal to use this radio on those frequencies regardless of ham license or not. It's completely legal to listen to any frequency it receives though with no license at all. Here's the Yahoo group for the UV-5R http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baofeng_uv5r/ Edited August 3, 2013 by Spartacus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
avnate 335 Posted August 2, 2013 Report Share Posted August 2, 2013 Another vote for the Baofeng UV-5R. We have two programmed for SHTF. Easy to use and works with accessories. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunman1 1,753 Posted August 2, 2013 Report Share Posted August 2, 2013 I have two programed and in watertight plastic boxes, in the go bag. You might also want to check out this thread http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/topic/83261-any-hamcb-operators-here/page-1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
breid1970 327 Posted August 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 How are they charged. Or rather recharged. And are they easy to use. Plus, can I broadcast and receive with out passing some test. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dad2142Dad 6,559 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 You can get small portable solar panels to charge radios, phones etc. Just make sure you get the car charger cable with the set you do get. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spartacus 1,619 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 (edited) How are they charged. Or rather recharged. And are they easy to use. Plus, can I broadcast and receive with out passing some test. The radio has a rechargeable battery pack that slides onto the back of the case and it comes with a desk charger. I bought an AA battery pack for $10 and a 12V battery eliminator for the car for $12. There is also a huge rechargeable pack available that doubles the size and weight of the radio. Battery life on the radio is excellent though, many hours depending on how much you transmit. You can't LEGALLY transmit with the radio without a license. Also, the radio is not LEGAL to transmit on FRS at all because it's too powerful and not FCC certified for FRS use. In a SHTF situation, most people will not be too concerned with legalities of hand held radio use. I feel obligated to mention said legalities though. Edited August 3, 2013 by Spartacus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
avnate 335 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 You can't LEGALLY transmit with the radio without a license. Also, the radio is not LEGAL to transmit on FRS at all because it's too powerful and not FCC certified for FRS use. In a SHTF situation, most people will not be too concerned with legalities of hand held radio use. I feel obligated to mention said legalities though. In SHTF the FCC would be the last of my worries or things I'm thinking about. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
unclejake 428 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 You can't LEGALLY transmit with the radio without a license. Also, the radio is not LEGAL to transmit on FRS at all because it's too powerful and not FCC certified for FRS use. In a SHTF situation, most people will not be too concerned with legalities of hand held radio use. I feel obligated to mention said legalities though. In SHTF the FCC would be the last of my worries or things I'm thinking about. Amen to that! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spartacus 1,619 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 You can't LEGALLY transmit with the radio without a license. Also, the radio is not LEGAL to transmit on FRS at all because it's too powerful and not FCC certified for FRS use. In a SHTF situation, most people will not be too concerned with legalities of hand held radio use. I feel obligated to mention said legalities though. In SHTF the FCC would be the last of my worries or things I'm thinking about. Well ahhh yeah..... I kinda just said that. "In a SHTF situation, most people will not be too concerned with legalities of hand held radio use." 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
breid1970 327 Posted August 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 BaoFeng UV-5R 136-174/400-480 MHz Dual-Band DTMF CTCSS DCS FM Ham Two Way Radio Is this what you guys are talking about? I was under the impression that you can transmit on FMR but not GMR Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spartacus 1,619 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 (edited) Yes that's it. The radio is technically capable of transmitting on FRS/GMRS. It's just not legal to do so. By law, FRS requires low power and non-removable antennas. Unreal what you are getting for 32 bucks shipped now! Edited August 3, 2013 by Spartacus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
apick65 1 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 I would stay away from Midland radios. I have worked for two separate organizations. Both were using Motorola when I got there. Both went to Midland. After 5 years present organization went back to Motorola. Midland has no range even with a repeater and batteries build a "memory" too quickly. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
breid1970 327 Posted August 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 Yes that's it. The radio is technically capable of transmitting on FRS/GMRS. It's just not legal to do so. By law, FRS requires low power and non-removable antennas. Unreal what you are getting for 32 bucks shipped now! We just found a pair with accessories for 72 bucks. As long as long as I can find a way to plug it into my solar radio recharger i will be happy. SHTF situation I want the ability to use solar or hand crank to recharge them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spartacus 1,619 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 Yep, Midland has a wind-up AM/FM/FRS/Weather survival radio. Very cool features...... just gets really bad reviews. No range at all on the FRS. That's the thing with FRS though.... low power, low range by design. Those "35 mile" claims on the bubble pack FRS radios are likely from one mountain top to another in absolutely perfect conditions. Probably 1/4 mile or less in real life. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
breid1970 327 Posted August 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 I have been reading about the Baofeng, it seems there are issues charging with anything less then a car charger or direct wall input. I really want something I can plug into my solar charger. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spartacus 1,619 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 I have been reading about the Baofeng, it seems there are issues charging with anything less then a car charger or direct wall input. I really want something I can plug into my solar charger. Solar chargers are most efficient when charging a 12v battery rather than trying to power devices directly correct? I'd still go with the Baofeng and just figure out the power issue. Just be careful, the Baofeng is not a 12v device, you will smoke it with 12v. You can easily go from 12v to either the car adapter (battery eliminator), or use the desk charger with a small inverter. The inverter is not the efficient way to go though. The other way to go is get the $10 AA battery pack and have a bunch of (solar) rechargeable AA batteries. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
breid1970 327 Posted August 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 Now your talking. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunman1 1,753 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 Now your talking. Hey that's Han lingo you're using there buster Quote Link to post Share on other sites
breid1970 327 Posted August 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 Umm...whoops, what I meant to say was..."Yo homes, I feel you yo. Werd." 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
avnate 335 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 Seems I slept when the UV-B6 came out. Anyone have info on it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spartacus 1,619 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 (edited) Looks like the UV-B6 is very close in specs to the UV-5R. Baofeng puts out a ton of different models with identical specs. I see there's an extra watt of power in the specs, that would be nice. My bet is the power output of both is pretty close. More xmit power means less battery time too though. http://hamcoach.blogspot.com/2013/04/baofeng-uv-b5-and-uv-b6-review.html I'm tempted to try a Wouxun KG-UV2D. It's a bit more expensive than the UV-5R but appears to be a little better quality wise. http://www.wouxun.us/item.php?item_id=216 Edited August 3, 2013 by Spartacus 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XD45 7,124 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 (edited) You can't LEGALLY transmit with the radio without a license. Also, the radio is not LEGAL to transmit on FRS at all because it's too powerful and not FCC certified for FRS use. In a SHTF situation, most people will not be too concerned with legalities of hand held radio use. I feel obligated to mention said legalities though. In SHTF the FCC would be the last of my worries or things I'm thinking about. That's all well and good, but knowing how to use your radio and knowing the hams in your area are pretty damn good reasons to get your license. For gods sake, it's so easy there's just no excuse not to. Ham radios aren't simple on-off devices. There are tons of different settings and adjustments. You can't pick it up for the first time and start communicating. I have the Baofeng UV5R+ Qualette. It's got a wider frequency range and a better antenna than the basic UV5R. For charging things I have a 100W 12V solar power system with 100AH deep cycle battery, and 12V adapters for the things I need to charge. And don't forget the hand-held GPS to go along with the Ham radio. Edited August 3, 2013 by Darth Saigus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spartacus 1,619 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 Yep, good points. Just FYI for those looking at these radios for the first time..... You can get decent performance over a few miles on simplex (Google it) without knowing too much. (and in this sense ham HTs are much better than typical FRS radios) But for a ham HT to be much more useful over longer ranges, you have to know how to use repeaters. Once you understand the offsets and tones, it's not so bad though. Most hams are very willing to help with questions too. With my UV-5R in the back room of my house, I can hit a repeater about 9 miles away and reach a very large multi-county area. The repeaters have very large antennas and can work with the weak signals of the hand held radios. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
slippingaway 89 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 Just ordered one from the amazon link posted, plus the programming cable for $41 total. I don't plan on transmitting until I can get the HAM license tests done. Seems prudent to get this. Called one of my buddies up and told him about it. He was blown away because he was going to order one for himself on payday, and we haven't talked about anything concerning this EVER. Something in the air there, seems like the "mass conscience" consensus is that it's time to gear up, finish prepping up, and wait for the storm to hit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XD45 7,124 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 Yep, good points. Just FYI for those looking at these radios for the first time..... You can get decent performance over a few miles on simplex (Google it) without knowing too much. (and in this sense ham HTs are much better than typical FRS radios) But for a ham HT to be much more useful over longer ranges, you have to know how to use repeaters. Once you understand the offsets and tones, it's not so bad though. Most hams are very willing to help with questions too. With my UV-5R in the back room of my house, I can hit a repeater about 9 miles away and reach a very large multi-county area. The repeaters have very large antennas and can work with the weak signals of the hand held radios. Just don't assume the repeaters will still be up after a grid collapse. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jpanzer 1,265 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 (edited) Hey, I picked up a UV5R a while back. Where can I get the AA battery pack for it? Ebay? Edited August 3, 2013 by Jpanzer Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spartacus 1,619 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 (edited) True about the repeaters maybe dropping in a collapse. The main one I use has a radio room they call "the bunker". It's in the underground concrete enclosed offices of of a retired municipal water facility. Pretty heavy duty. Here's the AA case for the UV-5R: http://www.409shop.com/409shop_product.php?id=109304 If you are going to use the battery case with alkaline batteries, get what they call a "dummy battery" (AA size). Six alkaline batteries is a little over-voltage for the UV-5R and it won't xmit at the high voltage. Six rechargeable batteries work fine since they are a bit less voltage. Edited August 3, 2013 by Spartacus 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XD45 7,124 Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 (edited) 3.8AH battery for the UV5R. It required slight modification to work with the UV5R+ models. More than twice the talk time of the stock battery and makes the radio more comfortable to hold. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ATTVKFQ/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Edited August 3, 2013 by Darth Saigus 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
unclejake 428 Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 Is there a book or a website that someone like me (don't know s#$t about ham) can learn how to use ham radios, frequency, etc? I would love to get into ham but when you don't know anything about it, you have no clue as to where to start. There isn't anyone in my are that deals with it, or that wants to teach a novice (read ignorant wannabe) what to do , step by step. I see a lot of YouTube videos, but most are vague, or over a starters head. Heck, I can't even get my uv-5r programmed, of course, wouldn't know what to do with it if I did, lol. I just hate to want to learn about something and not know where to start. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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