Radios and coms

[Steven Spaugh]

Quansheng TG-UV2 PLUS 10W Powerfull 5 Bands

You can monitor two frequencies at the same time. Better quality. No…you can’t get five for a buck. Is that how you buy guns? Sure Baofeng works, but it is crap. If you want something of real quality…Yaesu VX-6R

Keep in mind, if you don’t know how to set these up, and don’t really know much more than “push to talk”, you will never get good use out of your equipment. Would you spend money on a firearm and keep it in the box?

You can learn a lot from NC Scout. He teaches RTO. He has a large amount of information on his website. I referred to it in my earlier post. Check it out, or not. You might learn how to make a jungle antenna. You might learn how to get the most out of what you have. Isn’t that why you hang out here????

[Greg Nichols]

Calm down dude. The signal to noise ratio of this thread has been horrific. In 30 responses A) nobody reread Sua's thread before commenting and B) in 30 responses this is the first post suggesting an alternative. Instead of getting butt hurt or spreading irrational fear that the gov gonna git ya. Maybe... just maybe... discuss equipment options and tactics for use.

For fucks sake I thought this was warriortalk not a sewing circle.

[chad newton]

Radio talk.... This is why I have never got into this stuff. It’s way too fucking confusing.... You have to have a mind fuck degree in waki takis....

[Greg Nichols]

To add. This is the third time a we've attempted to have a good discussion on commo thats gone right in the shitter. The first one was so left field specific to HAM that only a few had interest and it died, the second was Sua's thread that got so damn polluted with HAM and hand wringing i had to take the time to either delete the posts or merge them into the stagnant HAM thread.. now we're here again with a thread of little to no content in it for the exact same reasons. Correct it or I'll kill it.

[apamburn]

For whatever it's worth I reviewed Sua's post. But it doesn't answer the OP question which is very broad. Sua's post was mostly focused on layout and config of the baofeng and was very good at that.

Radio talk.... This is why I have never got into this stuff. It’s way too fucking confusing.... You have to have a mind fuck degree in waki takis....

Unfortunately it's not as simple as just buying a shit box baofeng and you're good.

It's not as complicated as some make it though.

But people that are into this domain are often willing to help. I have learned as much as I have needed, but it is just a means to an end to me.

You never did specify: what distances do you want to communicate and what purpose do you want the radios for?

[chad newton]

For whatever it's worth I reviewed Sua's post. But it doesn't answer the OP question which is very broad. Sua's post was mostly focused on layout and config of the baofeng and was very good at that.



Unfortunately it's not as simple as just buying a shit box baofeng and you're good.

It's not as complicated as some make it though.

But people that are into this domain are often willing to help. I have learned as much as I have needed, but it is just a means to an end to me.

You never did specify: what distances do you want to communicate and what purpose do you want the radios for?

Really I just wanted to open up the conversation to learn.... Which I learning.... Patrol oriented stuff, short distance, nothing too crazy. My terrain where I currently live in between two mountain ranges and if need be I could communicate to base(home). Basically get my feet wet and not get arrested for it would be nice. I don’t mind spending a couple hundred a radio if it makes sense to get better quality stuff....

[apamburn]

Really I just wanted to open up the conversation to learn.... Which I learning.... Patrol oriented stuff, short distance, nothing too crazy. My terrain where I currently live in between two mountain ranges and if need be I could communicate to base(home). Basically get my feet wet and not get arrested for it would be nice. I don’t mind spending a couple hundred a radio if it makes sense to get better quality stuff....

Here's what I would recommend then.

VHF radios would probably suit your needs.

Get a couple of baofengs.

Next, check radio reference.com for your area. Pick a frequency not listed there. Use a VHF freq. Again, ask for help if you need it.

Now get a friend and play. Drive away from each other and try to talk. Try inside and outside buildings and cars. In the woods. Etc.

Try programming to listen to public safety radios. Police radios receive on one frequency and transmit on another, and radio reference doesn't publish the transmit freq, so there's probably 0 chance of accidentally squashing a cops transmission, but don't key the mike to be safe.

And that will tell you if VHF does what you need.

If you want to be able to talk to your house buy a desktop radio. They come with more power. You will need to pick out an antenna and some cable and then go play with that too. Mount the antenna on your house or at least hang it out your window. Now try with that. Maybe put in your car instead.

Most likely this will satisfy your needs. If you are concerned with the quality or durability of the baofeng then you will need to dive back in to research other VHF radios. :-)

It will require experimentation and time, but you will start to get the hang of it.

If you end up wanting to program channels on your radio (instead of manually inputting frequencies) get a baofengs programming cable and download CHIRP. It's a free software.

Baofeng hired Satan himself to design the manual programming process. CHIRP is much easier.

And as always there are people here to help answer questions on your journey.

[apamburn]

And the probability of arrest....shouldn't even factor into the equation, unless you somehow interrupt public safety comms and are standing next to a cop or something, which would be really improbable.

I'd recommend to spend the coin on better stuff after you figure out the system, not before.

[Greg Nichols]

Thanks mate. That's content worth a thread.

[Dorkface]

Radio talk.... This is why I have never got into this stuff. It’s way too fucking confusing.... You have to have a mind fuck degree in waki takis....

Its a complicated subject that has a bit of a learning curve. As an example the subject of antennas can get super deep. The antenna is just as important or most so than the radio. Take the baofeng for instance. It comes with a pretty crappy antenna and if someone replaces just that part with a better quality one the performance in regards to signal clarity and send and receive ranges go up. Radios depend on line of sight. If you are standing on the ground the signal will only go so far before either the ground gets in the way, like a hill, or the planet curves and things cant be seen. If you were standing on top of a 10 story building the line of sight would be dramatically different. Its why they put radio towers up on hills or have a 200 foot tall antenna. And that is before even talking about what kind of antenna is being used lol. Omni directional: sends the transmission out in a 360 degree circle or a directional one that only sends it a specific way. For simplicity handhelds come with omni directional ones.

Now take that and apply it to a situation where you might not want everyone to know a transmission has happened. Standing on top of the 10 story building that has a line of sight radios of say 150 miles could be counter productive. Change a few variables being in a city on a 10 story building but your surrounded by a bunch of 20 story buildings. It will do weird things from bouncing some to being absorbed. Most people have stopped at a stoplight in their car and suddenly lost their tunes but then creep forward a few inches and the party starts again.