Posted: 3/30/2012 4:06:34 AM EDT
| What are good hand held radios, going for? And what is recommended? |
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Yeah, we need to know what you are going to use them for, as well as your goals: amateur radio, emergency comms with family...that sort of thing. Are you looking into getting your ham ticket, and what about the people you want to talk to? Do you want to just monitor to know what's going on, or do you want to transmit also?
Sorry about answering your question with questions, but there is no "one size fits all" solution  I have a very specific set of circumstances to communicate with my family, for example, and that set of circumstances has driven my gear selection. My gear would be useless to someone with a different goal.Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Quoted:
I am interested in emergency commo. Seen a hand held on ham radio outlet. This might be a gateway, to some thing new. or it might be search for a ui-corn Here is a similar thread that is as recent as yours as mentioned there, I dig the Wouxun. Also, I'd be remiss if I failed to mention the stickies at the top of the page! most esp "the Can't Fail.....& Ham 101" threads...welcome in! |
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Quoted:
I am interested in emergency commo.
Who do you want to communicate with? And that right there is the crux of all of our questions
NightStalker, my apology again for all of the questions. We're not trying to be jerks, or snobs, or anything at all like that. It's just that your question is hard to answer without context. Let me give you an idea of what I've done for emergency comms in an effort to explain why context is needed: A few years ago I decided that I needed a way to stay in touch with friends, family, and get information no matter what. After dealing with a few prolonged power outages and ice storms I realized just how fragile our communication infrastructure can be. Long story short I studied for and passed my tech and general ham license exams, got my license, and got on the air. I had a lot of fun talking to people around the state on FM repeaters, and once I had that figured out I started to reach out and talk to people all over the country-and eventually around the world. All was well in CJan world except for one small detail: my wife and daughter had absolutely ZERO interest in getting licensed-so all of my beautiful new ham radio gear wasn't going to do me an iota of good if I needed to talk to them. Since I still had a need for backup communications with my girls I looked into General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS). All of those Motorola Talkabout "bubblepack" radios that you see at BestBuy and WalMart are on GMRS frequencies. I did some research, and found out that I could get an FCC license for GMRS that didn't require a test, and most importantly covered all family living under my roof (Eureka!!  ). Well, I got my license and then bought some of those bubblepack radios from BestBuy. It didn't take me long to realize that the "18 mile range" they boldly advertise on the package is laughable at best. It's a flat out LIE-unless you are transmitting line-of-sight from mountaintop to mountaintop. Those radios were lucky to reach ¼ to ½ mile in *ideal* conditions. I then proceeded to spend a stupid amount of money searching for the holy grail-a GMRS handheld that actually had decent range.
After spending an obscene amount of money on consumer grade crap gear, I finally wised up and started looking into commercial land mobile radio (LMR) equipment. Commercial LMR gear is the same stuff that police, firefighters, and other public safety personnel use. Commercial LMR gear is durable, more powerful, and has many more features than any sort of consumer grade radio you can buy at Radio Shack, BestBuy etc. These days I maintain two completely different sets of radio gear: My ham radio gear allows me to communicate around the block or around the world, and my LMR GMRS gear allows me to stay in touch with family and friends. My LMR gear is also programmed to be backwards compatible with anyone who has a GMRS "bubblepack" radio. That backwards interoperability is extremely important to me, because lots of people I know own bubblepack radios. After the 1998 ice storm my neighbors and I used bubblepack radios constantly to stay in touch and help each other. In a (very simplified) nutshell, here is how the different types of radio break down: Ham: Most versatile by far, and good for communication around the block or around the planet with the right equipment. A license is required to transmit, and anyone you speak to must also have a license. The right gear allows for wide band receive and shortwave listening. Well worth the effort-you can get information and communicate no matter what. GMRS: General Mobile Radio Service. Short range UHF communication (a few miles with good commercial gear), but range can be extended by using repeaters. An $85 FCC license is required, and license covers all family living under your roof. My local GMRS repeater has emergency autopatch functionality, so in an emergency I can use my GMRS radios to make phone calls-assuming the repeater and land lines are still operational. MURS: Multi Use Radio Service. Short range (a few miles with good commercial gear) but no license required. Transmitters limited to two watts, so having a good antenna is paramount. FRS: Family Radio Service. Short range UHF communication. No license required, but transmitters are required to have fixed antennas, and are limited in power to ½ watt. There are others (Citizen's band, Business band etc) but the four I outlined are the most common aside from CB
This is my ham radio "shack". I can use it to put a signal virtually anywhere: 
And contrary to what my wallpaper says, it's not really Jedi's fault. ARFcommer AR_Jedi is the de facto scapegoat for all equipment costs on this forum-it's sort of an ongoing joke here. In all actuality, many of us (myself included) wouldn't be where we are today if it weren't for Jedi's expertise and absolute generosity with his time. Here is a fairly recent insurance pic of some of the commercial LMR gear that I use on the GMRS band to communicate with my family and friends: 
I'm an Icom guy as you can see, but Yaesu, Kenwood, and Alinco also make good gear. Motorola and Vertex Standard are huge players in the commercial LMR market. I sincerely hope this helps explain some of your options. The tacked threads at the top of this forum are a great place to start, and you won't find a more helpful group of people anywhere than the folks here. Good luck
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Sorry for the for the dumb questions. I am looking for allteritive commo. Besides the Hand held Maxum CB s I have and the other radios I think they are the family radio network. They are for none secure traffic. The CB's would be more secure. And th Ham portable would be the safe way to go. To monitor emergency tarnsmissions. I am not looking for a late night hobby. I know about Shortwave, and have a SW receiver. So am I wrong in thinking a hand held would be the way to go? I think they are two meter. What ever that is?
Regards Ron |
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Quoted:
Sorry for the for the dumb questions. I am looking for allteritive commo. Besides the Hand held Maxum CB s I have and the other radios I think they are the family radio network. They are for none secure traffic. The CB's would be more secure. And th Ham portable would be the safe way to go. To monitor emergency tarnsmissions. I am not looking for a late night hobby. I know about Shortwave, and have a SW receiver. So am I wrong in thinking a hand held would be the way to go? I think they are two meter. What ever that is? Regards Ron You're on the right path Ron
"Two meter" refers to the frequency band of the radio. A 2-meter HT transmits on 144-148MHz. A "70 cm" HT transmits on the 440MHz UHF ham band. If you are looking for an HT (handy talkie) that can transmit and receive on the widest number of bands, I believe a Yaesu would probably be your best bet. I'll defer that question to the Yaesu experts  Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Ham Radio Outlet has the Yetsau 250 on sale. Or should I go with the f 60r . Or would I ever notice the difference
The Yaesu FT-250R only transmits on 2 meters, while the Yaesu FT-60R transmits on 2 meters and 70 centimeters. The FT-250R only receives from 140 to 174 MHz, while the FT-60R receives from 108-520 MHz and 700-999.99 MHz. So the FT-60R wins on transmit and receive coverage. I happen to own one.
I would like to monitor the traffic.
A scanner would be another option then. You can get an idea what frequencies might be in use by visiting the K5EHX amateur radio repeater search engine. Just plug your ZIP code into the Geo Search box and click the Go button. |
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FT60r for the win!
If you want 2m and 70cm TX/RX and 108-520 Mhz and 700-999.99Mhz RX coverage. If you want to monitor only then a scanner is what you want. Handheld covers a LOT of territory. There is even a 75m handheld radio that is available. Magnum makes the Magnum 10-12 that covers 10 and 12 meters. |
ymmv
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Would Ham Radio for Dummies, be a good start?
I always liked ARRL's materials: ARRL Ham Radio License Manual. You can take practice exams at eham.net. |