Posted: 3/17/2012 9:06:21 PM EDT
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Looking into buying a few 2 way radios. Don't want to go over board but at the same time not wanting the cheapo wal-mart midlands either.
Any suggestions? I found a guy in Hot Springs that has some old ASP HT1000's but they only have one channel programmed on them for $54.00. This is just bare radio no battery or antenna. From what I have been able to find these they are real workhorses just a little dated. The software to program them seems to downloadable for free and you would just need a program cable that seems to be very reasonable ($20-$30). |
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Quoted:
Looking into buying a few 2 way radios. Don't want to go over board but at the same time not wanting the cheapo wal-mart midlands either. Any suggestions? I found a guy in Hot Springs that has some old ASP HT1000's but they only have one channel programmed on them for $54.00. This is just bare radio no battery or antenna. From what I have been able to find these they are real workhorses just a little dated. The software to program them seems to downloadable for free and you would just need a program cable that seems to be very reasonable ($20-$30). IMHO, the purpose of the gear will usually give chase to the better comms selections. Who do you want to talk to? What is the terrain and distance? How long do you want to use your radio at a time? What's the budget? FRS work in some situations with no license needed. Move into GMRS, more power, but you are supposed to get a license. HAM tech, to me at least, gets you into the sweet spot, but you are supposed to have your tech ticket. Also, once you get into HAM, the local repeaters come into play. Get your general, and you can to interstate/national/international. Used commercial radios can be good, but once again, they are supposed to be operated under FCC license. IIRC, radios, other than FRS and CB(and marine) require licenses to.... legally..... operate them. IIRC, FRS are about 1/2 watt of power, GMRS are 1w, and most HAM HT's go to about 5 watts. However, the more the power needed, the more juice it sucks up, and the shorter life between re-charging or battery swaps. Off hand, I would suggest getting Yaesu or Icom HT's. My prefference is used FT-60's off of fleabay. I have had good experinces with these radios, but they are not cheap. Even if you do not plan on getting up to the local repeaters now, things may change in the future, where it might be beneficial. It will require a tech ham licnese for each operator to....leagally...operate them.. Just my opinion though... CT |