Communications -what do you use?

[Mad Maxx]

Gearwhine previously posted:

[Trevor?]

I was poking around the FCC submissions for that radio this morning. Looks like it only puts out 738mW on channels 1-7, and 15-22 (legal limit 2W), and 148 on 8-14 (legal limit 500mW). Yet, all of the reviews seem to say its got great range, great durability, long battery life, and it's loud.

So for $95 one might imagine they spent some money on the case design for durability and water resistance, and maybe the battery, but at that power level with people complementing its range then its plausible they spent some of that money on a particularly sensitive receiver for an FRS radio. Unfortunately the internal photos on the FCC submission do not provide enough clarity to read the labels on the chips.

If you're going to make a budget radio then I think it makes sense to skimp on the receiver, but crank up the power and promote it. It seems like the market is flooded with cheap FRS radios so maybe these folks figured spending some money on the guts could have a niche.

Now that's a lot of speculation. They could also just dump a ton of that money into marketing and figure the alpine climber/skier is willing to pay that amount. People in their target market may be in more advantageous terrains... lots of large hard surfaces for beneficial reflections of your signal...

[Jim]

That it's loud could sell a bunch right there!

[TDash]

speedkills previously posted:

[Java]

I have this for trail runs, from vehicle to vehicle it's loud and clear. Not super loud, but loud enough and the whole thing is the size of some handheld mics. It announces the channel you're on when you turn the switch, and if you program it you can make it do that in Mandarin.
https://www.retevis.com/rt67-long-ba...34AX1-C9200AX1

[Max]

Some good info on GMRS on this page. Disregard the title, it's not just about getting the license.

https://theprepared.com/blog/why-and...a-gmrs-license

[Max]

Pro tip: if you have a handheld radio, you can bring it with you outside of your rig. That way you can still communicate with other rigs on the trail when you're walking around.

[JGRubicon]

So, I assume GMRS was what everyone was using today?

[Max]

In our group we were using a GMRS frequency, yes. 462.6875MHz

[JGRubicon]

Good thing we installed those CBs a few years ago.

The GMRS radios do seem to work much better.

[newracer]

My club has used CB for decades. A few years ago a few members got their HAM licenses. We are now considering switching to GMRS.

[Max]

I may just uninstall my CB and put a VHF/UHF radio in it's place. Anyone know if this cable end from the CB will work with a dual band antenna for the new radio? https://www.rightchannelradios.com/p...rering-cb-coax

I gotta say, some of these major ham radio manufacturers have website designed in the 90's. SO bad! Haha

[Mad Maxx]

Max previously posted:

[Max]

I was asking specifically about the Firering connector on the antenna side. It's all one piece, there are pictures in the website I linked. I'm wondering if there's an adapter or something or if I should just get a whole new cable with the NMO end on the antenna side.

[Tom]

Max previously posted:

[Max]

What's your favorite website to get radio equipment? Can you recommend an antenna to start looking at them? I haven't made any decisions or purchases on anything yet. I need all three pieces, radio, cable, antenna.

[newracer]

I do not have any personal experience with them but Rugged Radios seem to be popular.

https://www.ruggedradios.com/pages/jeep

[JGRubicon]

Signed up and submitted my application for a GMRS call sign, hopefully the wait isn't too long and I can start using these when we get back in town in a couple weeks.

Thanks as always for the infromation.

[Tom]

Max previously posted: