hand helds

[punisher1130]

I already have a CB for my truck but was thinking of a hand held radio for when I park the truck and go for a hike and was wondering what would be best to carry between a ham or a CB or if there is a better option. The main use I and looking for is 1 for weather and 2 emergency. I can find good deals on hand held hams but hand held CB's seem to be harder to find with a good deal. Any info I could use?

 

[Frdmskr]

Ham is the better option UNLESS your group has a specific preference, I.e. No one else is a ham.

A reliable and simple HT is the FT60. Some SAR teams I know really recommend them due to ease of use. If you want to try tracking then a THD72a is preferred over the VX8DR since the Yaesu GPS is slow and a power hog.

I am no fan of the cheap Chinese stuff due to unreliability. YMMV however. Some get those so they can chuck them when they break. I'd rather not use a disposable radio to save my life tyvm.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[punisher1130]

Yeah I agree, reliability is a must no ifs ands or buts, well that and battery longevity, radio is useless if it doesn't hold a charge lol. I have no problems getting 2 different radios, I can get the ham for solo runs but as far as the group part goes, yeah I haven't found a group I can run with yet since I got to get a couple things handled before I jump into this, plus I'm using this time to try and collect the gear needed as well. For tracking I actually have an app on my phone that really does work without data or signal (did the test my self and it still works) and it does everything the hand held GPS's do, even a SOS feature but I didn't really test that one, just tested to see if the app would work in general.

 

[pawleyk]

Here's my vote for the cheap Chinese stuff..

http://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-UV-5R...8&qid=1459218851&sr=8-1&keywords=baofeng+uv5r

I've got a couple of these little BaoFeng's and really like them. A lot of the guys in our local SAR teams are switching to these from the surplus Kenwood's we'd been using. Sure they aren't as tough, but the batteries do last forever and for the weight (and certainly cost) I can carry two to three of these things (I don't) compared to the Kenwood and it's extra battery.

I find them pretty easy to use, but I think they are quite different in setup from traditional HAM sets. They don't manually program/adjust the same as my Yaseu at all. I got a cable to go with them from Amazon as well and just program in all the settings I need from my desktop.

 

[pugslyyy]

A side benefit of the Baofeng is that it can be easily programmed for FRS bands, so if you are with a group that is using FRS it is easy to accommodate them and *AHEM* monitor but not transmit, since transmitting would be bad.

It can also be programmed to use emergency bands (or so I've heard).

 

[punisher1130]

Lol that's the one I was looking at before I made this post, good price, good reviews and a good amount sold it seemed like a good deal to me. Yes pugslyyy it would be bad, I did read up on that, but if I am in a S.O.S. situation I'll deal with the 5-0 after they save my *** lol.

 

[4x4junkie]

My vote for cheap Chinese is this:
http://www.amazon.com/Baofeng-GT-3-Dual-Band-Transceiver-Black-Orange/dp/B00GCZVXPI
Yeah it's $10 less cheap than the one above, but having a somewhat sort-of decent receiver I think is very worth $10.

There's also an 8-watt version, though it may be debatable whether 4 extra watts is worth another $13 on top of the $10 already...
http://www.amazon.com/GT-3TP-Mark-III-Tri-Power-Transceiver-Upgraded/dp/B00T5UVSIY

I've had a couple of the 8-watt ones for about half a year now (got a combo deal on them for ~$40 each). They definitely are solid little units even for 1½× the price. No problems to report with them yet (well one did have low TX audio upon arrival, but was promptly sent a replacement that's been fine).



As for CB handhelds, best one seems to be the Midland 75-822 (has fairly decent audio quality). A problem with all CB handhelds is their short rubber antennas are not even remotely efficient at the long 11m wavelength of 27MHz. Consequently you cannot reliably expect more than about ¼ - ½ mile range unless you attach a huge 5 foot or taller antenna to it.

If you're looking for license-free options, I would suggest MURS or FRS. Both will handily out-distance a hand-held 27MHz CB (with better audio clarity too), however they generally won't out-distance two good CB setups that are hard-mounted in vehicles.

 

[Rando]

Carrying a hand held for weather radio is a good idea and works well. It is probably reason enough to get one of the cheapo Baofeng HT's, and it it the main reason I carry one. However, carrying a VHF/UHF or CB radio for an emergency might be a false sense of security. At least around here (mountains, lower population density), the chance of being able to raise someone on an HT at any given time and place is really not that good. It would be one thing if you are an avid Ham, and have all the repeaters programmed in for the area you will be traveling in, know the normal simplex channels, maybe know the emergency frequencies etc, but if you just want something to throw in your backpack, it is not the right tool. You would be much better off to get a SPOT/In Reach/PLB, which just work no matter what.

On another note, I would consider risk of not being able make a contact to far out weigh the risk of a cheaper radio not working.

 

[punisher1130]

My vote for cheap Chinese is this:
http://www.amazon.com/Baofeng-GT-3-Dual-Band-Transceiver-Black-Orange/dp/B00GCZVXPI
Yeah it's $10 less cheap than the one above, but having a somewhat sort-of decent receiver I think is very worth $10.

There's also an 8-watt version, though it may be debatable whether 4 extra watts is worth another $13 on top of the $10 already...
http://www.amazon.com/GT-3TP-Mark-III-Tri-Power-Transceiver-Upgraded/dp/B00T5UVSIY

I've had a couple of the 8-watt ones for about half a year now (got a combo deal on them for ~$40 each). They definitely are solid little units even for 1½× the price. No problems to report with them yet (well one did have low TX audio upon arrival, but was promptly sent a replacement that's been fine).



As for CB handhelds, best one seems to be the Midland 75-822 (has fairly decent audio quality). A problem with all CB handhelds is their short rubber antennas are not even remotely efficient at the long 11m wavelength of 27MHz. Consequently you cannot reliably expect more than about ¼ - ½ mile range unless you attach a huge 5 foot or taller antenna to it.

If you're looking for license-free options, I would suggest MURS or FRS. Both will handily out-distance a hand-held 27MHz CB (with better audio clarity too), however they generally won't out-distance two good CB setups that are hard-mounted in vehicles.

I do have a hard mouth CB for my truck, its a Galaxy DX949 my grandfather gave me, all I need for it is the antenna, antenna mouth and the wire and it will be up and running so I am covered there. The hand held is for when I get to base and go for a hike or if I'm surveying the area I am in.

 

[punisher1130]

Carrying a hand held for weather radio is a good idea and works well. It is probably reason enough to get one of the cheapo Baofeng HT's, and it it the main reason I carry one. However, carrying a VHF/UHF or CB radio for an emergency might be a false sense of security. At least around here (mountains, lower population density), the chance of being able to raise someone on an HT at any given time and place is really not that good. It would be one thing if you are an avid Ham, and have all the repeaters programmed in for the area you will be traveling in, know the normal simplex channels, maybe know the emergency frequencies etc, but if you just want something to throw in your backpack, it is not the right tool. You would be much better off to get a SPOT/In Reach/PLB, which just work no matter what.

On another note, I would consider risk of not being able make a contact to far out weigh the risk of a cheaper radio not working.

See and that's info I could really use, my ultimate goal is to disappear in the southern mountains ( Georgia, Tennessee, ect.) as a get away and the only thing I knew about was there was a channel for weather and a channel for emergency. Any suggestions for handhelds good for emergency's in mountains that are affordable?

 

[pugslyyy]

See and that's info I could really use, my ultimate goal is to disappear in the southern mountains ( Georgia, Tennessee, ect.) as a get away and the only thing I knew about was there was a channel for weather and a channel for emergency. Any suggestions for handhelds good for emergency's in mountains that are affordable?

I'm a believer in the Delorme inReach. Since part of my travel goals is to camp in areas without cell phone reception, it is the one device that gives me reliable 2-way comms wherever I am in the world.

 

[punisher1130]

Any specific model? I see there are a few different ones but is there one that is less than $250? I am working on a tight budget and those are more expensive than the Garmin's.

 

[Rando]

If you are really interested in emergency only communications - SPOT is a cheaper option. It is oneway only (you can send messages but not receive), but you can find gen 1 or gen 2 units for ~$100 and the service is $150 per year.

 

[RobRed]

I realize everyone likes to save a buck but if you are relying on your comms for an emergency then maybe consider a multi tier approach. HAM, SPot or other combinations of devices / services.

Back to the HH question The beofengs are awesome right up to the point they are not. I've had 3 UV5R. Each has had issues making them useless. Even when working the audio quality, intermodulation distortion and frequency drift were not acceptable. I'm not an isolated user with issues. I've led several trips with groups of 10+ vehicles and each time there is at least one beofeng user... with issues. I'm sure you'll find plenty of advocates (this thread included) but I would recommend something of higher quality.

Our Comm stack: Cell Phone, HAM radio, SAT Phone, PLB

 

[punisher1130]

If you are really interested in emergency only communications - SPOT is a cheaper option. It is oneway only (you can send messages but not receive), but you can find gen 1 or gen 2 units for ~$100 and the service is $150 per year.

Is there any options that I don't have to pay to use? If not cant the SPOT be operated in a way that I only pay when I need it ( meaning I turn it on before I head out)? It doesn't say on the site.