Best handheld long range radios?

[carpsniperg2]

I know nothing about radios but in need of a good set.

I need a good long range set that is easy to use, not to huge and easy to fit in a pack.

Let me know your thoughts

[Boss .300 winmag]

🤔

[Magnum_Willys]

Like marine vhf stuff ?   We don't use anything but Rhino's for hunting (where radios are allowed that is) - its just too handy seeing everyones position on the screen to fool with anything else and radio strength is pretty good 1 to 5 miles I would say depending on terrain.  But yea stupid expensive for just a radio.    I also use it as a backup gps to the iphone.    Caveat - the newer ones that charge by USB can take forever to charge - had two and both super slow???  Hope they fixed that.  I have to take battery out and put in an older style broken phone I use just to charge to charge. Don't throw those old rhinos away !

[shmacker]

+1 on the rino

[Russ McDonald]

As Willy said max range on any radios is going to be 1-5 miles depending on terrain.  They all operate on line of site and no more than 2 watts.  Any packaging that says more range than that is full of it.  The only way you will get that is one person sitting on a high ridge talking to people below.

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[MADMAX]

+1 on the rino

+2 Rino
Had mine since 2009

[ghosthunter]

+3 Rhinos

[Boss .300 winmag]

Sat phone.😉

[Bob33]

I've used quite a few different FRS and GMRS radios including Motorola, Midland, Audiovox, Cobra and several iterations of the Garmin Rino radios. My experience is that none work very well in dense canopy with hills: 1/2 to 1 mile distances in difficult situations is not uncommon. All of them work well ridgetop to ridgetop: ten miles or more is possible. None of them work at 36 miles unless they're on the moon.

[carpsniperg2]

Thanks guys. I have heard the rhinos are great. I went and looked and the rhino I looked at on amazon had a lot of bad reviews mostly about the battery.

So if anyone has links to the better ones that would be great.

I am not expecting to much from it. Terrain is blended with some steep hills and canyons. 1 to 2 miles would be nice but I get that it depends a lot with where you are at.

[gee_unit360]

Thanks guys. I have heard the rhinos are great. I went and looked and the rhino I looked at on amazon had a lot of bad reviews mostly about the battery.

So if anyone has links to the better ones that would be great.

I am not expecting to much from it. Terrain is blended with some steep hills and canyons. 1 to 2 miles would be nice but I get that it depends a lot with where you are at.

You’re not gonna have problems with the batteries on the rhino’s unless you’re on the radio constantly all day. They also sell extra lithium ion and double A battery packs if your worried. I’ve had my rhino for 5 years and never ran out of battery.

[HntnFsh]

Thanks guys. I have heard the rhinos are great. I went and looked and the rhino I looked at on amazon had a lot of bad reviews mostly about the battery.

So if anyone has links to the better ones that would be great.

I am not expecting to much from it. Terrain is blended with some steep hills and canyons. 1 to 2 miles would be nice but I get that it depends a lot with where you are at.

You’re not gonna have problems with the batteries on the rhino’s unless you’re on the radio constantly all day. They also sell extra lithium ion and double A battery packs if your worried. I’ve had my rhino for 5 years and never ran out of battery.

Agree with the longevity of the batteries. They last a long time.

[Bob33]

Thanks guys. I have heard the rhinos are great. I went and looked and the rhino I looked at on amazon had a lot of bad reviews mostly about the battery.

So if anyone has links to the better ones that would be great.

I am not expecting to much from it. Terrain is blended with some steep hills and canyons. 1 to 2 miles would be nice but I get that it depends a lot with where you are at.

Screen brightness setting has a pretty significant effect on battery life. I keep mine on a low setting when not in use and have no issue with battery life.

[carpsniperg2]

Good deal that’s why I like to ask instead of trusting online reviews.

[KFhunter]

I've often wondered if everyone had a garmin inreach, and texted one another, if that would work good enough?

Might be too slow on the send/recieve texts though.

[KFhunter]

Rinos are heavy too

I quit carrying mine, just use handheld because no one else is using rinos in my group.  So why pack it?

[Magnum_Willys]

I've often wondered if everyone had a garmin inreach, and texted one another, if that would work good enough?

Might be too slow on the send/recieve texts though.

Sometimes mine works fine, other times there is a signifcant lag - like 5 mins to even 5 hours.  Its a backup when out of range of radio but not good for primary - at least for us.

[KFhunter]

Ya mine lags too, I just wondered if anyone sent messages to another inReach - if the lag was compounded  (30 min send + 30 min recieve)

I've never heard of InReach to InReach coms.

[Bob33]

Ya mine lags too, I just wondered if anyone sent messages to another inReach - if the lag was compounded  (30 min send + 30 min recieve)

I've never heard of InReach to InReach coms.

It could be compounded. It can take 20 to 30 minutes for an Irridium satellite to be within sight on the sender and vice versa for the recipient. In open terrain the messages are transmitted quickly but it is rarely instant like cellular texts.

 From Garmin:
"The next time the inReach device connects to the Iridium satellite network the device will receive the reply."

[thinkingman]

I have grown pretty frustrated with Motorola, Midland and Cobra consumer grade radios.
I went on Amazon and looked at the cheap 4 fer $50 radios with good reviews and bought a set.
They work great, no frills, definitely no 'cool' factor.
Good batteries, same, if not better range than the name brands that cost 3x as much.

Ansoko long-range walkie talkies.

[Sakko300wsm]

ICOM VHF

[Russ McDonald]

ICOM VHF

Great for ham radio to public non licensed FRS frequencies in the VHF band anymore.  FRS is all in the UHF range.

[Houndhunter]

I use garmin inreach, works well and no noise factor .

[pianoman9701]

Rino. Old guys hunting together - good item to have.

[Alex4200]

One other thing to consider. All of the different consumer grade radios may have the same channels but the filtering components of the different manufacturers are not necessarily compatible. You can talk to a Motorola radio with a say Midland radio at close range. But at longer distances, not so much. As long as everyone in your group is using the same brand, distances are much better. If you have a different manufacturer radio than your buddies, you will be limited on the range you can talk to them.

[carpsniperg2]

Great info guys.

[Magnum_Willys]

Great for ham radio to public non licensed FRS frequencies in the VHF band anymore.  FRS is all in the UHF range.
[/quote]

Whatz that mean?   Can my buddies and I buy a vhf marine type radio and use for longer range talking without the coastguard locking us up ?

[Russ McDonald]

Great for ham radio to public non licensed FRS frequencies in the VHF band anymore.  FRS is all in the UHF range.

Whatz that mean?   Can my buddies and I buy a vhf marine type radio and use for longer range talking without the coastguard locking us up ?
[/quote]No.  You can not use marine band radios anywhere other than on water.

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[thinkingman]

One other thing to consider. All of the different consumer grade radios may have the same channels but the filtering components of the different manufacturers are not necessarily compatible. You can talk to a Motorola radio with a say Midland radio at close range. But at longer distances, not so much. As long as everyone in your group is using the same brand, distances are much better. If you have a different manufacturer radio than your buddies, you will be limited on the range you can talk to them.

Yup...Frustrating as hell to not be able to pair radios from different manufacturers.

[ALLTERRAIN]

Several In our group are using the rino’s, trying the inreach mini this year also. What no one has brought up is with the garmin battery and other lithium’s is to make sure they’re fully charged when you go to store them during the off season. Less then 25% charge when stored, you’ll be buying a new battery!!

[Caseyd]

I use a BCA Link radio. Have heard decent things about the Ride 208 radios (they import then program etc).