Hunting Washington Forum

Equipment & Gear => All Other Gear => Topic started by: fishingnut71 on January 02, 2012, 03:33:36 PM

Title: 2 way radio?
Post by: fishingnut71 on January 02, 2012, 03:33:36 PM: Im in dire need of a good radio. My motorola is crapin out. Im lookin for good reception and a weather channel. They dont make mine anymore.
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: pianoman9701 on January 02, 2012, 06:04:17 PM: For what do you use it?
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: fishingnut71 on January 04, 2012, 07:04:20 PM: It will be for hunting with buddies and fishing.
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: wraithen on January 04, 2012, 08:18:21 PM: I'm curious as well. I have a set of frgms or whatever I used convoying the wife up here but that's it. They had decent range but that was on highways.
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: fishingnut71 on January 07, 2012, 07:32:40 PM: Nobody uses radios? BS. I hear alot during hunting from everywhere. I need a good radio.
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: wraithen on January 07, 2012, 07:47:07 PM: As far as brands motorola is proven. If you want a little more range the frs gmrs radios go a little farther than normal ones. They WILL NOT go the advertised distance unless you are in a perfect situation which I doubt is possible on planet earth but they do go farther than the normal handhelds. You can expect a decent range but generally your biggest enemy is going to be LOS anyway. :twocents:
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: Bshiftbc on January 07, 2012, 07:50:58 PM: Motorola all the way.
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: Wazukie on January 07, 2012, 07:53:42 PM: Yeasu works well, at least my 2-meter HT does :dunno:
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: Russ McDonald on January 07, 2012, 08:00:43 PM: I have been working on two-way radios for 25 years now. Here is my suggestion. The FRS is the only thing you can get cheap but the problem they are pretty much already tunes with preset frequencies in them. No way you going to get weather channels on them. Thing with FRS and GMRS radio there are in the UHF or 460MHZ range good for 2-3 miles LOS (line of sight). Now I do remeber seeing some VHF FRS radios before but I have seen them in a while. They will get you 5-7 miles LOS. The down fall of the FRS radios is the most of them use akaline batteries. They don't last very long. I haven't heard that even the rechargable batteries are any good. I would recommend looking on ebay for Motorala, Kenwood, or Bendix King in the VHF range. You might spend a little bit of money but for the most part, even if they are old, are good radios. If you need any more help just PM me on the site and I can help you out.
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: Bshiftbc on January 08, 2012, 06:44:45 AM: Some of the Motorola FRS/GMRS radios have the weather (NOAH) on them. Some of them work pretty well, just don't expect to get the range they advertise. For example, my wife bought me a pair of 17 mile radios.....get maybe 5 depending on terrain of course.
What we did find though, was that if we had a couple guys with Motorola and some with another brand we would get weird squelch and sounds after each transmission. Don't know if it is just that we are knuckleheads or if this seems to be the norm! So we all use Motorola. They are pretty bullet-proof too.
The problem with radios like the Bendix King is that they are much bigger than the little FRS/GMRS. Good radios though.
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: sirfunkeybut on January 08, 2012, 07:25:08 AM: I have a set of midland model:gxt850's that I got for a little work I did and they are great. They don't make this particular model but have a newer one now, mine have the weather and the call buttons are customizable as well as silent for hunters. It has I think crow, wolf, turkey, and one other thing. It works just at 2 miles in downtown Yakima. I can't complain really
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: Russ McDonald on January 08, 2012, 09:08:32 AM: Quote from: Bshiftbc on January 08, 2012, 06:44:45 AM
Some of the Motorola FRS/GMRS radios have the weather (NOAH) on them. Some of them work pretty well, just don't expect to get the range they advertise. For example, my wife bought me a pair of 17 mile radios.....get maybe 5 depending on terrain of course.
What we did find though, was that if we had a couple guys with Motorola and some with another brand we would get weird squelch and sounds after each transmission. Don't know if it is just that we are knuckleheads or if this seems to be the norm! So we all use Motorola. They are pretty bullet-proof too.
The problem with radios like the Bendix King is that they are much bigger than the little FRS/GMRS. Good radios though.
Yes I thought that heard that some radios have the weather on them but haven't seen them lately. I laugh when they say 17 miles range. There are only 2 way that will happen. 1. if one of you was on top of a mountain and you were talking to someone else 17 miles below you and had LOS. 2. GMRS you can get repeater frequencies for them and if the radio is capable of repeater pairs you would get good range that way too. The nice thing with that job I have when I got out hunting I can grab a couple of our radios and take them out with me hunting and they are much higher end radios that get more range due to better antennas, batteries and power.

Don't get me wrong the FRS/GMRS radio are fine for out in the woods talking to each other but they have their limitations. Different manufactures have different specs in how their radios are tuned so you will get wierd thing when you mixed manfacture radios sometimes. I have a couple Midland GTX's too but I still grab a BK when I go out. Because of who I work for I have access to repeaters all over NW Washington for emergency purposes only though.
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: chuck270 on January 13, 2012, 10:28:02 AM: Hmm... We have been using the hand held marine VHF radios for several years now. There are a couple manufacturers, Uniden etc.. They have the NOAA weather channels and good range in the timber but I think you looking at paying around 200 bills per radio and they are not small like the FRS radios. We don't leave them on all day either we use a radio check schedule 5-10min every three hours and we can sometimes manage almost 1.5 to 2 weeks on a set of batteries. Maybe not the correct tool for everyone but they works for us.
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: NRA4LIFE on January 13, 2012, 10:39:21 AM: We've gone 100% to portable CBs. Much longer reception than FM.
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: jager on January 13, 2012, 10:39:36 AM: I've got a Rhino 530 hcx. It gets the NOAA weather.
Elk hunting in montana a couple of years ago..I kid you not, I was talking to another person in my party 21 miles away!
Neither of us were in timbered canyons at the time but, boy was I impressed!
Its a good radio...I wish the screen was larger.
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: KillBilly on January 13, 2012, 10:49:37 AM: The Rhino has both FMSR and GMSR so it has both bands covered. I have conversed with logging trucks over CB with mine.
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: grundy53 on January 13, 2012, 10:52:19 AM: I love Midlands.
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: pianoman9701 on January 13, 2012, 11:05:01 AM: Quote from: fishingnut71 on January 07, 2012, 07:32:40 PM
Nobody uses radios? BS. I hear alot during hunting from everywhere. I need a good radio.

No one said that no one uses radios. :dunno:

I have a Rino 655T. Man-up and get one. It's awesome. Radio, NOAA, partner location, stand-still compass, it's sweet.
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: Bob33 on January 13, 2012, 11:09:56 AM: Quote from: pianoman9701 on January 13, 2012, 11:05:01 AM
I have a Rino 655T. Man-up and get one. It's awesome. Radio, NOAA, partner location, stand-still compass, it's sweet.
The only problem with that is you need to say "'get two", or "get a new partner". :chuckle:
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: pianoman9701 on January 13, 2012, 11:49:28 AM: When you spend $500 ($600 list) on your GPS/Radio, the only option for change IS the partner! He already had one, so it's not an issue. :chuckle:
Title: Re: 2 way radio?
Post by: Heredoggydoggy on January 13, 2012, 07:23:37 PM: I got a pair of Midland 42 channel GXT radios, FRS/GMR, Weather, Charger, Etc. three years ago on Ebay. Work good for hunting. Will go 2 or 3 days on standby before they need charging if you turn them off at night. Don't recall what I paid, but they were cheap. We check in every hour on the hour, or 15 minutes after one of us hears a shot. Real handy.