My thoughts on 2-way radios after some recent research.
Apr 29, 2014 19:06:19 GMT 10
Ausprep and Jason like this
Post by shinester on Apr 29, 2014 19:06:19 GMT 10
Thanks to Jay's reminder/inspiration, I've been searching forums, doing the research, looking at recommendations, reading people's experiences regarding 2-way radios. Whilst the consensus seems to be to spend a few hundred on a base station/antenna and learn Hams to really get up to speed with communication, for a simple communication system that's good for a 1-5kms [depending on conditions] that you 'might' be able to use a repeater with under $100 there's 2 radios that stand out. Remember I'm NO expert here, I'm taking on the opinions from forums and seemingly more experienced, though I've seen enough consistency to go with either of these when budget allows for it.
BF-A5 - These are fully programmable which is done with a $10 cable which is not provided. So whilst they only have 16 user channels you can set those channels to whatever you like. It also has a feature that I rather like, a basic scrambler aka a "Beat Shift" that you can set on any of your channels. This makes it so that normal users won't be able to understand what you're saying, which post SHTF, would be a very handy feature indeed. They are supposedly rated at 5W, though as usual of Chinese gear, the real output is about 3W as reported by many online. It's worth noting that they're updated versions of the bf-888s, with a bit more real life output and software updates. The range is an easy mile according to THIS excellent and detailed review, some have said 3kms. The price is frankly RIDICULOUS in a good way, $50 for two as you can see HERE, which works out to be about $66 if we include getting some ear pieces to compare apples with apples. There's some reviews on the bf-888s HERE, though these ones are an improved update. There's some concerns about getting them without the scrambling gear if purchased from the US [being illegal to scramble there], though the Chinese imported ones are reported to be ok. I would suggest you ask the vendor if they have the feature and then raise a claim for not being as reported if they turn out not to though ebay/paypal.
What the scrambler sounds like.
UV-B5 - These units have excellent ratings from people who have expert equipment to measure how well they work. I for one take their word for it, I just want something that works well for the price. There's plenty of versions by this company and it took me a while to sort them all out [they have similar letters], and again the price is pretty good. There's no scramble but the range is better, a true 4W, a larger battery, 99 programmable channels, comes with ear pieces, they have plenty of accessories and they are equivalent of other units costing around the $100 mark. People who know what they're talking about [not me] are very happy with them and you can pick them up for $42 HERE [$84 for 2, apples for apples]. Of course you can use them all together if programmed with the right frequency, though you can't scramble these units. There's some decent reviews HERE, note it says UV-B6, but they're essentially the same thing and I just prefer the knob to change frequencies.
From here, it's about having a base station of some kind as I mentioned above and I've personally got a fairly basic car two way already. Don't ask me to decide as I'm still weighing up the extra range and quality versus having a scramble feature
BF-A5 - These are fully programmable which is done with a $10 cable which is not provided. So whilst they only have 16 user channels you can set those channels to whatever you like. It also has a feature that I rather like, a basic scrambler aka a "Beat Shift" that you can set on any of your channels. This makes it so that normal users won't be able to understand what you're saying, which post SHTF, would be a very handy feature indeed. They are supposedly rated at 5W, though as usual of Chinese gear, the real output is about 3W as reported by many online. It's worth noting that they're updated versions of the bf-888s, with a bit more real life output and software updates. The range is an easy mile according to THIS excellent and detailed review, some have said 3kms. The price is frankly RIDICULOUS in a good way, $50 for two as you can see HERE, which works out to be about $66 if we include getting some ear pieces to compare apples with apples. There's some reviews on the bf-888s HERE, though these ones are an improved update. There's some concerns about getting them without the scrambling gear if purchased from the US [being illegal to scramble there], though the Chinese imported ones are reported to be ok. I would suggest you ask the vendor if they have the feature and then raise a claim for not being as reported if they turn out not to though ebay/paypal.
What the scrambler sounds like.
UV-B5 - These units have excellent ratings from people who have expert equipment to measure how well they work. I for one take their word for it, I just want something that works well for the price. There's plenty of versions by this company and it took me a while to sort them all out [they have similar letters], and again the price is pretty good. There's no scramble but the range is better, a true 4W, a larger battery, 99 programmable channels, comes with ear pieces, they have plenty of accessories and they are equivalent of other units costing around the $100 mark. People who know what they're talking about [not me] are very happy with them and you can pick them up for $42 HERE [$84 for 2, apples for apples]. Of course you can use them all together if programmed with the right frequency, though you can't scramble these units. There's some decent reviews HERE, note it says UV-B6, but they're essentially the same thing and I just prefer the knob to change frequencies.
From here, it's about having a base station of some kind as I mentioned above and I've personally got a fairly basic car two way already. Don't ask me to decide as I'm still weighing up the extra range and quality versus having a scramble feature