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FRS radios for trail communication

Another licensed ham here. N2TEN

I have a Kenwood dual band mobile (2m/70cm) in the Jeep. Probably will have a Yaesu handheld too.
 
bridgerx said:
...

My call sign is W7ATB. Any other licensed Hams coming? I'll have 50W ham radio with a rooftop 1/4 wave antenna monitoring 146.52 and the local uhf/vhf repeaters, and doing APRS so should be able to reach the outside world from most places in the event of an emergency.
Click to expand...

Alex KJ6QWN

Yaesu FT-60 with a Diamond 770 antenna mounted on the left side door.

I'd like to check out your APRS setup.
 
Question:

So I have one of the Baofengs on order. There are some youtube videos showing how to manually program it if you know the frequencies. Can anyone confirm that this is possible or do I have to order the software and cable that may or may not work?

I'd rather do it manually as it didn't look too hard.
 
It can certainly be done manually.

There may be some features such as the naming of things that can't be done without the programming software, but you can most definitely enter frequencies and repeater codes via the radio itself. I can't imagine a radio having much market share if you couldn't perform those tasks. It would be like a telephone without numbers for dialing out.
 
The early versions of the Baofengs were darn near impossible to manually program, but the newer versions are operator friendly and can be programmed quite easily once you remember a few menu items.
 
bridgerx said:
Those various model Baofengs and similar Chinese radios can be programmed to receive and transmit on any frequency within their range- listen in on various UHF and VHF commercial users like lumber yards, ski areas etc, catch the weather service. broadcast at your own risk. They are legal to use on amateur radio (HAM) Frequencies, including through repeaters, only if you have an amateur radio license. They can easily be programmed to but are not technically legal to use on the FRS and GMRS frequencies because they have removable antennas and exceed the power limits and probably splatter interference over adjacent channels . Honestly, the "range" claims are absurd- UHF and VHF are line of site only and with these small antennas a mile is optimistic. If you don't want to mess around with cryptic instructions and programming and aren't getting a ham license, a regular FRS radio will do the same tricks with less chance of getting stuck in some weird mode regarding tone squelch or something. You can get a pair for $30. The "sub-channels" or privacy codes are just a sub-audible tone squelch. They don't give you any privacy, they just prevent you from hearing others on the same frequency if they aren't using the same tone. The Chinese radios can be programmed to transmit and squelch with these tones too, but it is a bit of a pain to do manually.

My call sign is W7ATB. Any other licensed Hams coming? I'll have 50W ham radio with a rooftop 1/4 wave antenna monitoring 146.52 and the local uhf/vhf repeaters, and doing APRS so should be able to reach the outside world from most places in the event of an emergency.
I will also carry a dedicated pair of cheap/legal FRS radios for talking to spotters and immediate trail convoys.
Click to expand...

How hard is the exam for the HAM license?
 
Varmint #1 passed the test with flying colors when he was 12.

You need to know enough about Ohm's law to be able to take two pieces of the equation and calculate the third. And the numbers they will give you on the test are such that if you are halfway competent with math you can run them in your head. You just have to be able to figure out which way to multiply or divide.

You need to know the symbols for basic electronic components (resistors, switches, diodes, etc.) and be able to at least identify them in a schematic diagram.

You need to know a few basics about the band plan, that is to say which ranges of frequencies you are allowed to operate in.

You need to know some things about rules, especially regarding interference. Most of the questions on the test will come down to common sense sort of things, but you will need to know which government alphabet soup agency has to do with ham radio.

There is a defined pool of questions for the test, and the online tests use that pool. If you study the online tests and take them over again a few times you will know your likelihood to pass.

The technician level test is really designed to make it easy to pass. It is your ticket to getting to really learn about ham radio. And they want people to do this.
 
Another one from California, KK6NFT

Not sure what I’ll be able to get into my new/temporary rig by Friday.

More than likely just a handheld with a roof mounted whip.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
KE7KVP with a 2M in this rig


20180401_010931848_iOS.jpg
 
They're not illegal to use. Well they are on anything that's not the ham band lol. But if you think the FCC is hiding out waiting to bust people with Baofengs usng them on FRS GMRS MURS ect I've got a bridge I'll sell ya for cheap.

Btech will also still be selling their branded radios here. They will just be selling them with the radio blocked from non ham freqs using software which is apparently just fine with the FCC.

-KK6RBI

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 
If you really want heads to explode, you can order a FTM-400 new with the "MARS mod" and then you can have a 50 watt FRS radio, not that I would do such a thing.
Just stirring the pot.
W9STR

Really the tech test is not that hard, my wife passed it by just taking the practice test over and over again until she could get 80% everytime.
 
Last edited:
seanR said:
If you really want heads to explode, you can order a FTM-400 new with the "MARS mod" and then you can have a 50 watt FRS radio, not that I would do such a thing.
Just stirring the pot.
W9STR

Really the tech test is not that hard, my wife passed it by just taking the practice test over and over again until she could get 80% everytime.
Click to expand...

Sean,

Thanks for making the point I was trying to in an earlier post...
The Technicians test is not that difficult.
IF you practice by answering the questions from Technicians testing pool; you will learn and retain as much as you would by taking one of those one days courses.
Ham Radio Operators can police themselves on what bands and frequencies they can RX/TX on without the governments interference.
 
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