I’m migrating from /out/ to her thought y’all could help me out a bit trying to find milsurp radio or a decent radio that can transmit/ recieve 330 Mhz and 350Mhz.
So I recently joined my local Fire Department. Haven’t been able to run any calls yet but have followed along on my scaner. Seen a few guys have their own personal radios and thought about getting one. Always been interested in radios and stuff but never really looked at the technical side. What should I look for? I would perfer somthing that I most likely would never have to replace, durable, and be able to pick up civil as well as military frequencies. (Bonus if it’s milsurp) my budget is around $300 but any suggestions appreciated.
>just get a cheap ass baofeng, faggot. this faggot, and get what your crew uses so you can charge batteries in the barn
John Perez
Follow your company's SOPs
Most fire departments don't allow members to have radios because every time there's a car accident 30 people in Dodge Rams with blue lights call in and go direct If you needed a radio, you would have been issued one
That being said, get a baefeng UV5R (if I spelled it correctly)
They aren't super durable, but they are functionable. And they're really fucking cheap. I bought one to introduce myself to radios, but don't have any plans (hopefully) to use them in "the field". But you get what you pay for. If you want a higher quality one, I've heard motorola is decent.
Dominic Harris
get a TCA PRC-152
Ryder Baker
if you want a ready-to-go radio with amazing features and a submersible rugged serious radio then go VX 8DR . you need to spend some quid but at the end you dont look like an obese tacticool teenager with a fucked up baofeng, bro fuck this shit choose quality . the baofeng users deserve 4 rounds in the chest btw ... BUY YAESU FOR FUCK !!! chinese cheap shit is for isis
Op, this is the kind if autism you'll find in the radio world. Do not join this shit willingly.
Christopher Moore
bawfag is fine. KYS
Evan Hughes
pleb
Robert Campbell
The Baofengs output audio tends to sound decent but the transmitted audio suffers from some distortion. Further, they all appear to operate in the 136-174/400-520 MHz bands. Are you really in the 330-350MHz band? I have seen fire in 150-165 and 450-470. That 340 center freq just looks weird to me. Whatever you get, consider getting something that has a battery tray available so you can use off the shelf AA batteries in a pinch. Keep peripherals in mind. If you get an expensive radio for dirt cheap, you may not be able to afford speaker/mics, etc. to fit it. Also, consider the antenna connection. I am partial to TNC. Most BNCs are OK. If you get something with an SMA antenna connection then make sure it is solid. I have seen a lot of weak SMA antenna connections.
I’m a retard that somehow got the complet wrong frequencies. We operate on 460.6 Mhz. I have no idea how I got 330 and 350 which fall in the aeronautical navigation range,
Lincoln Moore
So you got told off on /out/ and decided to come here?
Evan Johnson
>We operate on 460.6 Mhz. As I mentioned previously, this is what I suspected. This is the common band where I would expect public services to operate. Most of the amateur UHF radios can be tuned to this band. Some require mods to jailbreak them out of 430-450MHz. I have liked a lot of the Yaesu offerings recently because they are now affiliated with Standard Horizon marine radio and a lot of the quality and water resistance has been cross-pollinating from this. Some radios are not user programmable without a PC connection and software. Make sure that the one you get is field programmable. Since you only need the one freq, I would not worry about ease of programming. If you use a speaker mic, then the option for the mic to plug into the top of the radio with the screw-in plug is water tight and secure (pic related). A speaker mic comes in handy to let you leave the radio pouched and not have to handle it while you are working. This one has a jack so you can use an earphone with it. This is handy for when you need hearing protection but you still need the radio. Just put an earplug in the other ear.
Pic related is the style of earphone that I like to use for hearing pro. The earbud sucks and can get stuck in your ear. I replace it with a vented earplug that fits it.
Pic related is the earplugs that I use. Pull the plastic piece out of the center and plug the fitting from the earphone directly into it. The canal dead ends in the earplug so you need to snip the very tip off of it to let the sound travel into your ear. When assembled like this, you get very clear audio in loud environments and good hearing pro.
Pic related should be jail breakable for your freq. Ask the shop they will typically do this for a fire crew member for a nominal fee. It is VHF capable also, so you can use liaison freqs with other departments that are on VHF, if needed. You should be able to put it in Retard Lockout Mode so you do not accidentally bump it off of your freq while it is in use. The whole lot of this puts you at about your stated budget limit including the speaker mic and the earphone.
Baofengs are a good bang for the buck. I bought one UVr3 for my wife so she can hold contact when needed. Seen to the price it is a good little TRX. Sure, my Yaesu VX-5, Yaesu FTM-350, Kenwood TM-V7 are much better, but as said for the price alone the Baofeng offer much radio for very little money.
Wyatt Jones
how well does the earplug retain the earphone fitting? Can it be yanked out and leave the earplug in your ear without the plastic pull-tab?
Levi Torres
W-wait, is that a spectrum analyzer on an HT?
If you want to transmit on that frequency, you're going to need a Part 90 approved radio such as surplussed LMR gear to do so legally. Don't break the law for your job and definitely don't rely on a cheap Chinese radio like a Baofeng if you do get a radio. Getting a Baofeng or other super cheap Chinese radio for serious use is like using a shitty Jiminez .22 pistol for concealed carry, it's fucking retarded if you can afford anything better.
