2-way radio/walkie-talkie recommendations?

[jeromedawg]

Hey all,

Looking for some recommendations on a nice 2-way radio/walkie talkie set or pair for all-purpose use but that would also be good for emergency situations or that I might be able to utilize for CERT. I have very limited knowledge in this area so just curious what people recommend. I've seen deals pop-up on the Baofeng radios but really don't know much otherwise.

[px4shooter]

Baofeng are hard to beat for the cost. Keep in mind that the better model requires a FCC license, which is not difficult to obtain.

[sol]

Radios are very location dependent.  If you're in a city and just want to monitor local grms traffic, you can get radios for $15 that will give you maybe a mile or two of range, depending on terrain.

But for about $30 you can get a 5 watt baofeng that will be immensely more powerful.  You need a HAM license to transmit, but not to listen, and the license will take you a single afternoon to get.  You can download the study app on your phone, fail the practice test three or four times, and then start getting passing scores without having any real understanding at all, just by recognizing the correct answers.

The problem with those little handhelds are that
a) the antennaes are tiny.  You can ~double your range with a $15 larger antennae. 
b) the transmit power isn't likely to get you more than one or two repeaters, unless you live in a major metro area and have a bunch nearby.

For emergency work, you really want a 50+ W dual band radio, driven with a car battery on a trickle charger, and plugged into a real roof antennae.  That setup will cost you about $300 but it makes you a legitimate part of the amateur radio community and a valuable resource in case of emergencies. 

The location of your house still matters, because some people are just geographically more useful than others.  If you live at the bottom of a hole, you might find it hard to reach anyone unless you put a mobile unit in your car and drive to the top of the nearest hill.

[jeromedawg]

Radios are very location dependent.  If you're in a city and just want to monitor local grms traffic, you can get radios for $15 that will give you maybe a mile or two of range, depending on terrain.

But for about $30 you can get a 5 watt baofeng that will be immensely more powerful.  You need a HAM license to transmit, but not to listen, and the license will take you a single afternoon to get.  You can download the study app on your phone, fail the practice test three or four times, and then start getting passing scores without having any real understanding at all, just by recognizing the correct answers.

The problem with those little handhelds are that
a) the antennaes are tiny.  You can ~double your range with a $15 larger antennae. 
b) the transmit power isn't likely to get you more than one or two repeaters, unless you live in a major metro area and have a bunch nearby.

For emergency work, you really want a 50+ W dual band radio, driven with a car battery on a trickle charger, and plugged into a real roof antennae.  That setup will cost you about $300 but it makes you a legitimate part of the amateur radio community and a valuable resource in case of emergencies. 

The location of your house still matters, because some people are just geographically more useful than others.  If you live at the bottom of a hole, you might find it hard to reach anyone unless you put a mobile unit in your car and drive to the top of the nearest hill.

Thanks! I don't know if I want to invest right out the gates in a larger setup requiring a big roof antennae. Really, I would want to be able to give one radio to my wife and have one for myself in case we have to be split up for whatever reason. At least, this is the case in terms of what I'd want in my CERT Bag and what I'd want in a Go Bag that she could take with. Are the Baofeng radios HAM only or are there bands that can be operated on otherwise?

[sol]

If it's just for you and your partner, what's wrong with a cell phone?  Technically, it is also a two-way radio after all.

Are the Baofeng radios HAM only or are there bands that can be operated on otherwise?

A normal dual band radio will give you access to a bunch of bands that don't require a ham license, though some of them will be restricted low power (usually 0.5W) transmissions even if the radio can go higher.  It's kind of an honor system thing.

[jeromedawg]

If it's just for you and your partner, what's wrong with a cell phone?  Technically, it is also a two-way radio after all.

Are the Baofeng radios HAM only or are there bands that can be operated on otherwise?

A normal dual band radio will give you access to a bunch of bands that don't require a ham license, though some of them will be restricted low power (usually 0.5W) transmissions even if the radio can go higher.  It's kind of an honor system thing.

Well, in the case that the networks get flooded/overwhelmed (which is what happened when there was a bigger earthquake down here around 10 yrs ago). Perhaps the networks are better provisioned to handle that now, but I also wouldn't count on it. So this is more a rudimentary backup.

[gooki]

Not sure if they meet your requirements, but I’d be buying these if I was in the market for walkie talkies.

Xiaomi 10km Radio Long Range Walkie Talkie

[Syonyk]

I agree with sol.  Get your HAM licenses (super easy for UHF/VHF frequencies), get a couple UV5Rs or something, upgrade the antennas - the stock rubber ducks really are that bad, and you've got long range comms that can talk to repeaters.  Then practice.

I've got one that I need to make better use of, and I have a good external antenna on my office.  I'd like to get a nice base station, and next time I'm in Vegas for conferences I'll probably study up and get my extended HAM licenses, so I can do a good HF setup.  Run an antenna down the hill and I can talk around the continent.

The FRS/GPRS radios are nice, but they're gutless wonders in terms of transmit power, and IME they don't meet the stated range unless you're literally talking across huge plains.  Even on the highway, they don't get nearly the range one might hope.

Another thing to consider, and you can do it super cheap, is putting CB setups in your vehicles.  A good CB can talk a few miles on a magnetic roof antenna.

~KG7VNT

[jeromedawg]

Thanks all! Always been interested since hearing about HAM radio etc. BTW: what antenna(s) would you recommend?


Either of these?
https://www.amazon.com/Authentic-Nagoya-NA-717-SMA-Female-BTECH/dp/B00XQAY7WI

https://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-Antenna-NA-771-UV-5R-TIDRADIO/dp/B076DZR8KP

[Syonyk]

I've got the XP771 for my UV5R and I'm pretty happy with it.  It's not as good as my office antenna, but it's comparable.  I can hit a couple local repeaters with it, which I can't say for the stock antenna.

[AlexK]

I use the Baofeng UV-B5 (very similar to the ubiquitous UV-5R) for CERT and Search and Rescue operations and they have been working great. The radios the Sheriff gave us quickly died and I used my Baofeng to transmit on the Sheriff dispatch frequency to the repeater and it worked really nice. Probably not legal to do that but hey we were doing a real search and rescue operation and needed to communicate.

I did have a Baofeng die on me when I was on a boat in a NJ waterway and using it as a marine radio. There was a ridiculous freak storm that soaked everything. The Coast Guard was talking on channel 16 and describing our boat, saying they were sending out the helicopter. I kept trying to tell them we are fine, no need for the helicopter, but they came out anyway. The radio was receiving fine but not transmitting because of the water inside it turned out. It was embarrassing, would not have happened with a real waterproof marine radio.

[HAPPYINAZ]

Garmin InReach is a two way satellite communicator.  I have been using them for years for work.  It also can be set to track the users location and send that information to whoever you want.  They get a link to a map that shows your location every 10 mins or whatever you set the timeframe to be.  They are a little cumbersome to type on, but you can pair with a smartphone.  It also allows for SOS and two way communication with emergency personnel.  I had looked into getting Baofeng radios years ago and instead went with these because we work in remote canyons where the radios dont work as well.  Also the tracking feature and ability to let emergency personnel know exactly where you are is worth its weight in gold if you need help.  (fyi, the inreach was originally designed by Delorme but the product was bought out by Garmin and is now produced and managed by them)

https://explore.garmin.com/en-US/inreach/

[jeromedawg]

Garmin InReach is a two way satellite communicator.  I have been using them for years for work.  It also can be set to track the users location and send that information to whoever you want.  They get a link to a map that shows your location every 10 mins or whatever you set the timeframe to be.  They are a little cumbersome to type on, but you can pair with a smartphone.  It also allows for SOS and two way communication with emergency personnel.  I had looked into getting Baofeng radios years ago and instead went with these because we work in remote canyons where the radios dont work as well.  Also the tracking feature and ability to let emergency personnel know exactly where you are is worth its weight in gold if you need help.  (fyi, the inreach was originally designed by Delorme but the product was bought out by Garmin and is now produced and managed by them)

https://explore.garmin.com/en-US/inreach/

Wow, nice units... expensive! But if you need the functionality it doesn't seem like there are that many alternatives.