A better VHF radio

[skegpro]

Well I am going to go a different route this year and get away from the Chinese radios and try out some brand name Japanese ones.
We shall see how this goes.

http://www.icomcanada.com/products/amateur/amateur_ic-v86.html

 

[skegpro]

https://www.diamondantenna.net/rhf40.html

 

[skegpro]

IP67 mic

https://radioworld.ca/icom-168-lwp

 

[skegpro]

https://radioworld.ca/icom-ic-v86

 

[X-it]

I should have kept track of how many models and brands of radios and mics i have tried over the years. 50 or so if i had to guess.

 

[ferniesnow]

I have been using the Rino radios for years and find them quite simple to operate and love the polling feature. I went to the cheap Baofeng when they came our and bought 3 of them c/w mic for $100. I am one of the few who had trouble or understanding of the programming/using the Baofeng radios. I sold them and went to the BCA radios. I found they are very cheaply build and even tho' the warranty and service from BCA is excellent, they are not that dependable. I have two sitting on my desk ready for the season and one is acting up. I am looking. Thanks for posting.

There is a lot I don't understand about the communication terminology and I find it totally confusing. Case in point, I had my truck mount Kenwood into a dealer the other day to add some more RR channels for this new to me area, one thing led to another and the owner mentioned that my Rino's are technically illegal. I mentioned my understanding was that only the ones that come from the USA and are 5 watts are illegal. He said an emphatic no, all of them. When he went on and described the rules, I was totally lost.

I will follow this thread and see what fits my small non radio communication technology brain.

 

[skegpro]

I have been using the Rino radios for years and find them quite simple to operate and love the polling feature. I went to the cheap Baofeng when they came our and bought 3 of them c/w mic for $100. I am one of the few who had trouble or understanding of the programming/using the Baofeng radios. I sold them and went to the BCA radios. I found they are very cheaply build and even tho' the warranty and service from BCA is excellent, they are not that dependable. I have two sitting on my desk ready for the season and one is acting up. I am looking. Thanks for posting.

There is a lot I don't understand about the communication terminology and I find it totally confusing. Case in point, I had my truck mount Kenwood into a dealer the other day to add some more RR channels for this new to me area, one thing led to another and the owner mentioned that my Rino's are technically illegal. I mentioned my understanding was that only the ones that come from the USA and are 5 watts are illegal. He said an emphatic no, all of them. When he went on and described the rules, I was totally lost.

I will follow this thread and see what fits my small non radio communication technology brain.

Fernie once you get the channel list programed into a VHF radios you shouldn't have to tinker with them again. Most can carry 128 channels or more.

Have to be real careful where you buy baofeng, lots of lesser models and fakes.

 

[X-it]

4 pack frs radios for 39 dollars....just saying.

 

[1200]

Mmm. What do u need it better? I find they are better then most ?

 

[ferniesnow]

Interesting one, what makes the Rhino’s “illegal”?

Good question in my mind but the answer was way above my head and my mental capacity in that particular day.

 

[ferniesnow]

Fernie once you get the channel list programed into a VHF radios you shouldn't have to tinker with them again. Most can carry 128 channels or more.

Have to be real careful where you buy baofeng, lots of lesser models and fakes.

True but there was an engineer in the cabin one day and he was fooling with it because he thought they were great for such a low price. I didn't know at the time that they weren't at the same settings when he left them. Then I couldn't get them set up again and the programmer was 3 hours away. If I have radios, I need easy-peasy. That's why I like my Rino's; on -off!

 

[ferniesnow]

Sorry about the hi-jack. Let's get back to the Japanese radios.

 

[X-it]

Zastone A-19 double the range of a baofeng. It received better than my kenwood tk760 with the use of a magnetic antenna. Down fall hard to get in and a 10% chance of tx not working at all. It is the one of two handhelds i would give thumbs up for the back roads.
.

 

[Teth-Air]

I do like that the Japanese radio has 200 memory storage locations. Most have 128.

I have tried several models and brands. So far I am most impressed with the TYT-8000D/E. This is a 10 watt radio for under $100 that is truly 10 watts when I test it. It also has the dual band repeater function. This is huge for remote areas if you are going to take advantage of it. Basically you set it to listen on one channel and it repeats what ever it hears onto another channel. vhf to uhf or vise versa. This repeater can be set on a mountain top with a solar panel and can bounce signals over the ridge. For your mobile radios, most programmable types have the option of "dual watch" (e.g. Baofeng) This option has the radio to set to listen on 2 channels, one vhf and one uhf so if the repeater bounces a signal out you will hear it on one of the two. We are setting up so it is also compatible with BCAs and Rinos but they don't get the benefit of using the repeater because they can only listen to one channel.

If you are using the repeater function on it as a mobile radio it should work just fine only the success of reaching long distances will depend on your location. If your whole group had them you could reach everyone likely if you could reach just one guy because the signal would be repeated several times between the group. I assume at some point it would be overwhelmed by all the radios repeating over each other. Programmable radios such as these are supposed to used to transmit only by a person holding an amateur license unless in an emergency situation. For this reason if you don't have a license you should carry a non-licensed accepted radio as your primary radio.

 

[snoflake]

I have been running the Kenwood TK-3212-1 for the last 8-10 years. They are pretty expensive, but work great. We order them with the high gain antennas.
Found one on Ebay below.

NEW Kenwood TK-2312 VHF Handheld Radio / PAGER - MINITOR V 5 VI 6 VFD FIRE EMS | eBay

 

[snoflake]

The same radios can be purchased and programmed at Bearcom in Red Deer. Also recommend the Li-ion battery KNB-45L

 

[X-it]

The Zastone A-19 has 999 channels and puts out 12.5 watts average.

 

[moyiesledhead]

Well I am going to go a different route this year and get away from the Chinese radios and try out some brand name Japanese ones.
We shall see how this goes.

http://www.icomcanada.com/products/amateur/amateur_ic-v86.html



//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201128/d4a96efe82a697509df015f577f59b72.jpg

I could be wrong but reading the specs on that radio, it looks like they make one model for VHF and another for UHF. Neither appear to be dual band. So pick resource road frequencies, or your buddies with GMRS/Rhino/BCA. You can't have both. For my requirements, I'll stick with Baofeng dual band.

 

[Teth-Air]

The Zastone A-19 has 999 channels and puts out 12.5 watts average.

That is impressive. It is usually a compromise that a guy must make. Price, size, availability, functions etc. For guys who are just starting out the Baofeng do offer a lot for little. Then you can figure out what is important to you. Other features that might be missed and can be important is battery life/size and charging method (cradle or usb). Also display size and water proofing.

I really like the option of usb charging the battery direct. The TYT-8000 doesn't have this but I wish it did. Some Baofengs with the large capacity batteries do offer this so when traveling or on your sled you can charge without trying to carry a cradle charger.

 

[X-it]

I tested the tyt-8000