Two way radios

[Tim Hodgson]

James, how are the Motorola T800 radios working out?

Do you use a lapel/lavalier microphone and if so is it reliable and robust? My wife's older Motorola MR350 will initially work but eventually does not work with the Motorola lapel mic, and I noticed from the Motorola website that they have discontinued the single pin Motorola lapel mic for Motorola FRS radios.

She needs a radio which will consistently work with a lapel mic.

 

[James]

James, how are the Motorola T800 radios working out?

Do you use a lapel/lavalier microphone and if so is it reliable and robust? My wife's older Motorola MR350 will initially work but eventually does not work with the Motorola lapel mic, and I noticed from the Motorola website that they have discontinued the single pin Motorola lapel mic for Motorola FRS radios.

She needs a radio which will consistently work with a lapel mic.

Never ordered the Motorolas. Ordered these.
but then because of Chinese New Year/Corona virus, they couldn’t ship them in time. RadioOddity was good about refunding.

Radioddity FS-T1 / PR-T1 [1 Pair] | NOAA Weather Alert | License-free | USB Charging

Note: The difference between Radioddity FS-T1 and PR-T1 Difference FS-T1 PR-T1 Frequency FRS (22 channels) PMR446 (16 channels) Power 2W/0.5W (high-low power) Fixed 0.5W Highlight Functions ▸ NOAA weather scan & alert ▸ High/low power 2W/0.5W (FRS version only) ▸ 50 CTCSS tones and 104 DCS codes...

www.radioddity.com

[/QUOTE]

Got 4 of these small other Retivis brand Chinese radios. Quite small and light. Got the programming cable, and programmed them for European PMR 446 standard frequencies. It’s a bit kludgey software, but worked. Had to use Wikipedia for the frequencies. The freq they were programmed to orig didn’t exactly match Fcc freq either on some channels. So it’s good to check.


In terms of testing, didn’t really give them a great test. Using radios with kids or adults who aren’t used to them is very problematic. They worked well in a few circumstances. They easily fit in a pocket, are quite light and small. (That’s probably more important with on the fence adults and kids than a great radio)

Note, Usb cable charging ability is extremely useful for travel radios. No need for base holders and more bulk.These ones do use older mini, not micro, type usb cables, incuded.

They do use a two pin Kenwood type lapel mike. I did get one but never used it.

There are plenty of Chinese brands that use this two pin Kenwood type plug in for mics. Some of them allow you to screw it in.

You could always get a quality mic to plug into the cheap radios. There are other smaller earphone plus mike options too beside the big lapel speaker/mic.

Note that the Fcc rules have changed in 2016?, regarding Frs/Gmrs radios. There are a few frequencies allowed to go to 2 watts without a license.

 

[Mothertucker]

Rocky Talkies.

 

[Slim]

I've been frustrated with the mountain capability of the small hand held radios used by the public. (I'm used to commercial VHF hand helds.)

Why not just use cell phones to keep in touch? Buy everyone a tether to keep the phone attached to the person.

The only time I have a problem with our radios is if we are on different sides of the mountain ridge. I do have a tether on my otterbox phone case, replaced cord after stock cord broke with no strain on it.

Why not cell phones?

• Many places don’t have (good) cell reception
• I have to take my phone out to use it. Radio stays in pocket/pack (shoulder mic is key)
• I have to take my gloves off
• I (almost) need 2 hands to operate the phone
• I have to look at it to operate it (touch screen), radio shoulder mic has a big button that I can grab blind
• only one person in your group hears you, with radio, all the group hears me say: go left!

Doesn't mean I don’t own and use a phone, just for different things. Just back from 8 days skiing Mary Jane and all 4 Aspen Mountains, and some backcountry, and never used a phone on the mountain, except to meet up with a friend who doesn’t have a radio, and that was super annoying, I was wishing he was on the radio so bad!

 

[Tim Hodgson]

James: Thank you for your reply. I looked closely at the Retevis radios per your recommendation but passed on them because it looked to me that you selected the frequency via a PC computer link USB cord and could not easily change the frequency while on the hill. If I recall, Patrol or Dispatch monitors a particular FRS frequency so I would like to be able to easily change to that frequency in an emergency.

I ordered these instead:

Midland - X-TALKER T77VP5, 36 Channel FRS Two-Way Radio - Up to 38 Mile Range Walkie Talkie, 121 Privacy Codes, and NOAA Weather Scan + Alert (Includes a Carrying Case and Headsets) (Black/Silver)


Handheld Shoulder Speaker Mic Compatible for Midland GMRS/FRS GXT/LXT Midland/Alan 2-pin Radio G5 M99 75-810 Nautico 3 Ocean SP-410 2 Two Way Radio


I decided to switch to Midland because although our MR350 Motorola radios work fine by themselves, my wife goes through the Motorola single pin lapel microphones every couple of months. I can't figure out why. But they don't work after a short time. And I see that they are no longer offered on the Motorola website.

The Midland uses a 2-pin design lapel mic. I will post up if they fair better than the Motorola.

I also like it that the Midland has a reasonably priced base station which may work better for when I am blowing snow and working outside when my wife is inside.

Slim: I agree. Also cell phone battery life is limited. I would like to keep my cell phone battery for a truly life threatening call to 911 and to change the heat settings on my Therm-ic 1700BT boot heaters...

 

[James]

Well, the advantage with programming is you can switch frequencies to different systems. No need for two different radios when going outside the US.
As to patrol monitoring a frequency, you could for example, make that frequency a “high power” output. Ie, greater than 0.5 watts. (Who knows what the output in “high” really is, the batteries are small. ) It might not be legal, but presumably it would be emergency use only.
From the little research I did on this, any radio with a non removable antenna is likely to have poor range. However, besides the low power requirement, a fixed antenna is required to meet Frs/Gmrs non licensed use. Also same with euro/uk Pmr446. So, even if the output was kept in compluance, the remivable antenna makes it non compliant.

It’s unclear what the frequency programming of the Chinese radios I got is. Seemingly 420-500mhz.

 

[trieu]

I ski with my two kids(10 & 12 year olds), and needless to say - in the beginning - it was extremely difficult to keep an eye on them. My son will literally zoom down - while I'm following my daughter to make sure she is OK & would pickup anything if she happens to fall. The next season - I got the BCA 2.0 radios with the lapel mic, and that made all the difference in the world. We can communicate without yelling across the slopes, give tips/instructions, coordinate a rendezvous point, etc.

Other benefit is during lunch time, I can send the kids in to scope for a open dining table, while I head into the cafeteria to buy lunch. Since they do not have cell phones, it's just quick & easy to communicate where they are at, what they want for lunch.

Now as we are biking as a family during this off season - I have the whole family wearing it as well - and it just makes life so much easier. Kids can be 1/2 mile away - and we can ask them to stop for a break/photop, point out any interesting wildlife, etc.

Lastly - I have to put in a plug for BCA - they are extremely professional - and a great company to deal with. This season - I noticed that my battery wasn't holding the charge as much - so I sent it back, and they sent new units out. No fault of their own(BCA)- the post office - sent a letter saying they lost the units. BCA promptly ordered new units, and sent out the second set to me once more without blinking an eye.

 

[trieu]

One more thing I forgot - the BCA radios worked like a champ in cold conditions - down to -5F. My cell phone would die(even though it was fully charged in the morning). So using any type of cell phone to communicate even if you had signal would be dependent on the phone actually working. Also, you have to fumble with your gloves, and risk dropping your phone.

 

[oldschoolskier]

You can get a 6 pack of Baofeng BF-888S radios on Amazon for $60 and run them on GMRS frequencies. It's not strictly legal but if you buy a GMRS license and make sure you set them correctly, nobody is going to care. You need the license for the BCA radios or the midlands as well unless you use FRS channels.

Not to rain on your parade FCC and Industry Canada do care and all it takes is a complaint by a commercial user.

 

[oldschoolskier]

If you are looking for range consider getting your amateur radio license. Now you can run power (100watts) with a basic and more with an advanced.

Other advantages you can run various types of repeating systems and so on, really expand your coverage.

Your frequency range and select quality of equipment is greatly expanded.

Finally, it gives you true emergency support from not only your friends but the rest of the Amateur community In not only skiing but in disasters.

 

[Rudi Riet]

My ski team used to use the Baofeng 888S for its radios but their Achilles heel is lack of waterproofing. The 2019-20 season had a decent number of rain events that killed the units.

We've since moved to the Baofeng GT-3WP units which have IP67 water/dust resistance rating. The verdict after a full season of use in all kinds of weather? Great radios. They are a little more bulky than the 888 but they're so much more durable and the battery life is much better (not shocking as the battery is bigger). The remote speaker/transceiver is an extra add-on but as I carry my radio in a chest harness it's no big deal.