Good hunting radios name it

[alfoldivandor]

I am looking for good hunting radios any advise.....thanks

[PaulR]

Forget the advertised ranges of any of the 2 way radios, the range they list are peak to peak with nothing in between the 2 locations. 20 KM range on the box, a half a kilometer in the bush, and sometimes that is a stretch. Been thinking about picking up the higher wattage units in the states, but not legal for use in Canada!

[Crash2000]

The US ones can be up to 5 watt. We use Midland 5 watt ones and have used them for years. They are the 36 mile ones. We get about 4 or 5 miles usually but that will depend on terrain. They are cheap though and so far have been our best choice.

[SK33T3R]

The US ones can be up to 5 watt. We use Midland 5 watt ones and have used them for years. They are the 36 mile ones. We get about 4 or 5 miles usually but that will depend on terrain. They are cheap though and so far have been our best choice.

ME TOO!

I'm on my 3rd set of these Midland 36 milers ... they can run on the supplied rechargable pack or 4 AA batteries.
AA lithium Ultimate batteries give the most boost. (these batteries are almost 1.8 volts compared to coppertops etc that are around 1.6 volts) When moose hunting we get about 3 to 4 km in the bush. In a meadow or pond the range is better then if you're in the trees.

These are supposedly illegal because of the range. Where I am - who the h3ll is gonna hear ya anyways! DUH!

these are cheap on eBay.

anyway. the search for that good (guaranteed - any terrain) 7km - walkie talkie continues!

[northernontario]

FRS (and now GMRS) radios are cheap, and easily accessible. Anyone can buy a set, and they all work with each other (within reason... certain GMRS frequencies are different from FRS).

It's worth noting that the "band plan" for FRS and GMRS requires that the GMRS radios run on reduced power when transmitting on the FRS frequencies. My father picked up a set of GMRS radios this winter and I read through the manual... no mention of this, and no indicator on the radio that it was running on reduced power. Obviously I didn't verify this... but the way the law is written (US and Canada) is FRS radios (and any type-approved radio operating on FRS frequencies) are limited to 0.5w of power. If everyone in your group is running GMRS radios, choose a GMRS-only frequency.

Of course, in the US, you can get GMRS repeaters... which opens up distances... radios talk on X frequency, listen on Y frequency... the repeater sits somewhere high up, and listens on X and rebroadcasts in real time on Y.

Amateur radio guys use the same sort of setups... pretty easy to hit a repeater 20+km's away with a 5w handheld, which rebroadcasts ~100km. Big downside to amateur radio... everyone has to get licensed (study, write a test... licensed for life). And then everyone has to buy amateur radio gear... which isn't approved to broadcast on any non-amateur bands. So no talking to the FRS guys on your 70cm handheld (99% of radios won't allow you to transmit out of allowed frequencies anyways).

As the only licensed amateur radio guy in our camp... I'm stuck using FRS radios with everyone else.

Apparently some guys still run around with CB radios... especially up north during moose hunts.

[Snowwalker]

As the only licensed amateur radio guy in our camp... I'm stuck using FRS radios with everyone else.

Apparently some guys still run around with CB radios... especially up north during moose hunts.

Why don't you show the guys how a NV Antenna works and make up some 11 meter dipoles for them to use.

Take pictures of the faces when you explain that you want them to string the dipoles between two trees but no more the three feet off the ground, so the signal goes up and bounces back down to all the radios.

[topher]

FRS (and now GMRS) radios are cheap, and easily accessible. Anyone can buy a set, and they all work with each other (within reason... certain GMRS frequencies are different from FRS).

It's worth noting that the "band plan" for FRS and GMRS requires that the GMRS radios run on reduced power when transmitting on the FRS frequencies. My father picked up a set of GMRS radios this winter and I read through the manual... no mention of this, and no indicator on the radio that it was running on reduced power. Obviously I didn't verify this... but the way the law is written (US and Canada) is FRS radios (and any type-approved radio operating on FRS frequencies) are limited to 0.5w of power. If everyone in your group is running GMRS radios, choose a GMRS-only frequency.

Of course, in the US, you can get GMRS repeaters... which opens up distances... radios talk on X frequency, listen on Y frequency... the repeater sits somewhere high up, and listens on X and rebroadcasts in real time on Y.

Amateur radio guys use the same sort of setups... pretty easy to hit a repeater 20+km's away with a 5w handheld, which rebroadcasts ~100km. Big downside to amateur radio... everyone has to get licensed (study, write a test... licensed for life). And then everyone has to buy amateur radio gear... which isn't approved to broadcast on any non-amateur bands. So no talking to the FRS guys on your 70cm handheld (99% of radios won't allow you to transmit out of allowed frequencies anyways).

As the only licensed amateur radio guy in our camp... I'm stuck using FRS radios with everyone else.

Apparently some guys still run around with CB radios... especially up north during moose hunts.

Check out shop409 got some cheap dual band radios.. My buddy ordered a few.. We were using RPT the other day.. I was in Richmond hill.. He was in pickering.. This using nothing but a $50 handheld..

[Mr.Blondie]

would you run dual band radio or cb from shop 409?

from what I see CB seems to be the best route to use for cost and multi channel use and its range and you get them in hand held too

[alfoldivandor]

Vhf 5 chanels 2w is coming to canada , informacion below





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-Use_Radio_Service

[stdavidsboy]

Check out shop409 got some cheap dual band radios.. My buddy ordered a few.. We were using RPT the other day.. I was in Richmond hill.. He was in pickering.. This using nothing but a $50 handheld..

Hi Topher. Can you tell me which radios and repeater you were using? Is this setup repeating GMRS frequency radios? The 409 site was pretty technical and I'm afraid I'm not. Thanks.