[Bait O Eggs]

anybody using one of the advertised as 14 mile radios?

I have some 2 mile and 5 mile radios. The 5 mile is drastically better than the 2 mile units.

I need more range, would like it to wrap around to the backside of the ridge :wink: and have to believe the 14 mile units are better than the 5 mile units for talking distance???

anybody got any real field results to shed on the topic?

:shrug: :shrug:

 

[dcgrav]

the 14 mile ones are in OPTIMAL CONDITIONS (ie over smooth water with no clouds/wind) Still get better range than others but on land cut mileage in half and that is the actual range. I like the Garmin Rhino, they are gps's and radios. If anyone else you are with gets one you can see where thay are on the screen. Definatly worht the cash.

 

[StickFish]

BOE the 14 miles radios are not FRS they are GMRS and do require a license that costs $75. Does anyone buy the license - probably not. Does the FCC enforce the $10K fine have not heard of one yet.

Some GMRS channels are the same channels as used by the first 7 FRS channels - being a shared service allocation. The first 7 are in the 462mhz range and they will not magically bend around a ridge or follow the curviture of the earth. Instead of the original 1/2 watt in the FRS line 2 and 5 watts are allowed (2 watts only in Canada).

I had some experience this season with one hunter on our property this year who had one of the new Garmin Rino 530's his received audio on my end was always much better than anyone else in our extended group. Meaning that the 2 and 5 watts made a big difference. I can't tell you on-line what I use on these frequencies but lets just say - KNOWBODY had trouble hearing me on either my handitalkie or from my truck :grin:

The 530 is an impressive unit - before I buy one I'm trying to do some additional research on block diagrams and some circuit descriptions - the integrated GPS is very cool. Three of four hunters had this and all their radio traffic about where they were at is handled digitally by sending location data much like Dsc is capable of on Marine VHF. So the usual - hay John - where are you is handled by looking at your gps display - pretty cool.

Another neat thing about the Rino 530 was the ability to tailor the microphone gain to your voice - a feature that only my really expensive HF/VHF rigs have. If you have a naturally loud voice you can turn the gain down and not overdrive the microphone, quiet voice turn it up. Want to whisper and sound like a rock concert - crank it up - but talk real quiet or you will clip the received audio real bad.

If you want to bend around ridges - you need to go below 50mhz for RF to begin to follow terrain at about 26-30mhz it is almost ideal for what is often called ground wave local communications (Aka CB 26-27mhz or 11m, or 10m Amature Radio 28-30mhz) however that frequency will also radily propogate off the ionosphere resulting in your signal returning to earth thousands of miles distant. True regional ground wave is generally around 3.5mhz and lower - but that requires lots of antenna and lots of power.

GMRS does allow for repeaters in their band plan. But you start getting really expensive when you start to say repeater.

Hope that helps.

 

[Chesapeake]

I have a few sets of the Cobra's rated at 10 miles. They are far better than any others I have used.

My method for figuring out the usable distance in actual hunting conditions is to add 1 zero to the rating and then multiply this by 5 and read it as yards.

example: 10 miles would be (10 + 1 zero)=(100 x 5) = 500yds
5 miles would be (5 + 1 zero)= (50 x 5) = 250yds

This formula seems to work good for the higher end brands; Cobra, Uniden, Motorola

These radios will get about a mile if it is pretty much line of sight with only tree's in the way.

If you dont believe me find a strait section of road and drop a guy off with a radio and drive away playing "can you hear me now". Odds are you wont get out of sight before losing contact.

 

[Bait O Eggs]

Stickfish - I need to buy you a beer and talk radios :wink:

I knew they were GMRS (slapforehead) as my 5 miles units are GMRS.

For one weekend this year, I had a 5 mile unit, my buddy had a 2 mile unit, and he could hear me, and I couldnt not hear him all day long. :hoboy: Huge difference.

 

[scubaseth]

We played around with the 14 mile and even a 5 mile while waiting to get towed out a few weekends ago :blush:. Those 14 mile are worth the money, but even semi rough terrain and trees brings down their distance drasticaly.

The 5 mile was able to keep up on getting out for a ways out there. But it was not able to recieve from as far as the 14 mile. Its kind of fund to mess around especially when you are walking out to get some help for a stuck vehicle.

I am gonna have to look into those gps/radio units that sounds real nice. Especially for some new hunters that get lost easy.

Scuba

 

[StickFish]

:cheers:
Anytime - radios are one of my other expensive hobbies. I will be buying a Rino 530 in the not to distant future

 

[traks44]

My family uses motorola Distance DPS radios exclusivly. They go out an extrememly long range and the terrain doesnt matter. They are no longer manufactured but can be found on ebay. They were around $200 a piece when we first got them, but you can get them a little cheaper now.

 

[OuterLimits]

What is the range on 530 Rhino??

 

[baltz526]

i have two of the 2watt motorola talkabout frs radios, about ten years old.simple, dependable, no problems. but if everyone else in camp had the 5watt radios i would go out and buy a motorola 5watt. the least complicated one i could find, all the added features just eat batteries or cause confusion in there operation.