yatesfire5
Member
hi can anyone tell me can a ham radio that is uhf be programed for public safety channels i am a volunteer firefighter and would like to use it for that thanks
ham 2 way radio on ebay
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WB4CS
Member
No.
Ham radios are for ham radio use and not legal for any other use.
Commercial radios are for public safety use.
rfradioconsult
Member
Check out the Baeofeng uv5r radio.
W2NJS
Member
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Not true.
Generally speaking, a ham radio can/should not be used for commercial operations.
All commercial radios can be used for both ham and commercial operations.
A new crop of Chinese radios is now being sold and some of these radios carry an
FCC Part 90 (commercial) certification, as well as capability to operate on the VHF and
UHF ham bands. One such radio is the Baofeng model UV-5R. I own one of these units.
It is cheaply made but it works fine and has good audio, both on transmit and receive.
People's experience with these units varies widely, but they do work. Question is whether
or not one should be using a $50 radio for life safety situations.
rapidcharger
Member
W2NJS
Member
Deleted (duplicate post)
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WB4CS
Member
Yes, true, commercial radios can be used for ham radio.
But, no ham radios except for the cheap Chinese radios are part 90 accepted.
So for the OPs question, my answer of "no" is correct.
Sure you can modify a ham radio to tx out of band and use it for commercial use, but it's not legal and there is no guarantee that the radio will not cause harmful interface when transmitting out of the designed bands it was meant for (ham). Could we please stop encouraging people to incorrectly use radio equipment just to save money? W2NJS I know you didn't suggest it, but that seems to be a common theme on this and other forums.
RadioDaze
Member
Taking it a step further, I don't think they should be encouraged to use the cheapest available Chinese radios in public service and emergency applications, either. That's when you generally need more reliable equipment.
Agreed. To the op, consumer ham equipment can cause spurious emissions in other parts of the spectrum when modded for commercial use if not tuned properly besides being illegal for such use, and the cheap import radios that are flooding the u.s. are not always the best answer for commercial applications either.
There are plenty of older motorola and kenwood radios on the market which can be had for cheap still usable for some commercial uses.
73,
n9zas
There are plenty of older motorola and kenwood radios on the market which can be had for cheap still usable for some commercial uses.
73,
n9zas
cellblock776
Member
If you are a member of a VFD then that agency should be able to either issue the radio you need or point you to a source of radios which the members purchase the radios from. As a former VFD member I was issued a pager and eventually a portable radio when the Chief and Training officer felt I had met the requiements. In the rare case of gear which we needed to purchase ourselves there was always someone in the department who would tell you how to get it. When I see someone asking about buying a HT for VFD use I have to wonder why this person has not been given this info by their chain of command already.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Likely because people want "a" radio, any radio, to be part of the team. The life safety part of it is secondary, or third, fourth, etc. Going cheap on a radio that is going to be used in real world situations is going to lead to disappointment at best, someone getting hurt/killed at worst. A $50 Chinese radio will NOT stand up to fire use. You won't be able to find an interface that will allow you to connect into your SCBA, it may not do the signaling required by dispatch/department. An amateur radio is going to be the same thing, not the right tool for the job.
You wouldn't use a garden hose in a structure fire. You wouldn't use an old u-haul truck as your primary engine, and you would't wear a wal*mart $15 rain coat instead of proper turn out gear.
Using hacked amateur radio equipment or a $50 radio is pretty much the same thing.
There is a reason that radios that are marketed to public safety users are more expensive, they have the design and specifications that are needed for that use. Cutting corners on your communications equipment is the sign of someone who is new to the field and hasn't learned this yet, or is just an outright whacker.
There are PLENTY of suitable radios available on the used market that will fit your needs. For a $100 you can likely find a Motorola HT-1000, a proper radio for public safety use. For a bit more, you could find an MTS2000, a Kenwood TK-290, again, all suitable radios.
Cutting corners on your communications gear is not a good idea.
And since when does the price of a radio have anything to do with life safety applications? After 20 something years of doing that sort of thing I can say from experience that I've had to use some pretty expensive "junk" (to put it nicely) with 'big' names on them. I won't say that any of the 'Chinese' radios would be 'better' than one of the 'big' names, but that just depends on the purpose, doesn't it. I can say that at one time or another some of them would have certainly been handy to have.
- 'Doc
And for that 'interfacing' with SCBA masks, all it would take is the proper connectors on the end of the cord. Maybe $5 and 10 minutes and it'd be done.
- 'Doc
And for that 'interfacing' with SCBA masks, all it would take is the proper connectors on the end of the cord. Maybe $5 and 10 minutes and it'd be done.
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sloop
Member
Yatesfire5 my personal advice is don't buy your own radio!!! I am an Assistant Chief with a local VFD and we strongly discourage our firefighters owning their own radio. Eventhough we are a small department, we furnish HT's to all that need one, the officers and the EMT's. I have been in fires that melted the antenna on my radio, I have dropped them in mud, on pavement , and even had to throw one away (meth lab fire). If the radio is owned by the department, its replaced ...if owned by you...you are SOL. In my 25+ years of firefighting, EMT, and HazMat I do not remember a single time that I needed a radio and did not have means to some other form of communications that worked. After all at a fire scene you listen with your pager; the only ones that should be talking are the officers and the interior attack team (we have an officer with that team). Remember that fire radios are designed to endure heat, vibrations, water, dust, etc. that ham radios are not designed to with stand. Best of luck in your decision.
DODGEIT
Member
Using one of the Chinese radio for Fire Ground use as already stated is not recommended. Especially in hazardous material atmospheres. For using it to tell your dispatch you are responding is one thing but never for fire ground use.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Right, the price has little to do with it. However, if you've ever held one of these radios, you'll understand what I'm talking about.
As for interfacing to the SCBA, yes, you or I could build an interface no problem, but when the OP is asking about if an amateur radio is OK to use for fire service, I highly doubt he has the skills for doing that sort of work.
Most fire agencies want Intrinsically Safe (IS) radios, the current crop of $50 dual band radios don't have that, but I'd be happy for someone to prove me wrong.
MDC? Do they have that?
Will they stand up to getting splashed?
Will they stand up to getting knocked around?
Will they stand up to getting wiped down with alcohol was some drunk pukes all over you on a medical call?
Will it even work for the frequencies that his fire department uses? Is his department on 700, 800, low band? We are assuming he is talking about VHF or UHF analog. What if they are running a trunked system?
Is he even in the United States? If he isn't in the US or Canada, this radio may not have the correct authorizations for the country he is in.
What really needs to happen is the original poster needs to provide us with some more info before we can recommend ANY radio.
Robinsmark
Member
Sloop is right
Besides all of what what Sloop says, if everyone has the same radio, you can swap batteries easier than if you have multiple brands and different models. Same is true for a melted antenna.
Besides all of what what Sloop says, if everyone has the same radio, you can swap batteries easier than if you have multiple brands and different models. Same is true for a melted antenna.
As for the legality, that was covered adequately in post #3, the later post doesn't contradict it. I do have experience with the radio I'm speaking about. Is it the latest and greatest thing designed specifically for the fire service? Of course not, but it does come close. And as said, it depends on the application of it's use. I'm afraid I only have 'second hand' experience with volunteer fire departments, but I've certainly been 'exposed to those in this area. Considering how they were supplied with equipment until very recently, and their training until very recently, they would have certainly benefited from having a few "el'cheapo" HTs of any kind. It wouldn't have been 'right', but it would have been a huge help. I don't know the original poster, but I have no reason to assume that he isn't of reasonable intelligence. The leads me to believe that he is smart enough to think that just any old radio would be usable, much less legal, in this sort of situation. Even if he wasn't aware of that, I figure he is now, you think?
I would suggest that people not 'read' more into what I post than is there. I don't normally include a disclaimer in my posts, most of the time it isn't necessary. But I guess sometimes it is.
- 'Doc
I would suggest that people not 'read' more into what I post than is there. I don't normally include a disclaimer in my posts, most of the time it isn't necessary. But I guess sometimes it is.
- 'Doc
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