never seen it this good.... unbelievable

[slowmover]

I don't have a handheld, I don't have a base station, and my mobile isn't a President Washington with relay function.

Not Yet.

But @niceguy71 and @slowmover have me thinking that I could make a serious case for it.

On foot using the handheld back to the truck running relay back to base? What's that range look like?

Conditions, conditions.

As no one yet has a U-Wash, time to be sure base and handheld are both FM/CTCSS-capable.

CB = Constantly Buying

.

 

[WSAC829]

CB = Constantly Buying

Ain't that the truth. Lol. I just ordered a QT40. Radioddity had a flash sale 2 days ago where I got the qt40 and a free mag mount for $169.99 with free shipping. Not that I needed yet another radio, but the deal was too good to pass up.

 

[jcrmadden]

Conditions, conditions.

As no one yet has a U-Wash, time to be sure base and handheld are both FM/CTCSS-capable.

CB = Constantly Buying

Randy II?

 

[niceguy71]

This, then, may be up your alley:

I always enjoy MowerJunkie, Farpoint Farms and mr. Hanheld himself Mack's Public Land Hunting & Outdoors

 

[niceguy71]

I don't have a handheld, I don't have a base station, and my mobile isn't a President Washington with relay function.

Not Yet.

But @niceguy71 and @slowmover have me thinking that I could make a serious case for it.

On foot using the handheld back to the truck running relay back to base? What's that range look like?

I carry one in every 4X4 I've ever owned, always in the console... if you go four wheeling you need one.... I keep rechargeable batteries in it and can plug it into the cigarette lighter to charge it once every couple months.... you need one because going 4X4 ing you can't possibly see what is at the top of a steep hill or big rocks going around creek beds.... everyone has a spotter get out of the 4X4 with the handheld and can stand at the top of a hill telling you left or right... when Jeepers go off road they always have a spotter at dangerous areas... you just can't beat the hand helds for that.
in my younger days a bunch of my friends and I would all go deep in the woods or to the beach with a few cases of beer and make a campfire..... I would never mess with any people on the CB... I'm a bit shy for that and just not a mean bone in my body... but my friends would, and it was hilarious as they were friendly and kept it fun... they were very quick witted....... I would always discretely get the handheld out of the console and give it to one of my other friends... who would go into the woods like he was on a pee break...... he would then mess with whoever was on my CB that was messing with other people.... the guy in my Blazer wouldn't know another of our friends was on my handheld.... so the guy with the handheld would say things that only our group would know..... like he would come back from an insult saying "what kind of long haired loser hippie are you?" and the guy on the CB was a long haired hippie !!!.... then the guy on the handheld would say "you must have a sister the works at the local strip joint" and he did! so the drunk in my blazer would be just staring at my CB mic with a dumbfounded drunken look on his face???? then the guy with the handheld would be like you probably come from a family of losers I bet your mother is one of those idiot workers at Burger King...... by now the drunk on my CB is boiling mad... and of course the rest of us are dying with laughter.
we must have pulled that trick on 7 or 8 of my friends it was a riot!... one of the best ones was we had one friend that was really messing with a trucker .. so I smuggled the handheld out to another friend who would insult our friend that was on my Blazer CB like saying a jerk like you couldn't even keep a job at Mcdonalds ( and of course our blazer CB-er was just fired from Mcdonalds... so the trucker would also chime in and laugh at the guy in my blazer... then the guy on the HandHeld would say I bet your sister is the town slut! ( and she was) .... when we got done pranking my friends I don't think any of them ever wanted to mess with anyone on CB ever again.
but a handheld is a great tool.... I just used it to find my surge by going into my cellar and saying turning on Breaker # 1 then watched the video of my base station until I could see what breaker was causing the surge.
we used to go fishing in one of 10 ponds in my town before Cell Phones and kept the handheld on... if our friends were looking for us they would drive over near each pond and call out to us and we would say yes were fishing at this pond... come over to the west side and then walk over to the island, were on the south end of the island
we also used to drive my blazer on the beach a lot... we had a cove we had to pass at low tide.... once the tide came in you were stuck on the other side for 10 to 12 hours... but this also meant no police could come in,, NO ONE that 2 mile stretch of beach could only be accessed from the other side of the cove... no way to get there from the dunes.... so we owned that beach for the night! ... but if you tried to go back before low tide your 4X4 would sink in the wet sand before you knew it so we would always send a spotter down with a handheld to see how it was... and to see if any police were waiting... some of our bonfires could be seen from miles across the way by the other shore..... the police would throw a fit because they couldn't get to us.... but sadly there was only one way out and they would wait.... so with the spotter we could out wait them. or at least get rid of the empties and make sure all our stuff was up to the requirements of the beach.... eventually the police got 4X4's and it just wasn't fun anymore.
if you want to get one I'll tell you how to get one CHEAP and my personal favorite... plus the best rechargeable batteries for it... so let me know before you buy one.

 

[slowmover]

Randy II?

Randy 3

 

[slowmover]

I carry one in every 4X4 I've ever owned, always in the console... if you go four wheeling you need one.... I keep rechargeable batteries in it and can plug it into the cigarette lighter to charge it once every couple months.... you need one because going 4X4 ing you can't possibly see what is at the top of a steep hill or big rocks going around creek beds.... everyone has a spotter get out of the 4X4 with the handheld and can stand at the top of a hill telling you left or right... when Jeepers go off road they always have a spotter at dangerous areas... you just can't beat the hand helds for that.
in my younger days a bunch of my friends and I would all go deep in the woods or to the beach with a few cases of beer and make a campfire..... I would never mess with any people on the CB... I'm a bit shy for that and just not a mean bone in my body... but my friends would, and it was hilarious as they were friendly and kept it fun... they were very quick witted....... I would always discretely get the handheld out of the console and give it to one of my other friends... who would go into the woods like he was on a pee break...... he would then mess with whoever was on my CB that was messing with other people.... the guy in my Blazer wouldn't know another of our friends was on my handheld.... so the guy with the handheld would say things that only our group would know..... like he would come back from an insult saying "what kind of long haired loser hippie are you?" and the guy on the CB was a long haired hippie !!!.... then the guy on the handheld would say "you must have a sister the works at the local strip joint" and he did! so the drunk in my blazer would be just staring at my CB mic with a dumbfounded drunken look on his face???? then the guy with the handheld would be like you probably come from a family of losers I bet your mother is one of those idiot workers at Burger King...... by now the drunk on my CB is boiling mad... and of course the rest of us are dying with laughter.
we must have pulled that trick on 7 or 8 of my friends it was a riot!... one of the best ones was we had one friend that was really messing with a trucker .. so I smuggled the handheld out to another friend who would insult our friend that was on my Blazer CB like saying a jerk like you couldn't even keep a job at Mcdonalds ( and of course our blazer CB-er was just fired from Mcdonalds... so the trucker would also chime in and laugh at the guy in my blazer... then the guy on the HandHeld would say I bet your sister is the town slut! ( and she was) .... when we got done pranking my friends I don't think any of them ever wanted to mess with anyone on CB ever again.
but a handheld is a great tool.... I just used it to find my surge by going into my cellar and saying turning on Breaker # 1 then watched the video of my base station until I could see what breaker was causing the surge.
we used to go fishing in one of 10 ponds in my town before Cell Phones and kept the handheld on... if our friends were looking for us they would drive over near each pond and call out to us and we would say yes were fishing at this pond... come over to the west side and then walk over to the island, were on the south end of the island
we also used to drive my blazer on the beach a lot... we had a cove we had to pass at low tide.... once the tide came in you were stuck on the other side for 10 to 12 hours... but this also meant no police could come in,, NO ONE that 2 mile stretch of beach could only be accessed from the other side of the cove... no way to get there from the dunes.... so we owned that beach for the night! ... but if you tried to go back before low tide your 4X4 would sink in the wet sand before you knew it so we would always send a spotter down with a handheld to see how it was... and to see if any police were waiting... some of our bonfires could be seen from miles across the way by the other shore..... the police would throw a fit because they couldn't get to us.... but sadly there was only one way out and they would wait.... so with the spotter we could out wait them. or at least get rid of the empties and make sure all our stuff was up to the requirements of the beach.... eventually the police got 4X4's and it just wasn't fun anymore.
if you want to get one I'll tell you how to get one CHEAP and my personal favorite... plus the best rechargeable batteries for it... so let me know before you buy one.

Genuinely funny.

Now, with a Randy and using a cordless mic from the truck radio one could one-up the scenarios above.

Or have a crazy man argument with self on-air across those one weak & one strong radios.

Times are getting harder. That dumb sh4t we did earlier now means we can know how to entertain. When men are wound up. To cut that tension. Tar-tar like, if nothing else.

.

 

[KI4ZNG]

I'm not driving around and using the handheld... I am driving to my 1 mile location shutting off the truck and I planned to walk 30 to 50 feet away from the truck.... then after I broadcast my range test I drive to the 2 mile location and do the same ... I do that all the way up to my five mile location... ... my locations are selected using google maps so I can draw a line from my house to each of these locations that way I know exactly how many miles from location to base station..... driving from location to location is a lot more than straight line mileage .. IOW if I go to the lake it's exactly one mile from my house... but it takes me almost two miles to get there going around forests farms and so forth

I'm just too old to carry 8 handheld CB's and camera equipment around for 10 miles.

yes handhelds are not good communication .... but I like them
my hobby is seeing how far they can go to the Base station and how far to my mobile. ... I just like it better than stamp collecting... we all like something different.

in my mind I like to have them for survival plans.. cell phones will be down. ... I have over 200 rechargeable AA batteries for my handhelds.... . say the power grid collapsed (EMP is a real concern so all my vehicles, generators and whole house have EMP shields installed ) say no one has power for 6 months.. the gasoline will be pretty much exhausted.... all the food goes bad in the grocery stores... people panic and start a run on food.. ( like what happened with Corona) after a while people will travel out to the country (my area) and possibly hear my generator... I keep an underground 1000 gallon propane tank and a 120 gallon tank full in the back of my house... I also have a 1000 gallon heating oil/ Diesel tanks in my basement ( three 330 gallon oil tanks)..... I typically use 600 to 750 gallons of oil to heat my house and hot water for a full year! I can run my propane generator a few hours a day to heat the house and recharge my solar batteries which will run the house the rest of the day...
only thing I need to run the generator for is to pump my well pump so I can have water and hot showers and recharge batteries... again only going to have to run the generator for a few hours a day so I can go about a year...
I have a few big Kubota's FEL for plowing my driveway that can also run my PTO generator... and as I said I have a lot of diesel stored away... I refill it every July when I can get it cheaper.
I have 5 neighbors that also do some prepping... in the above situation I will give a handheld to each of my neighbors... I test different rechargeable batteries too and know I can run a lot of my favorite handhelds for 4 days straight!... if only sitting on the kitchen counter listening.... so if our neighbors generators and mine are running and a poor starving mother with three children hear it running, they will come and knock on my door looking for food shelter help..... pretty hard for anyone to turn them away... but I only prepped for my family!! so I would rather not have anyone stop at my house..... so the plan is each of my prepper neighbors have a handheld in their house and we would send some of the teenagers with a handheld down my street a 1/2 mile each way.... mile long street and the only way to get to our houses is to come down my street from one end or the other.
.... if the teenagers see a car coming from a 1/2 mile to my left or the other teenagers see a car coming a 1/2 mile from my right they will get on the handheld to warn us....and we will all shut off our generators and make it look like no one is home..... until they pass.
if we are not using the generators and some dangerous group pulls into their yard any of my neighbors can call for help and they will have 10 plus armed neighbors come running.
I also have several great hunters in my little group that will need the handhelds for hunting ( deer retrieval )
if our country is invaded by say,, Aruba.... I would like to make sure we can send scouts near the center of town ( 7 miles away ) to keep an eye out and see what the enemy is doing??? are they going house to house??? are they rounding up military aged males? are they going to all the houses that are registered gun owners???
so I like to know what these handheld can do... I know the 51" HYS antenna on the Midland 75-822 does 3.5 to 4.0 miles to my base station... I have a four Randy's as I thought they would be the best.... ... I was pretty disappointed with them.. even with the 51" Randy TNC antenna 3 miles was pushing it at least in my tests so far... it just didn't come in clear enough to hear what was being said.

do I really think the the S*** will Hit the Fan? no.... but do I prepare for it... YES.... I always wanted my base station set up mostly just to be able to talk around the town and relay info from handheld to handheld... and if possible to hear SSB to see what is going on in the rest of the country.... so far the plan is working well... but I never thought the CB band would be so full of noise/ skip.... I guess in another year I may have better conditions for testing.

Niceguy71 you have a great plan in place. I wish that I was more prepared than I am. I think that I will start looking at a few handhelds for the wife and I.

 

[slowmover]

 

[slowmover]

 

[niceguy71]

View attachment 166388

that TRC 207 is a terrible CB ... I like mine out of nostalgia but without the ability to put on a telescoping 51" HYS antenna the range is terrible..... I like the battery saver..... the display disappears after 3 seconds...... so you can leave it with the squelch up high and it uses very little power... it always sounds transmits rich and full and clear... but with that stupid non replaceable antenna it's probably the worst handheld ever made.

 

[KI4ZNG]

I have been reading and watching videos about the Randy II. It looks like it would meet our needs to cover the perimeters of our farm.

 

[slowmover]

I have been reading and watching videos about the Randy II. It looks like it would meet our needs to cover the perimeters of our farm.

Randy, and Weather Radio Service

Several threads on RR, here’s longest one:

New President Randy FCC handheld/mobile CB

Has anyone purchased the new President Randy FCC handheld/mobile CB radio? Was thinking of purchasing one and was curious has to how the performance of this radio is in a mobile setup. I would mainly be using it for travel purposes and don't want to go the permanent mounted radio route (even...

forums.radioreference.com

Have my R-2 sitting next to me at home.

Just revived my MIDLAND 120 Weather Radio having added thru-glass external antenna (aluminum travel trailer), and red flashing strobe to point out a window. Need to stock up on AAA batteries (five needed) for back-up.

It’s pretty good by comparison at pulling in NWS given rubber ducky antenna. Large windows all around “help”, but not so just a few feet away.

My belief is that a Randy is best served by being able to connect to a powerful antenna in a remote location. Give it the boost it needs to reach the ranch house from the line camp. Near a gate or a remote building, etc.

Weather Alert is part of that idea.

NOAA Weather / Railroad Band 160 - 162 Mhz J-Pole Antenna - KB9VBR Antennas

The NOAA Weather band antenna is perfectly tuned to receive the 162MHz NOAA weather radio broadcasts. If you are looking for an antenna for your weather radio, this is the one to get. Used and trusted by Emergency Managers, Public Safety Officials, Outdoor Event Venues, Schools, and Factories...

www.jpole-antenna.com

Weather radio driving me crazy. HELP!

162.400 KXI58 is best for you 162.450 WXK24 is second best. But try them all because though they all cover your area, they are beyond the horizon and the antenna may be long term solution after you get the interference sorted.

forums.radioreference.com

Jock shares: “A bit more about NOAA Weather Radio”

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jock Elliott, who shares the following guest post: A bit more about NOAA Weather Radio By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM Okay, I’ll admit it: I’m a fan, an advocate, a…

swling.com

HAND-HELD Randy is a real tool.
MORE than a walkie-talkie
Back up to main CB.
Back up to dedicated NWS Receiver.

If for some reason that 120 quit, the Randy can be used with a near identical “campground CB” window mount with a compatible adapter for the hand-held when I’d want NWS. The antenna is too short for 11M TX range, but it’s fine for RX up to a mile or three.

.

 

[slowmover]

(Edited above)

 

[niceguy71]

I have been reading and watching videos about the Randy II. It looks like it would meet our needs to cover the perimeters of our farm.

I'm BIG into handheld CB's.... so I was thinking ,,,, what would I pick for the farm???... so thinking out loud....
the President Randy FCC II is an excellent handheld CB for $164 bucks... I test all the older model handhelds and the modern handheld radios .... I thought the Randy would be the best....I own 4 President Randy's thinking I would love them...and they do work nice... but I like the Midland 75-822 better. ... the Randy's don't do as well as the Midland 75-822....... close..... but not as clear..... and not as far away....I will post the tests on youtube one of these days.
if you got the Midland 75- 822 it also comes with a car kit ( like the Randy) so you can use it as a tiny mobile CB.... but would work as a mobile much easier than the Randy....... just buy a good 60 inch magnetic antenna for the top of the car or tractor .... it is much nicer for using it as a mobile unit compared to the Randy.....on the 75-822 you can also slip on the battery pack ( either the 6 alkaline battery pack or the 8 rechargeable battery pack) and use it as a handheld... (crazy to keep buying alkaline just get the rechargeables )

the 75-822 transmits to my 50 foot tall base station.... 3 plus miles away with the rubber duck antenna!!!! most other handhelds were struggling at 3 miles.... the randy with rubber duck was pretty garbled...... if you buy the HYS by BNC 51" telescoping antenna for the 75-822 it comes in clear as a bell... all my Randy's were hard to hear what was being said even with the HYS by TNC 51" telescoping antenna.....
if you got the 75-822 you would have to buy a set of rechargeable batteries... I found the best rechargeable batteries are the EBL 8 Pack Rechargeable Lithium AA Batteries, 1.5V 3000mWh Long Lasting AA Li-ion Batteries WITH CHARGER they start at 1.5 volts and stay at 1.5 volts until it dies... unlike slowly getting less and less voltage... but they cost $43 for the 8 pack that you need... the HYS BNC 51" telescoping antenna is $17 and the 75-822 is $93.00...... so a total of $153.00 for the Midland VS the randy at $164.00 PLUS the HYS 51" TNC telescoping antenna at $17.00 so the randy would be $181 total

pros for the randy.... the battery pack is built in so very easy to charge... it charges in about 2 hours that's FAST!!!! then just unplug it off the charger and use it
the Randy has CYRSTAL clear FM so if you're using it handheld to handheld you could use FM ( little less range ) but crystal clear.
the Randy display is beautiful... really easy to see especially in the daytime.
the battery signal meter works as it's set up for the factory battery pack... it really seems to stay full until it starts going down and then it dies pretty quickly.
it has a flashlight
you could buy multiple CB mic hangers for different locations and just clip the randy to the mic holder.

Randy cons... the battery doesn't last all that long... I put mine on my coffee table and leave it on scan it.... it will get 8 plus hours with light transmitting... and getting a radio to work for an 8 hour shift is pretty damn good so not much of a con
the only other con if you're using it as a mobile it's a little clumsy with a power wire on the bottom and the antenna wire on the top... but it works.

the Midland 75-822 pros
has great range even with the rubber duck antenna
small easy mobile use
you can leave the mobile set up in the car or tractor and just take the radio and pop on a battery pack to use as a handheld.... VS the Randy you need the charger to charge the radio so you can't leave the charger ( part of the mobile set-up) in the car or tractor
those EBL 1.5 rechargeable batteries charge in two hours!!!!! and they last and last and last!!!! so you could get two or three days out of them. maybe much MORE!

cons.... you have to take the battery pack off and take it apart to get the batteries out and charge them on a special lithium-Ion charger... then you have to put them all together after it's charged... doing this nightly would be a royal pain!!!! and the battery packs would probably break with taking them apart daily. ( they are a cheap clam shell design).. you could buy 1.2 volt NIMH batteries and use the charging pack.... but I have found the good 1.2 volt NIMH batteries take a trickle charge so they last up to 2000 charges.... but the trickle charge can take 12 to 14 hours!!!!..... at least on my Power Owl batteries and power owl chargers... not sure how the Midland rechargeable battery pack and 1.2 volt NIMH batteries would work... maybe they wouldn't be trickle charge?... but most of my handhelds take 12-16 hours to charge 1.2 NIMH batteries.....
the EBL's 1.5 are powerful and charge in less than 2 hours... so you would not have to use the rechargeable battery pack... you would use the Alkaline pack 6 batteries VS the 8 in the rechargeable pack..... another Con using the lithium batteries... they stay at 1.5 volts for their entire charge..... meaning the battery indicator always shows FULL.... until it just stops working.
no FM on the 75-822
I think the Randy would hold up better to daily use as the Midland 75-822 battery packs I see easily breaking in a fall or a hard bump.

so the Randy is really the better Radio for the farm..... but I honestly think the Midland out performs it!! if you were just using it occasionally like hunting a few times a year I'd pick the midland... but daily use.... you have to go with the Randy.

https://www.amazon.com/Midland-75-822-Channel-CB-Way-Radio/dp/B00000K2YR/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1T8F3QENKV29N&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.63auirNCZ4aO3sSFlOGRjPIYEpc-T7VxxFhIjYCYnTRA0iB_LX2EdKubPKcLaRimreJeWcQD_YgRyYdVohqn_6-z4j8zKIEhLSehoGpVA6OJIESJ-SR7Bv_rToBOG577nazrqt632TMPEV2PuL8hBfCV8J7VCDISnxi78d56fZOngeBJqzKeMxIYWSUgNmckSdN4lEoXzSTZn-sbfid9BfUEKL4rBI5Hv3e2VrGwQyNeUvmaR9lFc09n8VPxEP4nU65o4ozQycZk7SuPmd1x6ZOa2ErLJzMdyQYFqFfxBa8.h8CN-6hpgvLnD1GqZcpdkskngwOblx_tw4XztEEz5jQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=75-822&qid=1722145953&sprefix=75-822%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.com/HYS-Telescopic-Antennas-Connector-Compatible/dp/B093C3FVZR/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1MM95ZT6UQDXW&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.yUeDmkjubcUOR6Wu9ri9GEGE9Tppm2l_fky7mMhh7ljkrn5XozpsMc9nZxGfxem0tkioJI0qvk0MgWr5VC1pHR-P_h-2UHC0mthvqP6OnZgYbfcKgC9harXjyR-Bpc-gjPassVuLX2Xpb_srIWOEcw.TqFpa5QK6Raxps5DgPcnYSy8jlhJD7xOLy6ml8vdotY&dib_tag=se&keywords=hys+51+bnc&qid=1722146002&sprefix=hys+51+bnc%2Caps%2C75&sr=8-2

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B088ZN6XSJ/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_plhdr=t&aaxitk=31fc3f3621e5d2c23104d3815a7c81e4&hsa_cr_id=0&qid=1722145921&sr=1-1-9e67e56a-6f64-441f-a281-df67fc737124&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_lsi4d_asin_0_img&pd_rd_w=Sz890&content-id=amzn1.sym.8591358d-1345-4efd-9d50-5bd4e69cd942%3Aamzn1.sym.8591358d-1345-4efd-9d50-5bd4e69cd942&pf_rd_p=8591358d-1345-4efd-9d50-5bd4e69cd942&pf_rd_r=KRMY65X5G0BA78NZB1EP&pd_rd_wg=swYEz&pd_rd_r=c7704a13-948f-416e-930a-04a2b3a20482

 

[niceguy71]

I have been reading and watching videos about the Randy II. It looks like it would meet our needs to cover the perimeters of our farm.

how big is the farm? end to end I'm sure is less than a mile?????
and that's about all the Handheld to handheld will do.. probably closer to 3/4 of a mile... if you put up a base antenna at the house you could talk back and forth to the handhelds for over two miles.

 

[bearcatrp]

That midland looks just like the Cherokee I had. Anyone know if the battery on the midland would fit the Cherokee? I still have just the radio.

 

[KI4ZNG]

how big is the farm? end to end I'm sure is less than a mile?????
and that's about all the Handheld to handheld will do.. probably closer to 3/4 of a mile... if you put up a base antenna at the house you could talk back and forth to the handhelds for over two miles.

Thank you for all the information. Yes it's about 3/4 of a mile stretch. I do have a base station set up that I would be using. We do have designated observation posts set up in case things go to hell in the future. Enough said about all of that. So the handhelds would be used occasionally in the mean time.

 

[slowmover]

Thank you for all the information. Yes it's about 3/4 of a mile stretch. I do have a base station set up that I would be using. We do have designated observation posts set up in case things go to hell in the future. Enough said about all of that. So the handhelds would be used occasionally in the mean time.

Post in thread 'New President Randy FCC handheld/mobile CB'
New President Randy FCC handheld/mobile CB