I work for a company in the oil and gas industry, in my line of work I need to keep in contact with the various companies that I work with on various pads through out PA, WV, and OH. Some of them have no issue issuing me a radio while others are short on them or just dont want to give them up. I would like to get a radio that I could program fairly easy. I have found the frequencies online for the various companies and this would save a lot of trouble. The little research I have done has left me with some questions 1. I notice the frequencies listed have 3 digits a decimal followed by 5 digits the radios I have come across on amazon specifically only let you program 3 digits a decimal followed by 3 digits. with that said what are my options if any?
Has to do with channel spacing, and you need to be able to program the frequency in there exactly as it's licensed, or it's not going to work.
I'd also stay away from the cheap radios on Amazon, more on that later.
2. I am under the understanding that even though the frequencies list are public I will not be able to transmit only listen which is fine just curious if that is true?
Only the licensee (the person/company/agency) that holds the license can give you permission to transmit on their frequencies under their license. Since you are not licensed on those frequencies, you would be in violation of the FCC rules. Doesn't mean you cannot get permission, you'd just need it to be in writing if you wanted to be legal.
And, sure, there are those that would program them in anyway and ignore the FCC rules. The chances of getting busted are slim to none, but I'm looking at this from the direction that you want to do it right and legally.
A few things you need to keep in mind:
A lot of companies are going to digital radio systems. If they do, an analog only radio isn't going to do you any good. You'll have to have a compatible digital radio for it to work. These low end radios you are probably looking at on Amazon are analog only.
If listening only is an option, that might be a lot easier. A decent scanner will handle most of the digital modes, however programming will take some practice. The specifics on how to set up the digital scanner are not going to be shown in the public databases.
There's quite a few pieces of information you'd need to program your own radio correctly, if you want to transmit. Transmit and Receive frequency (might be different if they are using a repeater) as well as squelch codes, digital modes, etc. are all required pieces of information to do this correctly.
Lastly if I could be guided in the direction of what I need and where to buy that would be great. Thanks in advance for dealing with my ignorance in this matter.
Not all the low end radios sold have the necessary FCC certifications to legally transmit on these frequencies. Often there are ways to make it work correctly, but there's the legal issue part, if that concerns you.
You need to be really careful about this part:
Often radios used in the petrochemical industry have an Intrinsically Safe (IS) or Factory Mutual (FM) or other types of ratings to increase their safety for use in possible explosive environments. You might "get away" with using a non rated radio, you might not. What I'd be more concerned about is showing up on site with a non-rated radio and getting busted by the company that runs the place. You need to find out what their requirements are. And, no offense to the hard working men and women in that industry, but I'd be really careful about taking advice from anyone that's not had their hands in setting up the specific radios they are using on site. Most people are radio "users", not radio techs, and there is a big difference.
I used to work with a guy that was in telecom for one of the big oil companies, and it's a big deal. Just make sure you cross all your T's and dot all your I's to stay on the right side of these companies.
They could be using different bands, too, VHF, UHF, 900MHz, etc. You'd need to know the frequencies they are using to make sure you got the correct radio(s).
Personally, if listen only is an option, go with a scanner. It'll be legal, much more flexible, easier and probably be less frustrating.