Question about using the TK8180

[oilfieldhauler]

Hello all,
I am new to your forum. I don’t know anything about radio operations. So please forgive my question if it is rather elementary. So here goes:

Recently I purchased some trucks at auction. Five of them had the TK8180 radios in them. One of my drivers told me they work great in the remote areas we service. I did a little reading in the owners manual. It seems they use a repeater or can communicate directly with one another.

So the questions are

How difficult are they to set up?

Do they need a repeater?

Will I need some sort of license?

 

[IAmSixNine]

The TK8180 is a great radio. I had one a few years back and really liked the build quality and the good audio.
I would NOT recomend using them unless you are licensed. Even buying used radios and transmitting on them is a bad idea as the original owner may have been licensed or on a paid system and if you try to key up and start talking you are then in violation.
I do want to say thank you for being responsible and taking the time to join our community to ask questions as a lot of people dont.
Im guessing these will be used in a business setting so i would recommend you try to work with a local radio shop to get them programmed up and tested.

You can use them in direct mode aka radio to radio with limited coverage depending on power output, antenna placement on vehicles and geographical terrain. (on a channel / frequency your licensed to do so on) or you can use them on a conventional repeater system for wider area coverage or on an LTR trunking system if a local radio shop has one set up.

Are you in the US? If so what part? Maybe someone here knows a shop or works for one and can help you further.

 

[oilfieldhauler]

The TK8180 is a great radio. I had one a few years back and really liked the build quality and the good audio.
I would NOT recomend using them unless you are licensed. Even buying used radios and transmitting on them is a bad idea as the original owner may have been licensed or on a paid system and if you try to key up and start talking you are then in violation.
I do want to say thank you for being responsible and taking the time to join our community to ask questions as a lot of people dont.
Im guessing these will be used in a business setting so i would recommend you try to work with a local radio shop to get them programmed up and tested.

You can use them in direct mode aka radio to radio with limited coverage depending on power output, antenna placement on vehicles and geographical terrain. (on a channel / frequency your licensed to do so on) or you can use them on a conventional repeater system for wider area coverage or on an LTR trunking system if a local radio shop has one set up.

Are you in the US? If so what part? Maybe someone here knows a shop or works for one and can help you further.

Thanks for the reply. We are in South Texas, West Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. I like the idea of running them direct because they would work when relocating the trucks or when in the most remote locations. I have read here in this forum that they can even be set us as repeaters. But again, not sure if that would require an FCC license. For now its just an idea. From a safety standpoint, it offers communication in an environment where there is no cell service or much of anything else.

 

[IAmSixNine]

To use as a repeater you need to have a base location set up with the repeater. It could be as simple as a few GR300 units put together with a 20 foot pole or it could be on top of a large skyskraper building. Both need licensing.
Pretty much everything needs licensing.
I more of a hardware guy as i worked at a shop for many years an my role was to fix stuff but i never got involved in the legal / licensing side of things. So hopefully someone will chime in with assistance in that area.

What you could do is get your guys to file for GMRS licenses with the FCC.
Then if you had to travel your guys could use those channels to keep in contact.
Its not meant for business use but i dont see any harm in at least going that route and if your in a remote area you would have some form of comms. Not the best but its something.