Reconrider
Active Member
What's a good radio? I know cheap chinese are crap. Something not to break the bank
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What's a good radio?
- Thread starter Reconrider
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mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Depends entirely on what you need, what you are licensed for and what your budget is. There isn't one radio that applies to all instances. There are a lot of really good used commercial radios out on the market right now.
Reconrider
Active Member
licensed for ham & gmrs. Budget is average. Lets say 250(?) tops.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Hard to beat a used Kenwood TK-3180
14 character display, 512 channels, easy to learn software. I use one as my uhf 'shop' radio at work. Kenwood has recently discontinued them, but there's a lot of accessories still available for them. Same chassis radio as the NX-x10 series radios.
If you want VHF, TK-2180.
Reconrider
Active Member
I know kenwood is a good name. Do you know any that are dual band TX/RX?
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Kenwood doesn't have any dual band hand held radios. Their EF Johnson brand does, but they are in the several thousand dollar range.
Reconrider
Active Member
Ouch, don't want to spend that much on a radio haha.
You know of any other reliable brands that are dual band?
The Yaesu FT-60R has one of the longest and best reputations in dual band HTs. They are out of production, but still available around $160. There is decent free software (FT 60 Commander, Chirp) as well as RT Systems packages. Analog coverage from 108.00 to the 900 MHz range, and 1000 memories. You will find many favorable comments on RR where people ask for a better radio. Mine is at least 8 years old and still works great.
FT60 won't work if he wants to transmit on frequencies outside of the ham bands. He needs a radio with FCC Part 90 approval.
Reconrider
Active Member
Is it easy to field program?
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
No, he needs a Part 95 radio.
FT-60 obviously won't work for legal reasons.
Requiring Part 95 probably narrows the field down to either a few radios, or none. Hard enough to find Part 95 radios as it is, without adding dual band requirement.
Sometimes the less expensive solution is to have two radios that use common accessories, like the Kenwood TK-#180 series.
Another good option would be the TK-#90 series, which can be set up easily for FPP. Easy to do under $250.00.
I don't think it is out of production. Doesn't say so on the Yaesu site, and readily available from multiple vendors.
Reconrider
Active Member
What are those legal reasons? I'm new to radio stuff, scanner stuff I'm pretty set with but radios and the fcc part number I haven't really studied yet
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Under the GMRS rules, any transmitter used must have FCC Part 95 certification. There is no exception to that rule.
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR)
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) published by the Government Publishing Office
www.ecfr.gov
With the exception of amateur radio, most radios used in the USA need to be type certified for the radio service in which they are used.
For Marine use, transmitters must have an FCC Part 80 certification
For Aircraft use, transmitters must have an FCC Part 87 certification
For Public Safety/Business/Industrial, transmitters must have an FCC Part 90 certificaiton
For Personal Radio Services (GMRS, FRS, MURS, LPRS, CB etc), transmitters must have the appropriate Part 95 certification (differs depending on the different services).
Basically what the certification says is that the transmitter/transceiver meets the requirements of the radio service and can be legally used.
Such as:
FRS must have a non-removable antenna, not exceed 500mw or 2 watts, depending on the channel
GMRS must meet power/stability/emission requirements
The outlier is Amateur Radio, which does not require a certification on the transmitter (ONLY when used inside the limits of the amateur radio bands). That goes back to the days where some amateurs built their own radios (and many still do).
Under the rules, using a Yaesu FT-60, which has no certification on the transmitter, it would be against FCC rules to transmit with that radio anywhere else than on the amateur radio frequencies. And while some will knowingly hack the radios to do otherwise, it is specifically forbidden and it puts your licenses at risk if you do transmit with it.
Same goes for some of the Cheap Chinese Radios. Many of them do not have proper type certifications for anything other than amateur radio bands. Many of them are easily modified, either physically or by programming, to work outside the amateur bands. FCC has cracked down on some of them.
It's a good idea to read the rules for the services in which you are licensed. It can get a little complex, but we are happy to help you understand it. It is your responsibility as the one holding the FCC license to make sure all the rules are followed (regardless of what someone on the internet says).
Reconrider
Active Member
So much info that is amazing - thank you for writing that.
Without going in to a lot of details about how, why would someone want to hack the radio to use outside the band? Also, if you don't mind, what's a good link or search query that I can read about all the fcc parts? I know some of the fcc links are pretty tough to read through while being new.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
You are welcome. It's what I do.
A couple of reasons I've seen:
1. Do not understand the FCC rules.
2. Do not care about the FCC rules.
3. Assume that they are some sort of First Responder and need to communicate directly with public safety.
4. Whackers.
5. Are under the impression that their ham radio is going to save the day in specific instances where there are no other options (there are other options).
6. Using their radios for driving transverters to work other bands.
7. Too cheap to buy the correct radio for the application.
And it's a hot topic, and there will likely be some challenges to the above statement.
Get it from the source. The FCC publishes all the rules: Rules & Regulations for Title 47
For amateur radio, read Part 97
For GMRS, CB, FRS, MURS, etc, read Part 95
For public safety, business, industrial, etc, read Part 90
For marine use, read part 80
For aircraft, read part 87
In addition, read Part 2 and Part 15, as those apply to all services.
But, yeah, it's deep and they don't make it easy to understand for the newcomer. I'm not going to claim I can make a 100% accurate determination, that can only come from the FCC, however having spent years reading the rules, I've got a pretty good grip on them.
Biggest issue I see is that some never read them/don't want to know. Other issue is people that read a single sentence or two and ignore everything else around it.
Reconrider
Active Member
Thank you so much. If I ever have any questions, do you mind if I DM you about it instead of replying to threads?
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Sure, no problem.
In addition to the very good list above, I'll tell you why all my ham radios are "hacked" to transmit out of band. It is a rare day for me to use anything other than commercial gear for UHF/VHF, but the problem with commercial handhelds, is that they are only single band, aside from some very, very expensive models.
So instead of carrying 2 or 3 different radios, sometimes I take a ham radio just for the sheer radio spectrum it covers in one package. If I am out hiking with my ham radio, and fall down and badly injure myself in the middle of nowhere, I am going to use whatever means I can to get a hold of help. Of course I will try my phone. Then I go to the radio, then to the EPIRB. Radio-wise, I would try ham radio, GMRS/FRS, MURS, etc. The FCC might fine me $10,000 and take away my licenses forever, but I would be alive to pay that fine. Outside of that, my ham radios are NEVER used for anything other than the ham radio bands.
So instead of carrying 2 or 3 different radios, sometimes I take a ham radio just for the sheer radio spectrum it covers in one package. If I am out hiking with my ham radio, and fall down and badly injure myself in the middle of nowhere, I am going to use whatever means I can to get a hold of help. Of course I will try my phone. Then I go to the radio, then to the EPIRB. Radio-wise, I would try ham radio, GMRS/FRS, MURS, etc. The FCC might fine me $10,000 and take away my licenses forever, but I would be alive to pay that fine. Outside of that, my ham radios are NEVER used for anything other than the ham radio bands.
N4KVE
Member
Years ago ham radios would only work in the ham bands. You needed to mod them to listen to the commercial bands, as well as cell phones. But some years after that, they were capable of listening to the commercial freq’s right out of the box. So there’s no need to do any mods now to transmit where they legally are not allowed to.
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