Two way Radios

[mattfr12]

Ok i need some radios for communication. i have the ear techs for when crane picking but range is kind of limited. I was gonna buy some ken wood 3200. but a couple of questions I've had where do i need UHF or VHF. and what is two watts of power gonna be good for. the guy told me about 6 miles. if thats correct they should be fine. their like 200$ a piece without the extendable mic that goes on your shoulder. so i wanna make sure i get the right thing. On this rail road job sometimes we are spread out over a few miles and just wanna be sure its gonna work. because the price tag was 3200$ with the trucks base stations and installation.

Any info would be great.

here is an ebay listing of the kind of radios I'm looking to get. http://www.ebay.com/itm/280884745792?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_1827wt_1182

 

[2treeornot2tree]

If i was gonna spend that kind of coin, i wouldn't be buying them off ebay. I would go to a communications company. You should be fine with either uhf or vhf but i would buy something with more then 2 watts power. We use portal radios to talk to fire dispatch and they are about 25 miles away.

 

[mattfr12]

If i was gonna spend that kind of coin, i wouldn't be buying them off ebay. I would go to a communications company. You should be fine with either uhf or vhf but i would buy something with more then 2 watts power. We use portal radios to talk to fire dispatch and they are about 25 miles away.

The only thing i gotta figure out is getting our own frequency. their all owned by the FCC and you gotta get approved to operate on one of them. a lot of paperwork.

 

[2treeornot2tree]

I dont know if you would have to for uhf since that is the channels for marine use. If you would want your own channel then you probably would.

 

[frostedunit]

Marine radios operate on the VHF band.

You will need to have the radios programmed to a specific frequency, which will require FCC licensing. However, the paperwork isn't as bad as you think.

I used to have a set of those same radios at a previous job and regularly got 8 to 12 miles on some some pretty hilly, wooded terrain.

Snootchie Bootchies!

 

[mattfr12]

Marine radios operate on the VHF band.

You will need to have the radios programmed to a specific frequency, which will require FCC licensing. However, the paperwork isn't as bad as you think.

I used to have a set of those same radios at a previous job and regularly got 8 to 12 miles on some some pretty hilly, wooded terrain.

Snootchie Bootchies!

Ya the guy I bought the radios from is doing the FCC Stuff for me. Anything over 1 watt requires license and you have to be approved to transmit on a certain frequency. From what I gathered UHF is the way to go for us.


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[no tree to big]

we just use nextels every driver has one. not all of them are allowed normal phone calls, just the foreman/crew leader's, most are just between co. phones so you dont need to worry about the guys making personal calls. can still get a hold of the boss man when he's at his condo in Florida :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[mattfr12]

we just use nextels every driver has one. not all of them are allowed normal phone calls, just the foreman/crew leader's, most are just between co. phones so you dont need to worry about the guys making personal calls. can still get a hold of the boss man when he's at his condo in Florida :hmm3grin2orange:

I had nextels for a long time. But around Pittsburgh the service is awful. If there are clouds outside they won't work. I shut the plan off last year we had 6 of them.


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[mattfr12]

we just use nextels every driver has one. not all of them are allowed normal phone calls, just the foreman/crew leader's, most are just between co. phones so you dont need to worry about the guys making personal calls. can still get a hold of the boss man when he's at his condo in Florida :hmm3grin2orange:

I'm working on getting permission to bounce off the local tower one of the people in town own. He said it will give it a range of over 30 mile. The tower is 200+ feet. They tune the radio to its frequency an it will amplify it.


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[pdqdl]

I used to have radios in all my trucks; we covered the entire Kansas City area. Radio repeater service should cover a 10-15 mile radius from the tower, depending on the height of the tower, etc.

With the advent of every employee having their own cellular phone, I simply didn't need the extra expense of the radios, so I discontinued. My radio service provider has had quite the downturn in business, I don't doubt it will be that way in your area too.

Call some radio maintenance shops in the area you are working. They will probably be more than willing to set you up with some rental radios that will work on their repeater. You will get MUCH better radios and coverage, you will probably spend less overall for a temporary need, and you can deduct the expense without any depreciation.

On the other hand, if you are needing a permanent radio solution, the best you can hope to get is about 4-6 miles out of UHF truck radios in the absence of a repeater service. I don't know about other bandwidths, but I'll bet CB radio with a big linear amp would do better. Not very legal, though...

Some folks set up their own repeater antenna, but that is a bunch of paperwork and expense. For large operations that move around, it isn't very practical, since your license is fixed. If you really need radio service and you move from town to town regularly, you would do better to buy your own truck radios, then pay a local repeater service to re-program them to their frequency, and then just pay the local rate.

About 6 years ago, I was paying $12.50 per month for each radio hooked up to the repeater.

 

[pdqdl]

Ok i need some radios for communication. i have the ear techs for when crane picking but range is kind of limited....

What are ear techs? I am currently looking for a close range radio solution for working with cranes, or maybe just the climber up in the tree.

 

[christineB]

That would be nice and fun to hear two way radios.

 

[treevet]

we just use nextels every driver has one. not all of them are allowed normal phone calls, just the foreman/crew leader's, most are just between co. phones so you dont need to worry about the guys making personal calls. can still get a hold of the boss man when he's at his condo in Florida :hmm3grin2orange:

I just don't see how any of you all function without nextels. We have had them from the start and use them all day every day. No phone service as guys used to leave them home as their wive's phone wasn't working or got shut off :msp_ohmy::help:

The military spec i80 is a little cumbersome but I keep mine in a holster around my ankle and it is never in the way.

when the phone ain't there...it is occupied otherwise :cool2:

View attachment 239881

 

[mattfr12]

I just don't see how any of you all function without nextels. We have had them from the start and use them all day every day. No phone service as guys used to leave them home as their wive's phone wasn't working or got shut off :msp_ohmy::help:

The military spec i80 is a little cumbersome but I keep mine in a holster around my ankle and it is never in the way.

when the phone ain't there...it is occupied otherwise :cool2:

View attachment 239881

Where i live the service is just to bad, I pulled the trigger with ken wood There putting 40 watt in all the trucks and the handhelds are 5 watt. Some of the handhelds we got the noise canceling headsets.


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[treemandan]

Two way radios? I dunno, to Hell with them. I want one way radio with just me doing the talking and everybody else doing the walking.

 

[treemandan]

I just don't see how any of you all function without nextels. We have had them from the start and use them all day every day. No phone service as guys used to leave them home as their wive's phone wasn't working or got shut off :msp_ohmy::help:

The military spec i80 is a little cumbersome but I keep mine in a holster around my ankle and it is never in the way.

when the phone ain't there...it is occupied otherwise :cool2:

View attachment 239881

That's pretty "psycho", thanks for sharing.:msp_unsure:

 

[tree md]

I just don't see how any of you all function without nextels. We have had them from the start and use them all day every day. No phone service as guys used to leave them home as their wive's phone wasn't working or got shut off :msp_ohmy::help:

The military spec i80 is a little cumbersome but I keep mine in a holster around my ankle and it is never in the way.

when the phone ain't there...it is occupied otherwise :cool2:

View attachment 239881

Nice shoes TV! :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[treevet]

Nice shoes TV! :hmm3grin2orange:

not my shoes Larry....but you don't see any humor in the pants????:cool2:

 

[tree md]

not my shoes Larry....but you don't see any humor in the pants????:cool2:

That is what Steve Irkle would look like if he packed a pistol... I do seriously like those shoes though...

 

[treevet]

That is what Steve Irkle would look like if he packed a pistol... I do seriously like those shoes though...

haha thought you were kidding. they're ok but of the whole scene, I am most partial to the holster. Prob gonna order one tomorrow. Just got my conceal carry. Things getting a bit rough around here. Once I move my lot this fall things should calm down some I hope. Meantime, found another hobby....target shooting. Very relaxing.