 Poster: A snowHead
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Recently bought some baofeng uhf/vhf radios, for use while out shooting or stalking. Prices vary depending on where bought, but in £15-£25 range with PTT mike that can be clipped to lapel. Have to say I'm impressed with what you get for the price. Need to have the wavelengths and tone frequencies edited to comply with OFCOM licence (£75 for 5 years), and with PMR frequencies, which requires a relevant lead, but it's easily done.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Interesting, thanks! Was looking at Intek radios, which sound similar.
Not looking to use in the U.K. (Alps mainly) so will have to investigate relevant wavelengths/tones for use there.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I use the Baofeng UV5R, £25 on Amazon, can be 0.5W or 5W (Licence needed) we have a frequency here called Canal E (5W) which can be used in case of emergency, also have the local S & R heli programmed in, not legal but if it saves a life, I'll pay a fine if asked 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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We were given a set of four Motorola T80 Extreme walkie-talkies for Christmas. The claimed range is up to 10kms and the set included earpieces. At first, I was sceptical that they'd be much more use than mobiles, but in practice, they work well and we now take them out with us all the time. One piece of advice I was given was to not use the default channel and settings, as this reduces the odds of interference from other people using the same equipment. We've also labeled each with a short acronym to help make identification easier if there are more than two of us.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Zello app if you mobile/wifi coverage.
Its possible to pair with bluetooth headphones (i got 2x pairs for around £10 on ebay) & ptt using a photo button which are 99p on ebay. So you can leave your phone in your pocket (android). IOS is a bit more limited but worls with the standard hands free cabled earphones that come with the phone.
You can buy a zello ptt button to work with ios but cos a lot more than 99p (apple restrictions)
Plus you get almost all the benefits of whats app to send messages, etc.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I also have Motorola T80s although I use them for cycling. The range is good but the ear piece volume could be better.
Without the ear pieces, they work well.
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| recz wrote: |
Reviving this thread - has technology moved on at all?
Are there any radios that snowheads use regularly? ... |
Not hugely. I'm still regularly using the Baofeng UV-82HP which is a bigger/beefier UV5R.
100% legal to buy, albeit not programmed.
Program via Chirp and the included cable.
With 128 channels it's easy to load up the "guiding" frequencies in BC, the emergency frequencies for the Alps, plus all the legal license-free stuff for where I travel.
Not for people who won't do the research to figure out what works where etc.
They all come with the shoulder speaker thing but I don't use those myself.
If you travel at all, the programmable stuff is the way to go or you're going to need a bag full of pre-programmed stuff.
As someone pointed out earlier in the thread, it's essentially line of sight - you'll not get 10Km if there's a mountain in the way.
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Thanks for the replies all. Have gone for the Intek KT-980HP.
I feel my Christmas day will be spent figuring out how to use them and CHIRP.
Will try and remember to report back whether they are any use.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Handsets change in technology, however, a radio signal is a radio signal and unless you have a signal booster/repeater, then, most VHF and UHF radios operate on line of sight and lots of factors can affect the signal. You can have two people standing in exactly the same spots and you could get a percect signal one day and a broken one the next. Lots of factors affect the signal.
The higher the aerial and contrary to what other people have said in this thread, the output power of the signal does make a difference to the range.
I work at sea and our VHF radios have a 1 watt or 25 watt power output range. The higher output is not just a 'go faster stripe', it has a purpose.
In agreement with other threads, you need an operators licence to use such equipment and I have no experience of cheap off the shelf sets but I can't imagine they would be much good unless you were on the same side of the mountain, as said before. Range will vary greatly depending on lots of factors to do with atmospherics, proximity to lift cables etc. Motorola are a good brand if you are shopping.
You get what you pay for in life and to give you an idea we use digital UHF radios that are several hundrex euros each to get the quality we require and we still need several signal repeaters around the vessel but I fo work in a big metal box.
As for courses, I have a general operators licence for maritime use internationally. It was a two week course but I have no idea about land based courses. What may be acceptable land based in one country might not be valid in another. I do not know the answer to this I am afraid. Anyone?
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FAQ
