miketx
Diamond Member
- Dec 25, 2015
- 121,555
- 70,529
I started getting interested in radio, and got two Baofeng UV5r transceivers. They transmit on the two meter band and the 70 centimeter band and you can can program all the GMRS and FRC channels. It's tough to do it from the keypad on the front but you can download a program called CHIRP and get a 5 dollar cable and use your computer to program it. This is the UV5R:
It comes with a charger and belt clip as well. $60 dollars for two of them. You can also get police and emergency channels and several weather channels. Pretty good.
Also this year, I bought two more of the more powerful 8 watt models and they are better. They are called the Baofeng GT-3TP and have a better antenna as well.This is the GT-3:
They have 8 watts as stated and I got the bigger battery as well for my two. about 140 for two with the bigger battery.
They are billed as shortwave radios and SHTF radios and I have programmed mine but can't hit any of the local ham repeaters, but I live in the middle of nowhere and that may be why. Now these radios are different than the walmart blister pack walkie talkies you can buy in that those are usually limited to 1/2 watt and do not have a removable antenna. These do. Also I bought a base station antenna for one and it improves reception pretty well. I can talk to my wife at home all over the little town we live in and I have about a 5 to 6 mile range with the GT-3 model. That's pretty good. I'm disappointed that I can't hear any ham but I still may be doing it wrong. Oh well. They work pretty good and just the other day I heard police being dispatched to one block from me and went out and saw the show!
A word of caution, I just tested them to see how far I could transmit on GRMS, but you need a license to do it regularly.
It comes with a charger and belt clip as well. $60 dollars for two of them. You can also get police and emergency channels and several weather channels. Pretty good.
Also this year, I bought two more of the more powerful 8 watt models and they are better. They are called the Baofeng GT-3TP and have a better antenna as well.This is the GT-3:
They have 8 watts as stated and I got the bigger battery as well for my two. about 140 for two with the bigger battery.
They are billed as shortwave radios and SHTF radios and I have programmed mine but can't hit any of the local ham repeaters, but I live in the middle of nowhere and that may be why. Now these radios are different than the walmart blister pack walkie talkies you can buy in that those are usually limited to 1/2 watt and do not have a removable antenna. These do. Also I bought a base station antenna for one and it improves reception pretty well. I can talk to my wife at home all over the little town we live in and I have about a 5 to 6 mile range with the GT-3 model. That's pretty good. I'm disappointed that I can't hear any ham but I still may be doing it wrong. Oh well. They work pretty good and just the other day I heard police being dispatched to one block from me and went out and saw the show!
A word of caution, I just tested them to see how far I could transmit on GRMS, but you need a license to do it regularly.
