Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Best 2-way radio for rugged elk hunt

kellory; All,

The Midland series 70-056C radios have handheld "twins" that weigh about 2 pounds each & are 7-8W. = The "C-range" radios need NOT be "modified" to work on 2M. All that is needed is to program the radios with a PC & a small/inexpensive programming adapter.
(Offhand I cannot remember the model number but there are also Midland base/mobile/handheld radios that do 35-55MHZ & work FINE on 6M, too.)

Btw, our vehicle "AG radios" are (ex-VFD) GE Master Exec II mobiles & are both big/heavy BUT I expect them to outlast me.
(The mobile antennas on our farm vehicles are "frequency adjusted", i.e., "cut down" & formerly "heavy duty" 102 inch stainless steel 11M "CB" whips. - "Glass whips" often get broken on farm equipment.)

NOTE to 2-way neophytes: IF you get a "ham ticket" & hunt in ROUGH terrain, SIX METER radios are several times BETTER than TWO METERS & MANY times more useful than the higher ham bands like 222 or 440MHZ, unless you have a "mobile repeater" sited on a HIGH mountaintop (OR perhaps up in a TALL tree) with solar power and/or deep-cycle batteries.
(I know of some really dedicated hunters who DO own & use a mobile repeater.)

yours, tex

Now that is some good info. Thanks. I'm just a tech level ham, so I will need to research what is legal for me to use.

Edit: I haven't used 6 meter, because the baofeng 3 wasn't capable of it. My new baofeng 5 is able to use it, so I will need to get more familiar with it.

kellory,

6M simplex works FAR better than 2M simplex & there are few repeaters in the sparsely settled areas of the USA. = 110W on 51-54MHZ had GOOD coverage in rough/uneven terrain due to "ground effects". Also, there is a LOT less "idle chatter" on the 6M & 222MHZ bands.

Don't feel bad. - I'm trying to figure out how to convert a low-band SSB Marine Radio-Telephone to channelized 60M.
("A little bird told me" that we hams are about to get several more channels on 60M, that were once marine frequencies & given my interest in Gulf Coast storm rescue/recovery, I believe that 60M SB is the way to go.)

yours, tex

There are 6m (50 MHz) FM mobiles and many of the full feature HF radios include 6m, very few handhelds and to work well it would require a 5' long antenna. I just googled and apparently the WouXun (pronounced somewhat like "Oh, Sheen") KG-UV5D handheld includes 6 meters, but I didn't see a Baofeng that does.

I have found that 6 meter FM is the most underused band in all of ham radio. Theoretically it should propagate better point to point than the 2 meter and 440 MHz (or 460 MHz of FRS).

Ham radio has many facets. The most basic license allows use for all these VHF/UHF frequencies and repeaters. the 2 higher licenses give access to the HF or "shortwave" frequencies that propagate around the continent or around the world. But HF is beyond the scope of hunting radios.

One thing I thought would be a lot of fun for HF ham radio and hunting is to hold a "hunting season net" every evening after dark during hunting season and we could all talk to each other about what we saw, shot or didn't.... sorta makes the campfire bigger.... but while there seems to be a lot of crossover between shooting-hunting-ham radio (all gadget hobbies) I don't think we'd have enough interest to really get such a net (group conversation, usually moderated) going.

Poole
. _ . _ .... _ _ _ . _

completely different tool.

Sat phone like cell phones you must dial one specific number and that person must answer. and you must pay a fee, either monthly or per minute or both. You can call from almost anywhere in the world, to basically any phone number in the world. Your call goes from your handset to the "tower" which in that case is a satellite, the onto a switching network to some other central office or tower to the other person's phone.

2-way radios are typically no fee and communications is either direct from your radio to every other radio within range on the same frequency. Or to a repeater which retransmits it to every radio within range on the same frequency. (using the aforementioned "codes", allows groups to share a frequency without bothering each other very much). When you transmit, and talk all your hunting buddies hear what you say and can reply if they want to, no need to "answer" to set up a connection.

the dynamics of 2-way radio usage is a lot different than the familiar making a phone call we all know how to do. I think radios are much better suited for outdoor use for anything except calling 911 in an emergency or checking in with the wife back home.

Poole

Thanks for the info.

I had to pick up a 2 meter license for job radios, and decided to go a bit further on my own. I wanted a back up radio system for safety reasons when hunting. I want utility more than a hobby. I actually find it irratating when I try to find build plans for a hidden attic antenna. And people keep trying to teach me antenna theory. I just want the building plans...lol.
I wouldn't mind talking with others on hunter.net (If established). But what I was after was a means for medical response in the event of an accident. (Much like that kid they made a movie about. The one who got his arm caught and cut off his own arm to survive.) Or we even had a local weatherman who had to crawl for miles for assistance after a fall.

As for 6 meter...
I know the baofeng 3 could not do it. It was 2 meter only. The baofeng 5 is not yet programmed but it has more capacity. I need to see what it is capable of.

Bill Poole,

Actually 6M is more popular than 222MHZ, 902MHZ or any of the higher bands.
(There are so few 222-fanatics, that it was like "a private club" everywhere that I've lived over the last 2 decades. - I really like 222 because there is a lot less prattle, twaddle & silly chatter "about not much of anything" on that band. = 2M often sounds like 11M "CB".)
Note: I'll never forget the Saturday night that a popular 2M machine in Columbia, SC was "tied up" for over 2.5 hours by 2 people, who were reading/blathering on & on about "peach pie & cobbler recipes" over the air. - NEITHER would "give up" the repeater OR take their conversation to the phone.

I'm one of the "behind the scenes guys" at TWBTS reenactments & we use 222MHZ exclusively because that band is "quiet" on simplex and there are plenty of handhelds to equip all the "support folks", who summon 1st aid/ambulance personnel, haul water/ice, do "in camp security" & other needful tasks to make the reenactments "go" at least somewhat smoothly.

Fwiw, I used to have a "converted industrial" Low-Band, HIGH-split (35-55MHZ), handheld by MIDLAND & that was on 6M. - The base-loaded "rubber duckie" was about a foot long. I also had a "pull out" 1/4 wave antenna for longer distance use & that worked fine.

yours, tex

If you go with a baofeng give your self some time to program them i had to down load chirps the software from Baofeng i could not get it to work.
I set up a channel that i could hit a repeater in the area i hunt for a oh shoot channel if something bad was to happen. It is good to know we have a emergency channel if need be.
Get your license you will not regret it.

If you go with a baofeng give your self some time to program them i had to down load chirps the software from Baofeng i could not get it to work.
I set up a channel that i could hit a repeater in the area i hunt for a oh shoot channel if something bad was to happen. It is good to know we have a emergency channel if need be.
Get your license you will not regret it.

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