Hunting Radios
09-13-2009, 08:36 PM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 2
Hunting Radios
My hunt club is looking for a good way to communicate with each other. We have tried a few two-way radios but they just aren't that great. We want something that works really well for communicating during the hunt that is silent. Any input would be very much appreciated. We tried VHF radios but we weren't impressed we got about 1/4 of a mile out of line of sight with them and could not hear each other. Please help us
09-14-2009, 09:21 AM
#2
Typical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Heaven, WI
Posts: 600
We've tried radios in the past with our deer camp (5-8 guys) and it has been less than desirable, i.e. random rings, missed transmissions, etc. It sounds new school but now we just all take our cell phones to the woods with us (something good to have anyway in case of emergency) and we text eachother whatever info we find necessary. The phones can be put on silent or vibrate reliably, and you could pretty easily set up a list of phone numbers throughout the club and distribute it. Hope this helps.
09-14-2009, 11:12 AM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 2,186
We use both FRS and cell-phones to stay in touch. The area we hunt (3150 +/- acres) is pretty much flat, and heavily wooded with both planted pines of various ages from about 10 years to 20 years. We also have mature hardwood covered SMZ's. A 20+ mile rated FRS usually covers about 2 miles or so in this area, no problem. Cell phone coverage varies as per service provider, but for us most have at least some coverage. We keep in touch most of the time via cell phones ...text messaging.
09-15-2009, 03:53 PM
#5
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: va USA
Posts: 201
Been down this road several years ago. Spent a lot of money, tried many models and styles and for whats it's worth here's what we learned.
1. Simply put handheld radios by FFC regulation can only transmit at a max pwr of 5 watts.
2. All transmission are line of sight without a repeater system installed.
3. Most over the counter handhelds have a difficult time transmitting at that rate for any length of time without a significant battery. Quality battery = $$$. Therefore most radios you find at your local sporting goods store are transmitting at something less than 5 watts in an effort to conserve battery life.
4. All the claims of 18 miles, 24 miles radio etc... LOL...LOL..... Remember, when testing a squelch break is considered a transmission.
5. Trees, terrain, weather, etc. all absorb RF signal thus reducing range. The transmission is traveling in a straight line so anything in it's path takes a chunk. Keep in mind the curvature of the earth starts kicking in at 3 miles so how they get past that has to requires one unit significantly above the horizon.
After hundreds of test; Average range when standing on the ground (moderate hills, average hardwood forrest) where 90%+ transmissions were received came out to 1/2-3/4 mile.
1 mile coverage occurred less than 25% of the time.
Over 1 mile rare.
Additional observations The $400.00 name brand hand helds really didn't perform any better that the $100 a pair units at BP or Dicks. I use a $2000 handheld everyday and without repeaters when used in a line of sight mode we get maybe 1/2 mile.
Now what you can do if you hunt in the same area all the time is stand up a Base Station in a central location. We did this at our club house which was in the middle of the farm in the wide open and allowed for placing an antenna 50 ft in the air. This enabled someone at the house to relay transmissions across the farm, plus reception was much better with the high antenna. If you have the $$$ you can stand up a repeater system but that going to run you a right good chunk and theres going to be some Lic. requirements.
As far as which unit to buy off the shelf? It all comes down to features. I suggest buy ones that accept standard batteries. Re-charge batteries tend to not put out as well as higher end standard batteries and you can't re-power in the woods. As far as call features and everything else, most rarely get used and actually become a pain if your don;t know how to shut them off or get the buttons into the locked mode and don't remember how to unlock them.
Hope this ramble helps....
1. Simply put handheld radios by FFC regulation can only transmit at a max pwr of 5 watts.
2. All transmission are line of sight without a repeater system installed.
3. Most over the counter handhelds have a difficult time transmitting at that rate for any length of time without a significant battery. Quality battery = $$$. Therefore most radios you find at your local sporting goods store are transmitting at something less than 5 watts in an effort to conserve battery life.
4. All the claims of 18 miles, 24 miles radio etc... LOL...LOL..... Remember, when testing a squelch break is considered a transmission.
5. Trees, terrain, weather, etc. all absorb RF signal thus reducing range. The transmission is traveling in a straight line so anything in it's path takes a chunk. Keep in mind the curvature of the earth starts kicking in at 3 miles so how they get past that has to requires one unit significantly above the horizon.
After hundreds of test; Average range when standing on the ground (moderate hills, average hardwood forrest) where 90%+ transmissions were received came out to 1/2-3/4 mile.
1 mile coverage occurred less than 25% of the time.
Over 1 mile rare.
Additional observations The $400.00 name brand hand helds really didn't perform any better that the $100 a pair units at BP or Dicks. I use a $2000 handheld everyday and without repeaters when used in a line of sight mode we get maybe 1/2 mile.
Now what you can do if you hunt in the same area all the time is stand up a Base Station in a central location. We did this at our club house which was in the middle of the farm in the wide open and allowed for placing an antenna 50 ft in the air. This enabled someone at the house to relay transmissions across the farm, plus reception was much better with the high antenna. If you have the $$$ you can stand up a repeater system but that going to run you a right good chunk and theres going to be some Lic. requirements.
As far as which unit to buy off the shelf? It all comes down to features. I suggest buy ones that accept standard batteries. Re-charge batteries tend to not put out as well as higher end standard batteries and you can't re-power in the woods. As far as call features and everything else, most rarely get used and actually become a pain if your don;t know how to shut them off or get the buttons into the locked mode and don't remember how to unlock them.
Hope this ramble helps....
Last edited by buckwild41; 09-15-2009 at 04:00 PM.
