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Member
I have already searched and most post dont give suggestion on personal radios. I know most midland and motorola radios " 33 miles radios-" are crap. I was wondering if anyone had a suggestion of a model/brand that they have used and had a approximate range of 5-10 miles and been able to take a beating. I would also like a AA battery opion or A/C power supply for recharge with no power.
Senior Member
You need some commercial VHF radios programmed for MURS frequencies (unless you're a licensed amateur). Forget the bubble-pack shit you can buy over the counter. Start checking eBay for VHF handhelds, and come back when you find a few and we'll give you some suggestions.Originally Posted by NC_DAVE
Senior Member
Senior Member
Power. Power and uninterrupted, line of sight signal. Even with the best of those things going you are limited to the distance to the horizon but then we aren't talking working from boats. At work, we run $5,000.00/ea Motorola XTS's. In city traffic and buildings we are lucky to hit radio to radio for a mile. To get greater range we, and everyone else has to go to a trunked or repeater system, there the price of the handheld device is a mere fraction of the overall cost. Now I know some ham radio operator is going to chime in and say he can talk to Australia but he can't do it from his back pocket, maybe from his RV, running a diesel generator to the the output wattage up. I wish there were cheap option out there but........................
Member
I read the links given by HOPLOETHOS and now I feel really lost. This is one of the reasons I have not bought a few radios yet. I try to research some radios and end up scratching my head feeling ****in retarded.
I saw a kit on Ebay that had one transmitter and one transceiver. I thought you could use two murs radios with no transmitter, is that right? I am not really sure how the whole thing works.( This why I seem to get so confused). That kit was 199 and brand was Dakota model DK M 538.
I also saw several of those same Dakotas for sale (radio only) for about 78-99. The Dakota radios also did not mention if they were hands free which would be a big plus.
I also looked at a midland NTVP1 Nautico with was a 5 watt radio, it was advertised as VHF MURS radio. But I thought the MURS radio could only be 2 watts per FCC.
Member
MURS radios are just like your regular walkie-talkie that you're used to using, but the wattage is slightly increased over GMRS/FRS radios, and the frequency they use lends itself for a little better distance. There's no "transmitter" or whatever you think it means. Repeaters are an option for HAMS and even GMRS in some cases but are probably not appropriate (not to mention illegal) for your uses.
The Dakota Alert products can operate on the same frequency as the MURS radios and provide an audible alert whenever someone/thing crosses them.
MY suggestion, buy some of the very ruggedized Yaesu 2-meter HAM radios and modify them to work on the MURS frequencies. Limit the power to the regulated 2 watts, and get a decent whip antenna, and never have to worry about it again. Then, you'd have the option of switching it to 5 watts if you needed it, and you'd have something MUCH higher quality than any other MURS walkietalkie I've seen for sale.
Transmitting non-MURS approved devices is technically against FCC rules, however if you keep to the assigned frequencies and power levels I highly doubt there's any risk of anyone caring. Just refrain from telling any HAM operators you know, they tend to think they're the Radio FBI.
The modification for out-of-band transmit for these radios literally takes 30 seconds, they are about $140 shipped from some online retailers, and are very, very good quality:
http://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd...F39179AB3B1511
Senior Member
I think it was the Yaesu FT50 which was a tri-band capable radio whereas the user, if so inclined, could remove a resistor and have full Tx/Rx on all the bands except the 800-900hmz, which included MURS (~150mhz) FRS/GMRS (~450mhz).
It even had some nice scan features and you could change the power from 1/2-5 watts.
I would also suggest something you can program from the keypad in the field. Some of the Icom radios were very affordable, but you had to hook it to a PC to do anything. Kind of a pain.
A note on power...going higher than you need isn't always the best. Keep in mind if you aren't encrypted...and sometimes even then, anyone can listen, including those farther away.
Higher quality radios will do more with 1/2 watt than those bubble pack ones.
Last edited by bp7178; 07-02-12 at 00:51.
Member
Correct. Real easy mod to do. I'd also recommend the vx7r. More robust and completely waterproof (tested unintentionally by me) and it can be modified to transmit out of band with free downloaded programming software if you don't want to make any hardware changes (removing resistors/jumpers).
Member
The Yaseu / Vertex VX-150 is another great choice. The "mod" to open up the frequency range is as simple as clipping a diode from the circuit board. The bad part is you need a magnifier to find said diode but its terribly easy once you find it. Its actually harder to disassemble / reassemble than anything else. Find the mod here: MARS/ CAP
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Thanks for all the replies I guess I will start looking for deal on some Yaesu radios. Also thanks for the link for the mods.
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