Preface: this thread is not about legality of any of the related products and their use, please take that talk elsewhere the same as road speed limits. I ask you respect my expertise on this topic, then educate yourself on topics you are curious about and form your own opinions and morals separately from me.

Background: I've been doing car club events for 15 years now, and my family has a history of participation in public support groups via radio technology. I've tested and played with many devices in professional and hobby settings. I try to bridge the balance of using tech in a way that is non-exclusive and everyone can join in without worry.

There are a few sides to 2-way radio coms (communications) on a road-rally, and the tech is used by many hobby clubs such as hikers, off-road trucks, bikes, and cars. We want to make sure we operate to the spirit of how the US administration has setup our spectrum, and not hinder our emergency responders use of the air-waves. Two common spectrum areas are 151Mhz (MURS), and 462Mhz (FRS/GMRS). You can purchase all sorts of products that fit into these areas, and it is a great topic to learn about.

Going forward, club events that I organize will focus on MURS channels and abandon the FRS/GMRS channels. Of the several reasons why, the only reason fit for discussion in this thread is performance. In my years of cross-country testing, MURS3 vastly out-performs FRS/GMRS at the same output, and has less interference. My family and local car clubs can drive cross-country without a single occurrence of noise blasting into our earpieces. To do this we use a continuous tone squelch 254.1 (CTCSS non-standard 50/Motorola 0Z) on 151.94mhz MURS3 channel. Squelch of 1, is set at lowest while not off. Combining CTCSS with low squelch greatly increases useable range for emergencies. When others cannot join us on MURS3, we will switch to other FRS channels.

What you should know before buying: radio coms should not be custom-programed by novice users. Educate yourself before doing your own settings, or instead just purchase a product like the (151Mhz) or the (462Mhz) that does not require advanced programming. But once a radio you own is programmed as you need, you can use it for the rest of your life. I program all my family radios and never touch the settings for a decade.

Why do so many people use Chinese radios like Baofeng? The market in United States is very regulated by corporations who rely and profit from coms. As hobbyists, we do not fit neatly into their model and do not necessarily need to. Imported products allow us to learn about radio coms and participate with much less money and complexity. Other countries do various things with their rules that do not match the US, which is why products and marketing vary so much. Many businesses use FRS, GMRS, and MURS in the US, such as Walmart who is on MURS and has a contract with Motorola. Motorola products are great but us hobbyists can try many other brands.

Aaron’s recommendation for buying a radio: I often talk over the air-waves with people who like both MURS and FRS, and I want a single device to cover that. I don’t see any reason why others shouldn't also be flexible in channel choice, and right now the most affordable device that does both is the Baofeng UV-13 Pro. (UV-5R is no longer a recommendation) UV-13(P15UV) type devices are fully unlocked which means you must be respectful in using it, and know what it can do before ever turning it on. You need to program it before use. As a car club, we do not endorse any reckless behavior. On the road, many of us have struggled with charging our radios as a dead device of any expense is useless. The UV-13 has USB-C charging connector that charges via 5V. I get a day of frequent transmissions from one charge, and several days when just listening. The old UV-5R desktop chargers also work if in a pinch.

But Aaron, will you program these for me? I’m not a dealer or mechanic, but I do help other hobbyists work on our club projects. I don’t sell radios online. I require the owner of the car or device to turn the wrench when you come to my garage, or know what the radio can do before you turn one on in my presence, and I will be happy to share every bit of knowledge I have. You can borrow my radios that have restricted settings, or we can program your radio together on my laptop.

I’m hearing impaired or otherwise have trouble hearing in my car. There are many headset options but I love having my 2-way radio linked to my car’s speakers via an audio interrupt box. I talk into a mic handset that is connected to the small 2-way device, which my wife can also pick up to chat on.

How can I boost the distance I can hear or talk? The best thing you can do is get your antenna outside the metal box of a car, and with the S2000 this is often easy with the top down. I drive on the highway with my top up and use the Nagoya UT-308UV on my trunk. The Nagoya NA-717 is also popular.

 

Thanks Aaron. Lot's of good information there;

 

Good write-up. This would nice to see on S2KCA, as well.

 

"UV-5R is no longer a recommendation" - why?
(I finally bought one a month ago)

 

UV-5r has proprietary charger, worse audio quality, less sensitive receive, non-upgradeable firmware, no splash resistance, no sync display. Most also come needing 3 button jailbreak for transmit, and some have less power output.

 

The UV-5R is still fine and just as good for this use. No need to "upgrade." If you don't have one, though, the UV-13Pro seems a better choice for about the same price.

Other than a choice of colors (I have 6 black radios and TV remotes sitting on my desk right now and seem to grab the wrong one!) the USB-C battery charging appears to be the major benefit of the UV-13 over the ubiquitous UV-5R/BF-F8HP. Yet you're recommending radios that are not FCC-approved (AKA "illegal") to transmit on any of the bands you recommend them for. Will the lawless never stop?

-- Chuck

 

Going on a search for the 13 Pro, I ran into this review. https://www.besthamradio.com/baofeng-uv-13r-and-pro/

 

Yeah, I don't plan on throwing the ones I have away but I won't be purchasing any more. This week, I had to "jailbreak" a handful of them to get them to work.
Yeah so far nothing I've tried actually beats this radio so if you prioritize power over other features, go for it.
I politely asked to not discuss this topic in this thread, so I'll politely again ask you to take it somewhere else.

 

Yeah I read that review as well before I purchase, and unfortunately he doesn't know what he's talking about for some points. For example the power levels vary with frequency tested, this is common with most radios. I recommend you checking the device out yourself, I'll probably always have one with me from now on.

 

I did a search for 13r and it seems like it's only available from what look like Chinese sites or ebay, I couldn't find it on Amazon, is there a reason, are they not supposed to be sold here, just curious. How did you program the 13r, I read that chrip doesn't support it, is it too new or something?