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Baofengs Charging

DJBrad said:
First dive into the world of HAM. I mainly purchased these to train on and supply my family with a better prep opportunity if/when things go south.

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What are the range on those? I know the surrounding area dictates that, depending on what’s around you. I have some wouxon Gmrs handhelds and I was wondering how the ham handhelds compare.
 
TJ4 said:
What are the range on those? I know the surrounding area dictates that, depending on what’s around you. I have some wouxon Gmrs handhelds and I was wondering how the ham handhelds compare.
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I’m as green as they come wrt HAM or baofengs. I got so far as to turn off the beeps and the voice prompts.

I’m now going to search this forum for more insight and experience.
 
DJBrad said:
I’m as green as they come wrt HAM or baofengs. I got so far as to turn off the beeps and the voice prompts.

I’m now going to search this forum for more insight and experience.
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Get CHIRP and buy the proper cable, my clone one sucks to set up
 
TJ4 said:
What are the range on those? I know the surrounding area dictates that, depending on what’s around you. I have some wouxon Gmrs handhelds and I was wondering how the ham handhelds compare.
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Around here, useful range simplex with a small attached antenna? Couple hundred yards, maybe. Wire it to a bigger better gain antenna, maybe a mile.

Using a repeater, closer to a few a miles.
 
4-pack of UV-5Rs is a really good investment. I was just talking to my buddy today about prepping for WW3, and while stocking ammo and food is a good idea, I emphasized the importance of communication in a SHTF scenario. There's going to be zero cell service, zero wifi, zero GPS. You are completely on your own. I imagine that picking up a live broadcast, or direct communication with another party would be a lifesaver.

I'm in the same boat as you as I need to learn how to effectively use these!
 
SKumar said:
4-pack of UV-5Rs is a really good investment. I was just talking to my buddy today about prepping for WW3, and while stocking ammo and food is a good idea, I emphasized the importance of communication in a SHTF scenario. There's going to be zero cell service, zero wifi, zero GPS. You are completely on your own. I imagine that picking up a live broadcast, or direct communication with another party would be a lifesaver.

I'm in the same boat as you as I need to learn how to effectively use these!
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If this is a real concern and goal you need to get your general license and learn the digital messaging protocols. VHF/UHF has its uses, but you are reliant on repeaters and proximity. HF brings a whole lot more to the table in regards to off grid information sharing.
 
edmorseiii said:
Around here, useful range simplex with a small attached antenna? Couple hundred yards, maybe. Wire it to a bigger better gain antenna, maybe a mile.

Using a repeater, closer to a few a miles.
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TJ4 said:
What are the range on those? I know the surrounding area dictates that, depending on what’s around you. I have some wouxon Gmrs handhelds and I was wondering how the ham handhelds compare.
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It depends. A Beofeng is a handi talkie. HT. They have limitations compared to a radio that was designed to mount in a vehicle or in a home.

HT's have low output power compared to a mobile. They have VERY compromised antennas, which are portable, but not very efficient. They also have shitty front ends, and are not good at rejecting unwanted signals or dealing with strong signals nearby.

What is a reasonable range of a VHF / UHF radio? Lets' start with a mobile radio as an example.

I live at 1000 feet above sea level outside of Worcester. I have a Diamond X50, omni-directional antenna on top of a 40 foot telephone pole. It is connected to a 50 watt, 2 meter / 440 mobile. Most ham radio gear expects to see 13.8 volts DC, so if you run them in the house, you need to hook them up to a 110 VAC to 13.8 VDC power supply, like an Astron. The radio connects to an outside antenna with LMR 400 coax cable. LMR is low loss cable, and is a good choice when transmitting VHF / UHF signals.

I can hit the Saddleback Mountain Repeater, in Milton NH on 5 watts, and work into Maine, NH and eastern Mass. I can hit Mt. Greylock on 5 watts, and work into Vermont, NY and Western Mass. I can hit Mt Washington on 50 watts, and work into southern Canada. I can hit the Vernon CT repeater, and work all over CT.

What about an HT?

Let's go with the perfect situation.

With just an HT and a rubber duck antenna on top of Mount Wachusett, I can work 75 miles or more, direct, on simplex. In my backyard, maybe 20 miles due to trees, hills and buildings. Rubber duck antennas are barely adequate under the best of circumstances.

Beam antennas are even better than the X50.

If you really want good results, get a VHF / UHF mobile from one of the big 4 - Kenwood, Icom, Yaesu, maybe Alinco or Anytone. Get a 35 amp, 110 VAC to 13.8 VDC power supply, a Diamond X50 antenna, and enough LMR 400 cable to get that antenna as high above trees and buildings as possible. The power supply will be big enough to run an HF rig in the future along with the VHF / UHF.

That will give you a decent shot at having good comm capability.

HT to HT is good if you are driving with another car, and want to maintain contact between vehicles that are a couple of miles apart. Or if you are close to a repeater. But don't expect miracles.

MHO.
 
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SKumar said:
4-pack of UV-5Rs is a really good investment. I was just talking to my buddy today about prepping for WW3, and while stocking ammo and food is a good idea, I emphasized the importance of communication in a SHTF scenario. There's going to be zero cell service, zero wifi, zero GPS. You are completely on your own. I imagine that picking up a live broadcast, or direct communication with another party would be a lifesaver.

I'm in the same boat as you as I need to learn how to effectively use these!
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I'm also begining to play with some Arduino compatible mesh radios. As a Ham, I can actually run them on different bands.

Am slightly impressed. For a 100mw rig at 930MHz that I can power from my cell phone, was able to hop 6 miles to send texts to my wife over a hill and into the woods.

Best part is, I can have one on me or connect to one in the house. We dropped a small pelican case with a 18650 battery in a tree stump at the top of the hill separating our topography from home to the forest we usually walk. 6 miles. Mesh. With like 3-4 days of battery life easy.

In comparison, the same end to end was not possible with 5watt 2-meter rigs. I'd have to get a diamond antenna like 60 ft or more in the air to hope for a contact.

I'm planning on designing some go-boxes with these $30 radios and rechargable 18650s with SMA external antenna connectors. Some of them even have onboard GPS!

Look up Meshtastic.

Also, working on seeing if I can get permission to setup a small 2m repeater.
 
And BTW, you get what you pay for when it comes to radio technology. If you want reliable comms, you need decent receivers that are sensitive, and are able to reject adjacent, unwanted signals. You owe it to the other hams to have clean transmitters that don't spread junk outside of your operating frequency. This will be especially important when all the preppers flood the bands when something bad happens. You can't design a qualiity radio for $29. There is a reason why a dual band Yaesu, Kenwood or Icom runs $159 and up compared to the $20 Beofengs.
 
rogersmithiii said:
It depends.

I live at 1000 feet above sea level outside of Worcester. I have a Diamond X50 antenna on top of a 40 foot telephone pole. It is connected to a 50 watt, 2 meter / 440 mobile hooked up to a 110 VAC to 13.8 VDC power supply, with LMR 400 coax cable.

I can hit the Saddleback Mountain Repeater, in Milton NH on 5 watts, and work into Maine, NH and eastern Mass. I can hit Mt. Greylock on 5 watts, and work into Vermont, NY and Western Mass. I can hit Mt Washington on 50 watts, and work into southern Canada. I can hit the Vernon CT repeater, and work all over CT.

With just an HT and a rubber duck antenna on top of Mount Wachusett, I can work 75 miles or more, direct, on simplex. In my backyard, maybe 20 miles due to trees, hills and buildings. Rubber duck antennas are barely adequate under the best of circumstances.

Beam antennas are even better than the X50.

If you really want good results, get a VHF / UHF mobile from one of the big 4 - Kenwood, Icom, Yaesu, maybe Alinco or Anytone. Get a 35 amp, 110 VAC to 13.8 VDC power supply, a Diamond X50 antenna, and enough LMR 400 cable to get that antenna as high above trees and buildings as possible. The power supply will be big enough to run an HF rig in the future along with the VHF / UHF.

That will give you a decent shot at having good comm capability.

MHO.
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Yeah dude, all of that is Japanese to the average "I bought a 4 pack of baofengs" user asking what the range on them is.

50 watts, LMR400, OMG13.8VDC!, have nothing to do hand out Chinese hand held radios.
 
edmorseiii said:
Around here, useful range simplex with a small attached antenna? Couple hundred yards, maybe. Wire it to a bigger better gain antenna, maybe a mile.

Using a repeater, closer to a few a mile
Click to expand...
edmorseiii said:
Yeah dude, all of that is Japanese to the average "I bought a 4 pack of baofengs" user asking what the range on them is.

50 watts, LMR400, OMG13.8VDC!, have nothing to do hand out Chinese hand held radios.
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If you study for a ham radio license to legally use those Beofengs, it would make perfect sense.
 
rogersmithiii said:
It depends. A Beofeng is a handi talkie. HT. They have limitations compared to a radio that was designed to mount in a vehicle or in a home.

HT's have low output power compared to a mobile. They have VERY compromised antennas, which are portable, but not very efficient. They also have shitty front ends, and are not good at rejecting unwanted signals or dealing with strong signals nearby.

What is a reasonable range of a VHF / UHF radio? Lets' start with a mobile radio as an example.

I live at 1000 feet above sea level outside of Worcester. I have a Diamond X50, omni-directional antenna on top of a 40 foot telephone pole. It is connected to a 50 watt, 2 meter / 440 mobile. Most ham radio gear expects to see 13.8 volts DC, so if you run them in the house, you need to hook them up to a 110 VAC to 13.8 VDC power supply, like an Astron. The radio connects to an outside antenna with LMR 400 coax cable. LMR is low loss cable, and is a good choice when transmitting VHF / UHF signals.

I can hit the Saddleback Mountain Repeater, in Milton NH on 5 watts, and work into Maine, NH and eastern Mass. I can hit Mt. Greylock on 5 watts, and work into Vermont, NY and Western Mass. I can hit Mt Washington on 50 watts, and work into southern Canada. I can hit the Vernon CT repeater, and work all over CT.

What about an HT?

Let's go with the perfect situation.

With just an HT and a rubber duck antenna on top of Mount Wachusett, I can work 75 miles or more, direct, on simplex. In my backyard, maybe 20 miles due to trees, hills and buildings. Rubber duck antennas are barely adequate under the best of circumstances.

Beam antennas are even better than the X50.

If you really want good results, get a VHF / UHF mobile from one of the big 4 - Kenwood, Icom, Yaesu, maybe Alinco or Anytone. Get a 35 amp, 110 VAC to 13.8 VDC power supply, a Diamond X50 antenna, and enough LMR 400 cable to get that antenna as high above trees and buildings as possible. The power supply will be big enough to run an HF rig in the future along with the VHF / UHF.

That will give you a decent shot at having good comm capability.

HT to HT is good if you are driving with another car, and want to maintain contact between vehicles that are a couple of miles apart. Or if you are close to a repeater. But don't expect miracles.

MHO.
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Wow, thanks for the detailed explanation. This is the stuff that scares me off anytime I think about getting my ham license!
 
TJ4 said:
Wow, thanks for the detailed explanation. This is the stuff that scares me off anytime I think about getting my ham license!
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Getting the license is the easy part, it is a multiple choice government test, so it's just memorize and regurgitate. Get the license then start tinkering with what interests you, that's how you actually learn it. I have been a General for a year now and I probably couldn't pass the test if I had to take it right now because it was a memory dump.
 
There's a book, Baofang for Dummies for sale out there. I've got it and the radios already, still clueless and green too, need to read the book.
 
PaulR said:
There's a book, Baofang for Dummies for sale out there. I've got it and the radios already, still clueless and green too, need to read the book.
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Basic dual band HT's are pretty simple, there isn't really any mojo you need to know to use them unless you are doing some more advanced stuff like passing digital or building a repeater out of 2 of them or something. What are you trying to do with them that has you jammed up?
 
So quick math for radio, power supply, coax, antenna I'm looking at $650 to get into ham radio, f*** that. I just threw my baofengs away because listening to a bunch of ham guys talk about dumb shit on a radio apparently isn't for me.

Why is it we always need to spend stupid money on stuff? "PSA is shit you need KAC, Vortex sucks, Nightforce is the only way to go"

This reminds me of mechanics telling people they need to buy snap on when they won't use them everyday, or You have to buy Dewalt or Milwaukee cordless tools when they will only get used a dozen times a year. Yeah they are great tools but do you really need to spend thousands of dollars when a few hundred will get the job done?
 
edmorseiii said:
Basic dual band HT's are pretty simple, there isn't really any mojo you need to know to use them unless you are doing some more advanced stuff like passing digital or building a repeater out of 2 of them or something. What are you trying to do with them that has you jammed up?
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This, the things that have to be configured on an HT are universal.

Using simplex (radio to radio, not via a repeater) is as simple as punching in the frequency. Setting up a repeater is more complicated but the things you have to do are the same for any radio. Baofengs are notoriously complicated/frustrating to program. Suffering through the frustrations is not a transferrable skill for other radios, although it may let you appreciate a quality HT.

Not being licensed and thus not being able to transmit will make learning more difficult. Some stuff you have to learn through mistakes. If you can't get into a repeater it could be a number of things and you won't know if you got something wrong if you never have the opportunity to try.
 
Boghog1 said:
So quick math for radio, power supply, coax, antenna I'm looking at $650 to get into ham radio, f*** that. I just threw my baofengs away because listening to a bunch of ham guys talk about dumb shit on a radio apparently isn't for me.

Why is it we always need to spend stupid money on stuff? "PSA is shit you need KAC, Vortex sucks, Nightforce is the only way to go"

This reminds me of mechanics telling people they need to buy snap on when they won't use them everyday, or You have to buy Dewalt or Milwaukee cordless tools when they will only get used a dozen times a year. Yeah they are great tools but do you really need to spend thousands of dollars when a few hundred will get the job done?
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You don't need to spend a lot of money, you just need to identify what you want to do and focus on it. You can put together a real good 2m set up for less then $250-300 if you watch HRO's emails for sales.
 
ToddDubya said:
Not being licensed and thus not being able to transmit will make learning more difficult. Some stuff you have to learn through mistakes. If you can't get into a repeater it could be a number of things and you won't know if you got something wrong if you never have the opportunity to try.
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This is really the thing, if you are not using this stuff, you are not going to be able to use it when you need to. I always roll my eyes at dudes that are like "I'm not going to get licensed, when my SHTFantasy happens licenses won't matter." Sure, that is true, but good luck operating any of that gear you haven't used. I have a radio next to me on my desk right now that is very good and user intuitive, I use it all the time, and I still need a cheat sheet to anything other then scan through my channels.
 
TJ4 said:
Wow, thanks for the detailed explanation. This is the stuff that scares me off anytime I think about getting my ham license!
Click to expand...
It’s not that hard. 5 year olds get their ham licenses and build stations.

And hams will help you.

Give it a shot!
 
Boghog1 said:
So quick math for radio, power supply, coax, antenna I'm looking at $650 to get into ham radio, f*** that. I just threw my baofengs away because listening to a bunch of ham guys talk about dumb shit on a radio apparently isn't for me.

Why is it we always need to spend stupid money on stuff? "PSA is shit you need KAC, Vortex sucks, Nightforce is the only way to go"

This reminds me of mechanics telling people they need to buy snap on when they won't use them everyday, or You have to buy Dewalt or Milwaukee cordless tools when they will only get used a dozen times a year. Yeah they are great tools but do you really need to spend thousands of dollars when a few hundred will get the job done?
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You can use Baofengs and enjoy them. They will not perform as well as a 50w base radio with a high gain antenna on top of a tower, just like a crescent wrench won't do all the things a SnapOn impact wrench will. Sometimes you're looking to remove rusted lug nuts, sometimes you're looking to loosen a hose clamp.

People will bust your balls for having a 'feng, just like they'll bust your balls for showing up at a BBQ with your Taurus .40 in an Uncle Mike's holster. So what. If you have it and it works for you, run with it. This weekend I heard some guys busting another guy's balls for his 'feng. "They have a unique sound and we can tell you're using one. And when the battery gets low they'll continuously key the repeater." What? The guy even said he was using something else and had driven out of range.

In short, run what you brung.

And yes, most of what you'll hear people talking about on their radios is radios. Just like when you go to a car show and people talk about cars. Guys are always trying to improve their station just like car guys are always trying to improve their cars/shop.
 
Boghog1 said:
So quick math for radio, power supply, coax, antenna I'm looking at $650 to get into ham radio, f*** that. I just threw my baofengs away because listening to a bunch of ham guys talk about dumb shit on a radio apparently isn't for me.

Why is it we always need to spend stupid money on stuff? "PSA is shit you need KAC, Vortex sucks, Nightforce is the only way to go"

This reminds me of mechanics telling people they need to buy snap on when they won't use them everyday, or You have to buy Dewalt or Milwaukee cordless tools when they will only get used a dozen times a year. Yeah they are great tools but do you really need to spend thousands of dollars when a few hundred will get the job done?
Click to expand...
How much is a decent pistol set up? $600 for a Glock. $200 for 250 rounds of carry ammo. $50 for a holster. $200 for training. All for tools to protect your life in case of a meltdown.

It’s not about a bunch of chit chat about nothing. It’s about building s sense of community with people who can pitch in when the SHTF. It’s about having a link to the outside world to find a trustworthy source of news. It’s about bonding with a team, giving you a much better chance of surviving than if you go it alone.
 
ToddDubya said:
most of what you'll hear people talking about on their radios is radios.
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This changes is when you have a group of friends that are into it for the same reason. Then you are doing regular comms checks or even doing your own mini-nets. Going to a massive antenna has opened me way up to 2m simplex and I can chat with friends 20 miles away, off grid, no repeater.
 

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