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Just curious, what recomendations for a good 5W handheld are out there?

I have a crappy HYC from Rugged Radios. As soon as I can afford it I will be buying a ICOM from PCI. Dan has one and it kicks my radios ass everywhere.

yeasu v170.badd ass little radio http://www.rigpix.com/yaesu/vx170.htm

Hey T,
I'm using a very simple Motorola HT600 with the occasional MT1000... I like them because they are very simple, exceptionally reliable and easy to use. They, unfortunately, are a little bulky and heavy. But, for my use, they work quite well. I have a remote mic that works really well and I also have a headset for it. The HT600 is 5W-6 channels and the MT1000 is 5W-16 channels. It's all old stuff but it works really well and quite cheap.

I know this is an old thread but I thought I would post with a recomendation after 6 years of field use.

I have 4 handhelds.
1: I have 2 Old VHF Motorola 2 channel Crystal radio. These things are tanks but the Battery life is not so good even with new interstate batteries.
2: Yaesu VX120 VHF, Great radio, great battery life, easy to program via a computer or in the field.
3: Yaesu VX170 VHF, Great radio, great battery life, easy to program via a computer or in the field.
The 120 and 170 are basicaly the same except for added numeric keys on 170. Both use the same battery and do not discharge when stored.
4: Wouxun KG-UV6X UHF and VHF radio. Pro:radio works great, has some interesting features like FM radio channels for listenning to the same channels your car stereo gets. It has a LED flash light built in and is has a nice dual channel display to monitor two frequencies at once. Easy to program and I paid about a $100 for it. It came with programming software and cable included. Con: Battery discharges when stored over the summer.

The Yaesu radios are used in backpacks while riding dirtbike and quads in the desert with helmet wireing kits like our Race helmets. I even have PTT buttons on the handle bars. I have taken a few hard falls and the radios survived without and damage.

The Wouxun works great and is water tight. I got it because I was helping out with a circle track team that used UHF channels like NASCAR. I have used it with a headset as a spotter for a race team and I used it at a NASCAR race in Phoenix to listen to the race. When I use it at the Circle track races I used a stubby antenna, so it would not pickup all the interference from outside the race track. UHF is better for a small area with alot of radio traffic like a Circle track or NASCAR event.

On my Yaesu's and the Wouxun I have HIGH gain longer antennas for better reception over long distances. I don't use UHF at the desert races but have a couple time to talk to our team Helicoptor when I help out those kind of teams. On VHF with 5 watts I have been able to talk to someone on San Telmo Road near the observatory from the pine forest. Clear day and the other person was BFG relay. Line of sight on a clean channel goes pritty far. This was the day before the Baja 500 and there was no race traffic that day. Not sure if it was just a lucky day with all the stars alighned or what. I have also used it to talk to my truck that was in Jacumba and the handheld was at the base of Superstition on the backside of Plastercity.

There is my 2 cents..

Baofeng uv-5r.... throw aways at 40 bucks each

mesquito_creek wrote:Baofeng uv-5r.... throw aways at 40 bucks each

Ditto great Lil radios

Icom, I had it for 2 years and works great. Battery lasts a good 2 days with average traffic.

Amazon has a low cost VHF/UHF handheld radio that I'm hearing good things about. Cheaper than a CB or GMRS with better quality reception. Check it out. Also there are a couple of antennas that provide up to 3db gain.

http://www.amazon.com/Baofeng-UV5RA-136 ... pd_sim_e_5
Amazing what is being built in China.
A radio like this costs less than a Lion batt for my Yaesu

PaulW wrote:Amazon has a low cost VHF/UHF handheld radio that I'm hearing good things about. Cheaper than a CB or GMRS with better quality reception. Check it out. Also there are a couple of antennas that provide up to 3db gain.

http://www.amazon.com/Baofeng-UV5RA-136 ... pd_sim_e_5
Amazing what is being built in China.
A radio like this costs less than a Lion batt for my Yaesu

Just ordered up one of these to use in the pits with the car...you cant beat the price I will let you know how it works after the race.....from everything I have read it is a pretty solid unit and for the race side this may be an inexpensive option to have for volunteers as you could add a mag mount for use in vehicle granted not a long range unit but for alot of the stateside races it would be a good option.

What is cool about a hand held is get the options.
Throat mike, earplug. Push to talk button for your shirt collar.
Set up like that you can wander around the pit and talk to the driver and still have hands free for wrenches etc. Frequently the co-dog is setup like this and the driver can give directions while the co-dog changes the tire or studies the front suspension while the driver does his thing. Watch NASCAR races and see it all in action. Some of the crew have 2 radios set up like that.
And you don't have to sit in the truck while spectating and still talk to others who are on the same freq.
PaulW

PaulW wrote:What is cool about a hand held is get the options.
Throat mike, earplug. Push to talk button for your shirt collar.
Set up like that you can wander around the pit and talk to the driver and still have hands free for wrenches etc. Frequently the co-dog is setup like this and the driver can give directions while the co-dog changes the tire or studies the front suspension while the driver does his thing. Watch NASCAR races and see it all in action. Some of the crew have 2 radios set up like that.
And you don't have to sit in the truck while spectating and still talk to others who are on the same freq.
PaulW

I totally agree, we have a nice speaker set up but it never fails once the car is on the way in I am trying to get things set up and they want to talk.. lol, this also allows me to monitor relay and when the car is in talk to the driver/co-driver instead of trying to talk through helmets etc....I have an earpiece for this setup and with the cost on these little guys it should fit the bill perfect.

Well I wanted to post some feedback about this little Baufong radio Paul mentioned....Bottom Line is that it kicks butt! I do need to make afew changes to programming in channel mode since I apparantly have something goofed as I can transmit but not recieve. Shifted over to manual programming and it worked like a champ. Having my ear piece and mike allowed me to monitor relay easily and at a moments notice I could switch to the car freq. My thoughts on this as an inexpensive radio to use as chase/spectate: Its a 5W radio it has good reception but transmit will be limited, one could use an adapter to connect it to a mag mount antenna which would help range in a vehicle. The CHIRP sotware is pretty easy to learn so channel programming is not to compliated. If you are a HAM its a great little addition as well lots of functionality. IMO it is well worth the 40 dollars and it gives you just as much as the higher priced models....oh and the battery life is very good I used it all day race day with lots of battery left at the end of the day. Hope this helps.

I just picked up a couple of these from Rugged and gotta say, they are bad-ass little radios. I'm no radio operator and know very little about them but for the price, I don't see how you could beat them. I just got back from a trip to Death Valley where we used the radios for a couple days and they just plain rocked. I'm not kidding when I say I'll be placing an order for just about every accessory they make for them... I absolutely love them. For car to car communications within a group traveling together, I think they'll be tough to beat.

I also used the CHIRP programming software. Do yourself a favor and don't mess with the factory software!

SteveG wrote:I also used the CHIRP programming software. Do yourself a favor and don't mess with the factory software!

uploadfromtaptalk1398058021188.jpg

The blue is purty but Rugged is charging about 2X for them over what you can buy the regular UV-5Rs for on Amazon.

Todd Z.

toddz69 wrote:

SteveG wrote:I also used the CHIRP programming software. Do yourself a favor and don't mess with the factory software!

uploadfromtaptalk1398058021188.jpg

The blue is purty but Rugged is charging about 2X for them over what you can buy the regular UV-5Rs for on Amazon.

Todd Z.

I paid 43 dollars on Amazon for mine...

Polarcub wrote:

toddz69 wrote:

SteveG wrote:I also used the CHIRP programming software. Do yourself a favor and don't mess with the factory software!

uploadfromtaptalk1398058021188.jpg

The blue is purty but Rugged is charging about 2X for them over what you can buy the regular UV-5Rs for on Amazon.

Todd Z.

I paid 43 dollars on Amazon for mine...

Exactly . I paid in the low-mid 30s for the 5 I bought at various times. The Ruggeds are listed for $85 ea.

Todd Z.

No editing feature - I see now that you can buy the blue ones on Amazon for much cheaper. That wasn't an option when I bought mine some time ago.

Todd Z.