Just bought a couple BaoFengs. Now what?

[vaspence]

Speaking of these radios and comms, what about the Part 90 itinerant route? I know guys that hunt using the hand held Baofengs on Part 90 channels but they are restricted to a certain area and 5 channels I believe. They get better than CB/FRS coverage but I’m unsure if they use a repeater. Would a Part 90 itinerant license give you good comms nationwide or ?

I’m way out of my lane but wondering if this would work for western Va eastern WV quiet zone comms. Maybe with a better radio than the Baofeng.

[tadawson]

There are zero frequencies in the Ham allocations that allow unlicensed use at any power level.

Baofeng likely makes gear in other services that looks similar (FRS, etc.) but is limited in power due to being unlicensed, and perhaps that is what you are seeing offered.

And I am not aware of any legal repeaters in the unlicensed services.

That's one of the nice things of being a licensed Ham operator - not only can you runsome fairly high powers (1000 watts out of the TX, plus whatever antenna gain you can create, but you also don't get the Fudds like you do on CB and such.

It's really not that hard to get a Technician license . . . you should go for it!

And as far as wide area comms go, with HF you can reach anywhere on the planet . . . a very good thing if the world goes massively sideways . . .

Tim, N8EAU, Extra . . .

[Irelander]

Motorola HTs are certainly the way to go but there are several brands that are pretty top notch as well. I have an Anytone which I really like and it can do DMR as well. Yaesu makes some nice HTs also.

KC3OOP

Check out the Abbree foldable tactical antennas. I have a couple of the 18 inchers and they boast some pretty decent gain.

[mtnbkr]

Regarding HTs, the best one I've found so far is the Icom IC-V8, but it's not made anymore. It has a very sensitive receiver that also has good filtering because it ONLY does 2m and doesn't have wideband receive. One SOTA summit near me has an FM radio transmitter on site. My Yaesu VX-7r is absolutely deaf there due to overload, but I can use the IC-V8 without any problems. I managed a Summit-to-Summit contact there the other day that was about 40 miles. I went out there this past Saturday to do some HF antenna testing in preparation for a big SOTA activation this coming weekend and worked a guy in another county who was participating in the VHF contest. The best part, if you get the "sport" version or buy the accessory AA case, you can run it on AA batteries (which I do). I got mine on eBay for $65 shipped.

Chris

[HeavyDuty]

When it comes to VHF and UHF I’m a Moto guy, but admit to having a few Yaesus around for frequency agility. I think I have an Icom here somewhere, too. Too many radios.

[Shoresy]

I've heard of this "technician" license of which you speak. I have an electrical engineering background, so I don't think it would be too much of a challenge.

I'm looking to get my new handhelds (the BF-F8HP) to be a backup for/when/if cell service would go down, so I'm interested in this whole "repeater" thing I hear about. I'm also interested in using them for weather radio, can I do this? Also also, can I use them as a scanner? Also, also, also, after reading THIS article, I might want to listen in on the transmissions of "protesters."

As others have mentioned, with an EE background, the majority of the exam is easy and straightforward. The only thing to brush up on is the do's/don'ts in the FCC regs.

Also mentioned up thread, yes you can listen to weather radio all day long, no license needed (you need a license to transmit). I'm not sure if you can set Baofengs to grab alert tones, but you can definitely listen to the weather freqs, as well as the Skywarn spotter traffic.

Specific weather radio freqs are here: https://www.weather.gov/nwr/station_listing

@HeavyDuty - I've been rocking Baofengs for most of my use. Where would one look for a decently-priced motorola?

[HeavyDuty]

Regarding HTs, the best one I've found so far is the Icom IC-V8, but it's not made anymore. It has a very sensitive receiver that also has good filtering because it ONLY does 2m and doesn't have wideband receive. One SOTA summit near me has an FM radio transmitter on site. My Yaesu VX-7r is absolutely deaf there due to overload, but I can use the IC-V8 without any problems. I managed a Summit-to-Summit contact there the other day that was about 40 miles. I went out there this past Saturday to do some HF antenna testing in preparation for a big SOTA activation this coming weekend and worked a guy in another county who was participating in the VHF contest. The best part, if you get the "sport" version or buy the accessory AA case, you can run it on AA batteries (which I do). I got mine on eBay for $65 shipped.

Chris

The IC-V8 is a brick (and I say that in a good way.) Definitely a notch above most other inexpensive 2M HTs. I should toss one with a AA case in each of the cars as an emergency rig.

[HeavyDuty]

As others have mentioned, with an EE background, the majority of the exam is easy and straightforward. The only thing to brush up on is the do's/don'ts in the FCC regs.

Also mentioned up thread, yes you can listen to weather radio all day long, no license needed (you need a license to transmit). I'm not sure if you can set Baofengs to grab alert tones, but you can definitely listen to the weather freqs, as well as the Skywarn spotter traffic.

Specific weather radio freqs are here: https://www.weather.gov/nwr/station_listing

@HeavyDuty - I've been rocking Baofengs for most of my use. Where would one look for a decently-priced motorola?

There’s a lot of Moto horsetrading out there, I’ve been lucky to have enough friends who were Ma M employees to always have a source. There is a FB Moto buy and sell group that is good, a dealer there (Alvaro Agon) who is fair and trustworthy. It depends what you’re looking for - I play with digital modes (I’ve been on P25 since the mid 90s, and have a linked DMR repeater.)

[mtnbkr]

The IC-V8 is a brick (and I say that in a good way.) Definitely a notch above most other inexpensive 2M HTs. I should toss one with a AA case in each of the cars as an emergency rig.

I remember when they were being discontinued and my local HRO had them on sale for $99 with some accessories. I distinctly remember seeing that and wondering why anyone would buy such a limited radio (I had purchased the Yaesu VX-7r a few months prior). I had no idea how good that radio was. Nobody has made anything as good since. It's a capability nobody seems interested in.

I still have and like the VX-7r. It's a good "toss in the suitcase" radio for travel when I think I might have time to play around. My latest obsession has been to make a contact on 6m AM using a wire dipole and the VX-7r (the radio, the wire dipole, and some RG-174 coax will fit in your carry on). So far no luck, but I'll keep trying.

But, when I need to make 2m simplex contacts and nothing else, I grab the IC-V8.

Chris

[RoyGBiv]

I've heard of this "technician" license of which you speak. I have an electrical engineering background, so I don't think it would be too much of a challenge.

I'm looking to get my new handhelds (the BF-F8HP) to be a backup for/when/if cell service would go down, so I'm interested in this whole "repeater" thing I hear about. I'm also interested in using them for weather radio, can I do this? Also also, can I use them as a scanner? Also, also, also, after reading THIS article, I might want to listen in on the transmissions of "protesters."

I feel something pulling on my leg.