cheap two way

gates559

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I need a cheap two way radio. Not gonna get used that often. Anyone know if a regular ham radio will do most of the haul channels?
 

imdoo'n

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I need a cheap two way radio. Not gonna get used that often. Anyone know if a regular ham radio will do most of the haul channels?

truck mounted? for oilfild and forestry road channels? don't think ham radios are the same. if your looking for a oilfeild/forestry radio i have one i may sell antenna, 12volt plug in, 150 channels? $350
 
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Trashy

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I have looked at truck mount radio's at the truck stop, where we fill our trucks. And have wondered if a $300 radio is enough to get me by, I would hardly use it as well. As my truck is a 05, with 129K on it. It sits more than it's driven.
 

imdoo'n

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not sure which radio's you were looking at, but the haul road/oilfield/forestry radios, have the channels you need to drive forestry roads, the truck mounted radios as far as i have seen have better antennas and more power. the only problem is that there are those that do not have them, i'm also thinking that if you are in an accident they can hold you responsible if you don't have radio. as you are driving on private roads not open to public.
 

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Wouldn't a cobra cb radio with a 4' whip antenna work?? We use them in our jeeps ....$50 radio, $75 antenna
 

sirkdev

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You need a VHF radio.

Oilfield roads all run VHF only.

Check radioworld.ca call and talk to them, figure out what frequencies you need to run ex. Ladd 1 is 154.1000. If you know what channels you need get them to program it. Could also check ebay/kijji. If you buy it unprogrammed make sure you talk to vector/expert to see if they will be able to program it for you.
 

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Unless a person only is using the same roads all the time and will never venture to an unknown area a cheap 150/64/32 channel radio will work, but going to a radio that holds the 400+ channels out there is minimal cost. Vector in Gp has some good options (Handheld and truck mount) and sometimes has there rentals for sale.
 

gates559

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yeah its for the forestry/ oil field roads.
Ham radios have tons of power and good antennas, you can talk to someone half way across the world.

They can be a lot cheaper than a pre programmed radio. Was thinking I could get one and put the frequency's in manually or in the memory presets.
 

sirkdev

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There is alternatives but most are not legal, lots of BS. If you do go the economical way double check that you can transmit-(send). Lots of them only receive and do not transmit.
 

dpolacik

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yeah its for the forestry/ oil field roads.
Ham radios have tons of power and good antennas, you can talk to someone half way across the world.

They can be a lot cheaper than a pre programmed radio. Was thinking I could get one and put the frequency's in manually or in the memory presets.


I don't think the Ham radio will have the proper tones ect and Just an FYI, self programmable radios are illegal even with a licence.
 

imdoo'n

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yeah its for the forestry/ oil field roads.
Ham radios have tons of power and good antennas, you can talk to someone half way across the world.

They can be a lot cheaper than a pre programmed radio. Was thinking I could get one and put the frequency's in manually or in the memory presets.

get the proper radio, your life and the guy who is coming at you depends on it. and alot of the roads that have security won't let you on, unless you have the proper channels. if the ham radio worked don't you think everyone would be using one. i just can't understand some people.
 
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imdoo'n

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What would you recommend, Larry?

well do you know how many areas and different radio channels you need in the areas you usually ride? if it's only 10 or so i have several hand helds, that can be programmed. right now they are set up for seismic channels, you can have them programmed for the areas you ride in. the areas i ride i would likely only need 4-5 channels. i will have to check, but i think i have 6 of the radios. 1 truck radio that is very portable, just put it in when you need it, otherwise stays in a closet or garage. has a vehicle plug in and mag antenna, and did fit over the back of a seat. about 130-150 channels. u will never ever use them all. you can have them programed for the areas you use, golden you may need 2-3 channels, fernie 2-3 depends on riding area, but you have no need of 400 channel radio. i also have 1 of those. any area in gp will be well serviced with a 130 channel radio. and you will never use all the channels on it.
 

teeroy

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yeah its for the forestry/ oil field roads.
Ham radios have tons of power and good antennas, you can talk to someone half way across the world.

They can be a lot cheaper than a pre programmed radio. Was thinking I could get one and put the frequency's in manually or in the memory presets.
ham radio frequencies are way lower than VHF, from 1.8mhz to 29.7mhz, where VHF radios run in the range of 138mhz to 174mhz in most applications. you wouldn't find a ham system that you could program to run on VHF that wasn't the size of a large home stereo receiver.
 

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Would the handheld radios work well for heading up of down the access roads? I understand that the frequencies will be between 138 - 174 mhz and narrow banded. good info here >
 

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If after all this discussion, you are still looking for a cheap VHF radio these are cheap and available on Amazon.com. I have 3 of them with external mics. They are great radios for trail communication and are programmable (if you have a PC) for various channels. I haven't set mine up for communication with logging trucks as I run a Mac and the software doesn't work for them. One of these days, I will get it done. They are cheap, like in the range of $30-40.

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imdoo'n

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Would the handheld radios work well for heading up of down the access roads? I understand that the frequencies will be between 138 - 174 mhz and narrow banded. good info here >

yes the handhelds do work, as far as i know not the same power or range. When working along the channeled roads they insist you have a truck phone and a handheld if your outside of your truck in the bush. iI can tell you the handheld has trouble over hills and such, where the truck radio gets through. You may regret having a handheld radio calling when your azz off, as a nice big logging truck is barreling down on ya at mach chicken, playing with his ding dong, tunes a rockin, on a two track road. You may as well tuck and roll, cause your not going to make it.
They usually make an effort if they know your coming and know where you are. Otherwise they don't care. show em your $30 radio and how it works haha. right or wrong dead is dead. been run off the road several times. friggin truckers.
 
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Phat Cat

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Ya I was doing some research on handhelds vs mobiles. The mobiles put out abiut 10 times the wattage. I was looking on ebay and a good motorola or kenwood go for just over 200 bucks. I also found a web site with all the BC forestry channels. Some sellers will program them for you before they ship it.

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