2 way radios

OldMxBowhunter

Active Member
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170
Anyone have any suggestions on good radios that have good range in the mountain's and will operate on regular batteries.

Thanksfor any feedback
 
I'm looking for the same and have heard the typical Motorola/Midlands are pretty decent, in the $100/pair range for an everyday guy type of setup.
There is a deep rabbit hole you can go down on licenses, GMRS, watt power, etc to get max distance (<2 miles) in the mountains...but seems pretty debatable on functionality in cover/canyons/obstructions.



"...I'd rather be tried by twelve than carried by six..."
 
You are wasting your money with two way radios in the mountains. They will be line of sight on a good day. Ask me how I know.

Hasbean
 
Depends on the terrain your hunting !! if its fairly flat any of them will work out to a 1/2 mile some to 2 miles . If your in hills trees canyons your really wasting your $$ .I have tried a bunch of different ones None work worth a crap when you lose line of sight
 
>You are wasting your money with
>two way radios in the
>mountains. They will be
>line of sight on a
>good day. Ask me
>how I know.
>
> Hasbean


Dangit. I was Hoping someone Got Lucky and Found something that worked.
 
You are wasting your money with two way radios in the mountains, I have tried them in our mountains in Colorado and they are pretty much line of sight radios.
 
I used a buddy's Baofeng radios a couple weekends ago, and picked up a pair of Midland GXT1000s the other day. You have to have a license to transmit over 2watts I believe (GMRS), which limits what most of these longer mileage ones could do.

Regardless, with the mountains, you would be lucky to get a mile or two out of most radios. We were maybe 3/4 a mile away and did alright, but doubt we would get much more than that.

The advertised mileage is bunk unless you are in the middle of a salt flat.



"...I'd rather be tried by twelve than carried by six..."
 
Garmin rhino gps/walkie/ text message....
There is a guy advertising a pair for sale over on the Hunt Talk Forum in the classified section with a Wyoming chip for around $500.
They have a walkie range of up to 20 miles and even if unable to get a signal for the walkie talkies to work, you can send text messages.
Plus with a pair, you can sink them up to always show on your GPS screen the location of the other guys rhino, even if out of signal reach.
Great for a couple buddies or safety on a father son hunt.
 
Check out Rugged radios.
They are working out great for us. Small and lightweight. They come with a rechargeable battery but you can also buy an optional AA pak. Definitely not a waste of money.
 
We use Motorola RDU4100?s. Typically we get 2-3 mile range and sometime more if it's line of sight.
We?ve been finding them on eBay, once in a while you can find one NIB for under $200.00.
 
Used Baofeng BF-F8HP, Moto BPR40, and Midland GXT1000 during my elk hunt. All were great for stalks over open country within a couple miles (prob more). All were so-so in the hills and with trees.



"...I'd rather be tried by twelve than carried by six..."
 
I use the Baofeng BF-F8HP. You can program the channels you want in it and it works pretty good. Like said before the radios are pretty much line of sight. But when the cell phone can not get out and you don't want to use the inreach. The radios work pretty dang good.
 
These work great !!!

40A4572C-C146-4F55-9B7A-7AF20CDD58FB.jpeg
 
I just purchased a pair of BCA Link 2.0 radios, they are 2-watt. Im looking forward to reporting back on how they work in both a neighborhood setting then a thick wilderness setting.
 
I just received both BCA radios and put them up to a minor test (in the city). The deep timber test will be this weekend.

I was able to get a little over .25 miles as the crow flys, this was transmitting through 4 rows/blocks of houses. I then walked straight down the same street about .4 mile and still had a good connection. I stopped after that, certain I could have gone a good deal further.

I am happy with this range with total obstructed line of sight, my primary use is within 300yrd to communicate while walking hillside.
 
I just received both BCA radios and put them up to a minor test (in the city). The deep timber test will be this weekend.

I was able to get a little over .25 miles as the crow flys, this was transmitting through 4 rows/blocks of houses. I then walked straight down the same street about .4 mile and still had a good connection. I stopped after that, certain I could have gone a good deal further.

I am happy with this range with total obstructed line of sight, my primary use is within 300yrd to communicate while walking hillside.
Ran them over the weekend in the woods, no problem at all out to 300 yards. didn't push them any further.

For a line of sight 2-way radio its worth the money to pay up for a 2-watt like these models.
 
I've got a couple of the Baofengs. Can't remember the model number, about $89 each. They are good in the mountains for mile or two as long as you're on the same side. Even farther if you're across the mountain. Once you get on opposite sides of a ridge distance goes down.
The cheapo Midlands and Motorolas advertised at the big box stores are absolute junk. They advertise for 24 miles, or some up to 36 miles.. M is the correct abbreviation though, as in 24 meters - with a direct line of sight!
 

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