Motorola Talkabout and Baofeng UV5Ra questions.

[HBARleatherneck]

Ok, This question could go in the survival forum or the help forum. I come to you since most of the radio discussions are here.

We use the cheap motorola talkabout radios for ranch work etc. For example one of our goats got out of her jumped out of her pen and was through two 4strand barbed wire fences and a mile down the road in about 2 minutes. We jumped on the four wheelers and started after her. Unfortunately our radios were dead. So, it wasnt as easy to communicate as it normally is. These old motorola T5000 will easily get us 5 miles range out here.

Down to the question. We need new batteries for the talkabout radios. An aftermarket set will cost us with shipping about $30. mixed reviews on quality of batteries.
We have two Baofeng radios now and a 5 pack is only $100ish dollars. these have the lithium batteries and should be much better.

Have any of you programmed the FRS frequencies into the Baofeng? I know it can be done, but we havent taken out Ham test yet so we cant use them in non FRS frequencies.

Anyone have any information on how to do it? Help? Advice?

Or should we just buy new Motorola talkabout style radios and forget it?

here is a Baofeng set. will this work for frs? and we live in wide open country with no interference. would it work for a few miles?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CW8YACW/ref=s9_simh_gw_p422_d0_i2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0RA9FANVWFM32TBA6QP4&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200382&pf_rd_i=507846


I was thinking about getting this motorola set as it will let us leave one with the kids
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-MT352TPR-FRS-Weatherproof-Two-Way/dp/B007UKVO3U/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&srs=2529943011&ie=UTF8&qid=1389804173&sr=1-5&keywords=motorola+talkabout
(http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-MT352TPR-FRS-Weatherproof-Two-Way/dp/B007UKVO3U/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&srs=2529943011&ie=UTF8&qid=1389804173&sr=1-5&keywords=motorola+talkabout)

[rbeau30]

Yes you can, but frs maximum power is .5 watt and I think the low setting on the baofeng is 2.5 with the high setting being 5 watt... If you use the Baofeng for GMRS frequencies you need a license, and technically you cannot use the baofeng for GMRS because it accomodates a removable antenna.

Others can correct me if I am wrong please.

EDIT:
http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/family-radio-service-frs
It says an FRS device must be manufactured to be so, and marked as an FRS device.

[HBARleatherneck]

what about the ones in my link towards the bottom? it sounds like they are more of the walkie talkie style not Amateur radio kind. But, Im not sure. The reviewers made it sound like they use them for business and pleasure.






on a different note

Will my Baofeng UV5Ra with stock antenna and battery even hit a repeater nearly 26 miles away? I cant pick up any traffic on it at all.

[rbeau30]

what about the ones in my link towards the bottom? it sounds like they are more of the walkie talkie style not Amateur radio kind. But, Im not sure. The reviewers made it sound like they use them for business and pleasure.






on a different note

Will my Baofeng UV5Ra with stock antenna and battery even hit a repeater nearly 26 miles away? I can pick up any traffic on it at all.

I can hit the Squaw Mountain repeater with my baofeng from my house is east Aurora.

[HBARleatherneck]

maybe I listen at the wrong times.

[rbeau30]

However that is not on a GMRS or FRS freq. FRS should have a range of about 1 mile due to the limitations on power. GMRS power limitations allow a little farther, there is a GMRS repeater nearby that I listen to, but I cannot get the tone right to be able to talk to the guys I am hearing.




Yeah, so if you want to be good with the letter of the law, technically you CAN use the baofeng to transmit and receive at the frequencies, HOWEVER, remember it IS a chinese item, and they don't care about our FCC regulations, and technically it is a Part 90 (I think) radio which means it is technically governed under Land Mobile Radios, and TECHNICALLY not even an amateur radio device either. But hey ahh well. For example, my radio in my car can listen to the GMRS/FRS/MURS and some other bands, BUT the bands are blocked from transmitting because my radio does not meet the requirements for those bands. You can unlock it with some desoldering but technically that is illegal as well.

But hey, this is a preparedness section, and I like that I have a small and cheap radio (so I can buy extras) so if just in case stuff hit the fan, I would have the ability to contact people, and know what is going on. If stuff hit the fan I don't think FCC rules would apply as much. Also the other half is stubborn about studying for her ticket, so I got a GMRS license so she could talk to me on the GMRS freqs as the license extends to immediate family. The range is not all that good, but it is a good way for her to practice.

[zteknik]

I have a set of talkabouts and they can accommodate 3or 4 double A batteries. So I'm thinking maybe one can get the rechargeable A's and still be able to charge them in their charging stand.
Probably a lot cheaper than the battery packs..

[gnihcraes]

on a different note

Will my Baofeng UV5Ra with stock antenna and battery even hit a repeater nearly 26 miles away? I cant pick up any traffic on it at all.

Possibly, just depends on the line of sight to the repeater and quality of the antenna. use the radio with a magnetic mount antenna on a car/atv and you might be able to bring up the repeater on 2.5 watts.

I can bring up the pikes peak repeater from my porch on some days with a rubber duck antenna - 5 watt handheld. Probably 100 miles line of sight?

[roberth]

Thanks for posting this thread and the responses. Very helpful, I don't have anything to add and I'm still researching.

[Irving]

Hbar, try programming in 145.145 there is traffic on that one all the time.

[rbeau30]

Hbar, try programming in 145.145 there is traffic on that one all the time.


I think my house is a dead spot. :-(

AND I can't put an antenna on it either.

[HBARleatherneck]

Hbar, try programming in 145.145 there is traffic on that one all the time.

I cant get mine to go to 145.145. the lady says it but it goes to 145.125 instead. ??? maybe I dont know how to make it make noise either. i watched the videos you all posted, I followed the programing instructions, but I still dont hear anything.

[Irving]

Give me a few minutes and I'll write up a walk through.

[Irving]

Okay, very first thing to do is set the Step, this is what controls the increment in which you can tune when you use the Up and Down arrow button.

Press the following:
MENU --> 1 (This is the menu option number, and it should read "STEP.") --> MENU --> up/down arrow until you get to 5.0k --> MENU (you will hear the voice say "confirm") --> EXIT.

Now when you "tune" channels, the frequency will change by only 5.0k, instead of the 25.0k like the radio comes from the factory. Also, this is the same procedure to do any changes in the menu. MENU --> # of menu selection --> MENU --> make change --> MENU (you will hear "confirm" --> EXIT

When manually searching for a channel, you only need to bother with four of the 40 menu options. #11, #13, #25, and #26.
#11 = R-CTCS = Receive tone (a sub-audible tone that is sent from the repeater/radio station that you are listening to. Your radio will eliminate all noise except what is accompanied with this tone)
#13 = T-CTCS = Transmit tone (a sub-adible tone that is sent from your radio to the repeater/radio station to which you are transmitting.)
#25 = SFT-D = Direction of Frequency Shift (Down (-), Up (+), None (OFF) (When talking to a repeater, it receives on one frequency, and transmits on another. The standard shift for VHF is 00.600. The standard shift for UHF is 5.000)
#26 = OFFSET = Frequency Offset (This determines which direction your radio will transmit (at the predetermined offset) when speaking to the repeater/radio station).
I will use the programming of 145.145 as the example.

First, open this link: http://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/details.php?state_id=08&ID=107#sthash.95WXV8fx.dpbs
So here we see that the repeater frequency is 145.1450-. The tone squelch is 107.2 / 107.2. This means the offset is negative, and there is a sub-audible tone squelch (T-CTCS) that is required for the repeater to "hear" you. You don't need any sub-audible tone just to listen, so you could leave the T-CTCS to OFF and you will still hear the repeater. We'll program everything in full for propriety.

1- Tune to 145.145
2- #11 = OFF
3- #13 = 107.2 (you can scroll or manually key in the tone squelch.
4- #25 = (-)
5- #26 = 00.600

Now you are tuned into this station and can listen in. There are two guys talking right now, and there usually are every single night. The reception is fuzzy right now but I think that is due to the weather (snow).

You should be able to hear the weather channel at 162.550 though. I just checked and you can leave the settings from programming 145.1450-, and just jump to 162.550 and still hear the weather station. The weather station rotates between Denver metro, DIA, mountains, then surrounding cities (Cheyenne) and national weather occasionally. It is constant, so when you tune in correctly, you should hear it immediately.

Sometimes you'll be tuning in a channel, and the settings will not work when you jump back over to the weather station so you have to clear settings. That is a different conversation though. On a side note, I HAD the weather channel programmed, but if you choose to scan your programmed channels it will ALWAYS stop on the weather channel, as it is ALWAYS broadcasting. I just opted to memorize it instead. Good luck.

**NOTE** Here are some other menu settings for menu options that you can set your radio to until you are more familiar with the radio.

#0 - Squelch - I have mine set to 3, I've seen videos recommend setting it all the way up to 9
#1 - STEP - 5.0k
#4 - VOX - OFF. This is the voice to talk, so it transmits when it hears you talk. Pretty good idea of set to OFF if you aren't licensed yet.
#5 - WN - Wide. This is some filter setting. There is WIDE and NARROW. I don't know what they mean, but was told to set to Wide.
#6 - ABR - Display illumination. This controls how long your display lights up from OFF-5s.
#7 - TDR - Dual Watch. Set to ON, this lets you listen to two different channels at once when in channel mode. Supposed to set to OFF when manually programming memory channels.
#8 - BEEP - Keypad beep. Turns on/off the beep when pressing buttons. I have mine OFF.
#9 - TOT - Transmission timer. This will time out your transmission. So if you sit on your transmit button while driving, it will time you out after 15-600s instead of you broadcasting road noise for an hour. Also, so repeaters will automatically time you out after a certain amount of time. 60s is safe.
#14 - VOICE - English or Chinese. I have mine set to English, but perhaps you like a challenge?
#27 - MEM-CH - Program channel to memory.
#28 - DEL-CH - Delete programmed channels.
#29 - WT-LED - Standby back light color
#30 - RX-LED - Back light color when receiving.
#31 - TX-LED - Back light color when transmitting.
#32 - AL-MOD - Alarm Mode. This controls how your alarm goes off (hold down orange CALL button to turn on/off alarm). Set to SITE. This means that if you accidentally set off your alarm, it only plays on the radio. Other settings transmit the alarm.
#39 - ROGER - End of transmission tone. Turn this off so if you accidentally hit the transmit button, you aren't sending a tone out every time.

Hope this helps.

[rbeau30]

You can exclude channels from the scan. You need the programming cable and programming software.


You can also listen to FM stations!

[Irving]

You may also try this Cheyenne Wyoming station:
http://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/details.php?state_id=56&ID=60#sthash.swPKjg1K.dpbs

[HBARleatherneck]

dang Irv, that is a write up, thank you. I will try it again in a few minutes.

Im trying to get through the Ham for Dumbasses book, but its killing me. (dry, boring) I want to use the radio, I dont really intend on becoming a electronics tech on a submarine.

[Irving]

I'm about halfway throigh that book as well. That write up is just everything I remember from the various videos we watched.

[Irving]

I'm about halfway through that book as well. That write up is just everything I remember from the various videos we watched.