Emergency communications

[Hawkmoon]

With the advent of cell phones, it seems the use of CB radios has largely fallen to the wayside except in commercial trucks. When I was young, there was a national (I think) CB group called HELP that monitored CB channel 9, and many local police departments also monitored channel 9. I don't know if HELP still exists, but I'm pretty certain that no police departments around here have monitored CB for may years.

I have always thought of HAM radio as being cost prohibitive. Out of curiosity, I checked on Amazon and I found this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072HXQ5GG/ref=psdc_2230642011_t1_B0772FYKK8

Do the bands it covers include the HAM bands one would normally be using for communication with the world in a major power outage, or if you experienced a vehicle problem in the middle of nowhere and outside of cell phone coverage?

[AmbulanceDriver]

It covers the 2m and 70cm bands for all amateur license classes and then some.  HAM band allocations are:   2m is 144-148 MHz.  70cm is 420-450 MHz

[AmbulanceDriver]

Additionally, friend of mine that knows a lot more about radios is not a fan of the Baofeng radios in general, but really doesn't like the UV-5R.  lots of harmonics/distortion....

Not only that, but an 8W handheld transceiver isn't going to get you much signal propagation.  A few miles in good conditions.   My truck mounted radio is 50 watts, and it will get me about 40-50 miles in PNW average terrain. 

[Brad Johnson]

As AD mentioned, it's a dual band and will cover the most common HAM frequencies. I'll echo his concerns about range. An HT is something you use to Tx point-to-point, or point-to-repeater, over a range of just a few miles. Less in urban or very hilly areas.

I've had passing experience with Baofeng products and wasn't impressed. It's better than nothing, I suppose, but for a few bucks more I think you can do much better with a lightly used unit from a know manufacturer like ICOM, Yaesu, Alinco, Motorola, etc.. The other thing is their claim of 8w. I'd be very leery of the claim. It might actually output that, but I wouldn't trust it to do so for long. For reference, I had an Alinco DJG5 walkie. Heavy sucker, most of which was heat sinking on the finals. At 5w it would get uncomfortably hot after just a few short Tx and would drain the optional high-capacity battery pack in minutes.

For a BOB unit, I'd be more apt to buy a well-treated used mobile rig, a mag antenna base, and a shorty antenna. Maybe even throw in a multi-section dual band stick that can be broken down with a hex wrench for bag storage (better range than a shorty). I'd likely also have a compliment of power connectors... at the very least one with gator clips and the other with a lighter plug. Gives you the option of going full mobile or rigging it direct to a 12v source (car battery, tool battery, etc.)

Also, have you dealt with amateur radio before? If not, you may not be aware that HAM/Amateur is not like CB. You don't just turn the dial to a channel and talk. Knowing how to program the radio and operate within comm system parameters requires specific knowledge. It's neither complicated nor complex, but it is necessary.

Brad

[Hawkmoon]

That's the kind of feedback I needed. I had a feeling there was a reason it's so much cheaper than I had expected ...

[RocketMan]

I have a Baofeng UV-82 dual-band handheld and a B-Tech (Baofeng's mobile radio brand) UV-2501 mobile dual-band radio.  Both work well for me, and I get good signal reports from those I talk to.
I'm not sure how one would test for harmonics on one of these radios without some pretty spendy test equipment.  Perhaps AD's friend was talking about experiencing intermodulation, which is something you can hear during receive.  The Portland area has a serious intermod problem as it is an RF-rich environment.  When I lived there I would hear a lot of intermod on a 2 meter mobile I had at the time, mostly from the TV station transmitters in the West Hills over Portland.  The receiver front end on that 2 meter rig was pretty open as it was designed to also receive outside the ham band.
My Baofengs perform pretty well here in Hickory, NC, likely because it is a much more benign RF environment.  Not a lot of RF sources to cause intermod.

I purchased the Baofengs precisely because they were much less expensive than the major brand radios.  The mobile is in my truck much of the time, and I figure if it "wanders off" I won't lose much from a cost standpoint.  Same thing with the handheld.
I also have a more expensive Icom dual-band mobile, and it is pretty much a base radio due to its cost.  I think I paid around $400 for it at the time.

[AmbulanceDriver]

My understanding of the problems with the UV-5R is that the transmitter/amplifier section in it doesn't have an effective harmonic filter.  So you get broadcasting on essentially multiple harmonic frequencies simultaneously.  Reduces the Effective Radiated Power (ERP) on the desired frequency.  So instead of putting out the 8 watts on your desired frequency, (as an example) you put out 5 watts on the actual frequency, another 2 watts on the first harmonic, another watt on the second harmonic, etc...  That's basically the rough and dirty explanation of harmonics that I got years ago... And I'm probably forgetting half of it.

[AmbulanceDriver]

That's not to say that it's a bad radio per se - as an entry level radio, especially in areas with lower RF congestion, it's a pretty good point to point HT...  But we really are talking fairly short range, especially in hilly/urban terrain.

[MikeB]

If you want to try one, I have a UV-5Rv2+ I never use that I can send you for free. Better if someone get some use than it sitting on my desk. I mostly use Yaesu radios, bought the Baefong on a lark. Don't hate, but just never really use it. Get a license if you don't have one, try it out, upgrade if you want and keep it or pass it on.

[RocketMan]

A lot of hams are using the newer Baofeng and TYT equipment down toward Gaston and Charlotte.  They're pretty happy with the gear and I don't hear anything bad on the repeaters from a transmit audio quality standpoint.  I think most folks buy that gear simply because of its price point.  Cheap gear with a nice feature set that works reasonably well.
That said, I do like my more expensive Icom IC-207H better, mostly because it is an Icom.

[AmbulanceDriver]

The same friend that's the radio geek is a big fan of the Anytone radios - There's a new digital/analog dual band with lots of features for a couple hundred bucks.  Might set aside a few shekels and check one out.

[RocketMan]

Pretty nice features and specs on some of those Anytone radios.