Radios... What do you recommend?

[SteamPunkSultan]

Hi All,

I am looking for some radios, preferably something I can dual channel, and what type of mics/headsets would you recommend? I would also like to have the PTT buttons on longer wires so i can have them on my foregrip!

 

Any recommendations are most welcome!

 

Thanks!

Rob

[Emergencychimps]

For radios themselves lots of people will recommend baofengs uv5r which can be good and can be good for starter or Airsoft radios. 

 

However, to use them you should have a license and when people get the licenses they tend to go for the small business licence (£75 for 5 years) and covers a group of people. Some sites (gunman Airsoft for example) and allow customers to use their licence/channels. Lots of people don't bother to get a license and I have never heard of anyone being caught, but that's the law bit covered. 

 

You shouldn't use them on pmr channels (too powerful) but you'll have channels you can use them on 

 

They take the standard Motorola or kenwood (can't remember)fittings, so you could get a standard speaker mic for them and a covert ear piece. Or you could go to someone like JCI Comms and get a military style ptt which would mean you can plug them into your military style headset. Going this way is expensive, but good Comms are expensive. There are issues mixing and matching repro comm stuff with real stuff, JCI can recommend. 

 

You could also go for standard pmr radios from Argos, but most won't be powerful enough for some sites (especially with buildings). And headsets etc will be more limited.

 

Next up you could go for Motorola, kenwood or yaesu. They're the next level and most will need licenses. Similar issues as with baofengs on the accessories department but the QC on the handsets it better. Baofengs have a habit of failing when they are exposed to damp, I used then for weekend events and after binning off my 4th or 5th one I got a Kenwood and have used it since, £25 per baofeng or £175 for a Kenwood. I was using it for a lot of weekend events, in the rain, cold, snow, hot etc. 

 

If you really want to pay out but have what should be amazing comms, you could get a TCA or Tri 148/152, basically repros of real radios, £250+ for the radio + only works with legit ptts and headsets. JCI Comms (Facebook and instagram) will be your friend here. From what I've seen they're amazing when they work but often have issues or niggles. 

 

 

For you, my recommendation would be a baofeng uv5r, a baofeng speaker mic and a covert ear piece from eBay, roughly £45 all in, plus your license if you need one (depending on your site). It works for most airsofters needs 95% of the time. If you really enjoy them etc, then upgrading when you're more knowledgeable is sensible. 

 

I don't know about blue tooth for the foregrip based ptts, sounds good but risky Vs hardwired 

[concretesnail]

I'd second the baofeng. I've been using them for years and they are still going. I run a fist mic attached to my rig then plug in my earpro when I wearing them. The only mod I did to the fist mic was to add a mute switch so I could sneak up to folk and not have the radio give me away.

[JamesAirsofterAgent]

Another one for the baofeng, really good and the earpiece it comes with is great. Have really only scratched the surface with its capabilities so far as still figuring it out but have used it on hikes & airsoft and would definitely recommend. 

[Merchant Lord]

13 hours ago, Emergencychimps said:

For radios themselves lots of people will recommend baofengs uv5r which can be good and can be good for starter or Airsoft radios. 

I will third that. baofengs uv5r, Great price very reliable. Not to difficult to set up. They do take a Kenwood fittings so easy to set up a PTT. In regards of a long wire with the PTT this is not something i have seen but would of thought should be easy enough to find. 

The general rule in the UK for power is anything over 0.5w power requires a licence baofengs generally start a 5/8 watts. 

 

[Tommikka]

I’m going to go against the flow and say no to Baofengs

My number one recommendation would be any PMR with no further licence requirements

For the OPs need for long PTT to look at the cables supplied or identify the socket types for an aftermarket PTT cable / headset

 

But it depends on their definition of ‘long’ PTT cable, I have seen very long and pretty short cables coming by default with handsets and wide varieties of after market cables, or a bit of DIY work.

A thing to be wary of with aftermarket cables is slightly different tolerances in quality/plug length and also different wiring when the plugs look the same 

 

 

If however the OP has a need for team privacy, longer range etc then to a licenced option and perhaps the UV5R 

[Rogerborg]

3 hours ago, Tommikka said:

My number one recommendation would be any PMR with no further licence requirements

 

The Baofeng BF-88E aka BF-888S PMR comes pre-set to a law-friendly 500mW, tuned to PMR frequencies, and look to take Kenwood K plug accessories, so you can fill your boots with PTT gubbins.

 

It seems that you can reprogram it to other frequencies, and to 2kW, using a programming cable, but that requires deliberate action. As stock, they do appear to be PMR compliant.

 

https://www.baofengradio.co.uk/bf-888s-pmr446/

 

 

 

18 hours ago, Emergencychimps said:

You shouldn't use them on pmr channels (too powerful)

 

If you're using unlicensed radios without an assigned frequency, I'd respectfully disagree. Nobody should, of course, just like we should never own anything that's notionally capable of auto-shooting any missile at over 1.3J.

 

But if you are broadcasting at over 500mW, and you're not sure what you're doing, then I'd suggest that you should stick to PMR frequencies, because them you're not going to conflict with anyone or anything that actually matters.

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

"I say, you're a fine young filly!  What a shapely ankle you have"

[Rogerborg]

1 minute ago, RostokMcSpoons said:

"I say, you're a fine young filly!  What a shapely ankle you have"

 

And that's why needed the prohibition on "bawdy and unchaste telephonics" in the Telecommunications Act 1884.

[MikeMarden]

I've had & run Baofeng UV5R's for a year or so now which are perfectly fine, but comes with limitations as you'd expect for a fairly low ticket item.

 

It's a no brainer (A no sh*t sherlock moment!), but the more we've been utilising our coms semi-effectively, the more efficient as a unit we've become, so being the inevitable peacock that I am have recently purchased an FCS 152 Radio & KDU. Nowhere near as user friendly to get up & running, but have purchased this as it'll mean I need to study / tinker & learn as opposed to being shown for a change!

 

Anyways, just awaiting connector mods to my existing PTT to have everything up & running but looking forward to figuring this out & getting the best out of the kit

Edited August 19, 2022 by MikeMarden
Grammar!

[EDcase]

Bit late to comment but I'm very happy with the Baofeng 888

I was lucky to get a set with the voice scrambler.