"The HX850S radio is designed for the highest-level boating enthusiast. This advanced FLOATING handheld VHF/GPS includes a 12-channel GPS receiver allowing the radio to transmit a DSC call with your coordinates, perfect for a ditch bag. In addition the HX850S can transmit and receive Digital Selective Calls (DSC) including Position Polling."
Would this be a good thing to have?
It is also programmable to the 2meter frequencies so you could use it for that with the features that it has for the marine band. It seems to have an awful lot of bang for the buck compared to the Yasue (who is the mfgr of them, kind of like Sony?Awia/Clarion) HAM radios. IIRC you just change the rubberduck antanna and link it to your laptop to add the 2M capabilities while having the marine channels.
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than one's fear. The timid presume it is lack of fear that allows the brave to act when the timid do not."
Ambrose Hollingworth Redmoon
If it is possible, it has been done. If it's impossible, we will do it.
Militia fire-team and squad radios, to the extent that most folks can afford, are GMRS/FRS hand-held "family" sets. On the border with the Minutemen in October 2005, we used these with an antenna range "booster" which consisted of nothing more than a a length of copper wire coiled at the base for attachment to the existing stub antenna. With ear buds and external mics they can be made into a reasonable tool for tactical communication. The problem has been, of course, range. With a capable command set of greater capability and range these can be made into a decent tactical net. The problem has been affordability. I'm not a radio geek by a long shot, but this looks promising:
Empty Skull posts at CalGuns.net: "Budget Comm (Radio) Gear Review: Wouxun."
Thought I'd post a review of a couple of handheld radios that I picked up to stuff in my BOB & GHB's. They are the Wouxun KG-UV2D models (don't ask me how to pronounce that, no idea). They go for around $110 to $129 depending on where you get them from (you can find them on Ebay for $88 plus some insane shipping fee from Hong Kong. Id suggest you go with a US dealer, less headache plus a local dealer can warranty it for you...)
A bit of background on these, there are 3 different models in the "KG-UVD" series, the KG-UVD1P, KG-UV2D, & KG-UV3D. They are ALL THE SAME internally, except for a few firmware differences and different plastic. Its kind of like how Best Buy and Circuit City used to have different "model" numbers on TV's so that they could claim exclusivity (and prevent you from price matching).
These radios are Dual Band UHF & VHF (70cm & 2m for you ham geeks), and also have the ability to recieve FM Broadcast (76 to 108 MHz). Within these 3 "models" you can get them in 3 different "versions", ie frequency cuts in:
136-174 & 216-280 (VHF & 220 MHz)
136-174 & 350-470 (VHF & low cut UHF)
136-174 & 420-520 (VHF & high cut UHF) this is the version I chose.
I think there are a few more 220 MHz versions but you probably wont see them here in the US, they're more for foreign bandplans.
You can software modify these radios to transmit out of Ham bands with free unlock software available on the net. The out of band unlock lets you transmit on the entire range, including public safety (police) frequencies, Marine frequencies and GMRS / FRS frequencies (the radios can receive these frequencies out of the box, just not transmit). The standard programming software is free and available for download on Wouxuns website or their dealer websites.
I know some of you Hamsters are already screaming bloody murder at your screens as you read the above, but these radios ARE type certified by the FCC as COMMERCIAL radios, which also lets them weeze their way into being legal for use as Ham radios.
The reason I bring that up, and also one of the reasons I bought these radios was for the ability to program and transmit on the GMRS / FRS frequencies aka: the cheapie Walmart/Target walkie talkies. In a SHTF scenario, not everybody will have Ham or Commercial Comm gear, but a good percentage of them may have these GMRS radios. I've programmed my radios with these frequencies so I can talk to them if I need to.
These radios come with a dual voltage charging pocket (only the AC cord is included, it can take a 12v input also (cigarette lighter adapter extra)). A dual band antenna, 1700 mAh Lithium Ion battery, belt clip, and a manual. The software is not included in the box but may be downloaded for free. Seriously not a bad deal for $110. Another accessory that is useful, and another reason I bought this radio was the "AA" battery holder pack, It lets you stuff 5 "AA" batteries in it for use when you don't have a way to charge the Li-ion pack that it comes with. Perfect for the BOB/GHB.
I have these radios programmed with a wide range of channels (128 channel capacity on these) I've got Public Safety, Ham, Weather, Marine & GMRS frequencies and the radio transmits and receives on all of them flawlessly. Power output is right at the rated 5 Watts (measured on a wattmeter). Using the "AA" battery pack the transmit drops to about 3½ watts (I think thats due to the crap batteries I was using, there doesn't appear to be any kind of "sensing" circuit or different contacts used on the battery pack vs the Li-ion pack). Audio is clean and LOUD. Receive sensitivity is surprisingly good, probably too good, it probably doesn't have tight rejection filtering.
Construction is above average for Chinese wares, its surprisingly sturdy, the plastic is on par with a commercial Kenwood radio. The channel naming is limited to 6 characters. Decent backlight (bluish white) on the display and keypad. Buttons & knobs have a decent "click" when pushed or turned. An interesting "bonus" is that there is a built in LED Light on the top of the radio, that is meant to function as a flashlight. As mentioned before, the radio can receive FM broadcast stations & has 2 banks of 9 memory spots just for the FM radio.
About the only cheesy thing is the "rat tail" antenna that is included with it. I just cant get used to the thing, it looks like a 10ga wire with heat shrink on it. That being said, the antenna is quite sturdy and survives severe bending with no problem, and actually recieves better than some of my other commercial radio antennas. The other cheesy thing, that actually isnt so cheesy if your visually impaired is that the radio is capable of voice prompts. Every button you press or channel change is followed with a voice prompt out of the speaker. You have your choice of English, Chinese or None. Yeah I got sick of the little Chinese accented girl so I killed that option right quick.
Speaking of, I expected the user manual to be written in crappy "Chinglish" but that surprisingly was not the case, well until the back cover... lol. It was well written and easy to understand, however you will WANT buy a programming cable and use the programming software. Programming the radio with the built in menus is doable but not fun.
Overall a great buy and a bargain at $110 for all that it does, especially if youre just gonna throw it in your BOB/GHB.
Ok, I posted about the new radio mentioned above. So I ordered one, and tried it out. This radio gets a two thumbs up from me. For the cost, this is the perfect HT for UHF/VHF operations for those just wanting to talk. Meaning, the cost was extremely low. The perfect price for a first radio. It doesnt get any cheeper than this. The available options are great. I got the microphone/headset, car charger, AA battery pack, Radio, programming cable, software, AC charger, antenna, and shipped for $176. This radio is very easy to program. If you have a HAM license, you will be able to program this. Very fast to do. Without ever having seen the software before, I plugged it in, and had 38 channels programmed in 10 min. The radio has all the functions that you would normally ever need or use, especially if you hold a technician license, or are new to radios. The controls are very easy to figure out and remember. No menu's going three and four deep, hold down this button, press that button for one second, choose option four, set option, blah blah blah...not here. External controls are there and easy to program. Common features that you normally want quickly are at your fingertips. Scan, flashlight, keypad lock, etc. This radio happens to be Dual band. Which is great. Mine is 2M and 70CM. (which if "unlocked" will also work your FRS Freq's), added bonus, as most of our wives and kids will be using those and we wont have to carry two radios. The accesory plug is Kenwood. I have a Kenwood TK2170. All of the accessories fit and work. The headsets, programming cable, etc. And Much cheeper too. The Wouxun headset works just as good as my Kenwood set, and is actually more comfortable. The reception is as good as my Yeasu VX-8 or my Kenwood. Range is the same as my VX-8. Overall very impressed by this little unit. Many of our area ARES, RACES, and SAR guys are using them and all love them as well. The only thing we havnt tested yet is durablility. How shockproof/abuse proof, and water resistant are they. We dont yet know as we havnt had them long enough to tell. But I am confident they will hold up fine.
Recommended buy.
I've had the KG-UV3D since Christmas and have really enjoyed it, a couple months back I built a J-pole antenna for it and it really helped it transmit over the hills. The guy I bought it from claimed it wouldn't function using rechargeable batteries but I plan to test it with eneloops today. This is my first radio but I have been happy with it so far. I would like to get the headset and programing cable though, being able to unlock this sound useful.
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