Anyone use rugged radios

Marine VHF is basically the same thing from a technology perspective. The legality of using the commercial band VHF and UHF radios that rugged sells is... questionable at best. But CB flat doesn't compare. Any off the shelf 2m or 770 radio will broadcast father and be clearer than any "peaked and tuned" CB, linear or not.

You can always go get your ham license...

Just as a point of reference, a vehicle-mounted 2m radio with a +3db antenna will broadcast from the creek crossing on Falls Dam back to the Outpost, no problem. So long as you're not down in the bottoms, you can hit the repeaters in Level Cross and Greensboro.
 
shawn said:
Marine VHF is basically the same thing from a technology perspective. The legality of using the commercial band VHF and UHF radios that rugged sells is... questionable at best. But CB flat doesn't compare. Any off the shelf 2m or 770 radio will broadcast father and be clearer than any "peaked and tuned" CB, linear or not.

You can always go get your ham license...

Just as a point of reference, a vehicle-mounted 2m radio with a +3db antenna will broadcast from the creek crossing on Falls Dam back to the Outpost, no problem. So long as you're not down in the bottoms, you can hit the repeaters in Level Cross and Greensboro.
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What is 2m or 770 radio? Why is the band that rugged sells questionable?
 
Rugged sells radios that broadcast in the commercial bands. Specifically, from about 150-174 MHz or from 450-470 MHz. The wavelength of the first one is about 2 meters, the wavelength of the second is about 70cm, hence the names.

The commercial band wavelengths are right alongside ham band wavelengths, and the ham radios perform similarly well, which is why I recommended just getting your ham license and transmitting in those bands.

Broadcasting in a commercial band requires a commercial band license issued by the FCC that is usually location-dependent. It also costs money. There are folks out there who think that violating FCC regulations is a Really Big Deal. There are others who don't really care, so long as you're not causing problems for other users. Either way, it is illegal.
 
shawn said:
Rugged sells radios that broadcast in the commercial bands. Specifically, from about 150-174 MHz or from 450-470 MHz. The wavelength of the first one is about 2 meters, the wavelength of the second is about 70cm, hence the names.

The commercial band wavelengths are right alongside ham band wavelengths, and the ham radios perform similarly well, which is why I recommended just getting your ham license and transmitting in those bands.

Broadcasting in a commercial band requires a commercial band license issued by the FCC that is usually location-dependent. It also costs money. There are folks out there who think that violating FCC regulations is a Really Big Deal. There are others who don't really care, so long as you're not causing problems for other users. Either way, it is illegal.
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So how does rugged radios get away with selling the unit then? When you say commercial band who uses those? What is the difference between the ham radio bands and the rugged radio bands?
 
1- fcc radio laws are antiquated
2- there is virtually no radio wave police
3- the gray is, it's perfectly legal to own a radio capable of operating in the commercial spectrum, it's perfectly legal to tune that radio to said spectrum, it's even legal to listen to that radio as long as you want. As soon as you mic up now you are transmitting on that spectrum. Transmitting breaks the law. (All law references are to US laws. In some other bordering countries powering on or possessing the radio is technically illegal)
4 - part 90 legalized in 2012 covers and legalized all the big events with a site permit for virtually unlimited licenses. But you are supposed to lockout all radios used by non licensed operators. Part 97 is the alternate. By definition a radio can't simultaneously be part 90 and part 97 compliant. For those that remember ECORS races where drivers were given a radio, there was a p90 permit....
5- rugged slap a sticker on a stock baofeng hand held and straight triples the price. Buy a baofeng direct and save cash.
6- this will do all you want except hard drive mount : Amazon.com: BaoFeng UV-5R Dual Band Two Way Radio (Black): Electronics
 
Ron said:
1- fcc radio laws are antiquated
2- there is virtually no radio wave police
3- the gray is, it's perfectly legal to own a radio capable of operating in the commercial spectrum, it's perfectly legal to tune that radio to said spectrum, it's even legal to listen to that radio as long as you want. As soon as you mic up now you are transmitting on that spectrum. Transmitting breaks the law. (All law references are to US laws. In some other bordering countries powering on or possessing the radio is technically illegal)
4 - part 90 legalized in 2012 covers and legalized all the big events with a site permit for virtually unlimited licenses. But you are supposed to lockout all radios used by non licensed operators. Part 97 is the alternate. By definition a radio can't simultaneously be part 90 and part 97 compliant. For those that remember ECORS races where drivers were given a radio, there was a p90 permit....
5- rugged slap a sticker on a stock baofeng hand held and straight triples the price. Buy a baofeng direct and save cash.
6- this will do all you want except hard drive mount : Amazon.com: BaoFeng UV-5R Dual Band Two Way Radio (Black): Electronics
Click to expand...


I wondered if this was a Baofeng knockoff. My HAM dad has played with one. Thinks it's a helluva radio for $40.
 
Ron said:
1- fcc radio laws are antiquated
2- there is virtually no radio wave police
3- the gray is, it's perfectly legal to own a radio capable of operating in the commercial spectrum, it's perfectly legal to tune that radio to said spectrum, it's even legal to listen to that radio as long as you want. As soon as you mic up now you are transmitting on that spectrum. Transmitting breaks the law. (All law references are to US laws. In some other bordering countries powering on or possessing the radio is technically illegal)
4 - part 90 legalized in 2012 covers and legalized all the big events with a site permit for virtually unlimited licenses. But you are supposed to lockout all radios used by non licensed operators. Part 97 is the alternate. By definition a radio can't simultaneously be part 90 and part 97 compliant. For those that remember ECORS races where drivers were given a radio, there was a p90 permit....
5- rugged slap a sticker on a stock baofeng hand held and straight triples the price. Buy a baofeng direct and save cash.
6- this will do all you want except hard drive mount : Amazon.com: BaoFeng UV-5R Dual Band Two Way Radio (Black): Electronics
Click to expand...
That is awesome I've been looking at getting a radio that would perform better than a cb.

But on #6 what would the hard drive mount be for?
 
I typed all this shit out last night, but apparently never hit "Post":

It's not illegal to sell the radio. It's illegal to use it in a way that's prohibited by law.

The commercial band encompasses all kinds of stuff: local trucking or taxi companies, construction sites, building maintenance staff, forest service, police, fire, municipal bus services, etc. There's all kinds of stuff using the band, and the FCC divides up the frequencies to reserve certain things for certain types of use.

Functionally, there isn't any difference between a ham radio and a commercial radio made for the same frequencies. I mean, the 2m ham frequencies (144-148 MHz) are smack in the middle of the 136-174 MHz 2M band. They work about the same. A commercial band radio might be heavier duty or have better components than a ham/amateur, but that's all.

Ron said:
1- fcc radio laws are antiquated
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Agreed, but it is what it is. Personally, I wish we had something more like in Australia, where they turned over segments of the 2M band to "CB" style use, w/o any licensing requirements. They could do that with 144-148, and I wouldn't complain. The old hams probably would, though.

Ron said:
2- there is virtually no radio wave police
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The biggest concern, honestly, are old hams on the trail. And old hams on the internet. And... well, old men with strong opinions and lots of free time. It goes for lots of things, honestly.

Ron said:
6- this will do all you want except hard drive mount : Amazon.com: BaoFeng UV-5R Dual Band Two Way Radio (Black): Electronics
Click to expand...

That radio is going to have about the same range as CB. You're looking at about a mile of range, although with much better sound quality than CB. Hook it up to a vehicle-mounted antenna with 3-6db of gain, and it'll work a hell of a lot better. The radio, at full power, has 5W of output. But the "rubber duck" antenna will eat half of that on the 2M band. It'll work better on 70cm. But in either case, a vehicle-mounted antenna will work a lot better.

just a sami guy said:
Does a LOT of people on the trails use this style radio.. I don't really want a cb
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Depends on who you wheel with. We don't have CBs in either of our jeeps anymore.
 
Rugged (and im sure others...) offer CB and ham/commercial band combo units if you really want to have one unit for multiple options in case you wheel with some old school guys with CBs.
 
orange150 said:
So am I reading that most, if not all, of you that ride frequently all use HAM?
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I only know of one other person anymore that has a ham license and wheels.
 
Dragging up an old thread here but this news is relevant. The FCC is throwing the book at Chinese radios.
FCC Cites Baofeng Importer for Illegally Marketing Unauthorized RF Devices

The last I read is that the FCC’s position is that it’s illegal to use part 90 radios on ham bands. That’s questionable, and we’ll see what enforcement looks like. Looks like we’ve got about a million Chinese paper weights floating around. It’s surprising to be the FCC took this long.

As far as ham police, they are out there. This past Labor Day we we’re wheeling at Windrock park in eastern TN. We spent a couple of days on UHF simplex, minding our business when a local ham cut in to the convo. I immediately knew what he was doing. I could almost hear him typing when he asked for our call signs and our home cities. Shortly after he invited us to use the local repeater he maintained and told us all about folks running trails talking on the feed lines to their repeaters. Big problem in a park that size with a lot of users. Earlier that weekend we had a guy with us who wanted to talk on some AM Air Force channel on his Chinese radio, outside of the ham bands... no thanks. Not with it.
 
SC_4Runner said:
Dragging up an old thread here but this news is relevant. The FCC is throwing the book at Chinese radios.
FCC Cites Baofeng Importer for Illegally Marketing Unauthorized RF Devices

The last I read is that the FCC’s position is that it’s illegal to use part 90 radios on ham bands. That’s questionable, and we’ll see what enforcement looks like. Looks like we’ve got about a million Chinese paper weights floating around. It’s surprising to be the FCC took this long.

As far as ham police, they are out there. This past Labor Day we we’re wheeling at Windrock park in eastern TN. We spent a couple of days on UHF simplex, minding our business when a local ham cut in to the convo. I immediately knew what he was doing. I could almost hear him typing when he asked for our call signs and our home cities. Shortly after he invited us to use the local repeater he maintained and told us all about folks running trails talking on the feed lines to their repeaters. Big problem in a park that size with a lot of users. Earlier that weekend we had a guy with us who wanted to talk on some AM Air Force channel on his Chinese radio, outside of the ham bands... no thanks. Not with it.
Click to expand...
So was this guy asking for your call signs and home cities wanting turn y'all in? Also he invited you to his local repeater, is that a legal way to talk on them? Some of our club members and myself bought one to replace our CBs and we have not used them for ''fear'' of the unknown.
 
Quite to the contrary, hams are permitted to take other radio equipment and repurpose it. Commercial is not. Cb is not. Just have to ensure the spurious emissions are in check.
 
just a sami guy said:
I have had cb radio before but I have seen a few guys used the rugged radios.. I like it more just seeing if a LOT of people r using them
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I’ve got a DEMO model I bought a few years back. I’ve never used it. My crew just uses old school walkie talkies. Anybody want it for $50?
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