Looking at a trail radio

WestCoastDan

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As a beginner to the trail/off-road experience here in SoCal, I think one of the best tools that I can get (aside from a good flashlight & tow rope) is a radio for communication w/ others and/or to use in an emergency if needed.
We are looking at portable versins so it wouldn't need to be permanently mounted in the TJ.
Can anyone provide recommendations or models to avoid?

Considering this one, but other recommendations are welcome.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09178GDJR/?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
As a beginner to the trail/off-road experience here in SoCal, I think one of the best tools that I can get (aside from a good flashlight & tow rope) is a radio for communication w/ others and/or to use in an emergency if needed.
We are looking at portable versins so it wouldn't need to be permanently mounted in the TJ.
Can anyone provide recommendations or models to avoid?

Considering this one, but other recommendations are welcome.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09178GDJR/?tag=wranglerorg-20
You need a ham radio license for that one. I had one like the one in your link and due to its owner's manual having been very poorly translated from Chinese I could barely figure it out and ended up donating it to my Jeep club.

In the order of my personal usage I use a CB 99% on the trail with my 2 meter ham radio the balance of the time. CB is, by far, the most commonly used type of radio on the trail. Coming up after ham is GMRS but not many Jeeps have them yet. If you get your ham license you can use radios like what is in your link and if there are repeaters around where you are, you can contact others for emergency services and even make phone calls... though not especially easily.
 
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my 2 cents is avoid the handheld. it sits nicely down in the cupholder but when someone speaks, you grab for it and probably need them to repeat what they said once you have it up near your head. it sits nicely down in the cupholder, but some button on it gets hit and you're off listening to some other frequency, or worse. yes there is a lock but sometimes i forget.

i have cb and dual band ham mounted in my jeep. i have handheld gmrs. top of my jeep priority list is a mounted gmrs unit.

... besides, 3 mounted radios will look very cool :) :)
 
I agree with Jerry (above). Go to the local truck stop (or amazon) and pick up a CB radio (any model will do) and buy a good antenna.
The antenna should be mounted to the body with the mount bracket well grounded to the body.
The quality of the antenna is more important then the radio.
I don't like the hand held units because they can bounce around the car and the mike button can touch something without you knowing.
On my TJ I have both the CB radio and a 2 meter mounted overhead. The antennas are mounted on brackets that fits behind the tail lights.
 
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my 2 cents is avoid the handheld.
X2, X3, and X4. The power and antenna cables needed to make it perform well and its weight in the hand for extended conversation make it a poor choice for a primary radio.

This is the setup I use, ham radio on top and CB bolted to the bottom of the ham radio.
CB&HamRadios.JPG
 
As a beginner to the trail/off-road experience here in SoCal, I think one of the best tools that I can get (aside from a good flashlight & tow rope) is a radio for communication w/ others and/or to use in an emergency if needed.
We are looking at portable versins so it wouldn't need to be permanently mounted in the TJ.
Can anyone provide recommendations or models to avoid?

Considering this one, but other recommendations are welcome.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09178GDJR/?tag=wranglerorg-20
That one is great for when you're out of the rig, but they're not quite loud enough inside unless you can hang it near your head or plug it into a speaker. I have a handful of similar radios for loaners.

I believe that radio is technically illegal for GMRS though because it wasn't certified, they have another that is though. But plenty of people still use it anyway.
 
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This guy really likes the UV-5R and for good reason. He has many many videos talking about the stupid comments people make about it, they are worth watching. It's not illegal on GMRS, it just can't be sold as a GMRS radio. Once you own it if you follow the rules you can use it on whatever band you have a licence to use. The UV-5R is a perfect option for a handheld, it does MURS which doesn't require a licence, GRMS and 2m/70cm ham. There is no better value available. You have to have a basic level of know how to hook up a USB cable to your computer so there's that.
 
This guy really likes the UV-5R and for good reason. He has many many videos talking about the stupid comments people make about it, they are worth watching. It's not illegal on GMRS, it just can't be sold as a GMRS radio. Once you own it if you follow the rules you can use it on whatever band you have a licence to use. The UV-5R is a perfect option for a handheld, it does MURS which doesn't require a licence, GRMS and 2m/70cm ham. There is no better value available. You have to have a basic level of know how to hook up a USB cable to your computer so there's that.
It really is a great bang for the buck. I'm pretty sure more than 3/4 of the people at TJ Fest had them last year in Moab.
 
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If you're gonna get a UV-5R, pay the extra $5 and get the tri band version. Otherwise identical, it adds the 1.25 meter band. Regardless of what version you get, double the price and get the Nagoya antenna made for it - FAR better performance than the dummy load antenna that comes with the UV-5R.
 
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it is not hard to read and understand the fcc regulations. as notarubicon will drill into your head, "regulations, not laws". on occasion, i have knowingly violated fcc regulations, and i have never been scared that the police were going to knock on my door.

this thread already contains false statements concerning fcc regulations.
 
If you're gonna get a UV-5R, pay the extra $5 and get the tri band version. Otherwise identical, it adds the 1.25 meter band. Regardless of what version you get, double the price and get the Nagoya antenna made for it - FAR better performance than the dummy load antenna that comes with the UV-5R.
I always get the tri-power version instead, anything fun on the 1.25 meter band? The ExpertPower XP-669C is also a great option. They are on ebay for a good price.
 
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I always get the tri-power version instead, anything fun on the 1.25 meter band? The ExpertPower XP-669C is also a great option. They are on ebay for a good price.
Not familiar with that particular antenna - but for sake of clarity, it isn't a tri-band which doesn't matter if you don't have a tri-band radio. Otherwise, it *is* cheaper, and Hell - might be better than the Nagoya for all I know!

There isn't much going on here on UHF/VHF at all - its hard to raise anybody on the numerous local repeaters outside of nets and other special events. With that said, the very first time I hit the one and only local 1.25 repeater, I did get a response! I only have the one UV-5R that's tri-band - my other UV-5R and my Retivis I have in my Jeep are both dual band. I really need to get into HF - but the price of admission is VERY high - even using vintage gear which I have a preference for.
 
This site contains affiliate links for which Jeep Wrangler TJ Forum may be compensated.
I really need to get into HF - but the price of admission is VERY high - even using vintage gear which I have a preference for.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1150846717...d=link&campid=5337789113&toolid=20001&mkevt=1
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1651291744...d=link&campid=5337789113&toolid=20001&mkevt=1
And plenty of other HF rigs are for sale cheap all over the place. Even my Kenwood TS-850S is not all that expensive to buy used now.

You can install a multi-band dipole for not much or a monoband dipole for the cost of 18 to 120' of wire plus the RG8x or RG8 cable. Under $50.

In fact I've never run any fancy HF antennas, all of mine have been very simple dipoles, the fanciest was a multi-band dipole I probably spent $60 when I was too lazy to construct my own. :)
 
This site contains affiliate links for which Jeep Wrangler TJ Forum may be compensated.
I'm liking both of those, esp. the 520S - yet the seller is an idiot for insisting on shipping something that large/heavy with overpriced Priority (a pet peeve). I'm not ready to buy until after the first of the year at the earliest, but otherwise I'd message them and ask WTF with the shipping?
 
I'm liking both of those, esp. the 520S - yet the seller is an idiot for insisting on shipping something that large/heavy with overpriced Priority (a pet peeve). I'm not ready to buy until after the first of the year at the earliest, but otherwise I'd message them and ask WTF with the shipping?
I just hope to talk the wife into buying a home where there are no CC&R's prohibiting me from putting up some kind of an antenna. At least a dipole if not a tri-band beam with a rotator. There were NO antennas allowed by the CC&Rs where I used to live so I strung up a 10m dipole inside my attic. It worked surprisingly well, I worked many (!) countries on 100 watts and that simple dipole. Japan, Pitcairn Island, Russia, Tasmania, most of Europe, etc. Surprising how many hams speak such good English. I talked several times on 10m to a ham in Vladivostok Russia and he was fluent with barely an accent. We talked a couple times and I learned most Russian hams build their own single-sideband transceivers and good naturedly call us American hams "appliance operators" since we just unbox and plug them in. :ROFLMAO:
 
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I just hope to talk the wife into buying a home where there are no CC&R's prohibiting me from putting up some kind of an antenna. At least a dipole if not a tri-band beam with a rotator. There were NO antennas allowed by the CC&Rs where I used to live so I strung up a 10m dipole inside my attic. It worked surprisingly well, I worked many (!) countries on 100 watts and that simple dipole. Japan, Pitcairn Island, Russia, Tasmania, most of Europe, etc. Surprising how many hams speak such good English. I talked several times on 10m to a ham in Vladivostok Russia and he was fluent with barely an accent. We talked a couple times and I learned most Russian hams build their own single-sideband transceivers and good naturedly call us American hams "appliance operators" since we just unbox and plug them in. :ROFLMAO:
When I was younger, I would have loved to have built my own HF radio - but I'm too old and lazy to do it now although if heathkit were still around, I'd think about it. Vacuum tube, of course!

We purposely bought in an older blue collar neighborhood to avoid an HOA. Its wonderful. The Golf and Country Club set would hate it, but we like it. Neighbor 3 doors down has a 25 ft tower on the frontside of his house for a CB antenna (Power lines in the back preclude putting it there), people can park their boats and RVs in their own driveways, etc, etc. Apparently, about 15 years ago, there was QUITE the "to-do" with the county board wanting to limit such things. They were told in no uncertain terms that "You're the county board, NOT an HOA. Butt OUT." They did!

I'm envious that you've worked Pitcairn. Pitcairn has been on my mind since high school...
 
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Hell yes if Heathkit still sold vacuum tube or even solid state ham radios and test gear I'd be all over it. I built 75+ Heathkits as a kid, from short wave receivers, ham gear, and test equipment including a 5" oscilloscope to a color TV and some nice big stereo amplifiers, tuners, receivers, and even some big-ass acoustic suspension speakers. I loved building their stuff. It was later I figured out it cost more to build their stuff than it would have to buy equivalent stuff ready to go lol. But I learned a LOT!
 
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it is not hard to read and understand the fcc regulations. as notarubicon will drill into your head, "regulations, not laws". on occasion, i have knowingly violated fcc regulations, and i have never been scared that the police were going to knock on my door.

this thread already contains false statements concerning fcc regulations.

But it is law. All the way back to the Radio Act of 1912, it has been illegal to operate a radio without a license (unless otherwise allowed, such as with CB, air, and a few others). It's right there in U.S. Code Title 47. The FCC is there to administer and enforce the law.

The police aren't going to knock on your door. First it will be a letter telling you to knock it off. Keep it up and they'll take your equipment and give out fines in the tens of thousands of dollars. Keep it up and it's possible to go to jail though I'm only aware of it happening to one person in the 80s.