Reddit reviews BaoFeng UV-5R 65-108 MHz Dual-Band Ham Radio (Black)

Since you mentioned talking with local hams while riding a bike:

Baofeng UV-5r

External mic

This antenna mounted to a metal plate on a rear bike rack, or this antenna and you can just strap the radio to a back pack or your belt.

And you'll need a programming cable.
Use Chirp to program in all of the local repeaters as well as the 2m calling frequency and any other freqs you might want to use.

I didn't do the math, but that's well under $100 (probably around $50 in fact). You can also use the mag mount antenna on your car for mobile ops, I've been doing this for a while, and it works great, but I am finally upgrading to a real mobile with a more proper mobile whip.

My advice is to pick up a cheap radio like this where you can hear the Skywarn spotters in Collin County.

https://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-UV-5R-65-108-Dual-Band-Radio/dp/B008IYCQSO/ref=asc_df_B008IYCQSO/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312099670269&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=496248250251016657&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9026814&hvtargid=pla-524694335935&psc=1

147.18 is the frequency they use there. if you are in Dallas County the frequency is 146.88

EDIT: Keep in mind listening is legal but you need a license to broadcast on these frequencies unless a life is in danger.

I would agree, but for about $50 you can also get the UV-5R (what was shown in the video was a UV-3R, I believe)

http://www.amazon.com/BAOFENG-Professional-Transceiver-Frequency-Protable/dp/B008IYCQSO/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1344027574&sr=8-4&keywords=uv-5r

Hello,

Previous UB'er here. RAMS was the renamed Amateur Radio Club, they changed the name in 2000. The Website was last updated somewhere around 2001.

The Amateur Radio Club has a tenuous history. It was disbanded last in 2006. But has existed in a semi-permanent state since the '70's. The equipment was discarded by SA back in 2008-2009. In the fall 2012 school year, Me and a few other people went and got our Licenses and set ourselves on the track to recreating the club. Mack (K2MGG) was the head of the operation while I (KD2DYC) Drafted up a constitution and set out to be the treasurer. We contacted SA and they gave us club forums and told us to collect membership signatures. We went around and convinced some other people to join the club. By summer time, we Had a Constitution and we had a member base with active licenses. I bought an HF rig, and everyone had FM handhelds to communicate on campus. We were going to set up an FM repeater with echo link on top of Furnas Hall. The Janitorial staff had given us the green light to go up as soon as we were an official club. After checking some records, we found that the Ham Shack circa 2000 was 305 Jarvis Hall. This makes sense since it was an engineering building. However, Furnas Hall is the ideal location since that's where the antenna would be located (it's the tallest building on campus after all) The Shack was located there at one point in the club history, but getting back there now would be exceedingly difficult.

To Cut a story short, Summer of 2013 came and went, and I was academically dismissed from the school. The club more or less disbanded as Mack focused more on his studies. I donated a Fully refurbished Yaesu FT101-E HF rig for the club and a slinky Dipole antenna. The last I heard Andrew (KD2ENR) Was in possession of it. It shouldn't be hard to track him down and get it for the club if you want to start it back up.

SA doesn't own Wings, so UBIT won't let you touch the site until SA approves you as a club. However, I would suggest becoming an engineering club rather than an SA Club. It'll give you better budgeting, and there is less regulations as opposed to an SA club. Also, you don't have to deal with being inside Student Union. The RF reception in there is terrible!

EDIT: UBIT owns Wings, not SA

And it can be pretty affordable.
BaoFeng Dual-Band 136-174/400-480 MHz FM Ham Two-Way Radio (~$35USD)

These are the money we have taken

Technically, you need an FCC license to use all the features but fuck the government. Standard walkie-talkies you are on one of 22 Channels.. with mine you have a few thousand (as long as you don't go on a police channel).

Edit, and I have tested ours and they have worked for about 3 miles.

Well, how much have you looked in to amateur radio? This sounds about like what I was thinking before I started looking in to it. First off, amazon has very little to offer in the ways of ham radio, so just because the Yaesu VX-8DR is the fanciest one they have doesn't mean it is the best. It has a bunch of features, but when it comes down to it you can only transmit 5 watts on 4 bands, one of which isn't used much (1.25M), and one of which relies a ton on atmospheric conditions even with a good antenna. I have a 4 watt handheld that covers 2 meters and 440 (70cm), with an aftermarket antenna, and it only costs about $45 (UV-5R). It's a full ham type radio, but can (illegally) be set to transmit on FRS/GMRS frequencies if needed. It doesn't sound like you want to do anything fancy, so a $500 handheld is way overkill.

As far as I know, fire crews don't monitor any amateur radio band reliably, so your best bet if you can't call would be to find any other radio operator and have them call. Any handheld will usually only have a few miles of range (I've hit my local repeater from about 10 on a lucky day), so yo will need to keep track of repeaters in the area if you go that route. Repeaters are basically powerful relays that pick up your signal and, well, repeat it at a much higher power. Others call back, it gets repeated, and you can hear them that way.

HF radio would require a bit more of a setup (larger antenna, battery pack, and HF transceiver at minimum), but you can get much farther and access more populated bands. With a small 100 watt transmitter you can talk around the world, assuming you have a good antenna and favorable atmospheric conditions.

Best bet if to find a local radio club and talk to those guys. This is a very complex hobby, and you can get so much more out of it once you understand more about it. I'm still just learning, but getting your general license should be your first goal as it gives you access to a ton more HF bands than a tech license would. And you can take both exams at the same time for one price!

As others have said, do not buy from there.

If you do want that radio still after what others have said, get it here:

http://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-UV-5R-65-108-Dual-Band-Radio/dp/B008IYCQSO/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1405266991&sr=1-2&keywords=uv-5r

$27 on amazon with cables but only one battery.


BaoFeng UV-5R 65-108 MHz Dual-Band Ham Radio (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008IYCQSO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_us0yDbYABXKSJ