UHF Radios

[Wilson]

Highland Tactical needs new/better radios. Last season we purchased a whack of Puxing UHF's but they're really starting to show their clone quality. We need capable, durable, RELIABLE comms - preferably UHF so we can utilize the FRS/GMRS frequencies that all games are caving to (I understand that not everyone wants to spend $$$ on a VHF radio solution).

We aren't interested in Talkabouts or "cheap" solutions as reliability has come to be our greatest need. Ideally the solution won't break the bank or have us pulling shifts watching EBay for some rare, unsupported, radios. We'd like something that we can buy right now and not have to scour the internet or 3rd world markets looking to find.

We're considering contacting Kenwood or Motorola for an enterprise solution if we can't find something used. We're sick of comms failing! No more Chinese clones!

ASC, suggestions would be immensely appreciated! Preferably only suggestions with a "buy it now" page or a store page linked in the post (like I said, no hunting).

[Kimbo]

Here are some motorolla workhorses. I bought 5 plus a charging unit off of ebay for $225USD.

Here are some current listings for example.

http://cgi.ebay.com/MOTOROLA-MT1000-...d=p3286.c0.m14

http://cgi.ebay.com/6-Motorola-MT100...d=p3286.c0.m14

You can buy a programming cable for them for $30 or take them to a radio shop and get them to program in your channels.

[liukinhei]

just wondering what problems does the puxing radio show ?

[Conscript]

Puxings have no problems, transmission or recieving, for the price and the included features, they aren't bad.

Though if you can get a Motorola UHF radio for the same price, go with the Motorola.

[Wilson]

Our Puxings have headset seating problems, charging issues, random transmission problems, random receiving problems, and have proven to be generally unreliable - especially when we need them the most.

Thanks for the link, Kimbo. We're also looking for a mobile solution as well (vehicle mounted).

I really wish we weren't limited by practicality and the GMRS/FRS frequencies that airsofters typically use. There are some fantastic comm systems out there on other bands.

[seekah]

Go find a dealer who carries Icom. You wont be disapointed with your purchase.

[Death March]

I think all Icom,Yaesu& Kenwood stuff you kinda need your HAM ticket for? And not to metion the price $$$$. But you do get what you pay for

[Wilson]

Originally Posted by Death March

I think all Icom,Yaesu& Kenwood stuff you kinda need your HAM ticket for? And not to metion the price $$$$. But you do get what you pay for

You do not need an amateur radio license to purchase radios. Certain places, such as Radio World, might chose to limit the sale of certain items (usually their pre-programmed scanners) to those with their HAM ticket. You do, however, need a license if you wish to transmit on any frequencies outside of the Citizen's Band (CB), Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS), Family Radio Service (FRS), and General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS). If you own a business and operate within a specific area, you can apply to have a specific VHF channel allocated to you (with limitations) which allows your employees to freely transmit on that frequency without individual licenses.

This is a hobby. Hobbies cost money. It's cheap people and their frugal attitudes (damn their prudence to hell! lol) that are ruining this sport. The cost of an item comes secondary to its quality and reliability in the field.

[FlyGuy]

Originally Posted by Wilson

...You do, however, need a license if you wish to transmit on any frequencies outside of the Citizen's Band (CB), Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS), Family Radio Service (FRS), and General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS).

All of the above is correct with one exception. The 5 VHF frequencies set aside by the FCC for MURS ops are not similarly allocated in Canada and thus are not available license-exempt to users north of the 49th.

Additionally, Section 4 of the Radiocommunication Act states in part,

4. (1) No person shall, except under and in
accordance with a radio authorization, install,
operate or possess radio apparatus, other than

(a) radio apparatus exempted by or under
regulations made under paragraph 6(1)(m);
or
(b) radio apparatus that is capable only of
the reception of broadcasting and that is not
a distribution undertaking.

(2) No person shall manufacture, import,
distribute, lease, offer for sale or sell any radio
apparatus, interference-causing equipment or
radio-sensitive equipment for which a technical
acceptance certificate is required under this
Act, otherwise than in accordance with such a
certificate.

(3) No person shall manufacture, import,
distribute, lease, offer for sale or sell any radio
apparatus, interference-causing equipment or
radio-sensitive equipment for which technical
standards have been established under paragraph
6(1)(a), unless the apparatus or equipment
complies with those standards.
R.S., 1985, c. R-2, s. 4; 1989, c. 17, s. 4; 1991, c. 11, s. 82.

In a nutshell what this means is:

ALL radios, except for HAM-only ones, must be certified against a Radio Standards Specification or have a Technical Acceptance Certificate before they can be manufactured (except for export-only), imported, sold or leased by or to anyone in Canada. Since none of these Kenwood knock-off radios like Linton, Puxing, etc. from China possess either a RSS or TA certificate, plus the fact they are not strictly speaking "amateur radio equipment", that makes them illegal to possess in Canada as per Section 4 -- no radio authorization & no certification.

Operation of any radio is subject to individual licensing unless exempted by regulation, and in order to acquire a license, the radio apparatus must be certified or have a TA (except for ham gear). For certain license-exempt services like FRS, GMRS, GRS (CB), no individual license is required provided the operator uses equipment certified to operate as license-exempt within those bands...in this case certified against RSS-210. That means, even if you were to take a commercial-grade Motorola GP300 radio for example, which is in fact RSS-119 certified, and program it for operation on the FRS/GMRS bands, you'd still be illegal. The reason being is that the radio does not nor was ever intended to meet license-exempt criteria under RSS-210, and even though it has met a Canadian certification standard (RSS-119) thus satisfying S.4.(3), because no license would ever be issued to operate within FRS/GMRS with non-RSS-210 gear, you would not receive a S.4.(1) "radio authorization" thus you're operation becomes contrary to the Act.

Practically speaking however, the odds of you being caught using a non-certified radio in the FRS/GMRS frequency bands and read the Riot Act are pretty slim unless you're causing harmful interference to other services outside FRS/GMRS (radio technical malfunction - spurious radiation) and someone complains to IC. However, if you decide to use one of these un-certified radios, but also decide to use it on some "clear" frequency of your own picking (bad idea), you run the very real risk of causing interference which results in a complaint call and a not very pleased Inspector from the local IC office banging on your door sooner or later.

The very best way to avoid this type of unpleasantness is to either:

1. get your ham ticket and use ham gear on ham frequencies only
2. stick with certified, license-exempt, "blister-pack" FRS/GMRS radios like most people do
3. purchase RSS-119 certified, commercial-grade radios and submit a license application to your local IC office for a land-mobile frequency assignment and pay the yearly license fee for each radio

Ready...FIRE...Aim!

'Fly

[Death March]

Yeh I'v had I.C. pay me a visit lol. People nextdoor said my TS-140 or my TS-570D were comming accross the TV.......well they looked at my set-up,it was all good but they were using Rabbit ears on the TV (open air). Hmmmm guess what I.C. told them lol. Any hoot,some of these rules have changed some what from when I looked into that stuff. But I.C. does have better things to do than hunt down guys using these rig's. Unless your blowing out hospital eqip.

[FlyGuy]

Originally Posted by Death March

... But I.C. does have better things to do than hunt down guys using these rig's. Unless your blowing out hospital eqip.

True, BUT...if enough complaints arise regardless of who's affected by the interference, they will investigate and more so if it's a priority service like Police/Fire/Ambulance that are being affected. FYI, these types of problems are often used for staff training so don't think it can't happen. I say again...it's a bad idea listening to the radio spectrum and then choosing what appears to be a "quiet" frequency upon which to program/operate your radio. You never know who's listening...

My advice at the closing of my previous msg. still stands: become certified and go ham radio, or stay legal with approved FRS/GMRS radios, or if you want relative privacy and better choice of radios, get licensed but you will pay more for that choice both in hardware and in license fees.


Be careful out there,
'Fly

[EagleDriver]

Wilson,

We have had our Puxings for a while now (some for several years) and our only problems have been with a lapel mic which stopped working (not really a radio problem,) and also antennas getting abused. It is interesting to note the issues you have seen. I am curious to know if you were you using them in extreme temperatures or in very wet weather? I like the Puxing radios, but knowing their limitations can help me make ours last longer.

[Scalpel]

I use puxings also, and the only issues I have ever run into is the poor connection between the headset and the radio, similar to what Wilson described. I trimmed the bit of plastic around the connector on the radio and haven't had an issue since. Before trimming I had to tape the headset jack so it stayed tight. I also now use a small radio pouch which keeps the jack tight as well. Not sure if the tight pouch helps, but I haven't had connection issues for quite some time now.