Two way radios

mx100 said:

Thanks for the offer to help set it up, unfortunately I am in Montana. I do have tons of questions though, What kind of range can I expect in mountains with thick trees? What kind of battery life? What's the difference between the UV-5R and the UV-5RE? What kind and where did you get your waterproof mic, and excuse the ignorance, but does the mic serve as a speaker as well? I think the best price is on Amazon, and I would like to get 5 or 6 for my riding group. Do they have a lock so they don't get accidentally bumped into a different mode in the back pack while riding?

Sorry for the questions, just cant find a review that gives me these answers.

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In mtns and trees you should average a couple of miles. Battery will be more than adequate for a long day of riding. No difference what so ever, just looks. Yes it is a speaker/mic. You probably will hear it but not understand what is being said when you are wot'n around. It is a stop to talk operation. Baofengtech seems to have the best quality speaker mics. Yes there is a front panel lock, use it. I recommend that you buy the 5 watt version. The 8 watt will not make a noticable difference. :face-icon-small-coo

Get the ftdi programming cable. Miklor.com is the place to find answers about the cheap chinese radios. No sales just info.

There are many variants on the UV5R radio and the differences mostly are case color and display colors. Lots of marketing hype used by vendors in an attempt to distinguish their product from competitors.

The range on high power and even low power using a Nagoya antenna with a Baofeng radio will far exceed a BCA or other dedicated FRS/GMRS portable radio.

I prefer the UV82 for sled use because it has a larger battery capacity. The UV5R is smaller in size but has a smaller battery. You can get an expanded capacity battery pack for the UV5r radios but that makes them slightly larger in overall size than a UV82 radio.

You really can't go wrong with a Baofeng. Programming is a little tedious but not impossible to figure out and even easier if someone can send you the the files containing programmed frequencies.

Helmet mounted speaker and microphone allows near perfect communication while riding at WOT unless you have an excessively loud pipe.