BCA radios not functioning properly in Cold?

Never had an issue.

Depending on what it's doing, I wonder if the mic is freezing up ? Maybe try putting a Frogskinz mic cover on.

Yes, every BCA radio in our group has stopped working when it is cold out. For us it starts with the radio going dead every time you hit the transmit button, then it comes back on, but that means you can't use it. Now, after our last ride two of us have radios that won't even take a charge. Completely dead. We have resorted to carrying the cheap little AAA battery powered radios to use when our $200 dollar radio quits working after 20 min.
On a positive note, i reached out to BCA after the last one completely died, and the claim they will warranty the radio, so we'll see.
Unless they have changed something in the last six months, I am not getting my hopes up.
Over-hyped and over-rated big time in my opinion.

they can definitely ice up
some times you can't really see it down in the grooves
happend a few times to me

haven't tried frog skin cover vent yet

Have had ours only a month but have worked good. No problems in the cold.

I had one buddies not work in the cold next morning at the cabin worked perfect later that day in the cold didn’t work so we did a little testing and put it in freezer so we knew it wasn’t from snow and such didn’t work. Called BCA sent it in and they sent new one!


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i can't speak to the BCA radios but the $800 motorolla's i use at work can have battery issues in very cold temps when kept outside clothing. they have become better over the years but keeping them under your outside layer prevents the transmit button from killing the battery the first time you use it.

I'm pretty familiar with radio operation limitations in severe climate conditions as a former chief of the Army's Air Crew Integrated Systems development branch-oversaw Army's combat survival evader locator radio (CSEL) along with other programs.

Lithium, like most batteries, perform poorly in cold temperatures. The military's CSEL radio for downed pilots design spec is -4 deg F to 131 deg F (at that time NICADS were more common then Lithium batteries and they are good down to -4 deg F). Cold temps affect not only affect the battery ability to provide juice but can freeze LCD displays (think GPS). Lithium batteries can theoretically be used at temps as low as -40 deg F but their current output is just a small fraction of what they can provide and needed by the radio at that temperature.

One way around this is to use a larger capacity battery pack which I don't know if an option with BCA radios*.

Its no secret I'm not a fan of BCA radios. I think they are overpriced and offer less capability then a Baofeng UV5r or UV82 radio which you can buy for less then $20. Baofeng's also have ability to mount a larger battery back or even traditional alkaline batteries.

If the cold is causing battery in the BCA radio to not supply enough power when transmitting you have to warm it up (assuming the battery is not damaged from being depleted to less than 5% charge or overcharged-try a new battery first).

The only way I can think of warming up a BCA radio is to put the radio in a sleeve and put one hothands warmer on each side of the radio to keep the radio and especially batteries warm. when you ride. https://www.amazon.com/HotHands-Hand-Warmers/dp/B00PY8N0UU

I keep my Baofeng radio in my Avalanche bag side pocket and throw in hothands warmer to extend battery life in cold weather. I also have the side pocket insulated with material cut out from an old insulated lunch bag. Doing this allows me go 2-3 days of riding on a single charge whereas no heat usually is good about 1/2 day of riding with a lot of transmitting, and listening to the Baofeng's internal FM radio, when no one is transmitting to me.

* If I owned a BCA radio,I would wire it to a larger battery that I can keep under my sled jacket so it would be closer to body temperature I wouldn't be hard to split the BCA battery pack and solder battery leads to it to accomplish this. However, I would probably split the BCA radio and find a spot to install a small phone jack plug for an external battery pack.

Always carry a spare battery pack for any safety device. It is cheap insurance.

Yep I carry the main radio in my backpack slid in a beer koozie and the hot hands between the two- do it with my cell phone also and batteries stay charged way way longer.Haven't had a problem with my BCA radios going on 2nd season..
The forg skinz cover over the mike really helps out and prevents freezing big time, and for less than $5.00 it's a winner

I'm having issues with my bca radio, after being in my pack for a while, it wont #roger beep# when i try to transmit, i have to make several attempts for it to do so, i can hear with no issues. i also carry my radio in my avy pack. bca as offered me a full replacement warranty.

Second what Sage said. Frog Skins cover was a huge cost effective upgrade. I can usually tell the difference when someone has one and someone doesn't and they are talking over the mic on a deep day.

Anyone have a link to the frogskinz cover?

Thanks,Pete

sleddin pete said:

Anyone have a link to the frogskinz cover?

Thanks,Pete

Click to expand...

http://www.frogzskin.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=34_48&products_id=208&zenid=6hgngrbp3flg7ahqgbes2867n4

For the most part, we use the Midland Radios ($70/pair) and we get about 3 years on their factory rechargeable batteries. (so new batteries necessary on a 2 year basis at $10 each) However, we all carry our radios in our inside parka pockets and use the surveillance type acoustic earpiece with a remote mic button so radio is always warmer than ambient, we rarely have issues unless powder is coming over the the windshield and have had problems occasionally with mic icing up so then I put that remote mic/button in an outer chest pocket where I can get to it when I hear one of my riding partners needing help.
gtwitch in wyoming

Johnny said:

Yes, every BCA radio in our group has stopped working when it is cold out. For us it starts with the radio going dead every time you hit the transmit button, then it comes back on, but that means you can't use it. Now, after our last ride two of us have radios that won't even take a charge. Completely dead. We have resorted to carrying the cheap little AAA battery powered radios to use when our $200 dollar radio quits working after 20 min.
On a positive note, i reached out to BCA after the last one completely died, and the claim they will warranty the radio, so we'll see.
Unless they have changed something in the last six months, I am not getting my hopes up.
Over-hyped and over-rated big time in my opinion.

Click to expand...

That's unfortunate, but BCA does take care of their customers. On a side note, I hope you guys didn't pay 200.00 per radio?!?!

So far I've had good luck with the BCA radios. I use one that is in my pack and the hand mic is on the outside. I leave it on all day. I also have a Rino that I keep off in my bag. I use it for the GPS, map and finding friends with the same radio. So I use two radios throughout the day. The BCA is much more convenient and does work well with gloves (something the Baofeng doesn't do). I have a Baofeng and it is more bulky especially with the SMA antenna affixed. Just my $.02 on what works for me.

AndrettiDog said:

So far I've had good luck with the BCA radios. I use one that is in my pack and the hand mic is on the outside. I leave it on all day. I also have a Rino that I keep off in my bag. I use it for the GPS, map and finding friends with the same radio. So I use two radios throughout the day. The BCA is much more convenient and does work well with gloves (something the Baofeng doesn't do). I have a Baofeng and it is more bulky especially with the SMA antenna affixed. Just my $.02 on what works for me.

Click to expand...

Have you tried the baofeng wired hand mic?
(About the same size as the bca but has a bigger button)

5 BCA Radios in our group and mine is the only one that get's interference from my sled. As I try to drive away I get audio signal noise coming through the speaker. Like static in the form of a pulse. Drives me insane. This is the 2nd radio doing this for me.
If not for that the radios work great.