I would like to second this motion

A nice faq would be fantastic

The problem is, there's so much and so many different areas

YouTube is a treasure trove of information

Start with the US frequency allocation, then how antennas work.

So i was at virginia with a few "guys" mainly a Lightfoot detachment. Our cheep chinese radios, baefungs wouldn't even communicate more than 10 feet in the area.. thoughts on why? We are no rookies to radios. I figured wattage was an issue, too much interference

We have no issues out inna woods lol

I want to get my ass into Ham more, I want to set up a base at home. I have a home based FFL, so figured why not have a radio too.. lol

Wrong offset? We’re you on the same channel or the right frequency for your environment?

Yup, we were, just didn't make much sense to us, alot of GMRS traffic... we bumped ourselves into 155mhz if I remember correctly

We should get a few with good comms knowledge and have them put together an faq, I would try and do it myself but I don't know nearly enough about this kind of thing.

If anyone would like to make a submission for a pinned message they are encouraged to share them here.

Whenever I think I have a grasp of it I learn that I don't know shit lol.

@BigRed1 - one problem with low power radios in urban environments is the floor noise, which you referred to as interference. There are stronger signals around you and if you don't have a front end filter on your receiver to block that noise out, your radio will get overwhelmed by it. Think of the filter like a dam....you want to control the flow on the frequency you wish to monitor and without it the river around you floods your radio..

@Reno - Start a room where people post their questions and we can develop the FAQ from that? I'll be glad to contribute. I'm a technician in the P25 Public Safety sector so I can provide insight into what makes a Trunked communication system work.

@[VA] JediComms Great idea, trial channel <#706181190528270526> added. Glad to have you on board.

Anyone have a good step by step how to program channels on a Baofeng UV-5r

@BugsyBaldwin a programming cable and chirp is way easier.

@BugsyBaldwin https://www.buytwowayradios.com/blog/2016/08/how_to_manually_program_the_baofeng_uv-5r_from_the_keypad.html

Any recommendations on an ear piece for a 2 way radio

I'm new to this whole thing, but I'm getting a UV-5R gen 3, but don't know wtf I'm doing lol

It'll come with one that's good unless you wanna move up to military style comms.

"That's good"
I threw that thing in the trash right after I tried it out for the first time

Okay, use whatever, but they work fine.

I use peltors 🤷‍♂️

There’s some pretty highly rated ones on Amazon for cheap. Acoustic tube is what it’s called

I'm thinking about the BF-F8HP
Is there any resources yall would recommend for anyone new to radios? Never actually dealt with them before and don't wanna just have nice paperweight

f8hp is solid. I bought one for cheap and it turned out to be a uv5r with a f8hp sticker. still a nice radio with an upgraded antenna such as nagoya na-771.

Yeah looks solid, I'm sure I can figure out how to use it, just new to all this crop
Heard you need a license to transmit or some shit? Is the mere possession of it illegal lol? Luckily I'm very clumsily and forgetful so I lose shit all the time

Need to read up on how to use the thing properly, haven't ordered it, yet wanted feedback before I threw cash at it

From my understanding, without a license you can only transmit on FRS and MURS on low power (1/2 watt)

For sure, just wanted to know where the line is

Here are some useful frequencies for your baofeng

MURS for transmit and receive on low power (VHF)
151.820
151.880
151.940
154.570
154.600

FRS for transmit and receive on low power (UHF)
462.562
462.587
462.612
462.637
462.662
462.687
462.712

NOAA Weather (receive only)
162.425
162.450
162.475
162.500
162.525
162.550

In the US, none of these frequencies require a license to my knowledge if you use low power.

The BF-8HP is a 8w UV-5R

Newer firmware is all.

Also, nobody cares about power or licensing on FRS or GMRS

GMRS *technically* requires a license, FRS does not.

Ive been dicking with murs recently and hamdheld to handheld it works good in the neighborhood inside and out of vehichles

VHF is good for open areas, UHF better for buildings and populated areas.

FRS has 22 frequencies that are shared with GMRS. Even if you high power a BF at 8 watts, which is above the legal limit, nobody is going to challenge you on the air because your range is less than two miles. There is no way to accurately measure power out in the wild. Behave and be courteous and nobody will care.

Now, GMRS has an additional 8 frequencies which doesn't mix with FRS. These are meant for repeater us.

GMRS is licensed but there isn't a test. Just submit a GMRS application with $70 to the FCC and you're licensed for 10 years.

I suggest everyone use https://signal.org as their texting app on your cellphone for end to end encryption with others also using it.