Race radios - Rugged, PCI, etc

[77charger]

If i were to buy a complete set up id go pci.I keep a baofeng in my buggy if needed takes 5 seconds to program a channel in it manually only cost 26 bucks.Same radio rugged sells marked up since they put the channels in it for you.

 

[77charger]

The best set up is a cross banding / dual band mounted to your vehicle... Your 5 watt handhelds talk to your vehicle radio and your vehicle radio cross bands that up to the vehicle mounted antenna at 50-60 watts or so.

Radio watts really isn't as important as antenna tuning, placement and line of sight. I have hit a repeaters 50-60 nautical miles away with a 5 watt baofeng on a 30 foot antenna.

The people with "race radios" are normally working in about a 100 yard distance on 75 watts overblasting each other and can't figure out why their radios don't work.

Using a "race radio" outside of a sanctioned event is just as illegal as using a modified amateur VHF on the commercial spectrum, so you are technically in violation of FCC rules either way.

I prefer my Yaesus over my Kenwoods or my Alincos....

My uncles use to be into ham radios in the late 80s early 90s.they used handheld yaesus and kenwoods too but they use to talke from oc to san gabriel valley to santa clarita using repeaters.They also used handhelds in car but external antennas they had no problem talking miles away with only 5 watts,My uncle told me antenna set up is more important than just a higher wattage with crap antenna

 

[Riverbound]

I have handheld baofengs which work great. Installed a full rugged setup on my prerunner. The only real difference I see between pci and rugged is pci has better sound quality. I do like that rigged you can tune the stations. But have heard that has changed with the new radios.

 

[SHOCKtheMONKEY]

Anybody have an alternative to buying cables from RR or PCI?
I have a wired helmet and a hand held radio and want to use them on my motorcycle.
$180. for the two cables. One hooks to the helmet, one push to talk.
At this point I'm over it, hand signals are way cheaper...

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Anybody have an alternative to buying cables from RR or PCI?
I have a wired helmet and a hand held radio and want to use them on my motorcycle.
$180. for the two cables. One hooks to the helmet, one push to talk.
At this point I'm over it, hand signals are way cheaper...

Yea those cables specifically are stupidly overpriced. Buy them on the Black Friday sale.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Anybody have an alternative to buying cables from RR or PCI?
I have a wired helmet and a hand held radio and want to use them on my motorcycle.
$180. for the two cables. One hooks to the helmet, one push to talk.
At this point I'm over it, hand signals are way cheaper...

These 2 cables should work for you provided you have a Nexus plug on your helmet. $135 retail... will be even cheaper in 3 weeks.

https://www.ruggedradios.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1083_1312&products_id=835


https://www.ruggedradios.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1083_1313&products_id=1385

 

[2Driver]

Digital coded squelch can be your friend...

are you talking about setting a tone to 88.5 Hz or tune the ctcss to 88.5 for each channel.

 

[Floatin']

Yaesu FT 2900r here. If you are not a HAM then your radio will not be able to transmit it will only receive. You need to modify it to transmit on the Race Channels. https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-015771 Here is the newest model 2980. Great radios

 

[mesquito_creek]

are you talking about setting a tone to 88.5 Hz or tune the ctcss to 88.5 for each channel.

That is one of the 50 PL/CTCSS tones available.

Remember when you bought your first pack of the yellow motorola talkabout FRS radio in a two pack from Costco... And there was the main channel plus the little number in the lower corner that made you think like there was even more channel combinations? That little number in the lower corner was nothing more than a version of DCS/CTCSS/PL...

 

[Riverbound]

I have handheld baofengs which work great. Installed a full rugged setup on my prerunner. The only real difference I see between pci and rugged is pci has better sound quality. I do like that rigged you can tune the stations. But have heard that has changed with the new radios.

 

[mesquito_creek]

Personally I hope everyone stays on the Rugged/PCI radio train... I can't imagine all those donkeys crowding out the what spectrum is available outside of the narrow commercial band afforded to the "race radio".

But if you do the homework, you can outperform it for a fraction of the price. I run an alinco dual band in cross band as my base station at base camp at my house. All the handheld talk to the base in UHF and the base broadcasts in VHF to the mobile units. Yaesu 2900 are in my prerunnners/toys etc....

I run dual band Yaesu 8800 in my regular trucks/tow unit etc.. allows me to monitor something like the weatherman and participate in my talk group on the other band. I also use it as a mobile cross band repeater when needed.

I have a handheld alinco dual band that cross bands also... its nice at Powell in a canyon to hike up and set up a cross bander for the house boat to the play boats...

... and I have spent way to much time on building my own antennas, tuning antennas, dropping baofengs into the river... Burning up radios over powering and over TX to melt down etc...

 

[Riverbound]

Personally I hope everyone stays on the Rugged/PCI radio train... I can't imagine all those donkeys crowding out the what spectrum is available outside of the narrow commercial band afforded to the "race radio".

But if you do the homework, you can outperform it for a fraction of the price. I run an alinco dual band in cross band as my base station at base camp at my house. All the handheld talk to the base in UHF and the base broadcasts in VHF to the mobile units. Yaesu 2900 are in my prerunnners/toys etc....

I run dual band Yaesu 8800 in my regular trucks/tow unit etc.. allows me to monitor something like the weatherman and participate in my talk group on the other band. I also use it as a mobile cross band repeater when needed.

I have a handheld alinco dual band that cross bands also... its nice at Powell in a canyon to hike up and set up a cross bander for the house boat to the play boats...

... and I have spent way to much time on building my own antennas, tuning antennas, dropping baofengs into the river... Burning up radios over powering and over TX to melt down etc...

English please.

 

[mesquito_creek]

Here is another illegal tip... Marine radio are nothing more that VHF radios limited to 25 watts TX....

 

[Taboma]

Great thread guys !!
A lot of Antenna talk, but I'm really curious either how period, or how well, these fractional wave ground plane antennas are working on an SXS with non-metallic roofs ?
Are you bonding to the chassis and using it (Roll cage etc) as the ground reference ?

 

[mesquito_creek]

English please.

"Crossbanding"... UHF (450 mhz) to VHF (150 mhz) ....

Race radios all live in VHF, so a cross band radio is simultaneously always repeating what is received on one band by transmitting to the other band.

You take your cheap baofengs and run them on the UHF side. As longs as all your baofengs are withing reach (basecamp to basecamp) they hear/talk on the UHF channel. Anything not in direct contact gets re-broadcast VHF under high power (toys away from camp "Raceradios").

Which by they way is how good those baofengs are. They are dual band radio without any ability to cross band.

IF all you are ever doing is talking mobile to mobile... then nevermind....

 

[2Driver]

English please.

I've been having a retired electrical engineer, former Aerospace Honeyweller help me get started. There is enough stuff in his basement to build a space shuttle.

LOL radio 101 is an upper level course. Here is me at his house working through the programming

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

English please.

He hopes the idiots keep using the race radios for dummies on their 100 or so channels and not screwing up the rest of the spectrum talking about what is for lunch or letting their drunk wives babble all day to each other.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Great thread guys !!
A lot of Antenna talk, but I'm really curious either how period, or how well, these fractional wave ground plane antennas are working on an SXS with non-metallic roofs ?
Are you bonding to the chassis and using it (Roll cage etc) as the ground reference ?

The SXS stuff generally comes with NGP (no ground plane) antennas, but of course all recommend putting it on a metallic roof or panel if possible. There are many roll cage antenna mount options as well.

 

[DLC]

Here is my set up in the jeep, face plate ram mounted off cross bar, radio base is under passenger Frt seat.

 

[mesquito_creek]

Here is mine with a rough diagram showing how I tie all the mobiles together....

 

[Bigbore500r]

Some great info in here, thank you!