CB, 2-way, walkie talkie, etc. questions

[Industrial Toys]

Like Hydro (electric utility) outage maps that eventually shows your outage and then "pending investigation" sometimes for days, then the power just comes back on, with no information ever having been provided.

I have ZERO use for that kind of technology. Hop in the truck and find a lineman to talk to.

 

[5030]

We use FM transceivers (Motorola) here. I can converse with my wife and be 10 miles away no issue. Not cheap however.

 

[Industrial Toys]

That's what I have in all my equipment. But no, not expensive, they are dirt cheap on the used market and E-Bay. Even high Tier Radios for police and Fire that cost thousands of dollars a piece can be had for peanuts! You can buy a low end (but still high quality) Motorola VHF or UHF radio like a Maxtrac or Radius for $25.00! In like new condition. Someone needs to program them or you need to get the RSS software, RIB box, appropriate cable and an old XP computer to run the software.

 

[Skagit]

Look at Sonim phones, they offer a push to talk feature like Nextel used to have.

 

[Grumpycat]

I don’t quite understand how cellphones do not meet the need? Bluetooth headsets. Possibly the fields in question do not have coverage? If so then you are likely to have the same trouble with 2-way radios.

Amateur radio mobile radios are commonly available with 50W transmit power. Amateur radio is not legal for your business. You can not use amateur radio transmitters on business bands.

Be informed radio transmit power is cheap and easy in the box store GMRS/FRS radios. Quality receivers are expensive. Generally the receiver is the limit to range.

If 2-way is still the solution then you need a commercial 2-way radio shop such as used by fire and police to walk you through the regulations and licensing. Likely require a central repeater for your frequency allocation to cover your fields. Expect a monthly fee for maintenance and about $2000 per radio.

 

[Skagit]

I don’t quite understand how cellphones do not meet the need? Bluetooth headsets. Possibly the fields in question do not have coverage? If so then you are likely to have the same trouble with 2-way radios.

Amateur radio mobile radios are commonly available with 50W transmit power. Amateur radio is not legal for your business. You can not use amateur radio transmitters on business bands.

Be informed radio transmit power is cheap and easy in the box store GMRS/FRS radios. Quality receivers are expensive. Generally the receiver is the limit to range.

If 2-way is still the solution then you need a commercial 2-way radio shop such as used by fire and police to walk you through the regulations and licensing. Likely require a central repeater for your frequency allocation to cover your fields. Expect a monthly fee for maintenance and about $2000 per radio.

Cell phone takes too long and distracts you too much for field work. You need to be able to key the mike to talk and then go right back to focusing on what you're doing.

We bought Motorola 2 way radios at my last job but the range wasn't really any better than a CB, we had trouble talking any further than about 2 miles out. Hilly terrain blocks the signal with either though.

It's too bad Nextel went away, their PTT feature was awesome for this.

 

[Hay Dude]

Cell phone takes too long and distracts you too much for field work. You need to be able to key the mike to talk and then go right back to focusing on what you're doing.

We bought Motorola 2 way radios at my last job but the range wasn't really any better than a CB, we had trouble talking any further than about 2 miles out. Hilly terrain blocks the signal with either though.

It's too bad Nextel went away, their PTT feature was awesome for this.

Sell those Motorolas to me? I can accept 2 mile range.

 

[MossRoad]

If you have cell phone reception in your fields, skip buying another device, and use an APP like ZELLO or similar. It's a push-to-talk walkie-talkie equivalent. Single conversations. Multiple person conversations. People are ditching their two-way radios for it.

Look into it.

 

[man00]

You have to know what you want. A friend worked for Motorola, and I set him up with a difficult friend and neighbor who has a Golf course. Guy says he JUST wants to talk from his house to the club house. So we get him a base at the house and a portable. Next thing he complains. Wife drove off to town and he lost her! We yanked the stuff out and that was the end of that.

I can't believe the range markings on those consumer walkie talkie sets. They should be sued for false advertisement.

I had CB portables, FRS, GMRS and for the most part about 1/4 mile or less was about avg I got

 

[workinonit]

Buy you some cheap walkies or get CBs. If the range runs out call each other on the phone. I have a set of walkies that we take snow skiing every year. I'm always amazed at the range. When I deer hunted with dogs we used CBs for comms with single side band and 250 to 500 watt linear amps. We could communicate for miles.