Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: how to set a handheld radio to a specific frequency of 420 mhz

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Metrocruiser's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    384

    how to set a handheld radio to a specific frequency of 420 mhz

    Hello all,

    I hope everyone is doing well, I have not been around for some time due to home repairs and upgrades one after the other.

    I am planning to aquire a 400 mhz microphone, so I will need a receiver that I know nothing about. I am looking on amazon and ebay for a cheap handheld walkie talkie type. Does anyone know if these 2 pieces of equipment will play nice together? In regards to setting the frequency on the radio to recieve the tranmission?

    As well, in Canada, is it legal for me to use these items?

    Walkie talkie
    https://www.amazon.com/Charging-Earp...70_&dpSrc=srch

    Wireless mic
    https://www.ebay.com/itm/Smallest-in....c100752.m1982

    Thanks for any help you can offer!
    The future belongs to those who prepare for it.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson

    The only time one should “fight fair” is when one is engaged in play.

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    chesapeake bay, virginia
    Posts
    225
    For my monies I like the Baofeng UV 5 R series of radios and they have been improved over the years from what they started out.

    Here this link...from Amazon...

    https://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-Upgra...rds=uv5r+radio


    The advantage of these radios over the one in your link is that these radios offer a wider set of frequencies on which you can operate and more power output on 420 to the 470 MHZ spread. Here in these machines 1 watt output on those frequencies verses half a watt on the walkie talkies of which you have linked.

    I am not sure if the Israeli button microphone will work on these units or not...


    This set up for which I linked also comes with the extended battery...a good feature to have.

    I have purchased extended batteries for my Baofeng walkie talkies as there is nothing worse than running out of battery power and not having a spare battery. If you operate much out in the field..you will become well familiar with this scenario....running out of battery power and make suitable adjustments.


    Programming with these units can be tricky but there is a computer programming cable which comes with them....or you can purchase it.

    However I have taught myself to manually program them as I never want to be dependent on finding a computer to do it for me. I prefer to program manually wherever and whenever necessary. I believe very much in learning to manually override...not just in radios but other applications as well.
    It is in what you are willing to teach yourself.

    This unit gives you the flexibility of choosing your frequency on which you and your group will be operating and also more power output...

    I have about 8 of these walkie talkies around here and have manually programmed them all.

    I have also built my own base station antennas to work on both VHF and UHF frequencies....which I can hook up to the antenna connector on the walkie talkie with an adapter. I can also hook my walkie talkie to a magnetic mount antenna on the top of my car and also my truck.

    This offers further flexibility if you know how to use it.


    I am not for certain if this can be done with the walkie talkies you have sourced in your link.


    By the way....you need to be careful where and how you operate and if not licensed stay out of the ham portion of the bands

    Usually the GMRS/FRS frequencies are fine...and don't make a nuisance of yourself or your group and you will be fine....also certain of the MURS frequencies.
    Many locals here use the MURS frequencies because they do not particularly care for the CB radio frequencies.


    Oh..and if you are in Canada...a different set of rules as well as frequencies may apply. You need to check up on this before purchasing...and or using.


    MURS frequencies around here....

    151.820 MHZ
    151.880 MHZ
    151.940 MHZ
    154.570 MHZ
    154.600 MHZ

    I have used these frequencies on occasion to keep up with friends I know locally...both on a base station and on my Baofeng Walkie talkies...sometimes hooked up to my car antenna.


    Once I learned to manually program these Baofeng radios....I liked them because they are inexpensive and I can lose or damage one or more of them and not be out a lot of money.

    I keep one of these radios in my daily BOB ...to and fro work with me...along with a short wave receiver...and an MP3 Player...Spare batteries too.

    I also keep a Baofeng Walkie talkie in all my vehicles ..along with spare batteries and the cigarette lighter power adapter...for the same.


    Are you a licensed ham????
    And no ...you do not need to be a licensed ham to purchase these radios.


    Hope this helps,

    Orangetom

  3. #3
    Bacon saver

    Brownwater Riverrat 13's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    TN
    Posts
    2,490
    Hey, great post. Cool bug....giving me ideas. If I might chime in here, concur on the Baofengs. Also on the "learn how to manually program" your radios. I am one of those that refuses to "computer program" a radio. You can't take the laptop to the field.......however some can't live without it. Another radio I would recommend is the "Quansheng" Ive been running two TG-UV2's for the last 7 years and have had no issues. The benefits of the Baofeng UV-5s and the Quanshengs, is that you can transmit "outside" the Ham Bands. Giving you more frequency flexibility, they give you the ability to operate over the whole 2M (136-174) or 70cm (400-470) band. Your name brand radios are FCC compliant and only transmit on the Ham Bands....144-148 and 420-450.

    I have "programmed" both of these brands of handhelds and found that it's not rocket science. They are user friendly. Now as for your "application" goes, I would be seriously interested as to how this turns out.

    Just my roll-a-quarters.
    Be safe.............the night is your friend.

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    chesapeake bay, virginia
    Posts
    225
    Wow!! Thanks Brownwter Riverrat 13.... for the intro to the Quansheng series of radios. Up to your post, I'd not heard of this brand. I shall have to relay this to my co worker as he too is interested in different brands of radios.


    Agree to the benefits of these radios as long as one knows exactly where one is in the frequency spectrum and now the frequencies run.

    One more thing to know ...and that is in an Emergency ..all those frequency restrictions do not apply ...you can transmit/receive on any frequency while handling emergency traffic.
    I am not sure if many of the members understand this distinction.


    I use mine often to talk locally on the Ham bands which is for what I often use it..but also keep them charged and particularly when I know bad weather is coming.

    I also have the ability to hook it up to various external antennas...as so stated.


    One more thing....at work when we are not busy.....I keep my cell phone closes in case needed...and go to the roof of our building some 85 feet up in the air and transmit from there on the ham bands...either simplex..radio to radio....or duplex...using a repeater between me and the station to whom I am speaking. The signal is sent out twice...hence duplex.

    Most walkie talkie factory antennas are marginal at best....though they do make more efficient replacement antennas...there is nothing quite as good as altitude and a good antenna match for getting out...as well as receiving.


    I am not beyond going to a tall parking garage and getting to the roof level to assist in getting out from my mobile radio set ups.

    Another trick is that water...a pond...or river between you and to whom you want to reach...helps. Water gets a signal out for a long distance with lower losses than straight overland. Just something I learned back when I was on the CB frequencies.

    If you can get to the top of a parking garage ...on the water...between you and to whom you want to reach ..even better.

    Just some additional information....no cover charge.

    Hope this helps.

    Orangetom

  5. #5
    Bacon saver

    Brownwater Riverrat 13's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    TN
    Posts
    2,490
    OK so you're in the Chesapeake and your buddy's in TN. How's that working for ya? What bands have given you the best results? I run a Yaesu ft-857 with an inverted V.....G5RV Lite. So I can reach out there a bit.
    Be safe.............the night is your friend.

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    chesapeake bay, virginia
    Posts
    225
    Quote Originally Posted by Brownwater Riverrat 13 View Post
    OK so you're in the Chesapeake and your buddy's in TN. How's that working for ya? What bands have given you the best results? I run a Yaesu ft-857 with an inverted V.....G5RV Lite. So I can reach out there a bit.

    Ahhh ok...thanks for the clarification Brownwater Riverrat 13. I was not exactly sure as to what you meant by "Application" but I got it now.

    That particular application has worked out fine most of the nights we have used it. We often meet on 3947 kHz on the Virginia PHone net...and when the net gets done we QSY to the lower end of the 75 meter band...somewhere around 3610 to 3650KHZ..LSB. A lot of nights we just run what is in our radios...less than 100 watts ..but under difficult conditions I run my Yaesu FT 890 hooked up to my Ameritron 811H..amp...about 250 watts usually makes do. On his end...my friend works about 350 to 400 watts. We are not looking to light up the whole neighborhood....so to speak.

    In my truck I run the Yaseu FT 100 d....and hope to make the contact with him on 75 meters..but think I will have to go down by the river and put some water between him and myself...to make it.

    The 500 Foot wire loop antenna I run here at the house seems to be very efficient for what it is...but it is up some 60 to 85 feet up in the tops of my trees....having been threaded up there with a fishing pole. Now some sections of it have come loose with all this high winds we have had the last couple of days and I will be restringing it...and replacing some of the damaged pulleys in the system. NO problem as I an getting much better at it with practice over the years.

    Oh..my friend convinced me to use ladder line on my wire loop...instead of coaxial cable and to date it has worked out fine.

    I have several G5RV antennas I keep for spares and emergency antennas and have used one up in the mountains at a cabin we rented. It worked out find to contact my friend out in Tennessee for the week we were there.
    The G5RV is a good antenna for the monies and covers a lot of frequency band for as simple as it is. I like them...there is a lot to say for the olde "Keep it Simple."

    Not a big priority at the moment but I am considering updating my smaller set ups to a FT 857 in the future. A lot of frequency coverage in that little radio for the size it is.
    I thought when I got my FT 100 d that it was small....I was stunned to find that Yaesu made that rig smaller in the FT 857.
    Just when you thought they could not make them smaller...the did just that!!

    As for best results....we have worked 160 meters in the evenings and made the trip but like 75 meters best. We have also made the trip in the daytime ...on 40 meters but prefer nights at 75 meters.

    Oh...ok...I just noticed that you are also in Tennessee...

    My friend is near Johnson City, Tennessee.

    Hope this helps you understand better our conditions when we get on the air waves.

    Thanks, and 73,

    Orangetom
    Last edited by orangetom1999; 03-05-2018 at 03:28 AM.

  7. #7
    may be in trouble


    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Mid-South TN
    Posts
    708
    Smaller still in the shape of the FT-817, but lower wattage. I WILL have a -857 for a base if the Fates obey me, and will finally get around to mounting the -817 in the Town & Country, on the passenger back seat, alongside my little Leixen VV-898.

    Given a decent truck in the future, I am STILL wanting to get the Cumberland Basin Ants on something like a semi-regular sked in the 40/75/80/160 HF areas.

    Kesephist, looking to finally sluff off MI teal for Signals orange.

  8. #8
    may be in trouble


    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Mid-South TN
    Posts
    708
    Quote Originally Posted by Brownwater Riverrat 13 View Post
    Hey, great post. Cool bug....giving me ideas. If I might chime in here, concur on the Baofengs. Also on the "learn how to manually program" your radios. I am one of those that refuses to "computer program" a radio. You can't take the laptop to the field.......however some can't live without it. Another radio I would recommend is the "Quansheng" Ive been running two TG-UV2's for the last 7 years and have had no issues. The benefits of the Baofeng UV-5s and the Quanshengs, is that you can transmit "outside" the Ham Bands. Giving you more frequency flexibility, they give you the ability to operate over the whole 2M (136-174) or 70cm (400-470) band. Your name brand radios are FCC compliant and only transmit on the Ham Bands....144-148 and 420-450.

    I have "programmed" both of these brands of handhelds and found that it's not rocket science. They are user friendly. Now as for your "application" goes, I would be seriously interested as to how this turns out.

    Just my roll-a-quarters.
    Chief,

    There is apparently also a Quansheng TG-UV2 PLUS that has xmt-rcv in the 350-390 MHz band. 75-80 CM wavelength, if my math hasnt rusted over. Gonna look around see if that is marine or atc ... but are your just the stock UV2's or are they the PLUS variant?

    K

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •