I have been given a half dozen used BFDX BF-71B hand-held radios with batteries and chargers. . .
Along with nine used Motorola XTN series radios XU2600, also with batteries and chargers.
I am embarrassed to say that I am not a radio guy and have no experience with these units. Has any reader used them and are they of sufficient utility to have them looked at by someone who knows what they're doing?
18 comments:
Mike those Chicom suckers ... unless you read Cantonese or Ruskie you're out of luck. Here's an English-language discussion, not of much help sadly:
http://forums.qrz.com/archive/index.php/t-49724.html
I sent you a private email on how you may make good use of these tinker-toys.
I agree. Dump them on eBay.
The Motherola units are far better supported.
Mr. Dutchman:
Looked the mod no. you gave (the first ones) up with Bing and found they were for freq range of 450.000 mhz - 469.995 MHz where 70cm HAM is 420 - 450 MHz or somewhere thereabouts. These are commercial band radios. For a SHTF-type item they'd be fine but as that band area requires a license it might not be a wise thing to use if the FCC is playing cat and mouse in said SHTF situation.
The Motorolas are about the same type of radio - business band.
Those Motorola radios are UHF commercial band. A quick web search didn't get me much info other than that.
Maybe Sparks would know?
This is their US home Distributor
http://baofengtech.com
BaoFeng Tech
Arlington, South Dakota
Proud to be in the USA
Toll Free (USA): 1-800-735-9498
Phone: 1-605-983-1060
E-mail: email@baofengtech.com
Frank in OK- When the SHTF I think the FCC isn't going to be checking to see if anyone has a license or not. I think they'll probably be busy looking for a place to run to and hide, like so many of the other alphabet agency bad asses.
http://www.motorolasolutions.com/US-EN/Business+Product+and+Services/Two-way+Radios/Analog+Business+Radios/Discontinued/XV2600_US-EN
Mike,
If ylu can't find anyone local to look at these and give you a through assessment, go to this website and contact the owner :
sparks31.wordpress.com
An excellent site on many things commo for the prepper.
B Woodman
III-PER
RE my previous post. Not all ChiCom HTs are created equally bad. Don't ditch them too hastily. They can still be useful for short range SHTF WROL post apocalyptic scenerios.
Contact Sparks31.
B Woodman
III-PER
Contact your local ham radio group, they can probably provide any info, maintenance or legal restrictions on their use.
Mike these are programmable via computer, don't do anything with them until we find out what software will reprogram them, as well as the radio's capabilities.
Buddy of mine reprograms them for others, started doing so after a friend of his informed him, that the local radio shop boys wanted $100 a unit to do the same thing he does to them for free, plus shipping.
I've got a very nice and very cheap genuine Chinese camouflaged hand-held which, for $40 new, is the shizznit Maximus!
Bounces signals all over and opens every repeater for miles and miles. Just like the the ICONs, KENWOODs and YAESUs. AND I didn't have to take out a loan to get one...
Mike I believe I can help with the Baofengs, the Moto's you may need to have a local Moto dealer or Ham help you with them as thy will likely need special programing cables and utility. I sell low cost radios to III%ers and there are ways to set therm up. The Baofengs are actually surprisingly good, but as mentioned the manuals often leave something to be desired.
Dr. D
Tn, III%
You need the programming software for these and someone that really understands how to do it right. Without those things, it's a real crap shoot to try and use them securely. It's near impossible to get the software, especially for the Motorola units.
http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2014/10/17/cleburne-tx-police-officer-shoots-dogs-caught-body-cams/
Karma should visit Cleburne, Texas.
Sadists and sociopaths seem to gravitate towards "law enforcement". It must be a way for them to get sexual gratification by doing sick shit like this. The cops who defend this sick motherfucker, well, they're just goddamn worthless pussies.
I have more recent Baofeng radios than these, one model UV-5R and two BF-F8+ models.
They are cheap, they are not Motorola quality, they dont have a high durability rating.
What they do have is acceptable output and reception of radios costing 4 times or more as much. Perfect for a GO/BOB/GHB/whatever you call it stash.
These are programmable with a cheap cable, a PC/MAC and a free piece of software named CHIRP.
These are grey market radios, Acceptable if you have the licenses for their intended functions as a 70cm and 2m HAM, but because you can fiddle with the programming, power output, change antennas, etc... your wide open to use them on bands your not supposed to since they are not FCC part whatever compliant.
in a SHTF situation, I dont care what the FCC thinks.
Having only investigated them as a potential purchase, I can't speak authoritatively about the BaoFeng radios. I do have a set of the Motorola radios.
I have a pair of XU1100 (1 watt, 1 channel) radios and one XU2600 (2 watt, 6 channel). They operate in the 400MHz business frequency band, use of which requires an FCC license. They support the whole gamut of common CTCSS and DCS privacy codes much like the FRS and GMRS radios you can get in any store. In the case of the XU2600, you can program up to 6 channels (out of a wide set available), which can be done relatively easily from the front panel of the radio - no PC interface is necessary. Motorola has the manual online for the XU and XV (VHF version) series on their website.
One noteworthy difference between the Motorola and the BaoFeng radios is that the Motorola carries an IPX rating. It's not waterproof, but it can handle getting splashed with water.
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