UHF reccomendations

[Nydilius]

When my friends and I first got into airsoft we purchased a few basic radios. Unfortunatly now that we have starting travelling around and getting into more structured milsims we have found them to be lacking without headsets. (tried 8-10 different headsets, various brands including motorolas and none work. 2 had sound but the mic's wouldnt work) So we have pretty much given up on these and decided to just redo our whole radio network per se.

After doing research here we have decided to upgrade to some half decent programmable UHF radios. One thing I havnt seen alot of is reccomendations on brands/models etc. And I desperatly want to avoid getting a radio with a jinxed headset jack like those m700 pieces o poo.

Can anyone reccomend a few good radio/headset brandname/model combos that can be purchased in canada? I would like to avoid ordering from ebay since it seems im always paying 60$+ dollars just to have them shipped from overseas, and if I am going to put some decent money down on these babies I would appreciate a nudge in the right direction from people more knowledgeable/experienced than I.

[zone 69]

+1, I like some INFO on a good radio/headset.

[cndzn]

Icom F21GM or F21 complete with a Bowman headset.
The Icoms can be bought thru any dealer in Canada. The F21 is fully programmable, tho you do need the software. (free on the web if ya know where to look) The F21GM already has the FRS and GMRS channels pre-programmed. Awesome radios with plenty of punch, and great range. Our team has never had a problem with them. Expect to pay about $150 to $200 for the radio, or maybe you will find a deal on them on ebay, if you choose that route.
The Bowman headset can be bought from Huang on these forums.

cheers!!

[B.C.Hawk]

Another option is Evotactical out of Vancouver. PM Stan from here. It's good for 10% off.

[ThunderCactus]

motorola GP68 UHF, most manitoba airsoft teams have standardized the GP68 because it kicks ass

[Nydilius]

How easy is it to program a UHF radio? I have read conflicting things about it. Thats its easy to just download the software, plug the radio in and off you go. That you can risk frying the radio. etc etc. I'm assuming the truth is somewhere in the middle, but would love to have some first hand input. (my teammates will probably be sticking to the gmrs channels for a while, so I want to be able to program a few standard channels until they can all upgrade)

[ThunderCactus]

Its all BS
You dont have to plug it up to your comp, you just program the radio itself. The 20 some people with UHF radios in manitoba have never had any issues, my team uses the same GP68 but in VHF and we have no issues either.
The manual is very straight forward and likely written by someone who speaks fluent english, I can send it to you if you like

Originally Posted by Nydilius

That you can risk frying the radio. etc etc. I

This is true with Saber's and some other older Motorola sets. The newer the radio, the higher the CPU clock speed it can handle.

[CDN_Stalker]

Although this isn't in Canada, a bunch of us in Ottawa have this radio, and it works really well:

http://www.gadgetinfinity.com/produc...cat=282&page=1

Programming is rather easy when you sort it out, set it up in programming mode, only things you have to do anything with is type in the receive and transmit frequencies, skip the rest and save it, move onto the next channel. Ours have all the FRS/GMRS channels programmed in, as well as a few private/secure channels. Has a backlight, is small and compact, price is good ($80US) and even has a stop watch function (good for timed respawns, or how long you've held an objective. Ya, I know, a watch will do the same easier, but still.) And, it takes standard Kenwood headset plugs, so it opens up your headset options.

[Splashx]

go to 409shop.com a great internet shop based in china that sells un great bunch of CB's uhf/vhf and so on...

[monkeyboy]

If you're looking for UHF/VHF radios try radioworld.ca

I just got my new Yaesu VX-6R from there for not a bad price. Granted a lot of the uhf/vhf need to be modded to transmit on the 450-470 range, it's usually easy to do. just remember to turn the transmit power down when talking to the frs/gmrs users. You'll blast them out.

On the plus side, buying a full featured uhf/vhf can be a gateway to an amateur radio licence (currently studying for mine)

I've been using the Linton 6288 that CDN_Stalker mentioned for about a year now. It's been a good radio with excellent range and the shoulder mic/earphone combo work well. Nothing wrong with it, but it's only 400-470MHz range, so no other frequencies to listen/transmit on - amateur radio is out. It was just time for me to upgrade

[Nydilius]

Originally Posted by CDN_Stalker

Although this isn't in Canada, a bunch of us in Ottawa have this radio, and it works really well:

http://www.gadgetinfinity.com/produc...cat=282&page=1

Programming is rather easy when you sort it out, set it up in programming mode, only things you have to do anything with is type in the receive and transmit frequencies, skip the rest and save it, move onto the next channel. Ours have all the FRS/GMRS channels programmed in, as well as a few private/secure channels. Has a backlight, is small and compact, price is good ($80US) and even has a stop watch function (good for timed respawns, or how long you've held an objective. Ya, I know, a watch will do the same easier, but still.) And, it takes standard Kenwood headset plugs, so it opens up your headset options.

Those radio's look beautiful. Looks like a perfect blend of price and function, plus the headsets are right there too. heh.

How are the throat mic's with the finger PTT there? Good sound quality or better off just getting a standard headset?

(sorry bout the 101 questions, I'm a cautious shopper. lol)

[CDN_Stalker]

No idea about throat mics, my only experience was being on the receiving end of one and couldn't understand the guy. Headset I boguth is the one that has the wire frame that goes behind the head, and has a boom mic. Only used both once, worked fucking great! That radio is great for airsoft and general usage though, won't even need a special pouch to buy for it either.

[Styrak]

I got a Puxing Px-777 5 watt radio from overseas for $80 shipped.

I can talk to my friend across the city, through city interference, at a distance of 5+ miles.

[Nydilius]

What about those iasus NT3 throat mic systems? I would eventually like to get a throat mic/finger ptt system, so while i will stick with a boom mic/headset for now I would like to know if these throat mics are worth saving towards. Or any brand of throat mic to be honest.

Keep hearing that you need to drop 200$+ just to get a half decent throat mic. While I am willing to pony up cash for a good long term piece of equip, 200$ just to wear a mic on the neck instead of on a boom is a tad crazy. lol