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Radio Frequencies

Another model I use is the BF-F8HP, it has a larger battery than the UV-5R, and can do 8 watts, tho I usually set it to 5 watts anyway. Mine came unlocked. The UV-5R has some nice bundles available for two units with extended batteries and headsets and whatnot.


One thing I'm finding hilarious is that a lot of folks are piling onto GMRS, but very few of them actually know how to use privacy tones so now you have all these people who used to have handhelds rolling around with 50 watt radios stomping all over each other on the same frequencies. Extra power is not always better :D
 
JediMcMuffin said:
Another model I use is the BF-F8HP, it has a larger battery than the UV-5R, and can do 8 watts, tho I usually set it to 5 watts anyway. Mine came unlocked. The UV-5R has some nice bundles available for two units with extended batteries and headsets and whatnot.


One thing I'm finding hilarious is that a lot of folks are piling onto GMRS, but very few of them actually know how to use privacy tones so now you have all these people who used to have handhelds rolling around with 50 watt radios stomping all over each other on the same frequencies. Extra power is not always better :D
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GMRS is rapidly becoming the defacto replacement for CB. As such, a lot of "non-technical" users are jumping on it. The problem with privacy codes for non-technical users is that there's no real "standard" among the different radio manufacturers. So, the people in a group all have to sit down and agree on what "privacy code" they want to use that will work on all their radios. And this is where it gets complex since different radio manufacturers use different names and support different types of "privacy codes". So once everyone has figured out what "privacy code" they want to use, and then program their particular radio with that "privacy code" you can all then hear each other, but you can't hear anyone else. Note, other people will still be able to hear YOU, you just won't be able to hear them if they don't have the same "privacy code" set up. Personally, I would LOVE to use them if we could figure out a simple way to make sure that everyone on a run has it set up properly without taking too long at the drivers meeting. As it stands, it takes a while just to make sure that everyone is on the right freq. :cool:
 
Sorry for the rookie question(s) but trying to get my Baofeng radio set up. I am watching a video on You Tube regarding Chirp. The video wants me to use Repeater Book Query and put in a location.
Do I need to do this? I want to use this in Big Bear and in Borrego Springs. Will doing this somehow limit the radio? I am sure more questions to follow. Thanks.
 
Jeff Lemieux said:
Sorry for the rookie question(s) but trying to get my Baofeng radio set up. I am watching a video on You Tube regarding Chirp. The video wants me to use Repeater Book Query and put in a location.
Do I need to do this? I want to use this in Big Bear and in Borrego Springs. Will doing this somehow limit the radio? I am sure more questions to follow. Thanks.
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Repeater book is an app for finding repeaters placed on hilltops which you can use to communicate over very long distances. It can be useful to have a couple repeaters saved in your memory, because even a handheld can talk through repeaters that are 20-30 miles away. Repeaters use TWO frequencies, one for transmitting, one for receiving. The difference between those frequencies is called the offset. When you talk using a repeater, anyone in range of the repeater now hears your relayed transmission. So for example, out in Anza Borrego I have the East County Repeater association repeaters saved in my memory

For SCB runs we use simplex communication, handheld to any handheld or mobile in range. It's more important to have the five SCB frequencies in your memory so you don't have to memorize them, but you could also just write them down on a piece of paper and type them in if you need to.
 
My suggestion if you're not a licensed HAM operator is to stay off of repeaters and only use the frequencies already established as "race radio" frequencies such as those included in the download file referenced somewhere around here. That will give you some plausible deniability if you need it, plus you really don't have the knowledge to use the more technical capabilities of these radios. If you want to learn about them and use those higher end features you may as well go ahead and study for a HAM license.

I would suggest when you first connect your radio to your computer using CHIRP, download the current configuration first, then simply add whatever frequencies you want and re-upload, without changing anything else. If you want to just load the entire list of frequencies in @BadSquatch's download file, you can just copy and paste them in then upload to your radio. Or you might try just uploading his file from scratch, as it should work fine for most Baofeng hand-helds. I keep my own file that's specific to the UV-82HP's I prefer over the U5-5R's everyone seems to use. If you can use it I can send it to you.
 
All I want to do is talk to other Bronco's on the trail. So I don't think I need that. It sounds like I need to copy and paste the SCB frequencies onto the "spreadsheet" from Chirp and upload them? What about the frequencies that pop up when you first open the "spreadsheet?"
Thanks for all the help.
 
These are probably the only frequencies you really need load:

146.520VHFCALLCalling Frequency for VHF
146.535SCB-GENSo Cal Broncos General
146.405SCB-1So Cal Broncos Run 1
146.430SCB-2So Cal Broncos Run 2
146.460SCB-3So Cal Broncos Run 3
146.500SCB-4So Cal Broncos Run 4
151.625WX-MANWeatherman (you can't transmit on this)
446.000UHFCALLCalling Frequency for UHF

I add the "calling" frequencies in there because those are the frequencies folks scan for chatter, and if you were in a bind its pretty darn likely you can raise somebody on them. The way they're supposed to work is you make a contact, coordinate/pick a new frequency, and get off the calling frequency.
 
Jeff Lemieux said:
All I want to do is talk to other Bronco's on the trail. So I don't think I need that. It sounds like I need to copy and paste the SCB frequencies onto the "spreadsheet" from Chirp and upload them? What about the frequencies that pop up when you first open the "spreadsheet?"
Thanks for all the help.
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I went and took another look at that download file since it's been a while since I looked at it. The first 22 lines in it are FRS channels. Those are the "Family Radio Service" channels used by the cheap walkie-talkies you can by in 4-packs and 6-packs. To be honest I wouldn't bother loading those, The next batch of lines are for the GMRS channels. I would only bother loading GMRS 1-22. The SCB channels start at line 53, along with the list of common race teams and ops channels that come in handy in Southern California, down to line 77 of the spreadsheet.

On my radios I load the SCB channels at the top, followed by the race channels, then GMRS 1-22 at the bottom. That covers just about everything I might ever use. And if for some reason I end up on a run that's using some other frequency I just key it in on the radio then hit the button lock so I don't bump it out during the run.
 
What I did was download the program from the radio. I then modified it in CHiRP and gave it a new name. Then I up loaded it back into the radio. Mine seemed to need to have the program down loaded before it could accept an up load.

Can always listen on the Weatherman freq., but if you perform the transmit mod on the UV-5R you can also transmit on it.
 
Dusty said:
I went and took another look at that download file since it's been a while since I looked at it. The first 22 lines in it are FRS channels. Those are the "Family Radio Service" channels used by the cheap walkie-talkies you can by in 4-packs and 6-packs. To be honest I wouldn't bother loading those, The next batch of lines are for the GMRS channels. I would only bother loading GMRS 1-22. The SCB channels start at line 53, along with the list of common race teams and ops channels that come in handy in Southern California, down to line 77 of the spreadsheet.

On my radios I load the SCB channels at the top, followed by the race channels, then GMRS 1-22 at the bottom. That covers just about everything I might ever use. And if for some reason I end up on a run that's using some other frequency I just key it in on the radio then hit the button lock so I don't bump it out during the run.
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I concur with this, loading the GMRS channels is really handy. I always load these into my radio using the same channel numbers, ie memory #1 is GMRS channel #1. That way you don't really have to remember what frequency GMRS16 is, you just go to channel 16.

Something worth noting too is that FRS 1 and GMRS1 are the same frequency, but GMRS radios have the ability to transmit on higher wattages, though they're not really supposed to. An actual GMRS radio will limit transmit power to 2 watts on channels 1-15, and allow for 5-50 watts on 16-22, whereas these HAM radios that can be made to work with GMRS don't have that limitation.
 
JediMcMuffin said:
I concur with this, loading the GMRS channels is really handy. I always load these into my radio using the same channel numbers, ie memory #1 is GMRS channel #1. That way you don't really have to remember what frequency GMRS16 is, you just go to channel 16.

Something worth noting too is that FRS 1 and GMRS1 are the same frequency, but GMRS radios have the ability to transmit on higher wattages, though they're not really supposed to. An actual GMRS radio will limit transmit power to 2 watts on channels 1-15, and allow for 5-50 watts on 16-22, whereas these HAM radios that can be made to work with GMRS don't have that limitation.
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That FRS and GMRS overlap (only difference being power) is the reason I put them both in there since I've run into folks on runs that only had FRS radios. That made it really easy, but it's not really necessary since FRS 1 and GMRS 1 are the same. The trick is to be sure that all of your FRS channels are set to Narrow Band and your GMRS are set to Wide Band except the 467 freqs which are also Narrow Band.
 
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Just to make it easy, I uploaded a simple frequency list that includes the SBC freqs and GMRS freqs. Note that for each freq. I've indicted if it should be Narrow Band (NFM) or Wide Band (FM). https://socalbroncos.com/forum/resources/simple-freq-list.8/

I'm going to have my laptop with me at Bash if anyone wants some help programming their radios I can use CHiRP to load it up however you like. Note that I have laptop to radio cables only for the Baofeng handhelds and the Btech mobiles. If you have a different radio, unless you have a programming cable I can't hook you up to my laptop.
 
Thanks Bad Squatch. I may need that but CB user still trying to wrap my head around this.
When I open the spreadsheet from my radio I see 6 different numbered frequencies, all Mode is FM and Power is High.
Do I just leave these and copy the SCB frequencies underneath? Or should I replace them?
 
Jeff Lemieux said:
Thanks Bad Squatch. I may need that but CB user still trying to wrap my head around this.
When I open the spreadsheet from my radio I see 6 different numbered frequencies, all Mode is FM and Power is High.
Do I just leave these and copy the SCB frequencies underneath? Or should I replace them?
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What kind of radio? Also, what are the 6 frequencies that you are seeing? But in general, if your radio supports it, you can just add the SBC frequencies where ever you like. Note that I include the "channel" number in the description for things like GMRS and try to give it a name that makes sense otherwise. This who frequency thing is a bit of a change from CB where you just had channels. That's why I suspect that a lot of people that are moving from CB are going to GMRS since it has a similar paradigm. Take a look at the spreadsheet I just uploaded I think it's pretty self explanatory. If not, catch me during Bash and I can help you.
 
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