I can tell you from experience that walkie talkies will allow you to hear neighborhood shenanigans. They are also interesting to take on camping trips in places where peopleâs homes or cabins are not terribly far from campsites. If youâre good at programming, Baofeng radios are usually
Lol I am NOT good at programming but I do have a Baofeng and a Quansheng. They're both running custom firmware but despite a selection of antennae, I still struggle to pick up anything of any interest.
Iâve used this both at home and in the mountains. Iâve enjoyed listening to the various repeaters around here (public lands agencies, SAR ops, mining operations, backwoods prospectors on walkies, all kinds of things). Little kids with walkies are pretty damn funny most of the time
Antenna-wise, what do you use?
I mostly use an assortment of screw-in whip antennas
Iâve got an assortment, mainly because I live and recreate where line of sight and geology can make things weird. I was lucky enough to work with a guy who programmed radios for parks and forests. He tried to educate me well and I have not retained as much as I would like. I do want to be licensed
Kids on walkie talkies are always a hoot
They bring a spark of joy to my cold, dead heart.
Antennas attached to radios which are wired to power sources (vehicles) can be really impressive but I am not set up for anything like that now
I'm in DFW minutes from the airport, so tons of radio traffic. The SDS 100 picks up plenty of audio even with the antenna removed, but it seems like antennas for specific different frequencies still all pick up the same chatter. Haven't yet tested it away from all the civilization and concrete.
The programmer I posted yesterday actually allows you to easily load aviation & railroad traffic pretty easily
Have you come across folks using that on a Quansheng radio? The listing says it works for Quansheng, but I'd found some reddit ppl saying it didn't work for them.
I think many people mistakenly pair Bluetooth thru their phone screen instead of first switching on airplane mode on their phone settings. It was frictionless for me each time I used it but I am big on following directions as stated
Hehe, I'm a stickler, too ð Are you using third-party firmware on the radio or just whatever came with it?
I use the firmware that was loaded when I unboxed the device. I have to say that the $14.99 price tag for this makes up for the admittedly clunky smartphone app. I wonder if folks with different versions of Android phones are more likely to have problems connecting ð€
Since I can't remember how I programmed the radios initially and hear barely anything with them, I'll give this a shot. Have you tried the Odmaster browser interface?
The Odmaster phone app lists the following models but I think as long as you verify compatibility using the most current list (below), you should be fine.
I managed to find a plug & play programming module for my Baofeng.
TBH, my Baofeng has been packed away for 2 years. But I didn't want to unpack it and read about Quansheng firmware tweaks so I got a pair of those. Actually want to use them as walkies--with proper licensing, ofc ð--but can't figure that out.
Ham radio is a nearly impenetrable world but I feel like getting a ham license and some solid understanding of radio hardware and protocols might become very important with the way our world is going. The lack of really solid English language instruction makes the relatively inexpensive hardware
That was the reason I got the Baofeng! But then the house flooded, stuff got packed away (and much has stayed packed).
Ahhhh. My house and my extended family membersâ homes all flooded in Katrina and that was part of my desire to learn about ham radio. Here in Colorado there are actually clubs that meet and so forth. In the mountains you can always tell the ham vans (massive whip antennas mounted outside & ride low
because of all the equipment mounted inside.
a bit of a mindfuck though NGL
pretty inexpensive and will allow you to listen to the non-encrypted channels (lots of rural agencies). I hate that scanners are not as citizen-friendly as they used to be.
Once you get the SDS 100 all set up, it's an amazing piece of tech! And I get a lot of traffic on it, but the assortment that's available is meh. The scanner is fine; accessibility/use of radio traffic is ugh.