I decided it was time to consolidate all the radio based crap I have accumulated into a big box, stash it at the back of the cupboard and start afresh. Basically I wanted two radios - one for me and one for my imaginary friend. After a long search and reading various reviews I decided on the Chinese made Baofeng UV-5R. They appear to have some distinct advantages, the main one of which appears to be much cheapness for a lot of tech. They cover 400-480Mhz which I have reliably informed will cover the PMR466 band and the US GMRS/FRS bands - although, to be fair, the 'reliably informed' is via an airsoft forum so could as easily be 'a wild guess'. Time will tell, since they've still actually to get here. The radios look, at least IMHO, pretty tactical without resembling the half bricks that are actual service radios. Of course, real military radios would be really cool and gucci but since they operate on different frequencies, comms with anybody other than my imaginary friend would be somewhat curtailed. Apparently, these little Chinese toys can listen to two channels at the same time and can be programmed from your PC via a USB cable. They have a standard two pin Kenwood connector to attach a PTT or basic headset. I ordered them separately from different companies on ebay mainly from the point of view of reducing the odds of being huckled for customs and handling charges. One of the orders includes the required USB programming cable. At £75(ish) for both they seem like a pretty good buy.
Of course, radios need headsets -
yes they do - and the new Ztactical Evo III headset in Olive Drab looked ideal. You can swap the mike around to either side and they have a standard military plug to connect to a PTT. I've not really been a fan of throat mikes although I have three or four kicking about and I have an combined in-ear headset/mike which is quite clever but it doesn't fit particularly well in my ear. I also have the the older fixed mike Cavalvy version of the one pictured and like it but at that point it came with combined PTT. The new one plugs into a separate PTT allowing you to leave the radio attached to your gear when taking it off without almost strangling yourself trying to disengage yourself from your headset. The picture is a butchered version of the one on the Ebairsoft.com site where I bought two of them as well as a couple of separate PTT units. Having bought this lot I figured I could do with somewhere to store them so again a trawl though ebay brought up the idea of using a couple of smallish green zipped padded bags intended for storing fishing reels. They look like they'll hold the radio, headset and PTT and for a mere £3.20 each I figure they're worth a punt.
I decided it was time to consolidate all the radio based crap I have accumulated into a big box, stash it at the back of the cupboard and start afresh. Basically I wanted two radios - one for me and one for my imaginary friend. After a long search and reading various reviews I decided on the Chinese made Baofeng UV-5R. They appear to have some distinct advantages, the main one of which appears to be much cheapness for a lot of tech. They cover 400-480Mhz which I have reliably informed will cover the PMR466 band and the US GMRS/FRS bands - although, to be fair, the 'reliably informed' is via an airsoft forum so could as easily be 'a wild guess'. Time will tell, since they've still actually to get here. The radios look, at least IMHO, pretty tactical without resembling the half bricks that are actual service radios. Of course, real military radios would be really cool and gucci but since they operate on different frequencies, comms with anybody other than my imaginary friend would be somewhat curtailed. Apparently, these little Chinese toys can listen to two channels at the same time and can be programmed from your PC via a USB cable. They have a standard two pin Kenwood connector to attach a PTT or basic headset. I ordered them separately from different companies on ebay mainly from the point of view of reducing the odds of being huckled for customs and handling charges. One of the orders includes the required USB programming cable. At £75(ish) for both they seem like a pretty good buy.
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