Railfan Technology > 2 way hand held RR radios

Hello,

I am looking for between one and three CHEAP portable 2-ways for use on our occasional charters, and trackside in case of emergencies. Our preference would be 100 channel + programmable, which can be linked to laptops. We have five older units, but with updates to FRA frequencies and the like... thinking it is time to update.

If you have any suggestions, I am all ears.

Sincerely,

Thomas V. Horstmann, Jr.
RailsNW LLC

The Yaesu Ham radios ...

*I had recommended a versatile handheld HAM radio and have been made aware of licensing requirements for Industrial use. In the process I'm reminded that HAM radios have a few layers of gizmos for use in the HAM world that makes them cumbersome for Industrial use. They're just two different worlds.

*I'm also reminded that HAMs focus on radio design, radio complexities and of course the do's and don'ts learned in the License requirements, Industrial folks need to focus on their original job and the safety without the gizmos.

*Should also add that a quality radio does not transmit in the Industrial Bands without a whole lot of monkeying around. Having a screw driver and a radio in your pocket makes a person dangerous but it's not because of the radio. Buying some of these 'really cheap' radios (as mentioned below) may be a safety issue as well as attracting some legal actions.

*These kind of discussions are very worthwhile.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/14 08:41 by TCnR.

I would not recommend opening up a ham radio 2-meter radio.

First off, that is an FCC violation because it is not FCC type accepted for use in commercial services

2nd the 2 meter radio will not operate in the FCC require narrowband mode.

There are several import radios that operate in the VHF band that meet the FCC requirements and are inexpensive, somewhere around $150 or so.

The FCC fines are quite heavy for violations of their rules and regulations.

Pat
South Austin, TX

I would look for some used Motorola MTS2000(48,160, 255ch), Kenwood TK290(160 Ch), TK280(250 ch), TK2180 (512 ch)or even the Kenwood TK270G (128 ch). They can all be programmed with WINDOWS based software and can do zones. The Motorola is limited to a 16 channel scan list. The TK2180 is the newest design (from 2004 +/- a year) but they can all be programmed for narrow band. They will work great as RR scanners and can be programmed for receive only on a per channel basses. You can add the MURS channels (to FCC specs) to communicate with your friends. MURS are unlicensed channels so they are great for your use.


All of the above radios can be purchased used from $40.00 to $200.00. The TK2180's will be in the higher range but they are great units. If you are willing to go higher the Kenwood NX210 is the way to go, but they are costly and few and far between on the used market. I'm a tech for a Kenwood shop so I do have a dog in the fight so to speak.

Jim

Ok, where would this info be found? For example a list of type accepted for use in commercial services would help the O.P. a great deal.

There appears to be discussion around the web about using these for commercial use. The channel width is commandable, but it may not be what is being looked for.

The 'fix' is a component being removed, once again the service is offered by the retail vendors. The inference has been that an employee is allowed to use one of these under the license of the Business.

Agree a second hand RR radio with no messing around would be the way to go. Other threads would suggest the older radios are being dumped for not being compatible with moving to narrowband and digital. More info would be a good thing.


-------------------------------------------------------
> I would not recommend opening up a ham radio
> 2-meter radio.
>
> First off, that is an FCC violation because it is
> not FCC type accepted for use in commercial
> services
>
> 2nd the 2 meter radio will not operate in the FCC
> require narrowband mode.
>
> There are several import radios that operate in
> the VHF band that meet the FCC requirements and
> are inexpensive, somewhere around $150 or so.
>
> The FCC fines are quite heavy for violations of
> their rules and regulations.
>
> Pat
> South Austin, TX



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/14 16:19 by TCnR.

If you are going to be using it to transmit, I would strongly suggest getting a radio designed for that service. The ham radios have two possible troubles besides the type acceptance issue. One thing is that they often have a bunch of options for the ham bands that are not used for business type communications and because of that, the occasional user may have quite a learning curve before he can operate one. Changing channels can be a rather cryptic process. The other thing is that some amateur transceivers will not transmit outside of the amateur frequencies without some internal modifications. Some may not even be able to be modified for "out of band" operation. (Outside of Ham Band)

To those reading this that might be interested in an inexpensive scanner, the Baofeng UV-5R (XX where XX=different variants of the model) can be obtained for about $35.00 but be warned, THEY DO NOT PREVENT OUT OF BAND TRANSMISSIONS. As a previous poster commented, the FCC dislikes unlicensed transmissions. You wouldn't go to jail for an accidental push of the button but accidents do happen. You could have the thing in your hip pocket with a screwdriver, sit down and the screwdriver handle pushes the push to talk button. You might transmit for maybe 5 minutes or more and that would upset someone on the railroad if you were anywhere close to the tracks, If you were near the dispatcher you could cover up any incoming signal to him from distant trains. You could be charged with unlicensed communications and interfering with railroad communications. If you are found transmitting on unlicensed frequencies you can get some vacation time in the federal gray bar hotel and ten or twenty THOUSAND dollar in fines.


Sorry about the all caps but it needed to be shouted so that no one gets in trouble.

John



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/14 00:40 by wa4umr.

Thanks for all the feedback.... sounds like we will need to shell out the money to get true industrial grade railroad radios. Oh joy.

Sincerely,

Thomas V. Horstmann, Jr.
www.railsnw.com

The Wuoxun KG-UV6X is an FCC Part 90 certified two-way portable. I have one of these and like it very well. It's around $180. What it won't do is NXDN digital, so eventually, like all analog radios, it will become obsolete. Note: One must buy the X model of the Wuoxun for commercial use--the D model is not Part 90 certified.

I HIGHLY recommend the Wouxun KG-UV6x for both railfanning and railroading applications. This unit (minus the antenna) is smaller than some cellphones and transmits and receives very clearly. Since I move around to different railroads as a contractor, I was looking for a radio that was easy to reprogram and lightweight. Although most RRs provide their own radios, I got sick of being stuck with their junk so I got my own.

A programming cable and software is required to setup the radio and this cannot be done in the field on the radio itself. The excel based programmer is a great way to quickly set up groups of frequencies. I have all the AAR channels in one spreadsheet and then a shorter list of railroad or location specific frequencies.

The Wouxun is also able to monitor 2 channels or 2 banks of channels at the same time. Thus you can set Band A to the road channel and set Band B to scan or to a secondary channel.

Again, for under $200 this is a very good radio.

Finally: I would strongly discourage the use of any radio by non-railroaders in the field. If you see something, call the railroad emergency hotline. DO NOT call the train directly. At best, your transmission will be ignored, at worst, if something does happen, you could end up being blamed for the incident. Leave the railroading to the railroaders. The airwaves are way too cluttered already.

WW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Wuoxun KG-UV6X is an FCC Part 90 certified
> two-way portable. I have one of these and like it
> very well. It's around $180. What it won't do is
> NXDN digital, so eventually, like all analog
> radios, it will become obsolete. Note: One must
> buy the X model of the Wuoxun for commercial
> use--the D model is not Part 90 certified.

>"Finally: I would strongly discourage the use of any radio by non-railroaders in the field. If you see something, call the railroad emergency hotline. DO NOT call the train directly. At best, your transmission will be ignored, at worst, if something does happen, you could end up being blamed for the incident. Leave the railroading to the railroaders. The airwaves are way too cluttered already. "


Has anybody heard of this happening recently?

In the past I have heard Marine Band Radios being used on the RR Bands. I have the RR Bands on in the background quite a bit and haven't heard of this in a really long time.

The FCC (and the RR's) have 'a substantial' monitoring program.

International Marine Band Channels for Ref:

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=apps18



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/07/14 08:29 by TCnR.

One other legal note, you need an FCC commercial license for the railroad band. Railroads all have license and the employees operate under those licenses. As an individual, you have to have permission from the railroad to operate on their frequency. Emergency transmissions are allowed ONLY if no other way to communicate or take action can be found. Hams have been prosecuted for out-of-band emergency transmissions that could have been handled another way.

Scott Schifer
Torrance, CA
TinyTrains Website