Railfan Technology > Two-way radios

As many of you know we are about the launch a our handcar tour business across 3.5 miles of Monterey Branch Line in Marina.  Back in March I contracted with a company to file a VHF business band license request.  The frequency coordinator after studying our enterprise was able to issue us railroad frequency 160.050. This was a welcome surprise because we don't have to worry about interference from drive thru restaurants, agriculture, and other commercial enterprises sharing the frequency.  The FCC granted the license this week. This is quite a relief because we need reliable communications over the railroad other than using cell phones.

Now the task turns towards purchasing radios.  I purchased a pair of new old stock Motorola HT1250 portables for $250 each.  They seem to be well built units and I am considering purchasing additional ones. Anyone have any experience with these?  I also need a pair of mobile radios, one to use for the motorcar, and one to use as our base station.  Once again I am looking for used low cost units on eBay as I don't want to drop thousands on new equipment. I am aware to steer clear of wideband units, but there are plenty of used radios that comply.  Also, should I designate a PL tone?

 

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

Todd, When I was Battalion Chief we bought 6 of these. They worked very well with no issues. One got lost in a structure fire and was recovered in the rubble the following day. It was a melted mass but to our surprise it was still working. It couldn't fit in the charger and the battery module could not be removed so when the battery died so did it. I have a Kenwood TK 880 that I picked up used from a Kenwood Radio dealer for my Motor Car that he programmed all for 200 bucks. I see you can get them even cheeper now.

If you have nearby users on your frequency or might be bothered by occasional tropospheric “skip,” I would consider the use of the PL tone.  As long as all your radios are capable, you could add it later, but it is your best defense against same frequency interference.

Larry, KJ4DG
 

Do you recommend CTCSS or digital coded squelch?  It has been decades since I have done anything with radios, but my recollection is CTCSS adds a hum to the transmissions. 

ldstephey Wrote:
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> If you have nearby users on your frequency or
> might be bothered by occasional tropospheric
> “skip,” I would consider the use of the PL
> tone.  As long as all your radios are capable,
> you could add it later, but it is your best
> defense against same frequency interference.
>
> Larry, KJ4DG
>  

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

I don’t have any personal experience with digital squelch.  I did find this that might be helpful.
 
https://ham.stackexchange.com/questions/3770/advantages-of-using-digital-code-squelch
 
 
 

Motoroloa Maxtracs built like a tank, many times can find on ebay, hardest part if programming them.

skyview Wrote:
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> Motoroloa Maxtracs built like a tank, many times
> can find on ebay, hardest part if programming
> them.

They are pretty cheap, but then again I don't think they are narrowband capable which makes them pretty much worthless.

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

Had a personal HT1250 for railfanning for over 15 years.  Never had a single issue, only thing I did was have it reprogrammed for narrow band.  I had all the AAR channels installed so I wouldn't have to reprogram later.  I also used an HT1250 during my law enforcement career until we were required to go digital.  I've used it in all weather conditions and never had a problem.

The Motorolas are OK radios.  The challenge is programming.  Motorola tends to be very territorial about their programming software and cables.  Of course, if you get them programmed correctly by a dealer, the dealer charge would be a one-time cost.  The challenge is not programming the frequency--it's programming the myriad of other features that the radios offer, many of which you likely wouldn't even need.  I will likely upset a lot of Motorola fanboys, but most of the later-era Motorola radios are really no better than many of the Kenwoods and Icoms.  Today, Motorola is pretty much just riding on its name.  

As for alternatives to Motorolas, there are several.  The Kenwood TK-290 portable is readily available on the used market and is a real tank.  Many Class 1 railroads used this radio as their flagship model until they started ordering all NXDN-capable radios.  Its sister mobile model, the TK-790, is also a great radio. Just make sure that the radios are narrow-band capable.  Icom makes several good analog portables and mobiles.  They mahy not be the "tanks" that the Kenwoods are, but they are pretty good and programming software and cables are pretty readily available on the secondary market.

Yes, I recommend using tone squelch on the radios.  It will stop a lot of unwanted "noise" on the radios.  Be forewarned, electronic "noise" is pandemic with all the microprossors that are everywhere.

By the way, as a matter of informaiton, frequency coordination for the railroad band is not done by the FCC--it is done by the Association of American Railroads out of their office at the Transportation Test Center at Pueblo, Colorado.  The FCC just signs off on the frequency assignment made by the AAR frequency coordinator.  I've dealt with that gentleman personally a couple of times in the last few years.

I didnt realize they didnt do narrowband, Motorola Maxtrac, but you are correct, I did a quick search on that very question.  My latest radios I use are Kenwood NexEdge, used, very good radio but seems to me was around 300 each for the ones I have (receive only but like them).  

I've had great luck with Baofeng. Been using different models for years and they are very sturdy. They also afford the user eay programming ability with Chirp software. 

https://www.baofengradio.com/

A big warning about Bao Feng radios for actual two-way radio use:  Many Baofengs are NOT FCC  Part 90 certified and are therefore are NOT legal to use to transmit on railroad channels.  Baofeng and other Chinese radio manufacturers will play word games and call their radios FCC Part 90 "compliant," but "compliant" is not certified.