In an SHTF situation, I would skip that antenna. Get one of the flexible antennas (Nagoya makes some good ones). Telescoping antennas are too easy to damage.
The UV-5R is a great little radio, but it has some serious drawbacks. Chief among them is that K-plug headset connection on the side. They're notorious for coming lose and knocking out your comms. Or worse, RX'ing through the radio's speaker at the worst possible time, giving away your position. My favorite way around this is to switch to the UV-9R Pro. It's only about $10 more expensive, and it's just a UV-5R with a more solid headset connection port and a waterproof rating. Keeps it cheap, and overcomes the UV-5R's (in my opinion) biggest flaw.
@@Methodizations That's going to depend on your setup. The quality of the antenna you put on it is going to play a major role. The little rubber duck that comes with it is pretty pathetic, but if you get a decent aftermarket antenna (Abbree or Nagoya are great) you'll see some very impressive range on flat, open terrain.
For SHTF I use a tiered approach. We have dozens of each GMRS, Baofeng, DMR with encryption. Each can expand capabilities of the group below it. Most use the same Kenwood K1 pins, but some more weatherproof use the Motorola M5 type. Lots of variations of covert and overt headsets too.
People need to understand one thing. As a matter of routine I see people buying radios and they have a habit of getting the longest/foldable antennas. This is fine for camping, trail riding etc. when more range is desired/needed. However, in a tactical situation that high power (8 Watt) radio and long antenna is going to draw attention to you like a seagull to french fry. For small unit tactics/Team comms etc. you want the lowest power setting, and shortest antenna to keep your RF signature as small as possible. Contrary to popular belief, a team can DF (Direction Find) your position fairly quickly. If you learn the correct Net protocols you will be more secure in your comms as well as keep your team safer.
@@treal512 Nagoya has good offerings, the key is to look at the base of the antenna, it will show a Freq range which should match the Freq you intend to use. An antenna is not a one size fits all. You want the antenna to support the Freq range you intend to use for best results.
Only issue i can forsee from this setup. If SHTF and there happens to be any SIGINT (signals intelligence) force whether its from the U.S or enemy force, that would be a real problem. I come from the door kicker community and ive worked with those guys alot and because of the frequency range for this and the megahertz that it runs at, it is very easy to trace and track and then the issue of not being able to really encrypt it. Im not downing the radio. I have two UV5RS but for different reasons. Love the setup for what it is. I would just keep that in mind. Maybe a great tool for every scenario not involving being hunted lol. Its just ashame that anyone with the knowledge can ping its location and find you.
@@UrbanSurvivor they can track pretty much any frequency. I worked with SIGINT guys a lot downrange and they found a lot of dudes by tracking their radios. Do some reading on Low Level Voice Intercept.
@@evocati6523 SHTF is already a crazy scenario to begin with. And every country with a modern military has sigint capabilities. You don't even need the crazy stuff, just LLVI, which anyone can use cause it's so stupid simple. So it's not unrealistic
@@evocati6523it's really common for people to have these WW3 or civil war fantasies of larping as a tier1 operator. Realistically more of us should be preparing for a grid down scenario whether it's natural or human caused. We're far more likely to use comms to hear about emergency services and weather alerts than we are going to use them to strategically maneuver around a city to defeat enemy forces. With tons of people with their slick plate carriers, I tend to wonder what their food and water storage looks like.
Mirrored setup... NICE! I popped on here today and was searching for Baofeng mods.. and stumbled upon your video. Great tutorial! Nice to see someone else running this setup! Thank you for putting those outside-of-the-box setup ideas, that extender for the antenna is a nice touch.. never seen that before.. I love that collapsable antenna too!
Baofeng is the way to go. We have 10 of them for our "Airsoft" team with ear pieces and throat mikes. (no wind noise) Flat extended antennas are also available when you mount them on your plate carrier. They really extend your range.
Thanks for the tip on the flat antennas, will look more into those. Yeah i need to do some more work networking in my area my shtf squad is about 3 below average joes but were working on leveling up lol
A magnetic pole, or one installed to your car that can be cable threaded to your HT is also a good idea if you have to go mobile. Extends your range on the go.
I run the ABBREE 18 inch antenna, with the relocation kit, on my carrier. That is plugged in to a Baofeng DM-1801 portable. It does everything that the UV5-R does, but also does digital DMR. I run the FCA AMPS headset into the FCS V20 PTT, that has the Kenwood adaptor for the Baofeng radios. I use it solely in digital mode and it works great. Digital mode, on average, goes a little over twice as far as analog.
Thanks for the info on your setup! Theres so much to learn about radios... this is just the very tip of the iceburg lol. Your setup doesnt seem like too much more expensive and would definitely be worthwile if you get a significant boost in range!
@@UrbanSurvivor I've been a HAM for about 30 years. I never thought much of digital until I tried it simplex with portables. It was amazing. A Baofeng MD-380 will do UFH only, but only costs about $65. My DM-1800 does UHF and VHF and is about $95. The extra batteries for the DM-1801 or hard to come by, and there is a DM-1700 out now I believe. When you can do everything from VHF maritime, to UHF FRS, and GMRS, for under $100. I would go for it. Oh, the FCA AMPS have been good. The Kenwood plug works for just about any Baofeng, and Tytera.
I run a nearly identical setup. Budget friendly and effective for sure. I would add that the newer Baofeng K6 has some advantages for ~ the same price as the UV5R. It's batteries are USB-C compatible for charging. It also has a scramble feature with 3 different scramble modes. Capable people could descramble your transmissions but it's an added layer of security for comms. Set your Tx/Rx channel for 2 different modes and you'll make it more difficult for someone to catch both sides of a conversation.
Right on, US! I have very similar set up for our comms. I have several UV-5Rs and the larger batteries BL-5L batteries. I have the charge cradles and charge cables and have a Jackery portable battery that lets me recharge twp of them and it has a foldable solar panel 60W for on the go. I do have to say I have a Ham license as well.
Thats awesome! Sounds like your comms setup it top notch and you have ham skills to back them up! I need to get a few more so I can stay connected with more people! Great that you have a solar charging setup. Those are super practical. Im working on acquiring some more portable solar at the moment.
great video production as always. im running several different comm setups. been doing radio for 25 years now. 1 Having weather and waterproof radios is a must for any outdoor setups. 2 running the radios on half power or less output because most hts lack thermal regulation for sustained output at max pep wattage output. not to mention it drains the battery fast. 3 Height is might with vhf and uhf comms. hf is alittle different but in general height helps too. 4 antenna composition is critical ie resonant antennas for the frequencies you plan on operating is more important than power output usually. look up how to make antennas and apply the knowledge in field as it will help you figure out ways to overcome environmental conditions. 5 having a budget for quality comms. this is straight forward but if youre serious about quality, grab a motorola series radio, the programming cablea and software especially the older mt1000s and mts2000s vhf units. youll need an ms dos windows 95 and or xp depending on model to reprogram these motorolas. they are rugged and reliable once you get a new battery and program them. the accessories are top notch and made for professional use. they can be low cost too especially the older models because no one wants or has the equipment to reprogram them. 6 invest in an hf rig like the yaesu ft 817 / 818. if youve got the cash then maybe an elecraft kx3 fully loaded with a 2m transverter. sometimes listening is important and being able to obtain info both locally and far away can help. 7 grab a ham license not because its cool and nerdy but it allows you to practice operations and gain operational skills so that when you need to use the radios it will be more smoother and less time consuming. I could say more but thanks for the video.
I also have several Baofengs. Models such as the UV-9R Pro are more of my preferred choice, due to them being waterproof for rain/heavy moisture use. Godspeed!
Good way to make this better is Howard Leights w/gel cups, commountain PTT and a radio with Motorola style jack (more water proof). A good book is The Guerillas Guide to The Baofeng.
For my first go at it, I went pretty cheap. I had a pair of Midland GMRS radios I've used for camping and travel. The radios have a base-station charger that runs off of a 12v plug and I have a 12v basic battery setup to keep them charged. For the whole tactical option I picked up a throat mic that has dual earbuds. It was the only one I could find that wasn't just a sound tube. I'm going to cut off one of the earbuds and wire a 3.5mm plug in it's place to plug into my Walkers Razor active headphones. It's nothing fancy, but if it all works out, it'll make hunting a little easier and be more practical for the theoretical SHTF situation.
One thing you might've wanted to mention is that if you do plug in that AUX cable into your headset, if it doesn't already have a way to allow both the radio Audio and the noise amplification to both be present that you might benefit from a momo-seperator (I may be totally saying this wrong, but the idea is still there). Because as was previously stated, if you plug in your handset into something like a howard leight headset, you lose the ability to easily hear things around you, which may be very beneficial depending in the circumstances.
I have the battery pack and man is it terrible. The contacts fall out andnthe batteries are loose/rattle. Simple to fix with some thing adhesive backed foam and some adhesive to retain the contacts but not something i was expecting to do considering how simply they are to make.
True, you only need a license if you want to stay out of jail before SHTF (and you are not in a true emergency). But, a Tech license (all you need for UHF/VHF) is cheap and easy (and teaches you a bit about the science). So, why not get a license? At least then you'd actually understand how to actually use the radio during SHTF, right?
Getting a license allows you to field test, practice and transmit legally (not illegally) during peacetime. When SHTF, you won't have the same amount of experience as someone who was able to legally transmit for years during peace time, doing it for fun as a hobby. Those who had the experience to legally transmit, have seen how certain buildings/foliage attenuate the signal which affects range, how different wavelengths/band spectrums have pros and cons, how different radios with different wattage extend/diminish communication range, different power sources for a 5w/50w radio when electricity grid is down, radio interference, etc. A license = tool to practice and learn before bad things happen. Also it's not an elitist, it's just an exam - study, take it and pass it. This kind of logic is the same logic that applies to a lot of "peppers" who buy all sorts of cool gadgets with zero knowledge, training and experience during peace time, nor stamina to even run a couple of blocks, talking about how they're going to be Brad Pitt during SHTF. Bro, you can't even run a couple of blocks when your world is at relative peace, imagine when there's chaos all around you.
Isn't an proper analog radio preferred as it would probably also work after a tactical EMP but any chipbased won't and UV 5R Is one of also a semi digital..... ???? Plz suggest a good one with long range for budget restraint
Nice kit. An upgrade would be a newer radio with USB C charging which is much more convenient. And make it two radios, so you have a backup or an extra radio to hand to someone.
I have ear pros wit aux input which I know is working. I have the same PTT as you but I can’t get the aux output to work Edit: NVM got it fixed ground and the aux out put were wired backwards switch them and learned how to solder now I’m all set up.
murs is another radio option just like frs it's license free, pros - less crowded since not too many use murs freq's and antenna is replaceable with whip or standard high gain antennas, cons - limited to 5 channels
Excellent presentation of affordable comms choices. I have a similar set up though I learned something about battery backups. I also added inexpensive GMRS HTs. I think you can cut the volume of the music.
Thanks for the tip on the head phone connection on the mike!! Must have missed when I read instructions! I'm old and hard of hearing!! It made a world of difference. :-)
Everyone should ALSO become Ham Radio operators. I only have my technician class, but I've used it for years as a Skywarn storm chaser, in addition to emergency comms for search and rescue operations.
@@gadsdenconsulting7126 I mean, you can't use the radio waves that I can 😂 it's literally illegal, and you can be fined and arrested. But okay, hope your comment made you feel big and powerful
@@BrendanYoungMusic @BrendanYoungMusic dude, I can literally use the same frequencies you use, and I have no use to get a license to do it. I won't get fined, nor will I get arrested for doing so lmao. And I didn't comment for my benefit. It's funny how you sad hams get so flustered when someone doesn't take a ridiculous test like "they" did, just to feel important somehow. Carry on and peace ✌️
Comms gear supply has a PTT that can hook into cheap headsets (Howard leights ect) $100-$135 It’s more streamlined than what you showed here but more expensive
I've had 2 baofengs for almost 4 years now and am still unsuccessful in getting them programmed properly. I've managed to get NOAA on them and that's it. Difficult to get help without a call sign. Zero interest in transmitting or any other use outside of SHTF.
Usb-c needed. Better to pay a little bit more for the radio but get more functions, quality, water protection and usb-c. Abree radio, radtel rt-490 or smth like that.
i have this exact setup with the external PTT and the HL Impact Sports. the External Mic does not TX or RX through the headset when i plug it in. The PTT works fine on its own. but the AUX must be wired wrong, its dead as soon as i plug in a headset...
Once it connects to the headset, does the speaker emit audio? I'm thinking to have a headset setup to protect my ear while broadcasting to my team to hear the conversation from the speaker. While having the option to mute the speaker broadcast anytime i want but not to the headset
I have a very similar setup except with howard leight ear pro and a commountain mic and for whatever reason I can both transmit and receive loud and clear but whenever I transmit all I hear is this incredibly loud screeching noise and I hate it.
Since they make full sized batteries that take USB C now, for the same space as those AA batteries you could carry a regular sized radio battery which will last long enough for you to recharge the large one without the hassle of AA batteries. Those AA battery shells have a reputation for not maintaining electrical contact and making your radio shut off
I have a very similar setup but ran into an unexpected trouble at the end. I have the tyt thuv88 as my radio, baofeng ptt and Howard Leight Impact sport as hearing protection/headset. Everything worked completely fine by itself, but once everything is plugged in as intended, I couldn't hear the radio from my headset, the ambient noise amplyfier is working properly, but I can`t hear the radio through the headset. I am allow to talk into the ptt and it does come out the other end of another radio with my headset plugged in. I just can't hear from the radio through the headset. I did end up fidgeting the 3.5 mm cable and found out if I pull the cable from the headset just a little bit, I can hear from the headphone and the baofeng ptt. Have you ran into these kind of problems and if so how did you solve it? Thanks!
I'm using a similar setup, same baofeng walkie, same ptt, but walkers razor. But when I try to use this setup I just can't get it to work properly, ich can't hear the sound of the walkie or the incoming radio, the headphones just won't work with the baofeng ptt. The ptt itself is working and giving audio output, other headphones won't work aswell, can anybody help me out?
It's a good radio, and I don't think a fancy Motorola gives me more range. In the city sucks pretty good, but that's because of the city itself, not the radio.
What kind of auxiliary cord is it? I have the same radio and mic and Howard leight electronic hearing protection, but the auxiliary cord that came with my hearing pro only works if I insert it half way into the mic, but it still gives me audio over the mic. If I insert it all the way I get no audio at all on either. Thanks
@@shmezy the lapel mic is wired wrong I had to rewire all mine. Really easy to do once you know which are wrong. Just need a soldering iron I can try to post a video of what I did if you want
@@AGuy-s5v I don't unfortunately but if my brother finds his I can make a video . I would have to look at the ones I corrected to remember. Pretty sure the few different ones I did also had different color wires which didn't help
Most Ham Radios take a range of voltages and will transmit at a higher power if you feed it a little more voltage, a typical mobile rig will take 12-14 volts and transmit noticeably more wattage at 14v. I think the extendo batteries will bump the Baofeng from ~5 watts to ~6.4 watts (on 2 meters). An extra ~1/2 volt is perfectly safe.
@@KenCunningham921 That is correct. But when talking about a 2s lion battery it's quite out of spec, definitely in the realm of over charging (max is 4.2 per cell). This is just what I have observed and thought I might share.
I guess it would depend on who you want to communicate with. If you know the people you communicate with, and they have digital, then digital is far better. Even if you would use non-encrypted digital it would mean that nobody can snoop on your communication with any analog radio (probably 90% of people having communication, have baofengs, so that rules out quite a lot of people). Finding cheaper radios with encryption is not that easy, but not impossible. Better yet, some kind of encrypted text based messaging. The time transmitting vs data transmitted is much higher.
baofeng is for civil uses only so no encryption and relatively short in distance. but ye that is not quite an issue as long as the community is still helping each other
I want to pick up one of those headsets but I am deaf in my left ear. Does the audio from your radio go to both ears or just that left cup with the aux input on it?
So I'm not great with radios but I was thinking about getting some with some encryption but my question is I worry about Chinesemal ware in the radios is this a reasonable thing to be worried about or am I ignorant? Lemme know thanks anybody who knows
Encryption is nice, however it doesn't mean you can't be triangulated and found. So if you wanted a comms system that had some form of Encryption, the best cheap and reliable option is going to be something called "LoRa". Hope this helps.
In an emergency situation you can use these channels without a license. Im leaning more towards recommending GMRS over ham becuase GMRS radios offer a lot of great features and they recquire a basic $30 license which covers you for 10 years. You could much more easily legally train for tactical scenarios with GMRS.
Real tac coms are expensive. Some of them are made to actually hear further and muffle or increase ambient noises that you either need to or don't need to hear. Those are the ones that run like 600$.
As a ham & fox hunting enthusiast, I would point out that anything that isn't spread spectrum makes it very easy to locate your team members when they're broadcasting. Also, keep in mind yours are unencrypted solutions.
@@allthecommonsense In short, no - obscuring comms is a violation of Part 97, ss 113, # 4. For this convo let's assume SHTF so that's out the window. A quick google search presents the Motorola D1060, which is spread spectrum and digital mode only (meaning that even if someone had your spread spectrum pattern down, they'd just get digitally encoded signals. From there... just add encryption. A caveat: 900 MHz may reduce non-line-of-sight range over a Baofeng. Might be worth checking out - hope this helps. Edit: I would also point out that I own and use several Baofeng radios - they're perfectly adequate, I just wanted to point out the caveats.
@@tgreening I literally said "let's assume SHTF so that's out the window." It is generally beneficial to read the entire conversation before replying. Additionally, just because somebody commented on a public UA-cam video doesn't necessarily imply they are part of "your audience." My message was meant to be helpful, what is the point of yours?
Thats an interesting idea for a video! Right now I keep an Eton Grundig M400 in my backpack. Its powered by AAAs and picks up am/fm and a few emergency stations.
just to point out you can pair the PTT adapter with a PTT to 3.5mm adapter and hook directly into an android device running a PSK program and send text via radio. And generally you can reach much farther and use less bandwidth with the same power using PSK
The UV-5R is a HAM Radio. You need to have a HAM Amateur radio license in order to use/communicate on a HAM Radio. Meaning yes the UV-5R requires you to have a license for it by the FCC however nobody really cares if you have it or not. Just make sure you get the license as soon as you can because you can get fined for 25,000$ or spend 10 years in prison if the FCC finds out. Don’t worry when the FCC created this rule in 2012 not one single person has been charged or arrested at all over the past 12 years
In an SHTF situation, I would skip that antenna. Get one of the flexible antennas (Nagoya makes some good ones). Telescoping antennas are too easy to damage.
Cat Tail antenna. Flexible and durable
@Solar General I had a couple the Nagoya's. They worked well but all ended up bent at the same point. I've switched over to signal sticks now.
Get a signal stick
@@lunarnightshift2465marines call them whip and sword antennas
Good to know. I have both. And I like the telescopic better just cause it doesn’t get in the way or snag on everything
I love how it’s not an hour long video to where I feel the need for a note pad guy killed it
Thanks Daniel!
Fuckin a
The UV-5R is a great little radio, but it has some serious drawbacks. Chief among them is that K-plug headset connection on the side. They're notorious for coming lose and knocking out your comms. Or worse, RX'ing through the radio's speaker at the worst possible time, giving away your position.
My favorite way around this is to switch to the UV-9R Pro. It's only about $10 more expensive, and it's just a UV-5R with a more solid headset connection port and a waterproof rating. Keeps it cheap, and overcomes the UV-5R's (in my opinion) biggest flaw.
On the freqs Technicians can use what kinda range you get with the uv5r with decent conditions. Not perfect not awful..?
@@Methodizations That's going to depend on your setup. The quality of the antenna you put on it is going to play a major role. The little rubber duck that comes with it is pretty pathetic, but if you get a decent aftermarket antenna (Abbree or Nagoya are great) you'll see some very impressive range on flat, open terrain.
What do you use for a ptt for that connector?
Thanks for sharing
For SHTF I use a tiered approach. We have dozens of each GMRS, Baofeng, DMR with encryption. Each can expand capabilities of the group below it. Most use the same Kenwood K1 pins, but some more weatherproof use the Motorola M5 type. Lots of variations of covert and overt headsets too.
People need to understand one thing. As a matter of routine I see people buying radios and they have a habit of getting the longest/foldable antennas. This is fine for camping, trail riding etc. when more range is desired/needed. However, in a tactical situation that high power (8 Watt) radio and long antenna is going to draw attention to you like a seagull to french fry.
For small unit tactics/Team comms etc. you want the lowest power setting, and shortest antenna to keep your RF signature as small as possible. Contrary to popular belief, a team can DF (Direction Find) your position fairly quickly. If you learn the correct Net protocols you will be more secure in your comms as well as keep your team safer.
Recommendations?
@@treal512 Nagoya has good offerings, the key is to look at the base of the antenna, it will show a Freq range which should match the Freq you intend to use. An antenna is not a one size fits all. You want the antenna to support the Freq range you intend to use for best results.
If you're going to keep your comms to a very small LOS area, just switch to hand signals at that point and avoid any risk of RF detection altogether
Only issue i can forsee from this setup. If SHTF and there happens to be any SIGINT (signals intelligence) force whether its from the U.S or enemy force, that would be a real problem. I come from the door kicker community and ive worked with those guys alot and because of the frequency range for this and the megahertz that it runs at, it is very easy to trace and track and then the issue of not being able to really encrypt it. Im not downing the radio. I have two UV5RS but for different reasons. Love the setup for what it is. I would just keep that in mind. Maybe a great tool for every scenario not involving being hunted lol. Its just ashame that anyone with the knowledge can ping its location and find you.
Are GMRS radios as easy to track? Been thinking about building a similar setup around the baofeng UV5G Plus.
@@UrbanSurvivor they can track pretty much any frequency. I worked with SIGINT guys a lot downrange and they found a lot of dudes by tracking their radios. Do some reading on Low Level Voice Intercept.
Why do people always go for the crazy scenarios? If you're facing sigint teams you're Fd no matter what you do. Plan for realistic scenarios
@@evocati6523 SHTF is already a crazy scenario to begin with. And every country with a modern military has sigint capabilities. You don't even need the crazy stuff, just LLVI, which anyone can use cause it's so stupid simple. So it's not unrealistic
@@evocati6523it's really common for people to have these WW3 or civil war fantasies of larping as a tier1 operator. Realistically more of us should be preparing for a grid down scenario whether it's natural or human caused. We're far more likely to use comms to hear about emergency services and weather alerts than we are going to use them to strategically maneuver around a city to defeat enemy forces. With tons of people with their slick plate carriers, I tend to wonder what their food and water storage looks like.
Mirrored setup... NICE! I popped on here today and was searching for Baofeng mods.. and stumbled upon your video. Great tutorial! Nice to see someone else running this setup! Thank you for putting those outside-of-the-box setup ideas, that extender for the antenna is a nice touch.. never seen that before.. I love that collapsable antenna too!
Baofeng is the way to go.
We have 10 of them for our "Airsoft" team with ear pieces and throat mikes. (no wind noise)
Flat extended antennas are also available when you mount them on your plate carrier.
They really extend your range.
Thanks for the tip on the flat antennas, will look more into those. Yeah i need to do some more work networking in my area my shtf squad is about 3 below average joes but were working on leveling up lol
Which throat mics did you get?
@@ZakCiotti Sorry, couldn't tell u a brand or model.
How well do they hold up to dust and moisture?
@@MrPlainuser No problem with dust, any electronics should be covered in a down pour. Never had an issue in light rain.
A magnetic pole, or one installed to your car that can be cable threaded to your HT is also a good idea if you have to go mobile. Extends your range on the go.
I run the ABBREE 18 inch antenna, with the relocation kit, on my carrier. That is plugged in to a Baofeng DM-1801 portable. It does everything that the UV5-R does, but also does digital DMR. I run the FCA AMPS headset into the FCS V20 PTT, that has the Kenwood adaptor for the Baofeng radios.
I use it solely in digital mode and it works great. Digital mode, on average, goes a little over twice as far as analog.
Thanks for the info on your setup! Theres so much to learn about radios... this is just the very tip of the iceburg lol. Your setup doesnt seem like too much more expensive and would definitely be worthwile if you get a significant boost in range!
@@UrbanSurvivor I've been a HAM for about 30 years. I never thought much of digital until I tried it simplex with portables. It was amazing. A Baofeng MD-380 will do UFH only, but only costs about $65. My DM-1800 does UHF and VHF and is about $95. The extra batteries for the DM-1801 or hard to come by, and there is a DM-1700 out now I believe. When you can do everything from VHF maritime, to UHF FRS, and GMRS, for under $100. I would go for it.
Oh, the FCA AMPS have been good. The Kenwood plug works for just about any Baofeng, and Tytera.
WHat kind of range would you get in a city environment with that setup? Thanks for the additional info
@@ricoromano-inspiradalife365 I can get over a mile with buildings in the way. It's quite nice.
I run a nearly identical setup. Budget friendly and effective for sure. I would add that the newer Baofeng K6 has some advantages for ~ the same price as the UV5R. It's batteries are USB-C compatible for charging. It also has a scramble feature with 3 different scramble modes. Capable people could descramble your transmissions but it's an added layer of security for comms. Set your Tx/Rx channel for 2 different modes and you'll make it more difficult for someone to catch both sides of a conversation.
Right on, US! I have very similar set up for our comms. I have several UV-5Rs and the larger batteries BL-5L batteries. I have the charge cradles and charge cables and have a Jackery portable battery that lets me recharge twp of them and it has a foldable solar panel 60W for on the go. I do have to say I have a Ham license as well.
Thats awesome! Sounds like your comms setup it top notch and you have ham skills to back them up! I need to get a few more so I can stay connected with more people! Great that you have a solar charging setup. Those are super practical. Im working on acquiring some more portable solar at the moment.
Great input, i am new into this world, i have a few Baofeng, i need to look more in depth to your set up, thanks.
great video production as always. im running several different comm setups. been doing radio for 25 years now. 1 Having weather and waterproof radios is a must for any outdoor setups. 2 running the radios on half power or less output because most hts lack thermal regulation for sustained output at max pep wattage output. not to mention it drains the battery fast. 3 Height is might with vhf and uhf comms. hf is alittle different but in general height helps too. 4 antenna composition is critical ie resonant antennas for the frequencies you plan on operating is more important than power output usually. look up how to make antennas and apply the knowledge in field as it will help you figure out ways to overcome environmental conditions. 5 having a budget for quality comms. this is straight forward but if youre serious about quality, grab a motorola series radio, the programming cablea and software especially the older mt1000s and mts2000s vhf units. youll need an ms dos windows 95 and or xp depending on model to reprogram these motorolas. they are rugged and reliable once you get a new battery and program them. the accessories are top notch and made for professional use. they can be low cost too especially the older models because no one wants or has the equipment to reprogram them. 6 invest in an hf rig like the yaesu ft 817 / 818. if youve got the cash then maybe an elecraft kx3 fully loaded with a 2m transverter. sometimes listening is important and being able to obtain info both locally and far away can help. 7 grab a ham license not because its cool and nerdy but it allows you to practice operations and gain operational skills so that when you need to use the radios it will be more smoother and less time consuming. I could say more but thanks for the video.
00:00 Intro
0:50 Retevis rb618
1:20 Baofeng UV5R modded with a Nagoya 771R retractable antennae
2:15 Baofeng original battery
2:35 BL-5L 38OOMAH battery
3:45 Baofeng P2T handheld mic
4:15 Gloryfire hearing protection
I also have several Baofengs. Models such as the UV-9R Pro are more of my preferred choice, due to them being waterproof for rain/heavy moisture use.
Godspeed!
Is it identical to the 5r
Good way to make this better is Howard Leights w/gel cups, commountain PTT and a radio with Motorola style jack (more water proof). A good book is The Guerillas Guide to The Baofeng.
For my first go at it, I went pretty cheap. I had a pair of Midland GMRS radios I've used for camping and travel. The radios have a base-station charger that runs off of a 12v plug and I have a 12v basic battery setup to keep them charged. For the whole tactical option I picked up a throat mic that has dual earbuds. It was the only one I could find that wasn't just a sound tube. I'm going to cut off one of the earbuds and wire a 3.5mm plug in it's place to plug into my Walkers Razor active headphones. It's nothing fancy, but if it all works out, it'll make hunting a little easier and be more practical for the theoretical SHTF situation.
I had zero luck with that ptt mic working with the aux port.
One thing you might've wanted to mention is that if you do plug in that AUX cable into your headset, if it doesn't already have a way to allow both the radio Audio and the noise amplification to both be present that you might benefit from a momo-seperator (I may be totally saying this wrong, but the idea is still there).
Because as was previously stated, if you plug in your handset into something like a howard leight headset, you lose the ability to easily hear things around you, which may be very beneficial depending in the circumstances.
UV5R just got dicontinued, however BF-F8HPs are still avalible for 60AUD
I have the battery pack and man is it terrible. The contacts fall out andnthe batteries are loose/rattle. Simple to fix with some thing adhesive backed foam and some adhesive to retain the contacts but not something i was expecting to do considering how simply they are to make.
The biggest issue with uhf/vhf radios is from the elitists saying you need a license, but in reality in a SHTF situation you don’t need a license
True, you only need a license if you want to stay out of jail before SHTF (and you are not in a true emergency). But, a Tech license (all you need for UHF/VHF) is cheap and easy (and teaches you a bit about the science). So, why not get a license? At least then you'd actually understand how to actually use the radio during SHTF, right?
Exactly! When I need to use these, the concept of legality will be out thr window
Getting a license allows you to field test, practice and transmit legally (not illegally) during peacetime. When SHTF, you won't have the same amount of experience as someone who was able to legally transmit for years during peace time, doing it for fun as a hobby. Those who had the experience to legally transmit, have seen how certain buildings/foliage attenuate the signal which affects range, how different wavelengths/band spectrums have pros and cons, how different radios with different wattage extend/diminish communication range, different power sources for a 5w/50w radio when electricity grid is down, radio interference, etc. A license = tool to practice and learn before bad things happen. Also it's not an elitist, it's just an exam - study, take it and pass it.
This kind of logic is the same logic that applies to a lot of "peppers" who buy all sorts of cool gadgets with zero knowledge, training and experience during peace time, nor stamina to even run a couple of blocks, talking about how they're going to be Brad Pitt during SHTF. Bro, you can't even run a couple of blocks when your world is at relative peace, imagine when there's chaos all around you.
This was a great straight to the point great insight. Thanks
Isn't an proper analog radio preferred as it would probably also work after a tactical EMP but any chipbased won't and UV 5R Is one of also a semi digital..... ???? Plz suggest a good one with long range for budget restraint
I have the Btech 6X2 Pro DMR radio with Bluetooth capability, I use it for my work and situations that need the dual band Analog/Digital frequencies
Nice kit. An upgrade would be a newer radio with USB C charging which is much more convenient. And make it two radios, so you have a backup or an extra radio to hand to someone.
what are the lights new you using in the being of the video ?
?
I have ear pros wit aux input which I know is working. I have the same PTT as you but I can’t get the aux output to work
Edit: NVM got it fixed ground and the aux out put were wired backwards switch them and learned how to solder now I’m all set up.
murs is another radio option just like frs it's license free, pros - less crowded since not too many use murs freq's and antenna is replaceable with whip or standard high gain antennas, cons - limited to 5 channels
There is a newer version of that extended battery pack where it uses type C charger.
Excellent presentation of affordable comms choices. I have a similar set up though I learned something about battery backups. I also added inexpensive GMRS HTs. I think you can cut the volume of the music.
Thanks for the tip on the head phone connection on the mike!! Must have missed when I read instructions! I'm old and hard of hearing!! It made a world of difference. :-)
Awesome, glad to help! Hope you enjoy your setup.
Everyone should ALSO become Ham Radio operators. I only have my technician class, but I've used it for years as a Skywarn storm chaser, in addition to emergency comms for search and rescue operations.
No one cares. Maybe not everyone wants to get a "license" to use free radio waves.
@@gadsdenconsulting7126 I mean, you can't use the radio waves that I can 😂 it's literally illegal, and you can be fined and arrested. But okay, hope your comment made you feel big and powerful
@@BrendanYoungMusic @BrendanYoungMusic dude, I can literally use the same frequencies you use, and I have no use to get a license to do it. I won't get fined, nor will I get arrested for doing so lmao. And I didn't comment for my benefit. It's funny how you sad hams get so flustered when someone doesn't take a ridiculous test like "they" did, just to feel important somehow. Carry on and peace ✌️
@@gadsdenconsulting7126 the law literally says you can't... But good luck with that! 😂
I've had GREAT luck with it! You should watch some of Not A Rubicon Production vids. He has helped a lot of recovering Sad Hams.
Comms gear supply has a PTT that can hook into cheap headsets (Howard leights ect) $100-$135
It’s more streamlined than what you showed here but more expensive
Do you have a link to that?
I've had 2 baofengs for almost 4 years now and am still unsuccessful in getting them programmed properly. I've managed to get NOAA on them and that's it. Difficult to get help without a call sign. Zero interest in transmitting or any other use outside of SHTF.
Nice job ty for ur service to our community!!
Great no frills setup and content. Thank you for putting this together..
I added the same ear protection directly to my Team Wendy helmets
Usb-c needed. Better to pay a little bit more for the radio but get more functions, quality, water protection and usb-c. Abree radio, radtel rt-490 or smth like that.
i have this exact setup with the external PTT and the HL Impact Sports. the External Mic does not TX or RX through the headset when i plug it in. The PTT works fine on its own. but the AUX must be wired wrong, its dead as soon as i plug in a headset...
Once it connects to the headset, does the speaker emit audio? I'm thinking to have a headset setup to protect my ear while broadcasting to my team to hear the conversation from the speaker. While having the option to mute the speaker broadcast anytime i want but not to the headset
good stuff man
I have a very similar setup except with howard leight ear pro and a commountain mic and for whatever reason I can both transmit and receive loud and clear but whenever I transmit all I hear is this incredibly loud screeching noise and I hate it.
Great video man been practicing spraying before I do my rifle and this will definitely help
This is also great setup for volunteer opportunities. I’m starting a chest pack for such occasions.
Honestly thanks for the knowledge
The link for the ear muffs is wrong. It goes to some $180 ear buds that aren't in the video
Since they make full sized batteries that take USB C now, for the same space as those AA batteries you could carry a regular sized radio battery which will last long enough for you to recharge the large one without the hassle of AA batteries. Those AA battery shells have a reputation for not maintaining electrical contact and making your radio shut off
I have a very similar setup but ran into an unexpected trouble at the end. I have the tyt thuv88 as my radio, baofeng ptt and Howard Leight Impact sport as hearing protection/headset.
Everything worked completely fine by itself, but once everything is plugged in as intended, I couldn't hear the radio from my headset, the ambient noise amplyfier is working properly, but I can`t hear the radio through the headset. I am allow to talk into the ptt and it does come out the other end of another radio with my headset plugged in. I just can't hear from the radio through the headset. I did end up fidgeting the 3.5 mm cable and found out if I pull the cable from the headset just a little bit, I can hear from the headphone and the baofeng ptt.
Have you ran into these kind of problems and if so how did you solve it? Thanks!
Disco 33 has great stuff for your set up. Good video and options for people to use.
Thanks for the tip on Disco 33
Do you hear audio on one side or both sides of your ear defenders?
Thank you, sir.
Apologize if I missed it. But what range are you getting in the city with the beofang setup on an extended antenna?
I currently have a similar setup problem is that i only hear audio trough one earmuff rather than both? Can you help?
So...these comms operate on freqs that the BGs can't intercept(listen in on/triangulate...?
I tried this, but with my radio on max the volume i hear in the headset is low
What about the fact you must have a HAM operators liscence to send messeges on one of these?
Where will you get power to recharge everyone if shtf?
I'm using a similar setup, same baofeng walkie, same ptt, but walkers razor. But when I try to use this setup I just can't get it to work properly, ich can't hear the sound of the walkie or the incoming radio, the headphones just won't work with the baofeng ptt. The ptt itself is working and giving audio output, other headphones won't work aswell, can anybody help me out?
@UrbanSurvivor brand/model of those LED red candles?
It's a good radio, and I don't think a fancy Motorola gives me more range.
In the city sucks pretty good, but that's because of the city itself, not the radio.
What kind of auxiliary cord is it? I have the same radio and mic and Howard leight electronic hearing protection, but the auxiliary cord that came with my hearing pro only works if I insert it half way into the mic, but it still gives me audio over the mic. If I insert it all the way I get no audio at all on either. Thanks
I Have the same problem and can't find a single bit of info on how to fix it
@@shmezy the lapel mic is wired wrong I had to rewire all mine. Really easy to do once you know which are wrong. Just need a soldering iron I can try to post a video of what I did if you want
@@shmezy I couldn't really find any info either had to figure it out myself. Could tell the wires were mixed up from the factory
@@samsquanch762 I don't have any idea how these wires are wrong and how to fix them, do you have a video showing how to do this?
@@AGuy-s5v I don't unfortunately but if my brother finds his I can make a video . I would have to look at the ones I corrected to remember. Pretty sure the few different ones I did also had different color wires which didn't help
I would be careful with the larger battery usb chargers. I found mine to be outputing 9v instead of 8.4v. Just a side note.
Most Ham Radios take a range of voltages and will transmit at a higher power if you feed it a little more voltage, a typical mobile rig will take 12-14 volts and transmit noticeably more wattage at 14v. I think the extendo batteries will bump the Baofeng from ~5 watts to ~6.4 watts (on 2 meters). An extra ~1/2 volt is perfectly safe.
@@KenCunningham921 That is correct. But when talking about a 2s lion battery it's quite out of spec, definitely in the realm of over charging (max is 4.2 per cell). This is just what I have observed and thought I might share.
When you connect to headphones, does it only play on one side?
What cable are you using between the noise cancelling headset and the mic,,,?
Good video, so with regards to an SHTF situation I wonder if digital or even encrypted digital is more appropriate.
Analog all the way
I guess it would depend on who you want to communicate with. If you know the people you communicate with, and they have digital, then digital is far better. Even if you would use non-encrypted digital it would mean that nobody can snoop on your communication with any analog radio (probably 90% of people having communication, have baofengs, so that rules out quite a lot of people).
Finding cheaper radios with encryption is not that easy, but not impossible.
Better yet, some kind of encrypted text based messaging. The time transmitting vs data transmitted is much higher.
Just picked them up. works good
Excellent video. Did not realize radios where that cheap
Yeah not a bad price for what you get! You can definitely do a lot better but will have to spend significantly more.
@@UrbanSurvivor ya you get what you pay for 😎
baofeng is for civil uses only so no encryption and relatively short in distance. but ye that is not quite an issue as long as the community is still helping each other
Bro that is sick. Can't wait to get 1.
I want to pick up one of those headsets but I am deaf in my left ear. Does the audio from your radio go to both ears or just that left cup with the aux input on it?
Hi, what type of cable you connect your radio with headset?
I may not a expert but i did sleep at a holiday inn last night.
Awesome and informative. Thank you!
The ear protection link is wrong.
Wow awesome, thank you on the recommendation.
What size aux cable should you use ?
So I'm not great with radios but I was thinking about getting some with some encryption but my question is I worry about Chinesemal ware in the radios is this a reasonable thing to be worried about or am I ignorant? Lemme know thanks anybody who knows
Encryption is nice, however it doesn't mean you can't be triangulated and found.
So if you wanted a comms system that had some form of Encryption, the best cheap and reliable option is going to be something called "LoRa".
Hope this helps.
Stupid Question: How can one use a ham radio amongst a practice tactical team when you need a license to push the button?
In an emergency situation you can use these channels without a license. Im leaning more towards recommending GMRS over ham becuase GMRS radios offer a lot of great features and they recquire a basic $30 license which covers you for 10 years. You could much more easily legally train for tactical scenarios with GMRS.
What are those red LED tripod lights at the beginning of the video?????????????????????????????????????????
The 2 prong connector that goes from mic into side of baogeng radio had loose connection and I I had to send it back. Anyone else have this issue?
Wow I never even looked into headphone comms cuz I assumed they were super expensive
Real tac coms are expensive. Some of them are made to actually hear further and muffle or increase ambient noises that you either need to or don't need to hear. Those are the ones that run like 600$.
Excellent
As a ham & fox hunting enthusiast, I would point out that anything that isn't spread spectrum makes it very easy to locate your team members when they're broadcasting. Also, keep in mind yours are unencrypted solutions.
Do you have a succinct alternative for which you can provide links?
@@allthecommonsense In short, no - obscuring comms is a violation of Part 97, ss 113, # 4. For this convo let's assume SHTF so that's out the window. A quick google search presents the Motorola D1060, which is spread spectrum and digital mode only (meaning that even if someone had your spread spectrum pattern down, they'd just get digitally encoded signals. From there... just add encryption. A caveat: 900 MHz may reduce non-line-of-sight range over a Baofeng. Might be worth checking out - hope this helps.
Edit: I would also point out that I own and use several Baofeng radios - they're perfectly adequate, I just wanted to point out the caveats.
@@iNowHateAtSigns helps a lot!
@@iNowHateAtSigns. Considering the audience here, do you really think anyone gives two hoots about part 97, or any other law regarding ham bands?
@@tgreening I literally said "let's assume SHTF so that's out the window." It is generally beneficial to read the entire conversation before replying. Additionally, just because somebody commented on a public UA-cam video doesn't necessarily imply they are part of "your audience." My message was meant to be helpful, what is the point of yours?
Have you seen the covert arms 3.5mm mic system?
No i havent but it looks cool! Do you have one?
@@UrbanSurvivor I do, it's pretty sick
Great video. Subbed after watching.
Had no idea that connector to the noise canceling head set was on the mic till this video! THANK YOU!!
can it work with walker razors or howard leight
Aux input is pretty standard on most of their models.
Already been said ditch that antenna, a long flexible Nagoya or a folding tactical will give you better durability.
Not gonna lie, saw the thumbnail and it is the exact same kind of setup I have but I got a better antenna with remote connection
Awesome, which antenna are you using?
Hi, would you be able to do a video on radios that would be good for edc/shtf and as a way to keep in tune to announcements/news?
Thats an interesting idea for a video! Right now I keep an Eton Grundig M400 in my backpack. Its powered by AAAs and picks up am/fm and a few emergency stations.
My 3.5mm port on this ptt just don't work with my earpro anyone knows how to fix it ?
just to point out you can pair the PTT adapter with a PTT to 3.5mm adapter and hook directly into an android device running a PSK program and send text via radio. And generally you can reach much farther and use less bandwidth with the same power using PSK
Have you tested with DMR vs analog?
Great video!
Very awesome. Might be good to get a couple of those.
Thanks for watching!
Great Video, to the point, no bs.
Earmor m32 $89 can hook into a real PTT
Does operating the uv5r require a license?
The UV-5R is a HAM Radio. You need to have a HAM Amateur radio license in order to use/communicate on a HAM Radio. Meaning yes the UV-5R requires you to have a license for it by the FCC however nobody really cares if you have it or not. Just make sure you get the license as soon as you can because you can get fined for 25,000$ or spend 10 years in prison if the FCC finds out. Don’t worry when the FCC created this rule in 2012 not one single person has been charged or arrested at all over the past 12 years
Thank you so much for this video!
Really glad you enjoyed it!
Anyone have solutions for EMP’s to maintain communication??
There are plenty of videos on this platform that demonstrate how to make affordable/cheap farraday cages for EMP type scenarios.