I’m traveling to Colombia , south America, will be hiking through mountains, there will be three different groups, taking different routes, all within 10 mile range and separated by mountains.
Which radios should I consider buying. I have read about waves and frequencies. So it’s a bit hard to determine the best for this scenario. I appreciate your feedbacks.
Thank you
Radios you are likely to consider will be either VHF or UHF. Both of those are basically line of sight dependent, meaning if you can see the person you are talking to or if there are no mountains or heavy forests in the way you will be able to talk. Radio waves won’t go through or around mountain, generally speaking. Sometime you can get a signal to bounce off of canyon walls but I wouldn’t count on that. Trees, especially wet trees , will be a problem. It sounds like radios would be good for the people in the separate groups but ten miles in the mountains might be difficult to pull of.
A good 5W handheld will do well if you have a clear line of sight. Another thing to think about would be the regulations regarding radio use in Columbia. I wouldn’t want to run afoul of a foreign government for using frequencies restricted in that country.
A radio with a high IP water proof rating would be useful especially if you are in a humid/wet environment. One other thing: a radio with USB-C charging would be a lot easier to charge on the go instead of relying on a place to plug in a charging cradle.
Good luck.