Hi!
I have a slight question: Motorola RDU2080D ($175) or the Motorola CP110 ($250). Both prices are for 2 radios with their accessories. I will be using them at a 2 mile distance over the water on a paddle board. Let me know which one you guys would go for!
BTW: I don’t NEED them to be waterproof since they will be in waterproof two way radio bags.
Regards,
Richard
I am assuming you are buying used radios? Both of those models are discontinued. Both are similar in features such as RF output and audio output. Both are reasonably splash resistant and solid business-class radios. The question I have is, how are you going to program them? Are you using a dedicated business frequency? If so, they will need to be programmed by your two way radio dealer to your specific frequencies.
If you are buying used (or new) radios and you don’t have the customer programming software for them, it will cost you a lot of money to buy the software from Motorola. Because they are business radios, they are not designed for any consumer use or for programming by the end user.
If you don’t own a dedicated business frequency, you cannot legally program them to consumer channels such as FRS anyway. If you leave them on the channels that were programmed in to them by the previous user or from the factory, you are risking interfering with someone else’s frequency. Depending on the country you live in, they may not take business or amateur radios illegally programmed to GMRS or FRS frequencies all that seriously, but you can bet they WILL take interfering on business or public safety frequencies VERY seriously.
Maybe, if you can, provide some more information on your needs and budget, and also if you own a dedicated business frequency or not. All that makes a difference. Two miles over water is not that hard for a good quality GMRS or FRS radio to achieve, and depending on where you live, FRS are licence free radios.
If you need something much higher quality than consumer FRS radios, there are other alternatives that are licence-free and can be programmed by the end user.
You CAN buy inexpensive, high quality business-class industrial-quality radios that can easily be programmed by the end user and are licence-free … but not all in the same radio.
Hi!
Thanks for your response. So they will not be used for business purposes, it will be a consumer purchase. The reason I am into those 2 is for the design, performance, and durability. I actually ended up purchasing the CP110 since it had both UHF and VHF so I can contact the Coast Guard if need be (they will be used in the ocean). I truly never thought about the programming aspect of it, I planned to use one of the ready-to-use channels. I am in Florida, USA by the way if that helps. Also, the radios are brand new, just old stock.
Did you buy the VHF version then? I assume so as you want to talk to the coastguard. While they might be happy in an emergency, keep in mind that the radio is not approved in either the UK or the US for marine use. If you have accidentally bought the UHF version you will be a bit stuck with the marine thing of course. The same model is available in both bands, but they are not dual band radios as in ham dual band, just like Kenwood and Icom, the same radio but different bands.
Didn’t we already suggest you should buy marine band proper radios? Maybe that was somebody different - if so sorry.
Marine waterproof radios sound pretty good. Non-waterproof radios is bags sound pretty horrible, so even though I have some of these bags (Icom ones) they’re horrible things and even changing channels with a knob is a pain. Perhaps one with buttons would have been better if you need the bags?
I’m very confused about the programming though - if you are not going to reprogram, how will you talk to the coastguard? CH16 won’t be in any radio not designed for marine band, unless you stick it in? I guess you’re not bothered about the legal side of all this, just the safety side - which is of course your call.
I wish you had listened to our advice before you bought these radios. Unfortunately, you purchased radios entirely inappropriate for your needs. I would return them, and look for GMRS/Marine band radios. There are several that combine GMRS with Marine band, and these will be much better suited to your needs for about the same price. If you go this route, you will also need to obtain a licence for marine band radios.
Basically, you bought business-class radios not designed for consumer use and not designed for programming by the end user. They are either UHF or VHF; not both, as my friend above told you. You will have difficulty finding the programming software and cable, and no dealers will program these to illegal channels for you.
You can NOT use them on the pre-programmed business frequencies that come with them. They are pre-programmed with certain itinerant business frequencies designed for temporary use until a business gets their own assigned frequency. The business also needs a licence for an assigned itinerant frequency, and by using these radios, you will be interfering with licenced users.
As I told you, regulating authorities might be less willing to chase down amateur radios illegally programmed for FRS, GMRS and marine bands, but they will certainly be VERY willing to chase down someone who bought a couple of business radios and are using them in a way that interferes with the properly licenced users.
You cannot use these radios legally and even if you could, it is not physically possible to program them to both marine band and FRS frequencies. Aside from the fact you need a licence to operate on marine band frequencies, FRS is UHF and marine band is VHF. These radios are one or the other; not both.
Send them back and get good quality FRS radios. In the US, they can now transmit up to two watts and are licence-free. You should also ask yourself if you really need the ability to call the Coast Guard from a paddleboard, considering the need for a licence on marine band.
The other thing to consider is that marine bands are necessary for safety of life at sea, and regulating authorities will aggressively enforce the proper use of marine frequencies. By transmitting illegally, you may be putting someone’s life in danger.
Our forum hosts at buytwowayradios.com have a great selection of good quality FRS radios and amateur (Ham) radios at reasonable prices.
Rules have recently changed to access more licence-free channels on FRS radios. What used to be FRS and GMRS radios combined are now considered just FRS, as long as the output power is under 2 watts (which most consumer GMRS radios were anyway.)
I think you want professional-looking but very simple to operate radios that transmit on legal bands and can reach 2 miles across the ocean. Maybe get a couple of good waterproof FRS radios for the paddleboards, plus one higher output amateur radio for the shore station. (Surf shop.)
It is not legal to use that amateur radio on FRS, GMRS, MURS or marine band channels except in an emergency, but there is nothing that says you can’t monitor (listen only) on the surf shop radio. But you now also have the ability to call the Coast Guard in an emergency, and they are not going to be concerned about licences until after everyone is safe.
With FRS on the paddleboards and one amateur radio in the surf shop, boarders can’t accidentally call on the marine frequency, which will really raise Coast Guard attention if it is not an emergency. Technically, you cannot use an amateur radio to transmit on FRS or GMRS either, and no one on these forums is going to advise you to do anything illegal, but lots of people have programmed handheld amateur radios for FRS and GMRS frequencies, and I doubt anyone will know or care.
You might look specifically at the new Baofeng UV-6R. It is water resistant (NOT waterproof) but if it’s inside a waterproof pouch, it will be fine. Plus, it has very good audio, which will help it be more readable from inside a plastic pouch. Plus, at $29, if it falls overboard, no big deal. It is an amateur radio and can’t be used legally on the FRS frequencies, but lots of people have. It is easy to program yourself with the software and a good cable. (Get a GOOD cable, with a genuine FTDI chip, not some cheap clone cable, and it will save you a LOT of heartache!)
This is really good advice - even from my non-US perspective, you’ve dropped the ball here.
I do a little work in marine band, installing and fixing kit, and haver the appropriate licence here to do it, and leave one of the radios working in my van which has the popular busy channels in it, as our town is split by a harbour and closing bridge - so I get advance warning of when the **** thing will shut the road system down! However - since getting a Whistler scanner, I’ve discovered loads of fisherman/leisure operator chit chat on out of the way marine channels, and they would seem to be ideal for you - almost ‘private’ channels for you to talk about what you’re doing etc etc but instant access to emergency services. I can’t really see why you would need more than this - because if you did work the licence but more public bands, what advantage would there actually be? On a channelised radio, it really doesn’t matter what frequency is in one of your channels - presumably 16 would be marine channel 16, but the rest are just your choice?
Please note I’m not saying you ignored our advice so ya - boo - sucks, but you did ask, we did answer and you decided to ignore it and go your own way (which is fine) but you’ve misunderstood the marketing blurb, and bought the wrong products, as they will not do what you said you wanted to do??
I hope you bought from a source that will take them back?
Ps chose VHF radios