# UHF Radios who uses them?



## Clapper&Company (Jan 4, 2005)

How many of you guys have UHF radios in your trucks?? I find there nicer then cell phones, cause you can here what every one has going on.

Let me know.


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## scottL (Dec 7, 2002)

Clapper&Company;424463 said:


> How many of you guys have UHF radios in your trucks?? I find there nicer then cell phones, cause you can here what every one has going on.
> 
> Let me know.


is that ham radio? I know it would be easier when you in the same location....


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## topdj (Oct 6, 2007)

I use ham radios
HF 2-30mhz have talked to anystate USA, europe, south africa from my truck while driving in westernt NY!

or VHF 50-170 ish
I just mod the radio and can talk in a unused area
UHF is in the 440mhz range


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## MarksTLC (Oct 6, 2003)

Isn't there a license req. to use Ham radios? I don't recall. Maybe only for the base station?

My memory is gone...


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## Clapper&Company (Jan 4, 2005)

Rigth you have to FCC lic. I'm not talking about ham, i'm talking about company UHF raidos


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## topdj (Oct 6, 2007)

privet band UHF
I have a lic for 440 uhf ham band

your talking commercial UHF but if you need some range go with 100watt VHF commercial
UHF dont have the range unless your using a repeater.

you could try those 5 watt family radios
just dont be saying your business name 
use them just when working a complex or parking lot


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## dirt digger (Feb 27, 2005)

if thats the same as business band radios we use them...base station is at the shop (dispatch)...we get about a 40-50 mile radius with them...they work well except when you get down into some valleys and low lying areas, usually the same places you get no cell phone reception which really sucks when you start having jobsite/equipment problems


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## JD Dave (Mar 20, 2007)

dirt digger;424594 said:


> if thats the same as business band radios we use them...base station is at the shop (dispatch)...we get about a 40-50 mile radius with them...they work well except when you get down into some valleys and low lying areas, usually the same places you get no cell phone reception which really sucks when you start having jobsite/equipment problems


We call ours 2-way radio's. We have around 24 of them, they are in every vehicle we own and they are very handy. We only pay a license fee for 4 radios, so the rest are free. Some of our radio's are 30 years old and still work fine and we find they are much easier to use then cell phones for the farm and plowing.


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## Clapper&Company (Jan 4, 2005)

we use UHF with a repeter, cost us $30 month, for the repeter. There the best thing for plowing, this will be our 2nd year using them, I dont know why we did get them sooner..

I just wanted to see how many other guys use them. We have them in the trucks. Planing on putting one in the house, and one at dads place(also the shop). The answering service we use said we can put on there aswell, save a phone call.


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## JRSlawn (Jan 15, 2004)

I have been looking into uhf as well I am contemplating uhf or nextels. I like nextels because I can take it inside with me I guess I could get a handheld but it just keeps adding up. How have they been working for you Ronnie? Have you taked to steve latley?


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## powerjoke (Nov 13, 2004)

JRSlawn;424658 said:


> I have been looking into uhf as well I am contemplating uhf or nextels. I like nextels because I can take it inside with me I guess I could get a handheld but it just keeps adding up. How have they been working for you Ronnie? Have you taked to steve latley?


we've got about 6 mobile and 6 portable they are uhf or vhf i don't remember but the run off a repeater and can bounce for quite a few miles i think the farthes we've used them is eldorado springs MO to overland park KS which i think is about 50-75 mi i donno,

they work o.k. but they are high i think we give about $400-500 for mobile and $500-600 for portable and then like $25 per month per radio they are the kenwood radio and i think they are TRUNKING radio also. we had the talkaround freq. put in ours and it is a lot easier than waiting for the beep to talk. we have had them for years but we use mostly cell's now and also use the little motorola talkabout's even though they are not "commercial use"

hope this helps


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## Clapper&Company (Jan 4, 2005)

Trunking radios are sweet, i'm not to the point where I need trunking. UHF is find for me.


Jeff, UHF vs Nextel, USF is better because you can hear what every one is saying.


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## murphyslaw (Oct 2, 2005)

I have been using commercial VHF and UHF, I have a comm FCC lic for the freq's I use and I am the only business allowed by the FCC to use those freq's in my area. 

I am also an Extra class Ham operator and have several ham radios in my truck.


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## Lawn Care Plus (Oct 23, 2006)

This is a great thread as I have been thinking about these options as well. Particularly when the site is large and you want to get ahold of a worker or foreman.

Exactly what handhelds are you all using, and what bases are you using?

Thanks,

Tim


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## murphyslaw (Oct 2, 2005)

for portables I use Motorola PR400's(uhf) there awesome, and I program them myself.


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## powerjoke (Nov 13, 2004)

Kenwood tk-380 and tk-880 i think i'll check if interested


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## Clapper&Company (Jan 4, 2005)

Vertex is what we use.


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## DBL (Aug 27, 2005)

my part time towing company is getting rid of the ones out of the trucks(bad idea) but i may pick them up their bill is $15 a radio a month....they can easily get us 40 miles give or take


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## doh (Sep 23, 2003)

They are VHF here, the local trucker's have 3 open use channels plus an option for an @ cost/ longer range than cellphone, radio phone channel.


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## merrimacmill (Apr 18, 2007)

I have some motorolla business 2 ways. They only get around our building or in our lots but not to far from our property. The nextel coverage around here is awful so we went with cingular push to talk. It takes forever to initiate the PTT. We're thinking of adding a truck next year and we are thinking of the advantages of nextels GPS. 

Do you guys rent the space on the repeaters?


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## Little Jon (Nov 3, 2007)

We have motorolas in all the trucks, nad have our own dedicated private channel (dont ask how much that costs cuz im not sure). Its great, they have about a 40 mile range, so in the summer we can always be incontact, and in the winter its great because we do big contracts so there is alot of plowing in tandom and triples, so you have instint communication to the other trucks.


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## murphyslaw (Oct 2, 2005)

merrimacmill;444279 said:


> I have some motorolla business 2 ways. They only get around our building or in our lots but not to far from our property. The nextel coverage around here is awful so we went with cingular push to talk. It takes forever to initiate the PTT. We're thinking of adding a truck next year and we are thinking of the advantages of nextels GPS.
> 
> Do you guys rent the space on the repeaters?


I have my own repeater that is on the roof of my buddies shop almost right in the middle of town.

but you can rent repeater space, going that route you usually pay x$ for the channel then x$ per radio that will be using the repeater. it has been to long since I rented tower space but I think it was around 100 bucks a month for my 7radios and 2 different channels


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