Two way radio

Mitch Berg said:

Hi,

I'm going to be riding with one other person from Seattle to
Vancouver and want to be able to talk along the way. Has anyone used
a two-way radio to talk with from bike to bike. I would prefer a
setup that is full-duplex (both parties can talk at the same time).

Any suggestions or experiences with two way radio's would be greatly
appreciated!

I've mountain biked with people who've used them (not sure about the
simultaneous talking part, however), and they seemed to work pretty well.
No reason to think road riding would be any different.

If you wear a Camelbak or similar hydration system, it gives you a
convenient place to clip the unit. Maybe they make arm-band-type deals like
runners use for radios or .mp3 players? I'd think having them handy would
be important, so the rear jersey pocket not such a good carrying place.
(Might be dangerous fumbling for it while careening down the road!)

Enjoy the ride -- should be beautiful scenery up there.

Sorno

"Bill Sornson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mitch Berg said:

Hi,

I'm going to be riding with one other person from Seattle to
Vancouver and want to be able to talk along the way. Has anyone used
a two-way radio to talk with from bike to bike. I would prefer a
setup that is full-duplex (both parties can talk at the same time).

Any suggestions or experiences with two way radio's would be greatly
appreciated!

I've mountain biked with people who've used them (not sure about the
simultaneous talking part, however), and they seemed to work pretty well.
No reason to think road riding would be any different.

If you wear a Camelbak or similar hydration system, it gives you a
convenient place to clip the unit. Maybe they make arm-band-type deals
like runners use for radios or .mp3 players? I'd think having them handy
would be important, so the rear jersey pocket not such a good carrying
place. (Might be dangerous fumbling for it while careening down the road!)

Enjoy the ride -- should be beautiful scenery up there.

Sorno

There is an entire group on Yahoo for Bicycle Mobile amateur radio
operators, too. Getting a ham license is not hard since 2000.

Charles of Schaumburg

n5hsr wrote:
[snip]

Quoted message said:

There is an entire group on Yahoo for Bicycle Mobile amateur radio
operators, too. Getting a ham license is not hard since 2000.

Charles of Schaumburg

i bet some of the hams even do qrp HF on bicycle trips. guess you'd
need a tuner to do it, and a rig, toss a wire up into a tree, lay out
some radials. i wonder what kind of bicycle based eletrical generator
they use to charge up batteries for that kind of thing, because you
know you wouldn't be able to put a ham on/in any kind of vehicle
without them figuring out how to use it to generate electricity to
power their rigs lol.

n5hsr said:

"Bill Sornson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mitch Berg said:

Hi,

I'm going to be riding with one other person from Seattle to
Vancouver and want to be able to talk along the way. Has anyone used
a two-way radio to talk with from bike to bike. I would prefer a
setup that is full-duplex (both parties can talk at the same time).

Any suggestions or experiences with two way radio's would be greatly
appreciated!

I've mountain biked with people who've used them (not sure about the
simultaneous talking part, however), and they seemed to work pretty well.
No reason to think road riding would be any different.

If you wear a Camelbak or similar hydration system, it gives you a
convenient place to clip the unit. Maybe they make arm-band-type deals
like runners use for radios or .mp3 players? I'd think having them handy
would be important, so the rear jersey pocket not such a good carrying
place. (Might be dangerous fumbling for it while careening down the road!)

Enjoy the ride -- should be beautiful scenery up there.

Sorno

There is an entire group on Yahoo for Bicycle Mobile amateur radio
operators, too. Getting a ham license is not hard since 2000.

Charles of Schaumburg

Ahh,
Not to stick my nose in (again) but those kinds of radios have been
around for about 30 years and made popular by the motorcycling scene.
Even a large group of Harley riders usually has someone (wife or ??)
driving a van with facilities to repair or if needed, haul a bike, and
they all keep in touch with a voice activated 2 way radio. I don't know
how many people they can handle but my wife and I had some from, aaah,
Radio Shack and they were good up to about a half mile direct line of
sight. If anything got in the way it was less than a block.
Bill Baka
High high tech you go depends on your $$$$ willingness to spend.

On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 19:21:32 -0700, "Mitch Berg" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Hi,

I'm going to be riding with one other person from Seattle to Vancouver and
want to be able to talk along the way. Has anyone used a two-way radio to
talk with from bike to bike. I would prefer a setup that is full-duplex
(both parties can talk at the same time).

Any suggestions or experiences with two way radio's would be greatly
appreciated!

In most cases, a pair of FRS radios with VOX capability, rechargeable
batteries, and headsets, will provide just what you're looking for.
Get the little foam blobs for the microphone tubes, though, or wind
noise will have them trying to transmit too often. I like Motorola's
units, but I've used several brands with pretty much equivalent
results. Some of them can use the same kind of headset as the common
types of cell phone, which is handy since it allows the same device to
serve two purposes.

--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Werehatrack said:

On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 19:21:32 -0700, "Mitch Berg" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Hi,

I'm going to be riding with one other person from Seattle to Vancouver and
want to be able to talk along the way. Has anyone used a two-way radio to
talk with from bike to bike. I would prefer a setup that is full-duplex
(both parties can talk at the same time).

Any suggestions or experiences with two way radio's would be greatly
appreciated!

In most cases, a pair of FRS radios with VOX capability, rechargeable
batteries, and headsets, will provide just what you're looking for.
Get the little foam blobs for the microphone tubes, though, or wind
noise will have them trying to transmit too often. I like Motorola's
units, but I've used several brands with pretty much equivalent
results. Some of them can use the same kind of headset as the common
types of cell phone, which is handy since it allows the same device to
serve two purposes.

Addendum: Full-duplex isn't supportd by FRS; most cell phones don't
support it, either. I'm not aware of a consumer-grade no-license
radio setup that provides this functionality, though one may exist.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

"Bill" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

n5hsr said:

"Bill Sornson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mitch Berg wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm going to be riding with one other person from Seattle to
> Vancouver and want to be able to talk along the way. Has anyone used
> a two-way radio to talk with from bike to bike. I would prefer a
> setup that is full-duplex (both parties can talk at the same time).
>
> Any suggestions or experiences with two way radio's would be greatly
> appreciated!
I've mountain biked with people who've used them (not sure about the
simultaneous talking part, however), and they seemed to work pretty
well. No reason to think road riding would be any different.

If you wear a Camelbak or similar hydration system, it gives you a
convenient place to clip the unit. Maybe they make arm-band-type deals
like runners use for radios or .mp3 players? I'd think having them
handy would be important, so the rear jersey pocket not such a good
carrying place. (Might be dangerous fumbling for it while careening down
the road!)

Enjoy the ride -- should be beautiful scenery up there.

Sorno

There is an entire group on Yahoo for Bicycle Mobile amateur radio
operators, too. Getting a ham license is not hard since 2000.

Charles of Schaumburg

Ahh,
Not to stick my nose in (again) but those kinds of radios have been around
for about 30 years and made popular by the motorcycling scene.
Even a large group of Harley riders usually has someone (wife or ??)
driving a van with facilities to repair or if needed, haul a bike, and
they all keep in touch with a voice activated 2 way radio. I don't know
how many people they can handle but my wife and I had some from, aaah,
Radio Shack and they were good up to about a half mile direct line of
sight. If anything got in the way it was less than a block.
Bill Baka
High high tech you go depends on your $$$$ willingness to spend.

Yes, I know. I have a friend that's been running bicycle mobile on 2 meters
for almost 2 decades now. You're talking about the family radio setup that
doesn't require a license.

Charles of Schaumburg

"purple_stars" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

n5hsr wrote:
[snip]

Quoted message said:

There is an entire group on Yahoo for Bicycle Mobile amateur radio
operators, too. Getting a ham license is not hard since 2000.

Charles of Schaumburg

i bet some of the hams even do qrp HF on bicycle trips. guess you'd
need a tuner to do it, and a rig, toss a wire up into a tree, lay out
some radials. i wonder what kind of bicycle based eletrical generator
they use to charge up batteries for that kind of thing, because you
know you wouldn't be able to put a ham on/in any kind of vehicle
without them figuring out how to use it to generate electricity to
power their rigs lol.

Actually there are smaller antennas that can be used for mobile HF rigs,
they can theoretically run HF while riding. . . .

Charles of Schaumburg

n5hsr said:

"purple_stars" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

n5hsr wrote:
[snip]

Quoted message said:

There is an entire group on Yahoo for Bicycle Mobile amateur radio
operators, too. Getting a ham license is not hard since 2000.

Charles of Schaumburg

i bet some of the hams even do qrp HF on bicycle trips. guess you'd
need a tuner to do it, and a rig, toss a wire up into a tree, lay out
some radials. i wonder what kind of bicycle based eletrical generator
they use to charge up batteries for that kind of thing, because you
know you wouldn't be able to put a ham on/in any kind of vehicle
without them figuring out how to use it to generate electricity to
power their rigs lol.

Actually there are smaller antennas that can be used for mobile HF rigs,
they can theoretically run HF while riding. . . .

Charles of Schaumburg

Charles,
If you are in
Schaumburg then you know of the Motorola presence in Illinois but they
might not be into communicators. I find the HF reference interesting
since I used to do HF 2.805 MHz installations for boater back in the
70's and that took a long wire antenna and some fancy ground=ding to get
it to work. Once it did I had a nice chat with a bloke sailing around
Australia and it was quite nice for world wide communications. I don't
see the use for short range.
Please explain
The 2 meters I can believe since I had a set from Radio Shack and they
were good to a half mile line of sight, and I mean looking at the other
person. We tried them in a U-haul truck and I couldn't even talk to my
wife one car being me due to the truck box being metal.
Bill Baka

Werehatrack said:

Werehatrack said:

On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 19:21:32 -0700, "Mitch Berg" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Hi,

I'm going to be riding with one other person from Seattle to Vancouver and
want to be able to talk along the way. Has anyone used a two-way radio to
talk with from bike to bike. I would prefer a setup that is full-duplex
(both parties can talk at the same time).

Any suggestions or experiences with two way radio's would be greatly
appreciated!

In most cases, a pair of FRS radios with VOX capability, rechargeable
batteries, and headsets, will provide just what you're looking for.
Get the little foam blobs for the microphone tubes, though, or wind
noise will have them trying to transmit too often. I like Motorola's
units, but I've used several brands with pretty much equivalent
results. Some of them can use the same kind of headset as the common
types of cell phone, which is handy since it allows the same device to
serve two purposes.

Addendum: Full-duplex isn't supportd by FRS; most cell phones don't
support it, either. I'm not aware of a consumer-grade no-license
radio setup that provides this functionality, though one may exist.

Cell phones are full duplex. Matter of fact, just about all phones
period are full duplex. Two way radios like police communications or
Walkie Talkies like FRS units are half duplex.

On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 19:21:32 -0700, "Mitch Berg" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Hi,

I'm going to be riding with one other person from Seattle to Vancouver and
want to be able to talk along the way. Has anyone used a two-way radio to
talk with from bike to bike. I would prefer a setup that is full-duplex
(both parties can talk at the same time).

Any suggestions or experiences with two way radio's would be greatly
appreciated!

Thanks,
Mitch

QUCK!!! Woot is offering two walkie talkie type things, with weather
information, for $25 bucks including shipping.

Woot offers only one item per day, and it just happens to be something
that might work for you. Woot always has good deals, it may not be
what you want, but if you want it you won't find it cheaper. Always $5
shipping, even for a 62" TV.

I have no connection to Woot except that I sometimes buy their stuff.

R Brickston said:

Werehatrack said:

Werehatrack said:

On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 19:21:32 -0700, "Mitch Berg" <[email hidden]>
wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I'm going to be riding with one other person from Seattle to Vancouver and
> want to be able to talk along the way. Has anyone used a two-way radio to
> talk with from bike to bike. I would prefer a setup that is full-duplex
> (both parties can talk at the same time).
>
> Any suggestions or experiences with two way radio's would be greatly
> appreciated!
In most cases, a pair of FRS radios with VOX capability, rechargeable
batteries, and headsets, will provide just what you're looking for.
Get the little foam blobs for the microphone tubes, though, or wind
noise will have them trying to transmit too often. I like Motorola's
units, but I've used several brands with pretty much equivalent
results. Some of them can use the same kind of headset as the common
types of cell phone, which is handy since it allows the same device to
serve two purposes.

Addendum: Full-duplex isn't supportd by FRS; most cell phones don't
support it, either. I'm not aware of a consumer-grade no-license
radio setup that provides this functionality, though one may exist.

Cell phones are full duplex. Matter of fact, just about all phones
period are full duplex. Two way radios like police communications or
Walkie Talkies like FRS units are half duplex.

Cell phones are also totally worthless in the mountains, as in no
coverage. I believe the question was how to keep in touch with your
group, not E.T. phone home.
Bill Baka

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 14:52:46 GMT, Bill <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

R Brickston said:

Werehatrack said:

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 08:22:56 GMT, Werehatrack
<[email hidden]> wrote:

> On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 19:21:32 -0700, "Mitch Berg" <[email hidden]>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I'm going to be riding with one other person from Seattle to Vancouver and
>> want to be able to talk along the way. Has anyone used a two-way radio to
>> talk with from bike to bike. I would prefer a setup that is full-duplex
>> (both parties can talk at the same time).
>>
>> Any suggestions or experiences with two way radio's would be greatly
>> appreciated!
> In most cases, a pair of FRS radios with VOX capability, rechargeable
> batteries, and headsets, will provide just what you're looking for.
> Get the little foam blobs for the microphone tubes, though, or wind
> noise will have them trying to transmit too often. I like Motorola's
> units, but I've used several brands with pretty much equivalent
> results. Some of them can use the same kind of headset as the common
> types of cell phone, which is handy since it allows the same device to
> serve two purposes.
Addendum: Full-duplex isn't supportd by FRS; most cell phones don't
support it, either. I'm not aware of a consumer-grade no-license
radio setup that provides this functionality, though one may exist.

Cell phones are full duplex. Matter of fact, just about all phones
period are full duplex. Two way radios like police communications or
Walkie Talkies like FRS units are half duplex.

Cell phones are also totally worthless in the mountains, as in no
coverage. I believe the question was how to keep in touch with your
group, not E.T. phone home.
Bill Baka

If you consider the context the duplex discussion is simply a side
remark about cell phones. Of course, Billy Baka never goes on a
tangent in his posts, unless it's at least three paragraphs long.

Mitch Berg said:

Hi,

I'm going to be riding with one other person from Seattle to Vancouver and
want to be able to talk along the way. Has anyone used a two-way radio to
talk with from bike to bike. I would prefer a setup that is full-duplex
(both parties can talk at the same time).

Any suggestions or experiences with two way radio's would be greatly
appreciated!

Thanks,
Mitch

Cheap FRS radios are available. I would suggest an earpiece with a
small mic. On long training rides (> 100 miles) my wife likes to
provide sag for us. We use similar radios to stay in touch (actually
we use ham radios, since we are both licensed, but no-license FRS
radios will work well also).

Full duplex will be impractical and I have not had good experience with
VOX either. Using a push-to-talk clipped to my jersey is not an
inconvenience, even though it may seem that way if you haven't tried
it.

Hope this helps,
Tom

"Bill" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

n5hsr said:

"purple_stars" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

n5hsr wrote:
[snip]
> There is an entire group on Yahoo for Bicycle Mobile amateur radio
> operators, too. Getting a ham license is not hard since 2000.
>
> Charles of Schaumburg
i bet some of the hams even do qrp HF on bicycle trips. guess you'd
need a tuner to do it, and a rig, toss a wire up into a tree, lay out
some radials. i wonder what kind of bicycle based eletrical generator
they use to charge up batteries for that kind of thing, because you
know you wouldn't be able to put a ham on/in any kind of vehicle
without them figuring out how to use it to generate electricity to
power their rigs lol.

Actually there are smaller antennas that can be used for mobile HF rigs,
they can theoretically run HF while riding. . . .

Charles of Schaumburg

Charles,
If you are in
Schaumburg then you know of the Motorola presence in Illinois but they
might not be into communicators. I find the HF reference interesting since
I used to do HF 2.805 MHz installations for boater back in the 70's and
that took a long wire antenna and some fancy ground=ding to get it to
work. Once it did I had a nice chat with a bloke sailing around Australia
and it was quite nice for world wide communications. I don't see the use
for short range.
Please explain
The 2 meters I can believe since I had a set from Radio Shack and they
were good to a half mile line of sight, and I mean looking at the other
person. We tried them in a U-haul truck and I couldn't even talk to my
wife one car being me due to the truck box being metal.
Bill Baka

I have the same problem with my cell phone in my brother's house. I get no
bars from Cingular there.

Some of the upper end HF bands are useful for short haul communications, as
well as long range. 10 meters (just next door to the CB band) can be used
for that. Rat Shack used to sell a 10 meter mobile over a decade ago.

Charles of Schaumburg

n5hsr said:

"Bill" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

n5hsr said:

"purple_stars" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
> n5hsr wrote:
> [snip]
>> There is an entire group on Yahoo for Bicycle Mobile amateur radio
>> operators, too. Getting a ham license is not hard since 2000.
>>
>> Charles of Schaumburg
> i bet some of the hams even do qrp HF on bicycle trips. guess you'd
> need a tuner to do it, and a rig, toss a wire up into a tree, lay out
> some radials. i wonder what kind of bicycle based eletrical generator
> they use to charge up batteries for that kind of thing, because you
> know you wouldn't be able to put a ham on/in any kind of vehicle
> without them figuring out how to use it to generate electricity to
> power their rigs lol.
>
Actually there are smaller antennas that can be used for mobile HF rigs,
they can theoretically run HF while riding. . . .

Charles of Schaumburg

Charles,
If you are in
Schaumburg then you know of the Motorola presence in Illinois but they
might not be into communicators. I find the HF reference interesting since
I used to do HF 2.805 MHz installations for boater back in the 70's and
that took a long wire antenna and some fancy ground=ding to get it to
work. Once it did I had a nice chat with a bloke sailing around Australia
and it was quite nice for world wide communications. I don't see the use
for short range.
Please explain
The 2 meters I can believe since I had a set from Radio Shack and they
were good to a half mile line of sight, and I mean looking at the other
person. We tried them in a U-haul truck and I couldn't even talk to my
wife one car being me due to the truck box being metal.
Bill Baka

I have the same problem with my cell phone in my brother's house. I get no
bars from Cingular there.

Some of the upper end HF bands are useful for short haul communications, as
well as long range. 10 meters (just next door to the CB band) can be used
for that. Rat Shack used to sell a 10 meter mobile over a decade ago.

Charles of Schaumburg

I have a 'contract with Cingular' and they suck big time. Sore subject.
I have some old CB radios that still work great and one Cobra that is so
brand new it is still in the original plastic, never even turned on.
Bill Baka

"Mitch Berg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm going to be riding with one other person from Seattle to Vancouver and
want to be able to talk along the way.

Doing RSVP this year, or are you doing this ride on your own?

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

"Claire Petersky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Mitch Berg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm going to be riding with one other person from Seattle to Vancouver
and want to be able to talk along the way.

Doing RSVP this year, or are you doing this ride on your own?

Why the hell don't you stay home and take care of your husband and children
instead of gallivanting all over the country like the hussy that you are?
You are too old and ugly to be doing bike rides with us guys. We only want
to look at young and attractive gals, not old hussies like you.

Cool Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

"Edward Dolan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Claire Petersky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Mitch Berg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm going to be riding with one other person from Seattle to Vancouver
and want to be able to talk along the way.

Doing RSVP this year, or are you doing this ride on your own?

Why the hell don't you stay home and take care of your husband and
children instead of gallivanting all over the country like the hussy that
you are? You are too old and ugly to be doing bike rides with us guys. We
only want to look at young and attractive gals, not old hussies like you.

Too bad you don't even follow your own guidelines about posting:
Ed on CP: "What Claire posts does not matter to me as she is a woman and I
NEVER pay any attention to them. But what really gets me going are all the
simple
minded fools (men) who respond to her as though she had really said
something. It makes me ashamed to be a man when I see such wimps calling out
to her as though she were some kind of "Mother of Us All."

If it doesn't matter, why even take the time to post nothing but a degrading
non-comment?

You make lofty accusations about "men of the groin" and not paying attention
to women, but now say you like looking at young women... ("We" is
inclusive of "you"😉.

You go, CP... And put little doley where he belongs.