Race Radios!!!

nms13228 · 12-02-2007, 10:05 PM

Im looking to buy a radio. probably an icom. anyone have any good sugestions? and were can i get it unlocked so you can talk both ways and surf all the band waves.

kartman · 12-03-2007, 10:15 AM

208H and V8000 are both good radios.

**loufish** · 12-03-2007, 07:27 PM

You can try PCI, they're a Icom dealer and know they're stuff...

http://www.pciraceradios.com/

nms13228 · 12-04-2007, 07:02 PM

I would like something with a remote display so i can mount the face and put the radio in a diffrent place.

**loufish** · 12-04-2007, 08:00 PM

Quote:

I would like something with a remote display so i can mount the face and put the radio in a diffrent place.

Waiting for Kartman, I think he has that type of set up...

CHUD · 12-05-2007, 06:43 PM

nms13228,

The Icom 208H Kartman suggested has a remote-mount faceplate. I don't think the V8000 has that option.

You may know this already, but using either of these radios on the VHF race frequencies is technically a no-no. They are not type-accepted for business class. They are amatuer radios which are intended to be used on those bands. Amatuer radios are user-programmable so you can transmit on just about any frequency even if you're using the wrong channel spacing or if you're not licensed for that particular channel. Furthermore, amatuer radios don't have to meet the same modulation requirements as commercial/business class radios. In other words, amatuer radios cause more interference on adjacent frequencies than type-accepted commercial class radios.

That being said, it's not that difficult to modify (I think that's what you mean by unlock) an amatuer radio for transmit in business class. You can usually find the mods on-line. If you're proficent with a soldering iron you'll probably be okay. With most radios, you need to remove a jumper/resistor or two, and power up the radio following particular keystrokes. Keep in mind, the components on the PCBs are incredibly small and close to one another. If you're not extremely careful, you can literally melt your radio. FYI... most Hams I know (including myself) are somewhat protective of their hobby, and won't help others illegally modify radios as a cheap, sloppy, and illegal means of transmitting on business class... no offense intended.

The company loufish suggested sells radios that are type-accepted for business class. The company programs the radios for the race channels you specify. They are not field/front pad programmable, so you can't transmit on a frequency used by police, fire, or ems. The down-side with these radios is I don't believe they can be used to scan those same frequencies (police, fire, ems) receive only. And I don't know if they receive the weather channels. But if you don't need or want those features, then it doesn't really matter. Also, didn't check to see if they have a mobile radio with a remote-mount faceplate.

Sorry for the long post. Thought it might clear a few things up in case there was any confusion.

**loufish** · 12-05-2007, 09:26 PM

I just assumed the OP was looking for a race radio that would be able to monitor/communicate on the popular race channels....Nothing to do with Fire/Police bands.

PCI is very protective also, Bob isn't going to sell you a radio that you shouldn't have....but will sell you a RACE radio.

My own FM radio been "modded" to a wider band width, but it's only used in the race radio freqs range and only out in the desert...and no dirty power amps...just the factory 50 watts.

CHUD · 12-07-2007, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loufish

I just assumed the OP was looking for a race radio that would be able to monitor/communicate on the popular race channels....Nothing to do with Fire/Police bands.

PCI is very protective also, Bob isn't going to sell you a radio that you shouldn't have....but will sell you a RACE radio.

My own FM radio been "modded" to a wider band width, but it's only used in the race radio freqs range and only out in the desert...and no dirty power amps...just the factory 50 watts.

Sorry, didn't mean to come across like the radio police. Lots of folks don't realize that "modded" ham radios can interfere with users on adjacent frequencies (like police or fire) just by their design. Keep in mind, the race freqencies are scattered in between other users like police and fire. For example, the Weatherman frequency 151.6250 MHz is only a couple hundred kilohertz away from one of the primary fire repeater frequencies 151.4450 MHz used by every fire agency in my area. With a modded ham radio (Icoms, Kenwoods, Yaesus, etc.) you don't have to be tuned to a given freqency to interfere with it. Let's say you're antenna has a gain of 3dB (decent for VHF) and you're transmitter puts out 50W. You effectively transmit with 100W! And with as much deviation as ham radios are capable of it's very easy to interfere with other folks who might be 20 or 30 miles away. Ham radios aren't set up to transmit past 148.000 MHz. They're usually aligned at 146.000 MHz (If I remember right). 99% of the modded ham radios aren't re-aligned. So not only can you cause interference with other commercial traffic, the folks you're trying to talk to won't hear you as well as if you had used a legal commercial radio. I used to use an old Yaesu FT470 with the department I was with. I did the MARS/CAP mod, re-aligned it for 155.0000 MHz, and bought a super-duper antenna. The radio was still crap for transmit and crap for receive compared to base model Motorolas and Bendix/Kings. So I guess I'm preaching from personal experience.

Anyhow, I originally posted to support your idea, loufish, of going with the commercial option (PCI). It might be a little more expensive and the radios might not have all of the cute bells and whistles that the ham radios have. But if you want a radio that will work well, doesn't stand a chance of interfering with others (whether intentional or not), and is legal then PCI or the equivalent is your best bet... just my two cents.