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Do you have a NSXCA club radio?

Joined
22 October 2014
Messages
66
Are you joining us for the scenic mountain drive through Idyllwild and the San Jacinto mountains? We highly recommend purchasing a "club radio" if you do not have one. The NSXCA has a special exclusive frequency (464.550) that allows drivers to keep in contact during the drive.
Pick one up at Amazon for only $26.00!

http://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-Dual-Band-Two-Way-Radio-Black/dp/B007H4VT7A

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Thats a great price for a radio with 4 watts. A used motorola with the same amount of power would be at least 5x that price. If anyone gets one I would love to read a review on its performance. I know a few members who could use one and at this price they should not complain.

I found it extremely useful to get a small inverter to plug in all essential 110/120 VAC chargers some even come with a usb port on them. This way you can plug all your stuff in and charge in the car because you dont want to get caught with a dead battery on a cell phone , two way radio , camcorder, DSLR ect.
 
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I can vouch for this radio as I have used it for our SoCal drives for several years. It comes with an earpiece/microphone and also have VOX which you can use if you don't have a passenger or stereo going. Several others out here also have purchased this radio. And for the price you just can't beat it.

The battery holds up pretty long too. It does come with it's own 110 volt desk charger. I've been on drives of up to 10 hours and the radio still had power.
 
I've known several NSXPO attendees who have the same model. It is one of the few that works for both the NSXCA club radio band as well as commercial off-the-shelf consumer radios (the sort you can buy at Best Buy, Costco, etc). I didn't get one myself because the UI/settings for this are extremely clunky, but it seems to do the job.
 
For the SoCal guys who were on Scott and John's CalCoastal drives, I bought one of those radios.. Will those radios work?

Yes they will. Any two way radio that can access and broadcast on 464.550 will work. Those old Tandy units from Cal Coastal should still work but you are not going to get much range from them.
 
Thanks for the heads-up. I purchased one tonight on Amazon.
 
I'm also curious if there are setting for the Tone Mode, Tone Sql, DTCS, DTCS RX & DTCS Pol.
I have the Baofeng, UV-5R
 
I'm also curious if there are setting for the Tone Mode, Tone Sql, DTCS, DTCS RX & DTCS Pol.
I have the Baofeng, UV-5R

It appears to me that we're working simplex - that is, using the same 464.550 frequency for transmit and receive. Think like CB Radio or Family Radio. So, we don't need any of the more complex settings we'd use if working a ham repeater, like tones.

By the way, I'm using my trusty Yaesu VX-5R, which I've had since 1999. If I didn't already have a transceiver, the Baofeng looks like a good deal.
 
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Thank you !
I've been a fan of Yaesu products for years. I used them as a back up to my Kenwoods when I used them on a regular basis when I needed both UHF and VHF.
This is my first Baofeng, mostly use it for my NASA events, so far its been a very good radio and for the cost, you can't go wrong with it.
Programming software is a little tricky, but once its set up correctly, its very easy to program as well.
Thanks again for the impute !

It appears to me that we're working simplex - that is, using the same 464.550 frequency for transmit and receive. Think like CB Radio or Family Radio. So, we don't need any of the more complex settings we'd use if working a ham repeater, like tones.

By the way, I'm using my trusty Yaesu VX-5R, which I've had since 1999. If I didn't already have a transceiver, the Baofeng looks like a good deal.
 
With some guidance, I bought a window mount external antenna for the baofeng radio to get the signal outside of our metal cages.
Wasn't very expensive and looking forward to real world testing of the package.
If it works out well, I'll make a thread with part numbers, etc
 
Any suggestion on the setup so we all can get maximum usage. Booklet shows 40 Function/Descriptions. Thanks in advance.
 
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Any suggestion on the setup so we all can get maximum usage. Booklet shows 40 Function/Descriptions. Thanks in advance.

+1
Just ordered one. Is there easy way to tune the radio to 464.550 ? I don't mind to read NSX manual, but radio ? Please help.
 
Pretty simple actually...there will be plenty of guys that have the same radio that will help you get it programmed.

+1
Just ordered one. Is there easy way to tune the radio to 464.550 ? I don't mind to read NSX manual, but radio ? Please help.
 
What a great radio. Programming was very easy. It works in the building 17 floors very clear and we tested even 5 blocks away,then my friend got tired walking. If you are on a fence, just get it.
 
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