Ok, let's talk radios! I need some community input.

[Jester316]

The Tri-Squares don't work with other radios. They are on the telephone band, not UHF.

[DJ]

The Tri-Squares don't work with other radios. They are on the telephone band, not UHF.

Thats part of the appeal. It limits who can hot mike, jam etc..... The kazillion channels further reduces that issue.

[Jester316]

The Tri-Squares don't work with other radios. They are on the telephone band, not UHF.

Thats part of the appeal. It limits who can hot mike, jam etc..... The kazillion channels further reduces that issue.

But then you have to carry a second normal frs radio to be able to talk to admin and others on your team. Where as with my set up, I can talk to anyone on the field with an frs radio, and go to psc1 and have a channel free of hot miking noobs. All on 1 radio. The tri squares are no more powerful than a motorola talkabout and don't mesh with standard frs/gmrs radios. Those 2 reasons eliminate them for me. But I guess I like my 4 watts of power and ability to talk with team command and admins.

[DJ]

The Tri-Squares don't work with other radios. They are on the telephone band, not UHF.

Thats part of the appeal. It limits who can hot mike, jam etc..... The kazillion channels further reduces that issue.

But then you have to carry a second normal frs radio to be able to talk to admin and others on your team. Where as with my set up, I can talk to anyone on the field with an frs radio, and go to psc1 and have a channel free of hot miking noobs. All on 1 radio. The tri squares are no more powerful than a motorola talkabout and don't mesh with standard frs/gmrs radios. Those 2 reasons eliminate them for me. But I guess I like my 4 watts of power and ability to talk with team command and admins.

All due respect sir, we all have tri squares.

[Jester316]

The Tri-Squares don't work with other radios. They are on the telephone band, not UHF.

Thats part of the appeal. It limits who can hot mike, jam etc..... The kazillion channels further reduces that issue.

But then you have to carry a second normal frs radio to be able to talk to admin and others on your team. Where as with my set up, I can talk to anyone on the field with an frs radio, and go to psc1 and have a channel free of hot miking noobs. All on 1 radio. The tri squares are no more powerful than a motorola talkabout and don't mesh with standard frs/gmrs radios. Those 2 reasons eliminate them for me. But I guess I like my 4 watts of power and ability to talk with team command and admins.

All due respect sir, we all have tri squares.

Sorry, I meant others on your event team (such as Infected from Resurection II.) If your whole team has Tri-Squares, great. You can talk to each other. But you still can't talk to the Infected CO, admin staff, or anyone else you should be in contact with.

[pulsipher]

trisquare radios are compareable to midland frs or coba frs radios. icom radios are better in every way to trisquares.

[Sleepy]

You know, I think I went over this. Have your team radio on a headset, to use as a interteam chatterbox, and have a second radio with a handset in your bag. Maybe have the SL or someone have that radio, acting as a radioman. Its actually pretty simple, really.

[Ash]

You know, I think I went over this. Have your team radio on a headset, to use as a interteam chatterbox, and have a second radio with a handset in your bag. Maybe have the SL or someone have that radio, acting as a radioman. Its actually pretty simple, really.

The plus side of the ICOM's is that you wouldn't need to carry two radios, they are also quite a bit more powerful. However, they are also twice the price brand new as Trisqure's.

I would either have one person with a GMRS/FRS radio and everyone with UHF or use a radio that can do both. I just prefer having an all in one radio.

[Jester316]

Carrying and listening and talking on 2 radios sucks. I've done it before (for both airsoft ant EMT work). Having 1 radio that can Tx/Rx on all active channels is a godsend.

Or get this for ease of use:
http://www.peltor.com/peltor.com/comm_d ... 69FB-19001

[DJ]

The point of this post is not to one up each other with my radio is coolermorehighspeedthanyours 12000mhz gigabyte radio. I believe that the gentleman is looking for practical advice on what is reasonable to obtain and use. I have used radios in the past that were digitally encrypted high zoot govt issue stuff that ran in the thousands of $$ per copy. Not practical for air soft. In fact if any one wants to buy a uhf radio that operates in the 150 mhz range I will sell it to you cheap. I paid over $800 for it. better to stick with reasonably priced radios that do not break the bank. As I earlier stated...I have had better luck with the tri squares than with the Motorolas. If you need to spend $300+ for a hobby radio.....by all means.

[Nox]

I appreciate everyone's input - my experience with radios has all been strictly the talkabout motorola stuff, so this is an attempt to braoden my horizons so to speak. I just dont want to broaden my horizons into a frequency that is going to piss someone off lol.
The ICOM idea of programming channels into your radio is pretty much what I had been thinking about, with holding 1 or 2 freq's back for your own quiet private use.
So far I have found the Wouxun KG-699's as low as 70 dollars shipped to my door...for 83, I can eliminate the clock/stopwatch features and get a 4 channel scrambler with the 'KG-699 Plus' version of the radio.
I'm still trying to figure out some of the bells and whistles on the intended radio for purchase (so I can get a leg up on the learning curve) and I'm looking at a model with dual frequency ranges.
Would this not allow me to scan a 'regular' channel like one a motorola would be on, as well as my team's private channel?
If so, that would fit the bill - As a team leader, I could get chatter over both freq's and then I can answer the individual needs as they arise.

[Jester316]

Scanning will also allow you to hear the enemy, which is generally not allowed at games.

DJ, I'm not trying to one up anyone. I am trying to explain why the Tri-Squars do not fit what Nox wanted in a radio. If they work for you that's great. If you like carrying 2 seperate radios, great. If you like having your attention divided 3 different ways, great. I like carrying 1 radio, having my attention only divided 2 ways, and being able to talk to 99.9% of people on the field (the .1% are using tri-squares). I like having 4 watts of power to transmit with so that I can talk to all of CAGE from the basement with 0 interference. I like being able to know that my radio will reach from Salem to Silverton from inside a moving vehicle. But hey, I'd rather know my equipment will work everytime no matter where on the field I am...

[Wombat Six]

Has anyone ever heard of the FCC prosecuting an airsofter for using a frequency over a hand held radio without a license?

An airsofter for unlicensed operation? I've never heard of anything so specific, no. But, the FCC's Enforcement Bureau does keep themselves plenty busy: http://www.fcc.gov/eb/sed/ulo.html.

I know I've mentioned in other threads that GMRS is a huge swath of frequency that the FCC could generally care less about. It's largely true. With 20-50 million FRS/GMRS radios in existence, and only 80,000 users, there's obviously a disconnect somewhere.

I guess I remain a little confused why we're willing to spend $400+ on guns, gear, and other silliness, but unwilling to expend a little time and energy to get licensed to play by the rules. GMRS requires a license, FRS is limited to 0.5W without a license. That being said, I've got better shit to do with my time than make an anonymous report to the FCC.

[DJ]

. If you like having your attention divided 3 different ways, great. I like carrying 1 radio, having my attention only divided 2 ways, and being able to

Jester sir , you have no idea how much comm gear I used to have to carry and monitor. Three way divided attention would seem like child's play. At one point I had to monitor 5 different devices in addition to the FM car radio playing. It is bewildering at first, but the human mind can rapidly sort it out. With proper radio discipline, you tune out the extraneous stuff, but when your identifier comes across, your brain picks it up. My biggest complaint with air soft events or any other radio environment for that matter is extraneous chatter on the radio or lack of radio discipline. People walking over someone else while discussing their latest zit remedy or video game or what ever other non essential topic . I am thinking of up grading my comms because I demand the ability to get through just like you describe. Unfortunately, there are just too many things to spend money on and not enough money. I appreciate your descriptions / links to the upgrade comm gear. It is on my list now

[danneskjold]

FWIW, if I had to go buy another radio that was comparable to an Icom F21/F4S I would get one of the Puxing/China China radios.
I handled one of the Puxings the other week and I was IMPRESSED. Build quality is good, uses a Kenwood connector and is keypad programmable.

Icoms are GREAT radios...but they are also pushing 10 years old at this point, if not older. There has not been any drastic advances in radio technology (unless we are talking encryption and higher level stuff) in the last 10 years to make the Icoms outdated, but the Puxings offer a better bang for your buck than the Icoms do.
Thats my $.02

I also own close to 8 Icoms..