Are radios worth having?

[Haplesshacker]

Hi all.

First post here. (Excluding introduction one).

Played at GZ woodland at Ringwood a couple of times and was considering if having a radio was worthwhile? Reasons being.

1) Being able to find out where other team-mates are when I come out of a dead zone.
2) Knowing what the team leader was thinking tactically.
3) Knowing what the heck was going on.

Or is it a complete waste of time / money for a 'loner' such as I am at the moment.

Secondly.

If a radio is worth having I was considering the Motorola T80 or the UV-5R BAOFENG Dual Band UHF/VHF Radio, which I think requires a licence.

Thoughts please chaps. Thank you.

[tackle]

Re: Are radios worth having?

Yep, UHF/vhf requires a licence, which has associated costs, so generally only worth having if your part of a reasonable size team (my old team could muster around 12 to 20 players on a good day), so I'd recommend you pick up a reasonable pmr446 class radio, something you can use with an earpiece/mike for ease of use, so at least then you start to liaise with like minded same side players, as pmr446 is the most common kit used.

[bobthebuilder]

Re: Are radios worth having?

Somewhere like GZ woodland they are well worth it.
I've never had much luck with strategic level comms (communicating with team command etc) but for squad level stuff it's very handy. My group make much use of them when one of us is scouting ahead, or we're spread out over an area as a defensive position, or setting up an ambush.

I'm less convinced by them in at smaller urban sites. I've found that teams are rarely separated for long enough to make it worth it at those sorts of sites.

[MikeG]

Re: Are radios worth having?

Well worth it at GZ Woodland, however i've found that the 446 radios are pretty poor on that site due to size of the site and its geography. I switched to licensed UHF for my team and have never regretted it. Being able to find team locations, call in contacts and generally coordinate is very useful. Many times we have been able to use comms quietly in a close contact to great affect.

Never found it useful to use comms with the commander on the 446 channels though as they rarely respond. Our team setup is here half way done the thread.

[Dentonboy]

Re: Are radios worth having?

Myself and my small lot have just bought some reasonably priced Motorola PMR446's and earpieces.

They are certainly good for quick spot checks on where everyone is/where contacts are/deciding which way to go/move without needing to turn a head or talk loudly without said devices.

If you have a spare £50 or so, then yes, a PMR, pouch and earpiece would be a good airsoft investment IMHO.

[bobthebuilder]

Re: Are radios worth having?

pouch

That reminds me, place to put it is key. Just using a radio's built-in belt clip is a recipe for dropping it, or getting the screen broken by a BB. Doesn't have to be a dedicated radio pouch, although they are a very good choice.

[jroswell61]

Re: Are radios worth having?

Hell yeah it's a completely different experience


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[ste887]

Re: Are radios worth having?

when i go out with the teams coded radios (133mhz iirc licensed) we get crystal clear comms and it becomes a force multiplier, but when i pack my 446 and join the teams channel if i go on my todd i just get frustrated with having people scream in my ear, or comms that are 80% static. if you go pmr just get a cheapy one but try to get i think theyre DCSS codes, otherwise as we found in cqb we got the local taxi rank (must have confused the hell out of them, "taxi to burngreave"
then a second of static followed by "charlie charlie 1 6 need supporting fire at location 6 under heavy enemy fire request assistance"
"hey! if you want taxi you must use phone!")

so both a blessing and curse all depends on the level of training/restraint other radio operators have

[Figjam]

Re: Are radios worth having?

Get throat mic. Fantastic for taking the piss out of other people on site with your team on the sly. Play the game to say jokes while waiting for game on, see who loses their straight face first.

[Machaon]

Re: Are radios worth having?

I can't see the benefit for a lone ranger, at least not at standard skirmishes. Definitely get one if you're involved in milsims.

[Haplesshacker]

Re: Are radios worth having?

Thanks for the advice folks.

Took the plunge and got a Midland G9e with security style earpiece and clip on ptt. Not the cheapest set up but it's waterproof and quite rugged.

Two reasons really. I was asked if I'd like to play with some great chaps last weekend, and comms would have been useful, plus I got some cheapies for my 8 and 6 year olds. Which is useful when we're in the great outdoors.

A mag pouch is just the right size to keep it in. So it should be safe.

[Haplesshacker]

Re: Are radios worth having?

Thanks for the advice folks.

Took the plunge and got a Midland G9e with security style earpiece and clip on ptt. Not the cheapest set up but it's waterproof and quite rugged.

Two reasons really. I was asked if I'd like to play with some great chaps last weekend, and comms would have been useful, plus I got some cheapies for my 8 and 6 year olds. Which is useful when we're in the great outdoors.

A mag pouch is just the right size to keep it in. So it should be safe.