Fieldcraft Team Comms

[TxWelder35]

Looking to get a radio/comms set up. Use criteria will be in a group night time hunting from vehicles, SxS, 4 wheelers, etc. looking to put a radio in a chest rig set up, ran to a set of hearing protection that is helmet mounted. I know the typical way to do this is with a PTT to communicate. What I was wondering, is if there is a way to not have a PTT and have it work like the comms inside of an aircraft where it recognizes you speaking and activates, and it shuts off when you quit talking.

Radio suggestions?
Ear pro suggestions? Seems the peltors are the go to.

 

[Alpine 338]

VOX

Voice-operated switch - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[aslrookie]

You can really go down the rabbit hole with this one. If it’s all close range comms, you could get away with pretty much anything. Even the FRS radios at a sporting goods store with a 3.5mm audio jack would work for your intended purposes.

 

[HeavyAssault]

VOX is only as good as the equipment you can buy. We had a few different versions inside aircraft that just didn't work 100%. PTT was always the choice in the end. People breathing....VOX kicked on, people yelling at PAX...VOX kicked on...Crew start talking VOX comes on about 2 seconds late so you miss the info. Talk about Hot Mic nightmares....
We even tried the "preparatory command" to get the VOX to kick in to prevent missing the first few seconds of a conversation....it just delayed the info way too much for us.

VOX relies way too much on the voice (noise) to activate. Too low of sensitivity causes a delay, too high just causes people on the crew/team aggravation. Now if there was some way to "program" a person's voice as to be the only sound to allow the system to start then that's awesome. The problem: delay time need to be short.

 

[smcfarland]

I’d recommend getting your GMRS license. $75 for 10 years, no test required. Opens up much better radio and antenna options.
I’ll second what was said above about VOX, just doesn’t work reliably. PTT is the way to go.
Baofeng has worked fine for us, through the BTECH website.
Peltor has been my preferred helmet mounted option. Most of the cheaper headsets just don’t work correctly or end up breaking.

 

[rlsmith1]

DISCUS

DISCUS allows you to make phone calls, listen to music, and interact with Bluetooth devices using a military-style headsets like AMP and PELTOR. Made in USA.

www.disco32.com

This might be an interesting item to consider. It allows your phone to run to your Peltors etc. just like a PTT but with Bluetooth

 

[Eggman]

VOX is a nightmare. want to make people hate you? use VOX.

totally unrelated note, any use of your cellphone in a comm setup is bad, Bluetooth or otherwise, mmmkay.

your phone is NOT your friend.

 

[TxWelder35]

Well little update To this, ended up with the Walker walkie talkie attachment to the Walker razor headset. For as short of a distance as we are going to be apart this seems like it’s going to work well.

We had reliable comms out to around 600 yards without line of sight.

Y’all were right about vox, that shit sucked on these walkie talkies. PTT is the only way it’s actually usable.

 

[Halfnutz]

GMRS license has dropped to $35 for 10years.

List of channels that may be useful:

Survival Channels for Baofeng Programming SHTF-HAM-FRS-PMR-GMRS-MURS-MARINE-WEATHER-BUSINESS

Survival Channels for Baofeng Programming. Chirp SHTF Radio Frequencies.

radiofreeq.wordpress.com

A guy on youtube that goes by "notarubicon" has a ton of easy to follow instructions on multiple radios. Dude has a weird sense of humor, but it grows on you.

To find local frequencies to you:

RadioReference | Home

The world's largest radio communications data management and media provider.

www.radioreference.com

I ordered a deal with 2 radios (Baofeng UV-5R) and extras. The ones I received DO NOT pic up regular FM radio. I read that dealers can order them without the 88mhz to 108mhz band as a cost savings. An initial charge on a 3500mah battery has been on for 2 days on either a NOAA station or a local station receiving almost continuously and still has the battery indicator over half. For junk chinese shit, these little things are kind of impressive.

 

[skinney_7]

We are using the Comtac VI with NIB, they work well if you're close. It'll make our synced shots much more efficient. If you want longer range you will need the units that have the dropdown "legacy adapter" so you can plug into an external com.

 

[rlsmith1]

We are using the Comtac VI with NIB, they work well if you're close. It'll make our synced shots much more efficient. If you want longer range you will need the units that have the dropdown "legacy adapter" so you can plug into an external com.

That's sweet. How far can you use the NIB? I think they state 8 feet and that is nice but having the option to push the distance further would be really nice

 

[wigwamitus]

For team hunting/critter control, I think the BFs are fine. I have 7 BFs UHF/VHF (and 5 Motorola DTR700s 900MHz, 2 Yaesu Vx-6r VHF/UHF, 8 motorola frs/gmrs, 3 HF). The BFs are programmable and have both large and small spare battery options, lots of antenna options and can work with COMTACs as well as earbud type PTTs. From basement of metal roof house, my wife has been able to contact me on the BFs up to 1.5 miles away over hills and thru woods. If I'm in low ground, I might have to walk a bit to get up into higher ground, but usually not too far.
Avoid the UV-5R2 units, they're actually a downgrade (FCC driven IIRC), go with the regular UV-5R or the 8 watters, the BFH8s.

 

[XP1K]

This is kind of cool. Not really secure, but if it works on all networks, it should pretty much work anywhere.