Trail Comms – CB or GMRS or FRS

It seems like every group of people headed to the trails will ask what will be used as the primary method for communication while on trail. It seems like pretty soon we will just have a ZOOM meeting that everyone can join and talk away. But until cell coverage and ZOOM get caught up with the wilderness and off-roading we will discuss radio communication. I have had a CB in my Jeep since I started hitting the trails. It is great for close proximity communications within a group, however when you put distance and slot canyons into the mix, your communication is considerably weakened. With UHF radios growing in popularity, I decided to try a GMRS/FRS radio from Baofeng. It is a small 5W radio that will do just fine for a couple of miles with an antenna out in the open. GMRS has frequencies reserved by the FCC, so the notion of CB channel “4” is now a 6 digit frequency. Most of the new UHF radios have some sort of frequency memory that you can save as “channel” numbers, or memory positions. If all your friends are running the same channel and frequency programming then a channel number is still alright to reference.

For my UHF setup I will have 2 handheld Baofeng UV-5 radios. One will remain in the Jeep connected to a Nagoya magnet mount antenna, and the other will be portable in the event I need to hop out of the Jeep and maintain comms (ie: for spotting, scouting, etc.). These smaller radios can be a little difficult to hear when you have the radio on and the V8 getting crazy, and the added wind noise with the top off. I will be adding a couple of headset and mixer options to my rig. First I will run a simple Arama cell phone headset with a single ear speaker, and a boom mic that I can move out of the way as needed. The first thing that I notice with the small phone headset is the mic clicks and radio beeps are very loud. In fact, so loud that I probably wouldn’t be able to stand it for more than a half day on the trails. In order to make this headset work with the Baofeng UV-5, you will need an adapter with a push-to-talk (PTT) button that plugs into the side of the radio. The second option I will add is a 4-way intercom system designed by SoftComm International and is used for fixed wing aircraft and it uses fixed wing aircraft headsets. I chose the Kore Aviation P1 Series headsets primarily for cost, but also for features and comfort. The Kore P1 has a VOX mic which is great for an intercom system because it cancels out mic noise until the operator is actually talking. It does this by constantly sampling 2 microphones on the headset boom and only allows voice to go through when the mic closest to your mouth does not match the input sound when compared to the other mic on the front of the boom (ambient mic). This is perfect with a squelch control because you can set the talking volume to open the mic, as well as the duration the mic stays open when you stop talking. This is done to prevent clipping off the beginning of the vocal input, and trimming the last bit that is said, all while keeping background noise out. The intercom system will still have the ability to broadcast on the radio from either headset using a single PTT button located in the center console on the e-brake handle. While not in broadcast mode (PTT released) the occupants in the Jeep on the intercom can still have a normal conversation. The intercom also has a record feature that allow for clean audio to be recorded during the trail run so you can add to a video mix later if you like. This is really a fun option because you will get a great trail lead on occasion that is very familiar with the area, and might share some area history while on a trail. The intercom is designed for airplane radio connectors and the plugs are enormous, so I had to source a converter that would take the 2 banana plugs from the headset, and change them down to an 3.5mm headset plug on the Baofeng. I chose the Pilot USA PA-96 for the simple that it would send the small amount power to the headset needed to activate the VOX. The PA-96 plugs into the same PTT adapter as the cell phone headset and utilizes the same PTT button while on intercom. There is a downside to this adapter power source. the PA-96 uses a 9 volt battery that will go dead on long trail rides. I am working on a solution to convert Jeep battery power to the volts and amps needed to power this adapter. Until then I carry a lot of extra batteries.

The third option is still being worked out, but I have the design noted enough to share. I will use a small 2 channel mixer to put on audio stream from iPhone or Bluetooth, and the Baofeng radio feed on the same output to my stereo head unit. This way I can overlay the Baofeng comms on the music we are listening to and not have to wear a headset or strain to hear comms over the tunes. I will be able to adjust the volume up or down on each of the inputs. This setup has not been proven in the Jeep, but I use a similar setup everyday for my work computer where several audio sources are overlaid onto a single set of PC speakers. Thanks for reading!

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