Listening Watch in the NW?

[+Criminal]

Does anybody listen or call out on FRS 2 when caching or driving to/from caches? I’ve called out a couple times; I think it would be cool to cross paths with another cacher even when I’m just driving to work.

 

http://fp1.centurytel.net/Criminal_Page/

[+fractal]

I do that.. And it's worked a couple of times...

 

-fractal

[+Team JOYSON]

Likewise... in fact one of those times was actually in response to Fractal.

 

"And then Trogdor smote the Kerrek, and all was laid to burnination."

[Moun10Bike]

I don't, but now that you mention that you do, I'll start doing so. I always have my radio in my pack, but it is usually off unless I know I am rendezvousing with another geocaching with a radio. Even then, I often forget to turn it on.

 

[+CachinCin]

My husband and I split up to look for a cache on an island in the Sound, and we had our radios on to keep from losing each other. At one point I signed off with a quick "love you" and then heard "I love you too sweetheart" from an unknown woman who was listening in. She giggled, then told us we were cute. I don't think she was a geocacher -- probably a boater out on the water.

 

I keep forgetting that even when we feel like we're in the middle of nowhere, there are people listening to ch. 2.

 

Cin

[+makaio]

I use my HAM and I can monitor FRS channels, but it's illegal for me to broadcast on them unless it's an emergency. I almost always find someone to talk to on HAM, although they a rarely geocachers

 

-----

Matt

K7MTO

[+bazzle]

I always have mine and about half of the time I shout out. I monitor closer to 3/4...

 

*********************************************

* Remember... Only you can pervert forest faeries... *

*********************************************

 

**Namaste**

 

[+Mark 42]

I did try to monitor Ch 2 on our first couple of caches,

but ended up turning it off because it keeps giving

bursts of static every 30 second or so.

 

We have a pair of Audiouvox FRS radios, which work okay, but

it seems like in more recent times they haven't squelched out

the static as well as they used to.

 

Maybe it's some HAM operatior illegally broadcasting

at higher than allowed wattage ?

 

"I'm not Responsible... just ask my wife, She'll confirm it"

[+CrimsonWrath]

I have been pretty good at taking my FRS radio with me and I usually make a bit of noise on the usually quiet channel #2. I've yet to find anyone in my short adventures.

[+RomadPilot]

My pack is in the truck all the time, I'll haul out my radio and make randome calls. Do we want a regular time? Criminal mentioned heading home. 3:30 - 5:00 sound good?

[+Criminal]

I have my 2watt running on the sun visor whenever I'm driving. I'l make a call out every now and then unless they're playing David Gray or Van Morrison on the radio. I almost always take Bridgeport to 6th to Pearl to get on 16.

 

http://fp1.centurytel.net/Criminal_Page/

[+Bull Moose]

I have a question about these radios.

I am looking to buy one, and I see them listed as "FRS" and "GMRS with shared 7 shared FRS channels." It looks like the GMRS ones have the 2 watt output which I would want, since 2 miles is a rather small radius.

 

My question is, is one of those shared channels ch. 2?

 

I'd hate to buy one and then find out I'm not able to get on the geocaching channel.

[+Criminal]

Yes. I have a Motorola 2Watt that has shared channels 1 - 7 and GMRS A,B, and C. I left it turned on in the truck last night and now the nicads are dead.

 

I may be getting a Yeasu VX-7R in early Oct as well.

 

http://fp1.centurytel.net/Criminal_Page/

[+bazzle]

I have a pair of Cobra PR4000, 3 watt GMRS model. It shares channels 1-14 with FRS, 1-7 tecnically shared (will broadcast at .5w, 2w, or 3w) and 8-14 FRS only (will only broadcast at .5w). Channels 15-22 are GMRS only. It has battery save mode and I have not had to charge the NiMH batteries I have in it very often. I have left it on for hours at a time with very little battery drain. It is loaded with extras like weather bands, alarm clock, stopwatch, and even a compass as well.

 

*********************************************

* Remember... Only you can pervert forest faeries... *

*********************************************

 

**Namaste**

 

[+Bull Moose]

Cool. I just bid on one on ebay. Hopefully I'll be yakking it up in no time.

[+Sparky642 & MiraRen]

I did a bunch of research into FRS/GMRS radios, and the best deal I found was from costco.. check it out here --->

Motorola Radios

 

 

~ Sparky642

 

**If you.re not standing on the edge, you.re taking up too much room.**

[+pdxmarathonman]

I don't own the Motorola radios, and likely won't for the simple reason that the power pack is NiCd. Can regular batteries (i.e. any type of AA or AAA) be used instead?

[+Sparky642 & MiraRen]

quote:

---

Originally posted by pdxmarathonman:

I don't own the Motorola radios, and likely won't for the simple reason that the power pack is NiCd. Can regular batteries (i.e. any type of AA or AAA) be used instead?

---

 

Yes the ones I got will accept AA in place of the NiCd. Although the charge lasts well over 24 hours on standby (monitoring).

 

**If you.re not standing on the edge, you.re taking up too much room.**

[+pdxmarathonman]

That makes things much better.

The NiCd provide a good charge until they start to detoriate due to their notorious memory effect. Which happens pretty quickly (relative to the newer technologies).

[+bazzle]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sparky & Miraren:

I did a bunch of research into FRS/GMRS radios, and the best deal I found was from costco.. check it out here --->

http://www.costco.com/frameset.asp?trg=product%2Easp&catid=79&subid=82&hierid=2159&prdid=10034412&log=

 

 

~ Sparky642

 

_**If you.re not standing on the edge, you.re taking up too much room.**_

---

 

That is a good deal. But do not expect that 1-watt to actually get the 5-mile range. More likely it will average between 1 and 2 miles with good clarity. Also I would swap out the NiCd batteries for NiMh, they will deliver more power for a longer period.

 

*********************************************

* Remember... Only you can pervert forest faeries... *

*********************************************

 

**Namaste**

 

[+Criminal]

quote:

---

Originally posted by pdxmarathonman:

I don't own the Motorola radios, and likely won't for the simple reason that the power pack is NiCd. Can regular batteries (i.e. any type of AA or AAA) be used instead?

---

 

I have the Motorola Distance DPS. The DPS means Dual Power Source. It can use 6 AAs or the NiCads. I'm using the NiCads in the truck because i keep leaving it turned on. The BX had them on closeout for like $60 each and I bought two. They were selling for $180 eleswhere, so what are you going to do?

 

http://fp1.centurytel.net/Criminal_Page/

[+Bull Moose]

I just bought this radio. I wanted one that had NOAA so I could carry it backpacking rather than the NOAA radio I already carry.

 

It was kind of cheap, so I hope it doesn't suck to bad.

[+Criminal]

Driving from Ft Lewis back to McChord last week I made contact with someone who said he had been out caching the day before. Never responded with his name though.

 

So somebody is listening on FRS02.

 

I have a couple caches that are within radio range of the Narrows bridge, and call out every evening as I cross, usually between 4:45 and 5:15, on my way home from work.

 

Anybody else got theirs on during the commute?

[+Bull Moose]

I call out a lot of time while caching, and have yet to get a response.

Have not called out on my commute yet, but who knows, maybe I'll get someone doing one of my ferry caches if I do...

[+TotemLake]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Sparky & Miraren:<BR>I did a bunch of research into FRS/GMRS radios, and the best deal I found was from costco..  check it out here ---><BR><A HREF="http://www.costco.com/frameset.asp?trg=product%2Easp&catid=79&subid=82&hierid=2159&prdid=10034412&log=" TARGET=_blank>http://www.costco.com/frameset.asp?trg=product%2Easp&catid=79&subid=82&hierid=2159&prdid=10034412&log=</A><BR><BR> <!--graemlin:--><BR><BR>~ Sparky642<BR><BR>_**If you.re not standing on the edge, you.re taking up too much room.**_<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>That is a good deal. But do not expect that 1-watt to actually get the 5-mile range. More likely it will average between 1 and 2 miles with good clarity. Also I would swap out the NiCd batteries for NiMh, they will deliver more power for a longer period.<BR><BR>*********************************************<BR>* Remember... Only you can pervert forest faeries... *<BR>*********************************************<BR>        <BR>              **Namaste**<BR><BR><A HREF="http://www.pdxgeocaching.com" TARGET=_blank><BR><IMG SRC="http://www.pdxgeocaching.com/images/pdx33.gif"> </A><BR>

My brother and I yakked it up yesterday. I had my Motorola T7200 and he had his little Motorola T4500 and they worked great at line of sight 1.5 miles. I have no doublt they will work up to 2 miles as long as you have a clear line of sight. When he was in his house and I was inside a small nestle of trees, We could hear each other but just barely over the static.

 

As for NiCd battery life, mine is getting about 10-12 hours when monitoring. When I start listening to the NOAA weather station and then yesterday's 20 minutes of chat time, I saw a severe drop in lifespan at 1/2 watt usage. When I monitor at 2 watts, the lifespan seems to be shorter although I haven't monitored it down to a recharge need in that mode. Fortunately, I can pop in AA's to make it run so now I carry all of my rechargables with me just in case.

 

When the NiCd wears out, I'll probably go to the NiMhs.

 

I tend to monitor FRS 2 when I drive more than 10 miles. I do monitor it when I'm geocaching unless I'm conserving the last of my battery energy for emergency use.

Edited March 8, 2004 by TotemLake

[+TotemLake]

I forgot to mention when I had Bellsouth FRS radios a couple years back, they really sucked. The best range I could possibly hope to get was 1/4 mile.

[+Right Wing Wacko]

Since my Field GPS unit is still a Rino-120, I always have my FRS/GMRS radio with me and turned on while caching.

 

I suppose if I wanted to, I could turn the radio portion off, and save some battery life, but with Rechargeables I've never had the need.

[+k7-wave]

I bought a BellSouth 2-watt FRS/GMRS unit at Walmart for $20 just prior to the BCM. It uses an included NiCd power pack or AA's. I made a car cord for it out of an old 8-volt cellphone charger so now it charges while monitoring in the car.

I have been taking it with me lately and turned on while driving to caches. I'm going to start making calls as I arrive at cache sites just to see if I get a response.

[+CrimsonWrath]

...

I have been taking it with me lately and turned on while driving to caches. I'm going to start making calls as I arrive at cache sites just to see if I get a response.

I was wondering what to say on the channel so that you don't raise the interest of muggles. If you say, "Any Geocachers out there?," that might attract too much unnecessary attention.

 

Would it be more appropriate to ask "Anyone out there partial to the frog?" or some other little code phrase?

[+travisl]

I say ''Hey, this is Travis. Any geocachers out on the trail today.'' It's never worked. I used to keep it on a lot of the time during hunts, but got tired of hearing kids shouting at each other back and forth. I rarely have it on any more, but maybe I'll turn it on for my FedWay to Lakewood commute tomorrow.

[+Criminal]

Here's the set up in the POS rental car. The radio is wedged in a slot on the dash with the speaker/mic on the center console. On the roof is the Titan II amplified GPS antenna and the UHF antenna for the radio. It's sort of a blessing and a curse, I get out much farther than the rubber duck, but I also pick up more fringe static signals. I usually call out, "Are there any geocachers out today/tonight". Unless it's night and I'm going past the area of Night Cache III (currently disabled) when I call as Range Control.

 

 

Edited March 8, 2004 by Criminal

[+TotemLake]

...

I have been taking it with me lately and turned on while driving to caches. I'm going to start making calls as I arrive at cache sites just to see if I get a response.

I was wondering what to say on the channel so that you don't raise the interest of muggles. If you say, "Any Geocachers out there?," that might attract too much unnecessary attention.

 

Would it be more appropriate to ask "Anyone out there partial to the frog?" or some other little code phrase?

Funny you should mention that. I did call out if there were any geocachers out there and someone came back and asked "What's that?" I took that as a No.

[+k7-wave]

...

I have been taking it with me lately and turned on while driving to caches. I'm going to start making calls as I arrive at cache sites just to see if I get a response.

I was wondering what to say on the channel so that you don't raise the interest of muggles. If you say, "Any Geocachers out there?," that might attract too much unnecessary attention.

 

Would it be more appropriate to ask "Anyone out there partial to the frog?" or some other little code phrase?

I think I'll just try an announcement like: "This is k7-wave arriving at (name of cache) geocache". That way most muggles wont be tempted to chime in. I still might get "What's a geocache?" though!

[+pdxmarathonman]

I think geocacher is still a pretty effective code word

Edited March 9, 2004 by pdxmarathonman

[+the4Grays]

We just started to Carry ours , but forgot to turn them on when we were caching. Will try a little harder next time we go out.

[+TotemLake]

I was curious that Motorola actually provided NiCd's so I cracked my case open and discovered the T7200 came with NiMh's.

[+CurmudgeonlyGal]

I usually call out, "Are there any geocachers out today/tonight". Unless it's night and I'm going past the area of Night Cache III (currently disabled) when I call as Range Control.

He does! He really really does!

 

O.k... We were actually at NC 4 and Sigh, not 3, but it's the same area.

 

Then, you know, because he's always monitoring, I have whispered sweet nothings in his ear as I have driven past his house. Does he BOTHER to answer? Oooooooh no.

 

Someday tho, kismet...

 

 

-=-

michelle

[+SBPhishy]

I just bought a Talkabout today. I actually bought it to have with me when I hike alone, just in case. I will definitely always start monitorying channel 2. I doubt I will get any cachers though. Maybe other hikers. I've always wanted one these things. They remind me of when I was a kid, and always used those piece of crap walkie talkies that had a range of your living room. I wish I had these back then instead.