I don't claim to be wise or an expert, but I do have some real-world
experience I can share.
If I were buying radios for road racing, I'd probably work with the Motorola
dealer and follow his advice. However, autocrosses are generally flat and
line-of-sight, so his answer is overkill, if not outright lying to make a
sale. The UHF vs VHF argument is moot for this application, as well.
For our autocrosses and solo 1's (which have flat terrain and distances less
than 3/4 mile,) we've had generally flawless results with basic FRS radios,
which do not require licensing, as the GMRS or your current business band
radios do. In fact, we were even able to cover Talladega Superspeedway
(2.66 mile oval) a couple years ago with these 1/10-watt radios. You just
couldn't hear turn 1 from turn 4, sometimes, but somebody in the middle of
the back straight could hear both reliably.
You should probably shop for radios that use alkaline AA (not AAA) batteries
and have 1/8" headphone jacks. You can buy a dozen of these simple,
reliable radios every year for almost 10 years for the cost of replacing
your current radios once.
Using non-rechargeable alkalines seems expensive until you consider the
hassle of somebody having to charge a bunch of radios all at once, combined
with the eventual cost of replacing NiCad or NiMH packs. Also, alkalines
are almost always good for at least one day with these radios, something I
wouldn't bet on with rechargeables over time.
I like the 1/8" jack because my Radio Shack "racing" headset plugs in fine,
as will most cheap headsets. Smaller or non-standard jacks are harder to
find headsets for.
About interference: I've experienced almost no interference with FRS
radios. If someone does start using your channel, and the interference
persists for more than a few minutes, it only takes a minute to get everyone
to change to one of the other channels. Because of the limited distance
these radios transmit, interference would be limited to close neighbors, so
you would find out, over time, which channels to avoid at each venue, if
there is anyone using FRS in the area.
Another upside of the FRS system is that anyone at the venue can monitor the
net, so it's easier to hear what's going on, especially if part of the
course is out of sight.
These are my personal opinions, YMMV, etc.
Chuck Schultz
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-autox@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-autox@autox.team.net]On
> Behalf Of Kevin Venisnik
> Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2005 3:56 PM
> To: autox@autox.team.net
> Subject: AutoX Radios
>
>
> Our club (AZ Region) has a need for more radios and since I am
> not exactly
> an expert on the subject I thought I would see what collective
> wisdom might
> be out there.
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