Racing with radios. Anyone do it?

[Kurtis500]

I picked up a few Motorola UHF/VHF radios for the races. One mobile base and a P1225 and GP300. I tried the FRS radios you can get from Best Buy and etc, but at 1/2 watt transmit power they never seem to go anywhere. Plus, at the races it seems like everybody from the fans to the racers use that radio and walk over each other all the time.
I'm going to get the ear mic/speaker that picks up sound from the ear. It has a little PTT switch to mount wherever you want. Should go well in the helmet. I will get more if they workout well.
Anybody use these radios? even for business and etc?

[superdave013]

We use the little radios when we mountain bike with large groups. Should not be a problem getting walked on. If I'm thinking right they have 77 chanels and each one has 20 or so pravicy codes.

[Ron Hill]

We had our radios working great at Bakersfield, two weeks ago...We told Chad Hill to go to the far bouy...He answered,"OK". When the flag dropped, he went to the near bouy, and took out three guys.....No real harm...but the radio didn't help at all....If your driver makes a quick move...it is hard for the radio man to react.
Our radio man was standing there in SCHOCK....But, I think they are the way to go....need to keep the radio batteries charged and all the wires hooked up...If nothing else, I feel better when I can yell at the driver...

[uglycstmr]

The radios are probably 1-16 channel and you will be better off going with UHF than VHF due to the mag interefering with the VHF frequency while the engine is running. I would have to assume by the way you are talking you have purchased a noise cancelling mic, if that is the case you will be fine with big noise behind the driver, otherwise you will just get a buzzing noise while the boat is on.
As far as freq's go they can be rented.

[Kurtis500]

We use the little radios when we mountain bike with large groups. Should not be a problem getting walked on. If I'm thinking right they have 77 chanels and each one has 20 or so pravicy codes.
I'm not sure if they are the same type of radio. These have only 2 or 16 channels with no mention of privacy codes. They are VHF or UHF. We have a few of the FRS radios with privacy codes, but they still transmit over other traffic although you cant hear it.
Heres a link to some of the radios if it helps.. Let me know if this is what you have, or similar.
http://www.ccnorlando.com/motorola/motorolap1225.shtml
http://www.teamonecomm.com/store/dynamic_SM50.asp?fmshortcat1=SM50
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=40068&item=5756297140&rd=1

[Kurtis500]

The radios are probably 1-16 channel and you will be better off going with UHF than VHF due to the mag interefering with the VHF frequency while the engine is running. I would have to assume by the way you are talking you have purchased a noise cancelling mic, if that is the case you will be fine with big noise behind the driver, otherwise you will just get a buzzing noise while the boat is on.
As far as freq's go they can be rented.
They are 2 channel and either UHF or VHF. I believe they are programmed for UHF. I do run a mag too. I'm not really concerned about talking while the motor is running, but some places we race the outramp and tow vehicles are unable to see or hear anything until you show up. Even with the FM station. Red Bluff is a good example.
I did buy the ear mics. They are a single piece that goes in the ear and acts as mic and speaker. The PTT switch can be mounted to the steering wheel or something else. I'm not sure if it is noise cancelling. Was that a big problem with you?
Also, how far did you get with these radios on 4 watts? I'm just trying to cover the race track without breaking up or interference.

[DaveA]

If you need a really proper setup for these rigs, you need to get in touch with these guys. They do alot of NASCAR and other motorsports related two-way setups, not just fan scan stuff. They're both located near me- if you need some help locally, lemme know. I'm a licensed amateur radio operator, so I've got some idea of what's involved.
Racing Electronics (http://www.racingelectronics.com/)
Racing Radios (http://www.racingradios.com/)
.

[Kurtis500]

If you need a really proper setup for these rigs, you need to get in touch with these guys. They do alot of NASCAR and other motorsports related two-way setups, not just fan scan stuff. They're both located near me- if you need some help locally, lemme know. I'm a licensed amateur radio operator, so I've got some idea of what's involved.
Racing Electronics (http://www.racingelectronics.com/)
Racing Radios (http://www.racingradios.com/)
.
Thanks for the links. I looked thier stuff up before and bought similar equipment to what they are advertising. I noticed the headsets they sell are made by sigtronics for aviation and are usually blue. We use them on our firetrucks for intercom systems and they work perfectly. I picked one of those up a while ago but will need to wire it to the mobile, and they sell the interface cables. All I care about is covering the track and not getting walked over.
We need good radios for my friends teenage daughters at the track too. At the World Finals they had a habit of walking off with some guys thier age, and magically the radios they had didnt work after that...hmmm.. no excuses this way :D