Vintage Radio Shack MURS radios

[357magnum]

Sunbull , Your're right ! I just turned 1 on for the first time in several years ! Only 22 channels as you said . Hey the battery's still hold a charge , I don't want to have to replace them again , I remember them being expensive . But I called Midland when they went dead & the nice Lady sent me a set for Free ! That ain't gonna happen again ! When these are dead .... time for the Garbage Can !

 

[357magnum]

Also after a lot of beeping & pushing that Menu Button I managed to get them on " High " . Problem is in my attempt @ doing this I had the " Vox " on . So more Button pushing ! All set now & resting in the charger till the next time I get bored & read my manual !

 

[sunbulls]

Sunbull , Your're right ! I just turned 1 on for the first time in several years ! Only 22 channels as you said . Hey the battery's still hold a charge , I don't want to have to replace them again , I remember them being expensive . But I called Midland when they went dead & the nice Lady sent me a set for Free ! That ain't gonna happen again ! When these are dead .... time for the Garbage Can !

You can still buy those BATT-5R batteries on Ebay and other sources. A lot of models take that same battery so I don’t think it they will be hard to find anytime soon. Even if I couldn’t find new batteries for them, I’d mod them with a connector or dongle instead and feed them with a regulated external 6 volt power source, but that’s just me. I’m not beyond removing fixed antennas and replacing them with BNC connectors either. Yea, I know, legalities, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t make great monitors.

 

[357magnum]

Sunbull , I'm sure on Ebay the battery's are cheaper now , when I was looking for the last replacement set they were big $'s . Need to check & see if they have & external power source , not sure . Always wanted to mod the antenna & really see what I could hear ! State hunting land right behind my farm , so in the Fall the " Use " to get quite active . But like said , I really don't use them , " Out of sight , Out of Mind " I guess . Just bought a battery of Ebay for a Motorola Baby monitor w/ 2 cameras someone gave me for $5 & it's a similar plug in pack . Must say , no Baby but cameras are cool anyway , Color & Nigh Vision & " supposedly " 1000 ' range ! No matter the range it works !

 

[mtlewis71]

FB, if you can get the base antenna high enough then 30 miles is no problem. Have you looked into GMRS yet? While the license cost $85 its good for 5 years and it does cover all family members and you would be allowed 50 watts as opposed to two.

The license is now $70 and good for 10 years.

 

[mtlewis71]

I was wondering if these vintage radios could still be used legally on MURS as base stations or mobile units. I bought some Retevis RT27V and my kids are using them in the neighborhood with "pow" kind of signal. Didn't see they didn't have nonremovable antennas, but they inexpensive. What about the old business mobile radios from radio shack and such are they still viable, repairable, etc? I've found some for cheap but they need some parts and strong portable antennas for house and vehicles. I would use them as portable stations as a start. Any thoughts?

 

[mtlewis71]

I answered my own question. I bought 11 of them!

 

[mtlewis71]

I’m currently working with the Radio Shack BTX 127 with a longer non-rubber duck antenna. I’m currently getting 1.8 miles as the crow flies from my vehicle to front porch. I’m researching some decent antennas for house and vehicle. Any ideas would be good. (MURS vhf, 150-154 mhz)

Given the 2 watt maximum output I wouldn't say it's impossible, but pretty darn close. Now if you happen to catch some tropospheric ducting you could have some fun.

 

[mtlewis71]

Portable beam? I got scales, gymnastics, etc from Google. Can you elaborate a bit, briefly?

You know you can always toss a portable beam made for MURS in the mobile. Hams do that sort of thing on the VHF / UHF bands all the time. If you’re out camping, setup a tripod or bumper mast on high ground and point that beam towards the base. Such enjoyment sometimes leads a person to get a ham license for additional power or a repeater they can work through.

 

[mtlewis71]

Considering those “blue” and “green” dot frequencies are still being used by businesses are they congested in your area? I haven’t teased anyone on mine - yet.

For additional voice clarity, I prefer the two Wide Band (20.00 Khz) frequencies, 154.570 Mhz or 154.600 Mhz. The other three frequencies are for Narrow Band use only. Nothing terribly wrong with Narrow band FM (11.25 Khz), but mixing Wide band with Narrow creates volume differences or distortion. My MURS compatible radios are programmed Narrow for the first three frequencies and Wide for the two highest. That way they stay married for whatever frequency I choose.

 

[w9cll]

Considering those “blue” and “green” dot frequencies are still being used by businesses are they congested in your area?

I live in the Chicago metro area and 3 blocks from Midway Airport and I generally hear nothing on MURS. As I said before my wife and I use MURS when camping as there is nobody on there because they are all on FRS.