A Budget Friendly Tactical SHTF Comms Setup 📻 (BAOFENG Radio, PTT Mic, Headset and Batteries) 

In an SHTF situation, I would skip that antenna. Get one of the flexible antennas (Nagoya makes some good ones). Telescoping antennas are too easy to damage.

I love how it’s not an hour long video to where I feel the need for a note pad guy killed it

The UV-5R is a great little radio, but it has some serious drawbacks. Chief among them is that K-plug headset connection on the side. They're notorious for coming lose and knocking out your comms. Or worse, RX'ing through the radio's speaker at the worst possible time, giving away your position. My favorite way around this is to switch to the UV-9R Pro. It's only about $10 more expensive, and it's just a UV-5R with a more solid headset connection port and a waterproof rating. Keeps it cheap, and overcomes the UV-5R's (in my opinion) biggest flaw.

People need to understand one thing. As a matter of routine I see people buying radios and they have a habit of getting the longest/foldable antennas. This is fine for camping, trail riding etc. when more range is desired/needed. However, in a tactical situation that high power (8 Watt) radio and long antenna is going to draw attention to you like a seagull to french fry. For small unit tactics/Team comms etc. you want the lowest power setting, and shortest antenna to keep your RF signature as small as possible. Contrary to popular belief, a team can DF (Direction Find) your position fairly quickly. If you learn the correct Net protocols you will be more secure in your comms as well as keep your team safer.

For SHTF I use a tiered approach. We have dozens of each GMRS, Baofeng, DMR with encryption. Each can expand capabilities of the group below it. Most use the same Kenwood K1 pins, but some more weatherproof use the Motorola M5 type. Lots of variations of covert and overt headsets too.

great video production as always. im running several different comm setups. been doing radio for 25 years now. 1 Having weather and waterproof radios is a must for any outdoor setups. 2 running the radios on half power or less output because most hts lack thermal regulation for sustained output at max pep wattage output. not to mention it drains the battery fast. 3 Height is might with vhf and uhf comms. hf is alittle different but in general height helps too. 4 antenna composition is critical ie resonant antennas for the frequencies you plan on operating is more important than power output usually. look up how to make antennas and apply the knowledge in field as it will help you figure out ways to overcome environmental conditions. 5 having a budget for quality comms. this is straight forward but if youre serious about quality, grab a motorola series radio, the programming cablea and software especially the older mt1000s and mts2000s vhf units. youll need an ms dos windows 95 and or xp depending on model to reprogram these motorolas. they are rugged and reliable once you get a new battery and program them. the accessories are top notch and made for professional use. they can be low cost too especially the older models because no one wants or has the equipment to reprogram them. 6 invest in an hf rig like the yaesu ft 817 / 818. if youve got the cash then maybe an elecraft kx3 fully loaded with a 2m transverter. sometimes listening is important and being able to obtain info both locally and far away can help. 7 grab a ham license not because its cool and nerdy but it allows you to practice operations and gain operational skills so that when you need to use the radios it will be more smoother and less time consuming. I could say more but thanks for the video.

Baofeng is the way to go. We have 10 of them for our "Airsoft" team with ear pieces and throat mikes. (no wind noise) Flat extended antennas are also available when you mount them on your plate carrier. They really extend your range.

I run a nearly identical setup. Budget friendly and effective for sure. I would add that the newer Baofeng K6 has some advantages for ~ the same price as the UV5R. It's batteries are USB-C compatible for charging. It also has a scramble feature with 3 different scramble modes. Capable people could descramble your transmissions but it's an added layer of security for comms. Set your Tx/Rx channel for 2 different modes and you'll make it more difficult for someone to catch both sides of a conversation.

A magnetic pole, or one installed to your car that can be cable threaded to your HT is also a good idea if you have to go mobile. Extends your range on the go.

Right on, US! I have very similar set up for our comms. I have several UV-5Rs and the larger batteries BL-5L batteries. I have the charge cradles and charge cables and have a Jackery portable battery that lets me recharge twp of them and it has a foldable solar panel 60W for on the go. I do have to say I have a Ham license as well.

Mirrored setup... NICE! I popped on here today and was searching for Baofeng mods.. and stumbled upon your video. Great tutorial! Nice to see someone else running this setup! Thank you for putting those outside-of-the-box setup ideas, that extender for the antenna is a nice touch.. never seen that before.. I love that collapsable antenna too!

I also have several Baofengs. Models such as the UV-9R Pro are more of my preferred choice, due to them being waterproof for rain/heavy moisture use. Godspeed!

Good way to make this better is Howard Leights w/gel cups, commountain PTT and a radio with Motorola style jack (more water proof). A good book is The Guerillas Guide to The Baofeng.

00:00 Intro 0:50 Retevis rb618 1:20 Baofeng UV5R modded with a Nagoya 771R retractable antennae 2:15 Baofeng original battery 2:35 BL-5L 38OOMAH battery 3:45 Baofeng P2T handheld mic 4:15 Gloryfire hearing protection

I run the ABBREE 18 inch antenna, with the relocation kit, on my carrier. That is plugged in to a Baofeng DM-1801 portable. It does everything that the UV5-R does, but also does digital DMR. I run the FCA AMPS headset into the FCS V20 PTT, that has the Kenwood adaptor for the Baofeng radios. I use it solely in digital mode and it works great. Digital mode, on average, goes a little over twice as far as analog.

Only issue i can forsee from this setup. If SHTF and there happens to be any SIGINT (signals intelligence) force whether its from the U.S or enemy force, that would be a real problem. I come from the door kicker community and ive worked with those guys alot and because of the frequency range for this and the megahertz that it runs at, it is very easy to trace and track and then the issue of not being able to really encrypt it. Im not downing the radio. I have two UV5RS but for different reasons. Love the setup for what it is. I would just keep that in mind. Maybe a great tool for every scenario not involving being hunted lol. Its just ashame that anyone with the knowledge can ping its location and find you.

For my first go at it, I went pretty cheap. I had a pair of Midland GMRS radios I've used for camping and travel. The radios have a base-station charger that runs off of a 12v plug and I have a 12v basic battery setup to keep them charged. For the whole tactical option I picked up a throat mic that has dual earbuds. It was the only one I could find that wasn't just a sound tube. I'm going to cut off one of the earbuds and wire a 3.5mm plug in it's place to plug into my Walkers Razor active headphones. It's nothing fancy, but if it all works out, it'll make hunting a little easier and be more practical for the theoretical SHTF situation.

One thing you might've wanted to mention is that if you do plug in that AUX cable into your headset, if it doesn't already have a way to allow both the radio Audio and the noise amplification to both be present that you might benefit from a momo-seperator (I may be totally saying this wrong, but the idea is still there). Because as was previously stated, if you plug in your handset into something like a howard leight headset, you lose the ability to easily hear things around you, which may be very beneficial depending in the circumstances.

Thank you, sir.

The biggest issue with uhf/vhf radios is from the elitists saying you need a license, but in reality in a SHTF situation you don’t need a license

Nice kit. An upgrade would be a newer radio with USB C charging which is much more convenient. And make it two radios, so you have a backup or an extra radio to hand to someone.

This is also great setup for volunteer opportunities. I’m starting a chest pack for such occasions.

Thanks for the tip on the head phone connection on the mike!! Must have missed when I read instructions! I'm old and hard of hearing!! It made a world of difference. :-)

I added the same ear protection directly to my Team Wendy helmets

I have the Btech 6X2 Pro DMR radio with Bluetooth capability, I use it for my work and situations that need the dual band Analog/Digital frequencies

Honestly thanks for the knowledge

Excellent presentation of affordable comms choices. I have a similar set up though I learned something about battery backups. I also added inexpensive GMRS HTs. I think you can cut the volume of the music.

I have ear pros wit aux input which I know is working. I have the same PTT as you but I can’t get the aux output to work Edit: NVM got it fixed ground and the aux out put were wired backwards switch them and learned how to solder now I’m all set up.

Nice job ty for ur service to our community!!

good stuff man

Everyone should ALSO become Ham Radio operators. I only have my technician class, but I've used it for years as a Skywarn storm chaser, in addition to emergency comms for search and rescue operations.

I had zero luck with that ptt mic working with the aux port.

UV5R just got dicontinued, however BF-F8HPs are still avalible for 60AUD

Great no frills setup and content. Thank you for putting this together..

Just picked them up. works good

Great video man been practicing spraying before I do my rifle and this will definitely help

Disco 33 has great stuff for your set up. Good video and options for people to use.

Excellent

It's a good radio, and I don't think a fancy Motorola gives me more range. In the city sucks pretty good, but that's because of the city itself, not the radio.

murs is another radio option just like frs it's license free, pros - less crowded since not too many use murs freq's and antenna is replaceable with whip or standard high gain antennas, cons - limited to 5 channels

Comms gear supply has a PTT that can hook into cheap headsets (Howard leights ect) $100-$135 It’s more streamlined than what you showed here but more expensive

Isn't an proper analog radio preferred as it would probably also work after a tactical EMP but any chipbased won't and UV 5R Is one of also a semi digital..... ???? Plz suggest a good one with long range for budget restraint

what are the lights new you using in the being of the video ? ?

Had no idea that connector to the noise canceling head set was on the mic till this video! THANK YOU!!

Usb-c needed. Better to pay a little bit more for the radio but get more functions, quality, water protection and usb-c. Abree radio, radtel rt-490 or smth like that.

Since they make full sized batteries that take USB C now, for the same space as those AA batteries you could carry a regular sized radio battery which will last long enough for you to recharge the large one without the hassle of AA batteries. Those AA battery shells have a reputation for not maintaining electrical contact and making your radio shut off

Wow awesome, thank you on the recommendation.

Excellent video. Did not realize radios where that cheap

I have the battery pack and man is it terrible. The contacts fall out andnthe batteries are loose/rattle. Simple to fix with some thing adhesive backed foam and some adhesive to retain the contacts but not something i was expecting to do considering how simply they are to make.

I may not a expert but i did sleep at a holiday inn last night.

Bro that is sick. Can't wait to get 1.

Awesome and informative. Thank you!

Wow I never even looked into headphone comms cuz I assumed they were super expensive

What about the fact you must have a HAM operators liscence to send messeges on one of these?

Very awesome. Might be good to get a couple of those.

There is a newer version of that extended battery pack where it uses type C charger.

Great video!

Good video, so with regards to an SHTF situation I wonder if digital or even encrypted digital is more appropriate.

Great video. Subbed after watching.

I've had 2 baofengs for almost 4 years now and am still unsuccessful in getting them programmed properly. I've managed to get NOAA on them and that's it. Difficult to get help without a call sign. Zero interest in transmitting or any other use outside of SHTF.

Already been said ditch that antenna, a long flexible Nagoya or a folding tactical will give you better durability.

Do you hear audio on one side or both sides of your ear defenders?

Thank you so much for this video!

Apologize if I missed it. But what range are you getting in the city with the beofang setup on an extended antenna?

Great Video, to the point, no bs.

Not gonna lie, saw the thumbnail and it is the exact same kind of setup I have but I got a better antenna with remote connection

What cable are you using between the noise cancelling headset and the mic,,,?

What size aux cable should you use ?

just to point out you can pair the PTT adapter with a PTT to 3.5mm adapter and hook directly into an android device running a PSK program and send text via radio. And generally you can reach much farther and use less bandwidth with the same power using PSK

As a ham & fox hunting enthusiast, I would point out that anything that isn't spread spectrum makes it very easy to locate your team members when they're broadcasting. Also, keep in mind yours are unencrypted solutions.

Earmor m32 $89 can hook into a real PTT

Great video

Where will you get power to recharge everyone if shtf?

Hi, what type of cable you connect your radio with headset?

@UrbanSurvivor brand/model of those LED red candles?

awesome video. thank you so much.

So...these comms operate on freqs that the BGs can't intercept(listen in on/triangulate...?

Once it connects to the headset, does the speaker emit audio? I'm thinking to have a headset setup to protect my ear while broadcasting to my team to hear the conversation from the speaker. While having the option to mute the speaker broadcast anytime i want but not to the headset

I would be careful with the larger battery usb chargers. I found mine to be outputing 9v instead of 8.4v. Just a side note.

I have a very similar setup but ran into an unexpected trouble at the end. I have the tyt thuv88 as my radio, baofeng ptt and Howard Leight Impact sport as hearing protection/headset. Everything worked completely fine by itself, but once everything is plugged in as intended, I couldn't hear the radio from my headset, the ambient noise amplyfier is working properly, but I can`t hear the radio through the headset. I am allow to talk into the ptt and it does come out the other end of another radio with my headset plugged in. I just can't hear from the radio through the headset. I did end up fidgeting the 3.5 mm cable and found out if I pull the cable from the headset just a little bit, I can hear from the headphone and the baofeng ptt. Have you ran into these kind of problems and if so how did you solve it? Thanks!

my shtf kit is a phone, backpack full of everclear, and a lighter

When you connect to headphones, does it only play on one side?

I currently have a similar setup problem is that i only hear audio trough one earmuff rather than both? Can you help?

Thanks

i have this exact setup with the external PTT and the HL Impact Sports. the External Mic does not TX or RX through the headset when i plug it in. The PTT works fine on its own. but the AUX must be wired wrong, its dead as soon as i plug in a headset...

1 mile range?

Awesome setup sir, and glad to see you're thinking ahead about things. We have a similar video about helmet setup and go over a comm item that could benefit you greatly. Share your thoughts if you like👍

I want to pick up one of those headsets but I am deaf in my left ear. Does the audio from your radio go to both ears or just that left cup with the aux input on it?

The link for the ear muffs is wrong. It goes to some $180 ear buds that aren't in the video

The ear protection link is wrong.

Have you tested with DMR vs analog?

Very interesting!

Great and simple review for the masses.

What are those red LED tripod lights at the beginning of the video?????????????????????????????????????????

Love it

Wow! Great setup! Now I know what to get next! Thank you!

I have a very similar setup except with howard leight ear pro and a commountain mic and for whatever reason I can both transmit and receive loud and clear but whenever I transmit all I hear is this incredibly loud screeching noise and I hate it.

Wouldn't trust a no name for ear pro. Razer Walkers for the very similar $47 and Peltor Range Guards for $65 instead. Both of which have 3.5mm audio input ports ready for your speaker mic output cable. As much as a telescoping is nice. Woudl recommend skipping it and going straight to a foldable blade. Better safe than sorry.

Does operating the uv5r require a license?

I want Lora, and I wanna get a network with nods, and shit, and communicate with everyone now when things are just normal