This company grossly overcharges for rebadged Chinese radios. Dont spend your money there unless you've got extra to burn unless you like paying 2 to 4 times what the unit is actually worth.
This video makes some very good points. I'm a Jeep guy. Rugged is a very and supportive entity in the Jeep community, events and charity drives. Very active and present at many events. They have sponsored and financially supported several CHKD (Charity) fund raisers. Their customer service is also exceptional. I agree 100% that their radios are nothing more than rebranded BaoFengs. But it just like a cell service provider, many services offer iPhones but some have shit service and customer support. BaoFeng makes a good product. They also do not mention the FCC rules on frequency uses (they do not apply on China). That is up to the operator. Educate yourself. When you buy a Jeep or a Ducati no one tells you the rules of the road. They assume you know. BaoFeng is not involved in the local community. They do not sponsor or support. They are simply a manufacturer. They have zero customer service. If one breaks, you just have a broken radio. Rugged supports the wheeling, biking and racing communities and they have person to person customer service. I know several folks who had some issues. They called Rugged and their problem was quickly resolved. Either with tech support or replacement. So, in m y opinion you chose who to support. I chose to support those who support my vested interests. If your priority is saving some $$ then BaoFeng is certainly the way to go. It is EXACTLY the same radio. Depending on your personal priorities and financial situation you chose what you want. There is no wrong choice here. Just my 2 cents.
Lmao ya they are quick to replace a radio for you because when you bought 1 rugged radio you actually paid for 20 of them so they don't mind sending another LMAO
Thanks for the video. I appreciate the info and prefer to make informed decisions. The tech license is not difficult and encourage people to get their license and support ham as a hobby. Goes well with outdoor lifestyle.
the G M R S license cost 35.00 with no test I tryed your test 10 times an my brain could not get it so got my G M R S license and every time I do that I get a that aboy from rugged radio
Thank you for this video. And thank you everyone for all your reply's. In many way's I actually agreed with both sides of this debate. But in the end, if you don't have enough money to buy the big name, it's nice to know there is another way to have something that will work for you. I myself, could never afford a rugged radio. So, I had given up on believing there was something out there cheap enough for people like me and my husband to use with our (old cheap used UTV's )
you get what you buy I have four rugged radio's be couse I did not want a door stop my H T 's are 5 watts and my moble which would work just fine in your jeep is a 45 watter I work off 6 repeters in three county's my bill was 725.00 there are two guys with those radio's set up on are repeters and it is a hit and miss for the repeter for them
This is the first video I have seen of yours. Your reason to not buy Rugged radios is because they make money on them? You get what you pay for. They have awesome customer support, I have never tried to get customer support from Baofeng but I have had awesome customer support from Rugged Radios. Getting the cheapest things to save a few bucks is not always the best plan. Quality has a price. Not everyone wants to program a radio they want to turn it on and have it work. I have programmed VHF radios so I get that part of it, thanks for introducing me to Chirp, I am going to try it soon. But being cheap most of the time ends up in regret. Rugged radios are quality hardware.
Their mobile radios are wired to plug into their intercoms and the system works awesome. I have done the chirp thing for my handhelds off Amazon but most people have no clue or the time to figure that out.
@@brucebeauvais1324 The whole shebang is routed though one of those portable aviation intercoms. It's how I have it rigged up in my CJ5. I should have specified. If you're wanting just a headset that you can plug directly into the radio (baofeng) then just go on Amazon and search around there are tons of options. As much as I dislike RR, they have an affordable full seal aviation style headset that will plug directly into the UV5Rs for around 80 dollars if I remember right.
Hello you mentioned in your video that you use a Bluetooth headset in your motorbike helmet, type thing to connect with your radio when on your bike, I'm struggling to find a Bluetooth adapter for my Kenwood style radio's and PTT button, the only one i can seam to find is from Sena and costs close to £200, could you please please tell me what it is you use. And any web links to them. Thank you from over the pond Ps great videos by the way
I use a sena smh10 on the helmet and a sena sr10 hub on the bike for the radio. It is expensive but the only thing i found that works. Audio reports are good with most people having no idea im going down the road at 120kph on a motorcycle.
I wondered if Rugged were the same as Baofeng. I own several Baofeng handhelds. Baofeng aftermarket mic jacks etc are the same as Kenwood. Does anyone know if the Rugged headsets are any good? I'm a ham and Baofeng is not FCC approved. I know there's a lot of talk on both sides of the fence. I try to follow the rules. I have a GMRS, ham, and CB radio in my FJ60. I have a GMRS and ham license. Thanks for this info.
The Baofengs are part 90 radios but, a ham may modify any radio to operate on the amateur frequencies. Doesn't matter make or model, whether it is a mod done inside the radio or by keypad or by computer. They must meet the spectral purity specs published by the FCC to be legal and the Baofeng's, if not one of the FCC part 97 type accepted radios, are really dirty sets with VHF harmonics all the way up into the UHF public service band.
You're running the same antenna and mount I started with. I later punched a hole in the roof of my JT for an NMO mount and am still using the same antenna
You said it brother ! Rugged Radios sell nothing legal head aches with false information in regards to channel allocation that doesn't exist in FCC Data Base. Those Radios aren't certified for the Full Band Spectrum that they cover.
Josh - Just curiosity here. You say the radios that Rugged makes are not made by Rugged but made by another company altogether, a Chinese brand of some sort... you are going strictly by how a radio looks or have you disassembled both radios and compared circuitry used in both radios? If you are only going by an exterior comparison alone you are saying something that you cannot actually support. Well Josh, I took your challenge and bought the “$25” Amazon, the $85 Rugged and disassembled and looked at the circuit cards, resistors and diodes under magnification. They are not the same, at all, so I bought another “$25” Amazon and took it apart and compared all three. Guess what, all three were different. The Amazon radios came from the same vendor, however, they were not made by the same company as on the label. I asked the question, Why? Answer - Amazon is a large distributor that has many vendors. Most all of the lesser priced electronic items are manufactured in China... big surprise (not). Although the radios look the same and smell the same, they are not manufactured the same. Quality control is the key here. The Amazon radio doesn’t carry the same warranty, or customer service that Rugged can provide. The $25 Amazon radio takes a dump in 8 months what do you do with it? Reach into that pile of radios you bought and pick out another one and toss the other away. Meanwhile, the Rugged Customer, has a name and phone number to reach back too. Further, Rugged goes to every major event and helps customers setup and troubleshoot problems with their product from soup to nuts. I haven’t seen Amazon or their vendors at any of these events. You pay more but are getting more, with consistent quality, customer services and technical support. All Amazon does is sell stuff... As far as Chirp... it’s crap, like most free stuff. Why you ask? Because it isn’t updated regularly. Comparing frequency ranges based on FCC guidelines is apples to oranges. Military operates on one frequency range etc etc, and then there is the “ public” frequency range. The ability to split frequency channels E.G. 150-151 MHz narrowed to say 150.3 MHz gives the user a better chance of having a “clean” frequency to operate on. But I digress... businesses are in business to make money, not give stuff away. When you pay for a name brand product, that has good reliable quality, customer service, tech support, warranty programs, travels to events and shows to provide those services etc, all that costs money, and that is what you are buying. By the time you have gone through four $25 Amazon radios, I’ll still be using my $85 Rugged Radio. Your Motorcycle Bluetooth quote was a terrible analogy, because in the same breath you replied to a comment that the only one that could be found was made by company x and cost 200... your reply “it is the only one available and costs more”... if there is no competition in that market, the cost IS going to be high... so selectively approving or disapproving of price gouging discredits your argument, doesn’t it? You are welcome for the free lesson in business administration 101... no I don’t work for Rugged... I do use their product though...
Duane D-Dub Allyn don’t hate,. I bought the Baofeng radios and chirped them., the 8hp kicks butt. The 5R is a blue Baofeng with the rugged sticker where the Baofeng was. I think I might return my rugged 60w and get the TYT 9000d boom
That was my thought, the TYT-9000 that rugged sells as the RM60 has a 5 pin mini xlr that comes out the back to interface with their in car intercoms. The in car intercoms appear to be unique to rugged, and they work extremely well. I also suspect if you pull an RM60 apart it is going to have extra circuitry compared to the TYT. I know the UV5R is very dirty with harmonics, I haven't pulled one apart yet, but I suspect there's a lot of missing support circuitry that cleans up the signal which is missing in the 25 dollar radio.
This guy is full of shit. Everybody knows the Baofeng UV-5R it’s the most popular radio in America. They cost $25.00 on Amazon or eBay and millions have been sold. The radio is a business band radio, but the hams have been buying them for about 8 years now. Rugged is a rip-off, they’ve taken the same radio and placed licensed channels in them a call them desert channels. Then rugged charges $60-$80.00 dollars for them. You people are nutz for paying this much for them. You’re really taking a chance being on somebody’s paid frequency.
Chirp is updated almost daily, so I'm not sure about that part of your reply. I still have my original UV5R I bought 10 years ago, according to Amazon. Still works. It s a little faded from spending so much time on the bars of a motorcycle, but it's held up. It currently lives in my YJ as a spotter handheld.
I've got no experience with any of their headset stuff except for a motorcycle helmet harness that uses some quality components but is quite expensive. If I wasn't using a bluetooth solution for my motorcycle HAM radio it's probably the one piece of Rugged Radios' gear that I would have in my helmet.
The radios shown in the video are meant to be a head to head comparison with the offerings from Rugged. Technically, the radios in the video are ham radios, and require a ham license to transmit with them. Another option to consider are GMRS radios, which Rugged is also now offering. As with the radios mentioned in the video, their GMRS offerings are also overpriced for what they are. They offer their GMR2 handheld for somewhere around $80. Other versions of what appears to be the same radio can be found for around $35 or even less. The Pofung (Baofeng) P15UV, Tidradio TD-H5, or Radioddity GM30 are what I'd recommend instead. These all appear to be essentially the same as the GMR2 that Rugged offers, but at about half the price. Another option for GMRS is the Baofeng UV-5G, which is a firmware modified UV-5R that is type accepted for GMRS. They also offer a "waterproof" UV-9G as well. With GMRS, a license is also required, but there is no exam to pass like there is with ham licensing. With GMRS, you file the application, pay the fee, then a few days later, download your license.
Depends on application. I dont race. In my CJ5 Im currently running A portable aviation intercom and general aviation headsets. It works quite well. If you need to fully integrate with a radio I'd go with PCI over Rugged.
Rugged does make a pretty nice bracket that you can use to hold your UV-5R or other handheld radio in your vehicle. It might be a little overpriced, but I haven't seen anything else like it at a better price. For the record, though, I haven't actually bought the bracket to try it out, so all I can go by is the information I've seen about it online. Since I have no need for the harness mentioned in the video, the bracket is the only other thing I'd consider buying from them.
Baofeng is the way to go. They even have a mobile radio for like $90 that is the same thing as the base chase radio kit dont spend 2/3 to es as much for the name. "NOT WORTH IT"
No fam, TYT is the way to go. Dual band analog and digital mobiles and HT's built tougher than anything Chinafeng makes and IP76 (waterproof). Prices are right too
@@donalderickson-si8ww It doesn’t matter what you own or what license you have it’s AGAINST FEDERAL LAW to BROADCAST on Amateur Radio or GMRS.Read the rules.You may Transmit and carry on conversations but you may Not BROADCAST.It appears that you don’t understand what BROADCAST means.
@@donalderickson-si8ww He's playing wordsmithing games. Broadcast is, by definition, a verb that means, "transmit (a program or some information) by radio or television", which is exactly what we are doing when we push the PTT button on our VHF or GMRS radios. Both are legal with the applicable license.
I'm a little bit late to the game on this feed. However, can someone give the exact "recipe" to help me accomplish the following: 2 seater dune buggy that I want to be able to PTT to my passenger as well as to the 3 or 4 other buggies in my group. Primarily, I want to be able to talk to my wife in the buggy with me. Exactly what would you buy to make the system work?...knowing that I have nothing. Although we probably should, we don't wear helmets. Instead, I'd want headphones with a boom mic. Ive been with a buddy who has a rugged base and 4 headsets. The audio sound quality in his LS powered rail was phenomenol. However, I'm on a VW budget! Thanks in advance for any help. Please avoid the Rugged Radio option suggestion as it is far too expensive for what I am able to spend.
Rugged Radio’s intercom is fine. It’s the radios that are illegal, overpriced and require a tested license. Buy the Baofeng or Wouxun GMRS radio, pay for the license ( no test ) and you are good to go. Completely legal at 4 watts.
Depends on how handy you are. Most intercoms are voice activated. I'm sure with enough electrical knowhow you could rig up a PTT for that side of things. In my CJ5 I ran a portable aircraft intercom box. Ran off a 9v battery or could be wired to run off 12v vehicle power. I still had to use the handmic for radio transmission because I didnt have the knowhow at that time to wire up what I needed.
Drives me up the wall when I see people posting on Facebook to buy a $80 Rugged Radio that you can get the SAME EXACT RADIO for $25 on Amazon. Reminds me of the Monster HDMI cables. I HATE companys that screw the consumer.
I also think they are expensive, however can you show me an intercom/stereo/music/ system that functions similar and all works together smoothly for less money? I've looked for months. I finally bought rugged radios, I have no problem with some one creating jobs and providing a service or product making money from their efforts.
So with your first complaint about RR. Does the Amazon $20.00 radio come with the tech support and customer support that RR provides? Every company does this with many products in America and sell them for different prices.
There's nothing magic about the radios. You have to ask yourself if you're ok spending 400 percent over market value for a radio for customer service you may never use. And yeah they might have no issue sending out a replacement radio if yours fails for some reason, but also remember you essentially bought 4 of them when you bought one.
@@jeepinbanditrider You've overlooked the fact that the vast majority of humans are illiterate when it comes to technology. These are the same humans whose VCRs flashed "12:00" because they didn't know how to program them. Point being, most folks can barely navigate the Interwebz using a browser, let along use CHIRP to program their handheld or mobile radio. Offset, what's that? Repeater - I'm not repeating, I only said it once. C'mon, man. Think of their target audience.
Google or search ebay/Amazon for "Baofeng Motorcycle Headset" Radiodity.com also has them for $14. The dual band radio is the Baofeng UV5R among many other models. Make sure it is the newer versions that are FCC compliant. (Have illegal frequencies blocked) I'd go with amazon or Radiodity to be sure it is compliant. Ebay has a lot of stuff shipped from china that is questionable. Stay off the HAM (amature) radio frequencies if not licensed. Program FRS/MRS frequencies instead. Those are the frequencies used by the cheap walkie-talkies everyone sells.(walmart, Target, etc.) Perfectly legal if you transmit on Low power. Bonus is that the family/ friends can all listen and talk to you on those cheap FRS radios. No limits on number of people. Just all have to be on same frequency/channel. That's why this beats the pricey bluetooth ones hands down. Why limit to 4? Bluetooth range is much shorter to boot.
Rugged Radios has been officially Cited by the Enforcement Branch of the FCC as of 24 Nov 2020. www.fcc.gov/document/eb-issues-citation-rugged-radios-equipment-marketing-violations
I covered RR on my channel in the past and they threatened to sue me if I didn't remove the video.. guess what? The video is still there... Anyways if you want real radios that will not rape your wallet then look into TYT UV-390. At least there you get a legal part 90 HT that is dual band, and future proofed with analog and digital (DMR) capabilities. However if you are off roading I as a career RF engineer, commercial, GMRS and amateur radio operator highly recommend that you use CB radio. It's 40 channels, AM with SSB options, 27 MHZ = HF which if you are set up properly will propagate for miles in various terrain and conditions. Best of all it is 100% legal to use for the activity and requires no licensing. But personally as a ham, GMRS and commercial operator, we do not need or want off roaders, hunting camps, militias, preppers and activists pirating our spectrum. If you feel the need to use spectrum that requires a license then please get the required license.
CB Radios are useless if Skip is rolling because you can’t hear anything except Crap.GMRS Licenses are dropping to $35 for $10 years so it’s a Steal for a great band.
I just want the best radio that is legal out of the box and is impossible for me to misuse. CB? Because those dinky Wally talkies aren’t doing it for me. I’m willing to throw money away to avoid getting a ham license or reading fcc guid books.
That would be FRS and its limited to 2 watts on 1-7 and 15-22. While 8-14 are limited to 0.5 watts. There's also a list of other technicalities that keep radios like these from being legal to use for FRS and GRMS. GMRS radio use no matter the output requires a license. Will you ever run into an enforcement action. Probably not.
They claim theyre no longer affliated with Baofeng and their new version shares no internal parts with a UV5R but when asked for the FCC ID number on their "new" radios they never answer back.
Anyone know the Chinese model number for the (Rugged Radio) Intercom system 2 person and 4 person? i bought the BTECH Mobile units which look real nice and easy programming to the Rugged Radio channels so i can chat with the crew but much cheaper.
This is probably one of the few things they actually either build in house or have another manuf build. You can accomplish similar things with a stand alone aircraft intercom box.
Rugged Radios, in their defense, does come with way different "Default" settings in their UV5R geared more toward the offroad enthusiast, as well as all of the offroad channels pre-programmed. This is valuable since most people are not going to want to try and load these frequencies or may not know-how. Rugged also have intercoms, which I don't believe you can get "Chinese" models of.
Yes they do but they neglect to tell anyone that those are commercial frequencies that the users they sell the radios to aren't licensed to use. All of those "off road channels" are itinerant commercial frequencies used for all kinds of things all over the US including public safety services. The "weatherman" frequency for example is used by over 400 other users in the state of California alone. Some of which are EMS services.
Their "default settings" do not make it FCC legal. And those commercial frequencies are not licensed by RR and even if they were, it would still be illegal to use them because chances are your use of them exceeds their physical license location and boundaries. Even if some vendors at an event hold a valid FCC license for a certain frequency, you still need formal permission to use said frequency by the license holder under that commercial license or be an employee of said business. This is how police and fire depts. operate, same with factories and such.
for what you use the radios for you aren’t their target consumer, at certified off-road events usually done in partnership with BLM (a federal sanction) and an FCC rep. these radio uses for these events are completely allowed for the private land mobile radio use which is part 15 i believe. these radios being rebranded with a US company makes them fall into these laws because they just say they were assembled in china. these have radio frequencies which are usually paid for when you use them at said off-road events. s
and i am open to answering your questions if you are curious about anything else about rugged, they are a sponsorship and help pay bills for my stuff but that doesn’t mean i’m someone who is biased, it’s just why i’m educated on the matter
As I stated in the video I don't care if people want to violate the rules/regs. hell the FCC doesn't have the manpower to enforce any of this stuff anyway. I just think it's ethically wrong for a company to sell these radios without full disclosure on what people are getting into. And then on top of that price gouging them for 400 percent the normal cost for a non RR branded radio that's exactly the same. Because if/when someone does step on someone's toes that has sway with the FCC "the company I bought them from didn't tell me it was illegal" isn't going to hold much water. Best case scenario you get a letter basically telling you to stop, worst case you get fined thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, have your equipment confiscated and do some prison time. The likelihood of the "worst case scenario" happening is pretty remote but it is within the powers of the FCC to do just that, and IMO the way Rugged and PCI markets these radios is dishonest and not totally forthcoming. If we want to get off into the legal weeds LMR falls under Part 90 (plus 21 and 22). Part 15 covers a vast array of consumer goods in the US, everything from laptops to baby monitors to little kids electronic toys. Ever seen the blurb on a new electronic purchase that says something along the lines of "This device cannot produce harmful interference. this device must accept any interference received"? This is part 15 of the FCC regs. Being re-branded by a company doesn't change the certification of a radio. To be certified a radio has to be submitted to the FCC for testing and review before it can get any certification. Good news is most of these Baofengs and by extension re-badges do carry a part 90 certification. As for licencing for events. Just because company A has a licence for Frequency B for event C doesn't mean bystander D can use that frequency, and certainly not outside of the event/area that the license is for. Well they can but not in a legal sense. The "Weatherman" frequency is a really good example of this, it's the number 1 frequency as far as I can tell on Rugged Radios' radios. And if you get on the off road forums or watch people on youtube people are using these frequencies all over the place. 151.625 "weatherman"- This freq does fall under the Business Band or Itinerant frequencies. This frequency requires a license to use and is issued to one person or business in one area. If you punch that frequency into the FCC ULS database and search California alone, you get 388 licensed users that pop up. There's a lot of ins and outs to the FCC rules/regs and while nothing will probably ever come from using these radios, it only takes once. It helps to have at least a cursory understanding of the rules and regs and how the radios work especially when you start getting into reprogramming them so you don't wind up accidentally wind up on some public safety frequencies. That'll get you noticed for sure. No offense meant to you personally but it seems like your "education" on the subject came directly from the company sponsoring you and who has a vested interest in selling more radios at 3-400 percent over market value. Get on the googles and do some more digging and you will find the RR isn't being totally forthcoming with info. Here's a better video to watch over me trying to explain all this stuff in a text reply. He does a better job and is better speaker than me overall. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aaHuC3bvCdw.html
Josh Downs can you tell me why you feel pci is dishonest because they do market theirs and offer a full warning, also the way others use it i cant account for but we use ours legally the way it was tested was met and they pay the bills for that car, all others i use pci because i know for sure that they meet FCC requirements. BLM has licensing on these frequencies being our federal sanction along with the FCC rep involved who monitors our communications so it is okay the way we use it and weatherman, checkers, bitd, bitd relay are all used right and paid for for events
I'll give the props for 1) Selling Baofengs for what they are (even if they are twice the price of other places) and 2) at least putting some attempt forward to warn people about illegal use but it's not on any of their radio pages you have to dig into their FAQ to find it. There's no warnings about legalities on their sales pages. That puts them over Rugged Radios as far honesty but that legal disclosure should be on the radio sales pages for consumer information and not hidden in the FAQ. And again just because an entity has a license for a frequency doesn't mean every tom dick and harry at the event can use said frequency. Legally anyway. Is that something that will ever get enforced? Probably not lots of these FCC rules/regs get ignored on a daily basis. Kind of like going 5 over the speed limit.
Josh Downs agreed, and also with PCI with the equipment it says exactly how to go about getting the license rugged just says this falls under this part and requires a license which doesn’t really help much
@@donalderickson-si8ww Just talked to Owen last week. Preparing to order a full intercom/radio/headsets setup. Sometimes, convenience is worth the price of admission. I have no desire to spend countless hours and days soldering wires together to connect an intercom with a POS Chinese radio from Chinazon. I most certainly COULD do it, but my time is worth far more than the extra $ it takes to plug and play.
Uh........ I will agree that they're overpriced and that's why I wouldn't buy them; however, there are some legalities people should be aware of. Under FCC rules, under DTMF Operations, "Race Radios" are operating under the "Rugged Radios'" license. That's why they are legal where they are operating, namely at various events or races. Once you buy one and you are operating away from an event attended by Rugged, that's when you must either have your own license, or stay off certain frequencies and not transmit at more than 5 Watts. #1 You can not / should not impede other individuals from transmitting - that's the #1 thing the FCC is concerned with ~ interfering with other peoples right to transmit. Now, You can avoid getting a license. You can hook your radio up to an amp, boost your transmission to 25 Watts and they might come after you; but, once you start messing with other people's ability to communicate, all bets are off, they're going to come after you, and that's the problem with 25W is you don't know if you're messing with someone else that you can't hear; because, they're not operating above 5W. #2 Another way to legally transmit is in an emergency situation. It's anything goes in an emergency. You witness an RV flip off the side off the highway, in the middle of nowhere without cell phone coverage. You do what you have to; but, you must declare your emergency and proceed to coordinate resources as required for the emergency; and, you're legally allowed to do so. #3 Otherwise, if your just using the little radios on a trip, at 5W, on frequencies nobody else is using; then, you're perfectly legal to transmit with your friends, without a license; and, yeah, you could've gotten a much better radio for a cheaper price, if that's all you're using it for. Once you start using the High Power Setting, that's when you're required to have a license; but, as long as you keep it on the Low setting, below 5W and not interfering with anybody else, you're perfectly ok to do that without a license. A number of radios have a Medium setting of 5W or 6W and the High setting of 8W or 10W and this important for the user of the radio to know; so, illegal transmissions don't occur. Anyways. Thought you might want to know. Read all of this stuff studying for my license. Many questions of what is legal and illegal. Sadly, I know guys who are licensed that don't know this stuff and probably because rules and regulations have changed ~ a lot ~ recently ~ several times ~ with more changes coming. Don't even get me started on Ham Text Messaging; because it's already here, already interfered with others abilities to transmit, already been complained about, so even more rules are coming.
What I mean by Ham Text Messaging is mainly concerned with GPS. They set their radios to automatically transmit their location to other radios, giving updates every 2 minutes. Blasts of Morse code going off very often. Very annoying. At first they thought it was cool. Then it pissed people off. They're trying to create rules about this activity right now and they're looking for public input. Anyways.........
@@jeepinbanditrider You know, I think I may have been mis-reading it. I can't find 5W any more. All I can find is .5W - big difference. Will have to keep looking.
@@301steady just becauae a business holds a licesne for a business band frequecy doesnt mean every joe blow that comes to partcipate in q business event gets to use that frequecy. Bfgoodrich which if i remeber RR has programed on their radios, has a fcc license for different frequencies. Just because you attend an event that BFGoodrich is at doesnt mean you get to use their frequency.
Yes it does. Although people may think otherwise, the FCC isn't in place to keep people off radios. The FCC is there to keep radios and frequencies available. That's why they sell licenses and permits to organizations like RR. It's thru RR's permits that RR users are able to legally operate. But yeah, when you're away, not operating under their license, that's when you're on your own and should have your own license.
Baofeng and BTech USA have been fantastic with their tech support. Besides, 99% of consumers buy their "Made in China" radios on Amazon. Amazon's return policy is exceptional. Rugged Radio can go kick rocks. You're foolish to spend your hard-earned money with them. There are literally a hundred comparable or better choices to be had for far less coin. Let's be clear, EVERYTHING comes from China anyway. Including your High-dollar electronics.
I think one has to consider the source watching these type of videos. This is coming from a guy who wheels an old Chrysler and probably looks down his nose at anyone who buys anything newer..
Those are ham radios and you have to be licensed to operate them period unless you want to pay $1000 fine and up to 1 yr in jail . Don’t let a ham operator catch you using one without a licensed call sign “ and we know “ we will turn you in to the fcc it takes us a lot of studying and money to become ham operators
It cost me 15 dollars and very little study time to get my technician license 🤷♂️ And the FCC isn't hiding in the bushes waiting to write citations. If you want to flex your FCC powers head out to the Califirnia desert where theres tons of folks running around on 50 watt mobiles all day.
@@Jshark30jk while VECs can set their own prices the most expensive VEC testing fee that i know of is 15 follars. After that you renew every 10 years for free, no additional testing required unless you want too move up your license level. Which would again cost 10 to 15 dollars. Who is asking for 60 dollars?
I have bought several rugged radios I have had no problems warranties are great customer service is awesome. I also have no problem with someone making money. If a company is salin product by backing a famous person great that’s how it works. Nike does this all the time just they do it with people that disrespect our countries flag. Personally I don’t know anyone at rugged radio. But I sure not going to criticize someone for making a profit.
@@jeepinbanditrider your video is dumb im sorry but just because you think its rebranded stuff for more money well maybe so but that extra money comes with americans I call to help with problems and warranty . I just put there big radio in my rzr and I love it and I like there company alot
Is not about the money it’s about liking a company for its service rugged will fix or program any radio any brand when they are at a race event for free yes free. I just like to support company’s I like. I don’t bad mouth anyone for their price.if you don’t like the price just shop elsewhere. If you have had bad service or got a bad product then yes complain. I guess it just seems like not something to complain about to me.
I just bought 2 radio's from Rugged, sale 2 for 100.00 from 150.00. And some accessories, looking forward to getting them, I'm not buying cheap radios, you get what you pay for. Rugged has 3 year warranty. If you don't have the money go work for it. I'm Dashing to pay for mine.
how about this with rugged radio you get a teck big box stores sell a child monitor to me thats what F R S is short range radio 2 mile range in town so there is your child locater
hate to break this to ya... but thousands of companies do the EXACT same thing. So you better start making a thousand more vids calling them out too...calm down!!
@@jeepinbanditrider If you're using a UV-5R programmed for GMRS channels, it doesn't matter if you have a GMRS license ... the radio is not Part 95 Subpart Certified. Am I licensed and do I do it, too? Sure. But I don't make videos and pretend it's legit to use non-compliant radios (not that the FCC will come banging on anyone's door).
