As tenkara anglers, we rely on a wide variety of outdoor gear. Some of it is specific to our fishing, like our rod, lines, and flies; some of it is more general outdoor use, like jackets, stoves, and sleeping bags. A final category that we don’t discuss as much we should, is safety.
One of the best ways to keep safe is to maintain situational awareness of your environment. While a lot of us have gotten very comfortable with the digitally connected life style, there are times and places even now where data won’t reach you. This is why its a good idea to keep an “old fashioned” radio in your gear.
In situations where you don’t have data signal, you can often still receive radio signal. For daily use, it will provide entertainment in camp, on stream while making lunch, or chilling out around the fire. In an emergency, it will deliver critical information like severe weather alerts, fire warnings and evacuation notices. Keeping informed with accurate, timely information is a fundamental part of staying safe outdoors.
I’m not “radio expert” or HAM operator. This means I’m looking for something that gives me options but doesn’t overwhelm me with requirements for specialized knowledge. As you can imagine, there are a lot of portable radios to choose from. Several considerations lead me to select the CountyComm GP-7 GEN 5 over other options.
Reputable and Reliable manufacture: CountyComm has been making precision tools to government contract specs for over 30 years. This particular radio is on it’s 5th generation of design. It is a known performer, sold by a company with a reputation for quality products and customer service.
Minimal Interface: The radio is lightweight and has a slim, compact form factor. No app or additional device is required to operate it. The buttons are uncluttered and clearly labeled. Basic info like the clock, battery level, and signal strength are always visible. The backlit LCD screen activates with any button push.
Dimensions: 6.20″ X 2.05″ X .80″ Weight: 5.2 ounces with battery
Functionality: The 27 inch antenna offers AM/FM, Short/Medium/Longwave, and SSB bands; a host of channels to explore. The radio features Autoscan, Direct Frequency Entry, and Variable Rate options for tuning, plus an “Easy Tuning” mode for those who don’t want to use advanced features. It will store up to 850 channels!
I’m getting about 8 hours of use per charge. Available accessories include antennae, cases, and carry pouches. The GP-7 Gen 5 uses removable batteries and USB-C charging standards. There is also an extended runtime kit which includes a wall charger and two batteries for supporting longer operation periods.
The radio’s single .5 watt speaker puts out clear sound and reaches an impressive volume for its size. There is a standard 3.5mm jack for using the included earphone set.
Bonus Point: A lot of products skimp on support information these days. I’m showing my age by saying this, but one touch I appreciate is that the GP-7 comes with a clearly written, hard copy manual. It is big enough to be readable and small enough to keep with the radio. Digital manuals or QR codes are fine for backups, but I don’t want to have to fire up a second device and use power in order to give myself a quick refresher or troubleshoot.
Conclusion: If you are looking for a dependable reciever to round out your safety preperations or camp gear, look no further! The CountyComm GP-7 GEN 5 General Purpose Radio does everything one needs a general purpose radio to do, and does it well.
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Good write-up, and cool little radio! The benefits or a good little receiver are many, especially safety. Too bad it doesn’t run on a common AA or AAA battery pack.
It would be useful if it took the common battery, or could duel fuel, agreed. I feel well covered with 3 batteries and the ability to charge easily off of chargers I already use. Time will tell!
The different groups that I run with outdoors all use GMRS radios. My $30 license cost me twice what the radio that I dropped in a stream in North Carolina did, but having the communications capability is comforting.
GMRS sounds like a great plug and play solution! I will certainly be adding radios to my gear specfically for person to person comms.
For fishing communications, simple walkie-talkie radios are very good. They solve the problem of not being able to hear your fishing partner 50 feet away over the noise of the stream. Yes, it is FRS, limited frequencies and limited to 2 watts of power. But if you want a radio with AAA batteries (which you really should, because wet NiMh AAA are relatively safe, wet lithium’s are dangerous), you can’t support anything more than 2 watts anyway… And in practice, 2 watts is enough, we actually use the radio at low power most of the time to save batteries…
We routinely get ourselves well out of FRS range, and even in range they struggle in the mountains without nearly direct line of sight. The GMRS radios have great range and work a lot better in the woods.
Randy, I’m sorry, but we are not talking the same things. I wrote nothing about the woods or long range. I was talking about fishing. Honestly I’m not a radio enthusiast, I have experience with one particular FRS model, it is the Midland LXT630VP3. It is not the cheapest radio around, but still it is a lot cheaper than the average tenkara rod. I do not have experience with other models, I do not know how they compete with each other…
For mountain stream fishing (tenkara in particular), river fishing, mountain lake fishing, saltwater surf fishing my Midland radios work well. All that requires short range communications, we never split more than half mile away, this is by the nature of activity and not by the limit of radio. I also use it for communication inside the group for backpacking and camping in the mountains, also half mile range maximum… I have to admit it does not work if line of sight is blocked by the terrain (mountain/hill/crag/canyon wall/etc), but I doubt GMRS would be significantly better – it is the same frequency range, radio wave propagation pattern is the same… Some trees on the line of sight are no problem, but thick wood is not my use case.
They are not waterproof, but they survived some light rain/water spray (including salt water spray from surf fishing)/wet hands. They also survived some falls to the ground, and all backpacking dirt and dust. It has a proprietary port for the headset and it is a problem, but I found the headset is more trouble than benefit. Their battery pack and dedicated charger I do not use – I use Eneloops and charge them in the separate charger. It has NOAA channels reception, so no need to carry separate radio for that. But if you need communication for an emergency in the wilderness – it is not it, you need a SPOT device or a satellite phone…
Nice write up Matt. It’s parent is one of my favorite SW radios.
Steve
For all the fuss about this radio, it has NO ABILITY TO pull in ANY of the NOAA weather channels as you can not fine tune it in the 164 band. I have purchased many of the County Comm radios over the years and finally got around before a big trip to looking at this latest model, the GP-7 I bought. If you value your safety, leave the thing at home. There is no weather. If you like to hear static, then by all means this is the fun little toy that absolutely no one in any alphabet agency would ever rely on, I can assure you. It is a piece of junk.
I would like to comment; any radio receiver is only as good as the antenna connected to it. And as far as audio goes, all of these compact radios are limited by their micro speakers. Adding earphones does wonders for improving reception. If one is interested in the weather bands, I suggest getting one of the Baofeng VHF/UHF handheld transceivers. They can be sourced on line for less than $30.00. There is nothing I like better after a day of fishing and camping than hitting the sack and listening to shortwave radio.