First, Your forum looks great and has a wealth of information. I'm glad I found it, there's lot to learn here. I should introduce myself as I'm new to this forum. I've been working with off-road vehicles for 25+ years, doing some expeditions in the NW and now I'm currently a private military contractor teaching critical off-road driving skills to the military for their new uparmor HMMWVs (M1151).
I noticed all the talk about radios, especially ham 2 meters and CB. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. I won't get into the legal stuff about Ham licenses and equipment.
But I didn't see much about Land Mobile Radios LMR), either VHF or UHF. We switched over to them all=most exclusively from their related ham radios.
The 2 meter band is from 144-148 MHz and does require a license. We use ICOM VHF radios which have a range from 136-174 MHz. We've had GREAT results with them too. They're FM so they're line-of-sight but we can easily get 15-20 miles (actual legitimate miles) from peak to peak, or in the desert. The hand helds we use are a full 5 watts. I mostly use an ICOM F3S which is the same radio the military used early on in Iraq and Afghanistan. For vehicle mounted radios I use an ICOM F121. It's 50 watts of power, and with a simple magnetic mount antenna the range is awesome. I've used them in FJ40's, H1 Hummers, Tacomas etc.
The F3S is 32 channels so I program in the 7 weather channels, the 5 MURS channels (more on these later) and any ham simplex frequencies or repeater frequencies. The F121 is 128 channels and I never fill that up. In some vehicles we've just used the handheld radio and with an adapter hooked it to the magnetic roof mounted antenna. That works great. The truth be told the antenna is probably more important then the transmit power.
The MURS (Multi-Use Radio Service) frequencies are perfect for our use. There are 5 frequencies:
151.820 MHz
151.880 MHz
151.940 MHz
154.570 MHz
154.600 MHz
I get great range and clarity, they're very cost effective.
There is also a UHF version, F4S that many people like. It has advantages and disadvantage like every thing. Generally speaking VHF will have a longer range in dense foliage, forests etc. UHF is great in buildings. Both are FM so limited by line of sight. UHF handhelds are 4 watts, the mobile version are 45 watts (I think). But UHF does have an advantage in that it can be programmed to the FRS/GMRS frequencies of the Motorola type blister pack radios. Keep in mind the blister pack FRS/GMRS radios can not have removable antennas and have very little power. This is to intentionally limit their range. The UHF LMR don't have this limitation (there are some legalities here you should be aware of similar to using Ham radios without a license).
We're had great luck with them, and find they are cheaper than their counterparts. One disadvantage is that they do have to be programmed through a PC or laptop. That hasn't been an issue with the number of channels available. Once we've programmed them we're usually good to go.
Has anyone here had much experience with them?
Thanks
I noticed all the talk about radios, especially ham 2 meters and CB. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. I won't get into the legal stuff about Ham licenses and equipment.
But I didn't see much about Land Mobile Radios LMR), either VHF or UHF. We switched over to them all=most exclusively from their related ham radios.
The 2 meter band is from 144-148 MHz and does require a license. We use ICOM VHF radios which have a range from 136-174 MHz. We've had GREAT results with them too. They're FM so they're line-of-sight but we can easily get 15-20 miles (actual legitimate miles) from peak to peak, or in the desert. The hand helds we use are a full 5 watts. I mostly use an ICOM F3S which is the same radio the military used early on in Iraq and Afghanistan. For vehicle mounted radios I use an ICOM F121. It's 50 watts of power, and with a simple magnetic mount antenna the range is awesome. I've used them in FJ40's, H1 Hummers, Tacomas etc.
The F3S is 32 channels so I program in the 7 weather channels, the 5 MURS channels (more on these later) and any ham simplex frequencies or repeater frequencies. The F121 is 128 channels and I never fill that up. In some vehicles we've just used the handheld radio and with an adapter hooked it to the magnetic roof mounted antenna. That works great. The truth be told the antenna is probably more important then the transmit power.
The MURS (Multi-Use Radio Service) frequencies are perfect for our use. There are 5 frequencies:
151.820 MHz
151.880 MHz
151.940 MHz
154.570 MHz
154.600 MHz
I get great range and clarity, they're very cost effective.
There is also a UHF version, F4S that many people like. It has advantages and disadvantage like every thing. Generally speaking VHF will have a longer range in dense foliage, forests etc. UHF is great in buildings. Both are FM so limited by line of sight. UHF handhelds are 4 watts, the mobile version are 45 watts (I think). But UHF does have an advantage in that it can be programmed to the FRS/GMRS frequencies of the Motorola type blister pack radios. Keep in mind the blister pack FRS/GMRS radios can not have removable antennas and have very little power. This is to intentionally limit their range. The UHF LMR don't have this limitation (there are some legalities here you should be aware of similar to using Ham radios without a license).
We're had great luck with them, and find they are cheaper than their counterparts. One disadvantage is that they do have to be programmed through a PC or laptop. That hasn't been an issue with the number of channels available. Once we've programmed them we're usually good to go.
Has anyone here had much experience with them?
Thanks
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