Martinjmpr
Wiffleball Batter
Actually, during an emergency it's possible that repeaters might either be overloaded or inoperative due to loss of electrical power. Ditto for cell phones. That makes CB start looking pretty good...
CBradio , MURS, firstik... Where do I start? Help.
- Thread starter wingysataday
- Start date
4x4junkie
Explorer
How much you want to spend? You want something basic for trail/camp communication? Or are you looking for more of a "hobbyist" type radio? (SSB or all-mode)?
Believe it or not, that Uniden I mentioned is a darn good little unit if you just want the basics. But like any radio it does need to be coupled to a good antenna (5' or larger, and mounted in the clear).
wingysataday
Adventurer
I have a cb set up as well and will be purchasing a quick connect mount 5ft firestik for my truck. I have a disaster team I work with and I don't need every joe shotgun hearing our plan on the cb. That could cause more of a problem than a help. Therefore if only the people on our team have the murs radios, we will have a semi-closed loop of communication.
1. are there different types of firestiks? Can I use the same firstik for my cb and murs radio? same with a house antenna?
2. Would it be better to have a 5ft mounted in the bed of my truck or a 4ft on my hood?
1. are there different types of firestiks? Can I use the same firstik for my cb and murs radio? same with a house antenna?
2. Would it be better to have a 5ft mounted in the bed of my truck or a 4ft on my hood?
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1911
Expedition Leader
Radio antennas are not universal. You can hear (receive) something on most any frequency with just a random length of wire for an antenna, but to transmit the antenna needs to be a resonant multiple of the wavelength of the frequency you are broadcasting on. CB is 27 MHz and about an 11 meter wavelength, whereas MURS is +\- 152 MHz, close to 2 meters in wavelength, so you will need two different antennas.
It depends on the antenna. The higher you can get, the better range for any vertical antenna, but there would be a better ground plane off of the hood than in the bed. 5/8-wave and 1/4-wave antennas need a good ground plane to tune-up well with acceptable SWR, but a 1/2-wave antenna doesn't.
wingysataday
Adventurer
You guys are great! I spoke with fires tik and they were patient enough to answer all my questions. He gave me all the details. They were very nice.
craig333
Expedition Leader
I had a CB license back in the day. I was disappointed when I got my ham license that it wasn't listed on the fcc site. Just had my ham an gmrs license (not sure why i bothered getting that). Would have been cool to find it. Oh well.
I hope your friends all have some elevation. Otherwise even with a roof mounted antenna murs isn't going to have much range.
Just looked at some murs radios on ebay. Prices are all over the board.
I hope your friends all have some elevation. Otherwise even with a roof mounted antenna murs isn't going to have much range.
Just looked at some murs radios on ebay. Prices are all over the board.
wingysataday
Adventurer
craig What are you thinking range could be? give me a range?
wingysataday
Adventurer
what kind of antenna should I get for my house?
4x4junkie
Explorer
So you need it for team communication. That's much different than using the radio to call out for help
I'm not sure how much more secure your comms would be on MURS than on CB though... (why do you feel a need to "hide" your communication anyway?? I could understand your not wanting people keying up interfering with you, but beyond that I fail to see what harm there is in someone just listening in)
As for range, using the allotted 2 watts I would expect around 5 miles range between vehicles with rooftop-mounted antennas, and maybe 7-12 miles between a mobile to base station.
Look for a commercial VHF antenna for use around 152MHz for a base setup (names like Diamond and Comet come to mind, which are also well-known in the HAM community). Shortened 2M antennas usually work well for mobiles.
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craig333
Expedition Leader
Looks like they run between $50 and $300 dollars. Antennas look like $25 to $150.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-Band-V...pt=US_Radio_Comm_Antennas&hash=item1c2d69a75d
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-Band-V...pt=US_Radio_Comm_Antennas&hash=item1c2d69a75d
wingysataday
Adventurer
The reason for "hiding" is for safety of my crew. If there is a large scale disaster and we are moving supplies or food to a location for disbursement, I can't have hoards of people attempting to cut off or overrun our convoy. Same if we are storing things in a location. If I was really worried I would get a much more expensive set up with my own frequency and radios and so on. I am not that worried about it, and I figure there will be some people listening. If you have watched the news lately with hurricane sandy, many supplies were looted and people were assaulted for supplies. There were bands of thugs running around robbing peoples houses. The police have really had there hands full. Am I paranoid, no. It is my duty to help my community as best I can, with what I have. Thanks guys for the help, I am just clueless in this department.
ratkin
Adventurer
Here's an inexpensive MURS antenna option for your home. The design works really well in an emergency scenario:
http://www.jpole-antenna.com/2011/12/03/antennas-for-murs-the-multi-use-radio-service/
Hope this helps!
- Richard
http://www.jpole-antenna.com/2011/12/03/antennas-for-murs-the-multi-use-radio-service/
Hope this helps!
- Richard