Easiest car to car communication?

[Tundraexplorer]

I have tried searching for this and never was able to find quite what I was looking for, so please feel free to link to a similar thread if I missed it. I am going to be doing a 15+ hour road trip with a few people taking 2 cars. One is a 100 series land cruiser(mine) and the other is a brand new 2016 tacoma. I would like to stay away from "walkie talkies" if possible, and thought a cb would be simple until I tried to look at some. I thought 4 watts was the max but I saw a few that claimed 70 watts. I do not think we need a ham setup as I don't see the vehicles being more than a mile apart at most. For the tacoma, I was thinking of getting the portable type cb that plugs into the cigarette lighter and then has a plug in for the cable so it car be run through a door jam with a magnetic mount on the hood or roof since drilling is off limits on the new truck. What would you recommend for the land cruiser? How hard is it to adjust one? I would like to mount it inside the center console as that is really the only place available

 

[AndrewP]

Why not just use your cell phone? Most roads have good coverage.

CB is like 1978, all over again. Don't go there.

Either go Ham 2m simplex or prepare to be out of contact.

Outfitting 2 trucks with decent CB even, is going to cost $200 or more. I'd just use my cell phone. Heck, FRS radios would like do what you want for small $. But I wouldn't bother.

 

[meental]

Frs would work, if you don't like holding them, use an ear piece with mic and PTT.

Cb is alright but needs tuning and still has horrible range. Only reason I have cb is because its still used a lot in my club but most are switching to ham. which I'm glad, I hate having to juggle mics, and I'm always answering on the wrong one.

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[MANUCHAO]

I would go ham.
handheld radios are dirt cheap on amazon and the sound quality can't be compared to cb, or frs.
You would need a tech license for this set up

 

[Tundraexplorer]

Thanks for the advice everyone. The only problem with cell phones is that there is no coverage for part of the trip. I am worried ham would be too complicated, I studied once to get my license ands feel I could pick up where I left off pretty easy. If I got my license and put a permanent set up in my land cruiser, do you think I could give the people in the tacoma a temporary hand help unit and just set it to the right frequency so they wouldn't need their license?

 

[MANUCHAO]

I'll answer that with a question. Do you ever stay within the speed limit while in the freeway ?
I personally dont see the issue with this if all you are doing is simplex mode on a few trips, but Im sure the HAM police will voice the do's and dont's.....
I got my ham radio before I got my tech lic., and would use it more for listening to what others in my group would have to say.
This is the reason I got my ham radio...just another form of communication only when needed and for emergencies....
It is a good idea to have your license tho'...... !!

 

[meental]

Can't operate on ham without license, your friends could monitor on the handheld but not transmit back(1-way communication).

Frs is poor/simple man's ham, it operates on similar frequencies with similar wattage as ham hand helds, you will get better range and call quality than cb, downside is non replaceable antenna.
GMRS is an option, similar to frs(some frs radios also do GMRS) but allows higher wattage and replaceable antenna. License for GMRS is $65(free in Canada), no test and covers you and your family.

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[EMrider]

Get a few Baofengs and use the MURS channels. No license required and range is typically 1-1.5 miles or more without obstructions.

R

 

[Tundraexplorer]

I think I might just go with a ham and a portable ham radio in the tacoma, I'll set it to the right frequencies so all they will do is just talk into it. Still thinking about cb just to keep it simple and some of my wheeling buddies use cbs so that would be more practice honestly. I don't see us being more then a mike apart, and probably much less when we really would need to communicate

 

[Chris Boyd]

I'd go FRS or MURS before I went CB. Far easier setup and external mag mount antennas are options for MURS. Preferred for range and easy enough to rig up. Plenty of folks here or a Google search will get you the rules and freqs.

 

[Ray_G]

I have found handheld 2m (Baofeng) to be better than mounted CB for the most part for the application you describe.


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[summerprophet]

Another vote for baufeng. You can get the handheld, mic, external antenna, and cigarette adapter for around $70 per unit.

 

[rayra]

OP's rationales don't make sense. Not any operational difference between a FRS, GMRS, CB, et al, have to push to talk and there's a speaker. If you are driving in convoy / in sight of each other, a $30 bubble pack of 2 FRS will do the job readily. Fancier ones with 'split' channels will give you the illusion of privacy. CB has no privacy. Buying the baofeng 2m handhelds and usign them on MURs freqs will actually give you some greater privacy as you go down the highway, just due to fewer people using it. And have better range than the FRS radios and at a total price well under $100. Any other more mainstream ham solution will cost you several hundred dollars for two vehicle sets of gear, external antennae etc.

 

[fredgoodsell]

Get a few Baofengs and use the MURS channels. No license required and range is typically 1-1.5 miles or more without obstructions.

R

+1

 

[Davev1954]

Another vote for baufeng. You can get the handheld, mic, external antenna, and cigarette adapter for around $70 per unit.

+2. Mic, little external antenna and cig adapter.