Lipstick on a Pig: The 10 Don'ts of Vehicle Modifications

bfdiesel

Explorer
i believe a ham does both quite well.

train horns will make elk and deer move. i don't have them, but it is something i have considered for around here. that and the folks that attempt to merge without noticing the crew cab next to them. then again, my road rage issues might have something to do with that.


You're just a big jerk strap though :sombrero:
 
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cruiseroutfit

Well-known member
...it gets frustrating when people justify their hobbies and force other people to accept there justifications as the only way to do things safely. after making assumptions about there process...

Precisely why I took issue with your bud's comments that read like advice, not personal needs ;)

His comment: If that isn't good enough then there is Spot that uses satillites to get your call for help out no license or skill required therefore you can put all your effort into staying alive or keeping some one else alive instead of hoping some one else has a radio on and is willing to help.

I understand now he was referring to his own needs but you can't deny that reads like advice and advice I feel is misleading. I'm the first one to say everyone has different needs but given my experiences in the US and out I feel that a HAM radio with a trained operator is superior for all uses (emergency and non) communications versus that of a cell phone or SPOT. Each obviously does better than the other, if you already have a CB and don't have travel companions with HAM, then a SPOT of sat phone is going to be a far better for of emergency comms than the 2M. Not trained sufficiently in the 2M and the local you'll be traveling in, better investigate a different option be it cell with adequate coverage, spot, sat phone, smoke signals. etc.

i believe a ham does both quite well...

Unfortunately not true, a ham particulary the common 2M that us used by 75%+ of all recreational 4x4 guys is not going to have any way to communicate on the 27 mhz CB frequencies. They truly need to be two different rigs independent of each other.
 

bftank

Explorer
wow is this getting out of hand.

cruiser- nobody is accusing you of wasting your money on a ham for your needs. nobody is saying they aren't a good additional way of communicating for your area. we simply said what works for us. if i had some friends that did the 2m ham thing i would probably have a 2m ham radio, but i don't and i am ok with that.

"His comment: If that isn't good enough then there is Spot that uses satillites to get your call for help out no license or skill required therefore you can put all your effort into staying alive or keeping some one else alive instead of hoping some one else has a radio on and is willing to help." are any of these things not true? does the spot not send out a message that you need help via satellite? if you use it correctly, i.e. follow the instructions? please let me know as this is a tool that i have considered purchasing for these very reasons.

not trying to stir up trouble just educate myself, it seems you have knowledge about the spot system that i do not.

i apologize for adding that a ham would work for both cb and ham channels. i am not a ham operator, it was my understanding that a 10 meter radio was a ham radio that could communicate on cb channels if adjusted accordingly.

i would like to know where you are getting your, 75% of recreational wheelers using 2m radios, figures from as this could influence which way i lean if i start doing wheeling trips outside of my area and need additional communication apparati.

tango- i don't know what facts are getting confused with perception here. if you could enlighten us i am open to learning more.

moving on from the he said she said interpretation mumbo jumbo, looking forward to education and tech.

:sombrero::wings::bike_rider::victory: so people know that i am here to have a good time.
 

bfdiesel

Explorer
The spirit of this forum is to bring Expo'ers together to share info, experiences, projects and new ideas.

cruiser instead of just criticizing why not put out useful info?

good times:sombrero::wings::bike_rider::victory::elkgrin::smiley_drive:
 

bobDog

Expedition Leader
Oh wow.....the cool factor of having a 2m is way over the top.....so why not be the envy of all the guys. 2m, CB, Spot mounted on dash and lots of antenni (need one of those cell phone curly Q things) w/ a few GPS pukes on roof (one on bull bar)......may be throw in a SAT phone and satellite radio.
Not only are you 'COOL' but you know what your doing.:wings:
 

cruiseroutfit

Well-known member
...i would like to know where you are getting your, 75% of recreational wheelers using 2m radios, figures from as this could influence which way i lean if i start doing wheeling trips outside of my area and need additional communication apparati...

I wish I could cite some marvelous fact but its simple my personal experience, take it fwiw. Obviously I can't say for certain how many ham owning 4x4 users are using 2M only (or primarily) but my gut says at least 75% and likely probably closer to 90% or more. Again this is my experiences both personally and with my customers, I see a few different ham equipped rigs on the average day, all primarily utilizing 2M. Furthermore its all we've ever used in our local Land Cruiser club meets, its all we've used at Cruise Moab both as participants and trail leaders & Easter Jeep Safari, its all we've used on trips like the Utah Cruiser Expedition & the Carbon Neutral Expedition, our Baja trips, our race radios (hacked 2M's fwiw), etc. It goes without saying that there are some neat features and benefits from 70cm and the various HF setups out there but for the average 4x4 user they will never need capabilities beyond a tech license and a 2M setup. Simple as that. If there are large groups of 4x4 users utilizing something other than ham, its news to me and I would love to hear about it :D

As for 10m, there are some fabulous threads here on ExPo about the subject but in short 10M is 28 - 29.7 mhz and CB is 26.965 MHz - 27.405 which is 11M. While hacks are possible for out of band operation its not a preferred method and the equipment costs for a 10M (HF) transceiver and dual band antennas is going to exceed that of a quality 2M with matching tuned antenna and a quality CB w/antenna giving you redundancy and more options. I'm far from the most tech savvy on HF operations or legality of 11M operation so feel free to correct me if I'm off my rocker.
 

cruiseroutfit

Well-known member
...cruiser instead of just criticizing why not put out useful info?...

Sometimes the most useful info is telling someone they're wrong :D

I kid, I kid, but I am sorry you don't find my posts useful.

Edit: didn't even see I got called out on my they're vs their. I deserved that one :D
 
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bftank

Explorer
thank you for clearing up those misperceptions for me. i think for right now i will stick with what i have. it does seem like the group of wheelers that i run with on the western slope of colorado primarily use cb's. maybe it is a geographic thing as to the popularity of cb or 2m. that would be an interesting thread.

other lipstick on a pig type mods

tinted lights, i don't get it.
aftermarket aluminum rims, when they bend or brake a lot harder to repair on the trail than a steel one.
 

AFSOC

Explorer
maybe it is a geographic thing as to the popularity of cb or 2m. that would be an interesting thread.

No, probably not the case. My observations are that the CB vs. 2M popularity is far more agrigate than just geographic. Kurt's 75 to 90 percent is perhaps true with his core of regular trail companions but is waaaay off the mark when speaking of the 4x4 enthusiast community as a whole. I would never venture a guess at the percentage but it would be very close to the opposite of the sacle that Kurt used. He did preface his statement as a guess though.
 

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
No, probably not the case. My observations are that the CB vs. 2M popularity is far more agrigate than just geographic. Kurt's 75 to 90 percent is perhaps true with his core of regular trail companions but is waaaay off the mark when speaking of the 4x4 enthusiast community as a whole. I would never venture a guess at the percentage but it would be very close to the opposite of the sacle that Kurt used. He did preface his statement as a guess though.

I think you both may have misunderstood what Kurt was saying. I think I get it.

He didn't say 75 percent of off-roaders use a 2m.

Obviously that's not correct, most of the off-roaders I see run no 2 way radios at all, and if they run one it's more likely to be a CB or FRS than anything else.

What he said (at least what I understood) was that of the 4x4 owners who have HAM radios in their trucks, 75 percent of them are on 2m.

That, I think, is correct. In fact, I think it's probably more like 80-90% of the HAMs who have radios in their rigs have 2m or dual band with 2m capability. The % of HAMs who 4 wheel and who run HF, 6m and the like, is pretty small from what I've seen.

So to sum up: Not 75% of 4x4 drivers, 75% of HAMs who are 4x4 drivers.

Incidentally, I haven't seen any statistics (I'm sure they're out there) but my guess is that a solid majority of the HAM radios sold in the US each year are 2m units.
 
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