Radio gear question

[pete.wilson]

Hey

Of the radio gear you guys use: Ham, CB, VHF and 2M. Which do you find that you use the most on the trail? I already have a CB and doubt if I would get a ham license; however, I do possess the old General radiotelephone operators license and have much experience with VHF radio's as I used to work as a bench technician on Avionics equipment. Does any of the vehicle mounted radio's allow communication with a FRS/GMRS handhelds (RINO's or Midland etc.). Thanks for the input.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Whereas it used to be CB, its now almost always GMRS radios... However, as more of the guys I wheel with get into HAM... I think it will become the preffered method.

 

[adventureduo]

I usually just wheel with CB.. but for the long haul remote location stuff we have been doing this year.. and doing more of...... we just are getting into HAM. Not only because of the range and clearity .. but because of Emergency use. I feel its a necessity for us.

 

[spressomon]

I use 2M when others are available. After you use 2M once...you'll be spoiled and wishing all your friends get their license and 2M's installed! I can't wait until the day I get to remove my CB!

 

[DaveInDenver]

I use 2M when others are available. After you use 2M once...you'll be spoiled and wishing all your friends get their license and 2M's installed! I can't wait until the day I get to remove my CB!

Dead right on, spressomon. I have a CB still, but the number of people who still have it as their only radio is dwindling. For that last few years I've preaching to any 4WD guy who would listen about the benefits of ham and it seems the corner is finally turned!

 

[Clay]

I have 2 meter, CB and GMRS/FRS radios. For putting around the woods with family and friends we use the GMRS/FRS radios the most, because we use them out of the car as well. CB is most common when 4 wheeling with other built rigs, but I also go by myself quite a bit and that is why I have the 2 meter radio.

I made a game of it, what I do is figure out where I am going to be, then figure out where any repeaters are and try to guess where (on the topo maps) I will be able to open them. Then when I get out on the trail I try from any place that I think will work and sometimes get a pretty good surprise. It keeps me interested in radio and makes it safe if something happens, I know what freq to get help on and where I need to go to use it.

 

[gary in ohio]

Hey
Of the radio gear you guys use: Ham, CB, VHF and 2M. Which do you find that you use the most on the trail?

Really going to depend on who you ride with.

I do possess the old General radiotelephone operators license and have much experience with VHF radio's

The General radiotelephone gets you nothing from an operation standpoint and most gear isnt repairable unless you have SMT repair equipment.

Below is some options for radio's.

CB, base, mobile and handheld units available, Range varies but 1 mile handheld to handheld up to 20m base to base. Cost $50-200 per unit. No license needed.

FRS handheld only, range claims are wrong, if you get a mile consider yourself lucky. cost $20-50 but they are hard to find anymore.., no license needed.

GMRS/FRS handheld only, Range claim wrong. On FRS channels 1 mile, on GMRS channels 3 miles if your lucky. Cost $30-$100 available everywhere. NOTE, A license is required on GMRS channels. License cost $80 for a family for 5 years.

GMRS, handheld, mobile and base. Power upto 50 watts depending on channel and radio, repeater operation possible. Range 50+ miles with a repeater, 20 miles base to base, 5 miles mobile to mobile. gear cost $100 and up. A license is required, License cost $80 for a family for 5 years.

MURS, handheld only 2 watts VHF, range 2 miles removable antenna so base or mobile antenna can increase range a little. Cost $80-120, no license is required. These are not very common and harder to find.

Ham radio, handheld, mobile, base. No range limit, I have talked around the world and I even talked to the space station and the shuttle. Cost $100 and up. License is required for each person.

Gary

__________________

 

[LUISJG]

we use VHF,, on a goverment realased frequencie. the range is impresive!! 50 watts
this is in Mexico though, I dont know if there are realesed frequencies here in the States

one more note...
if people here get together and apply for a frequency ,maybe you can get it,, thats what happend with us,currenty there are close to a thousand of jeep guys using our frequency in diferent states of Mexico and central america,,

 

[adventureduo]

we use VHF,, on a goverment realased frequencie. the range is impresive!! 50 watts
this is in Mexico though, I dont know if there are realesed frequencies here in the States

one more note...
if people here get together and apply for a frequency ,maybe you can get it,, thats what happend with us,currenty there are close to a thousand of jeep guys using our frequency in diferent states of Mexico and central america,,

What frequency range would that be?

 

[gary in ohio]

A group can apply for a frequency. There are plenty of UHF and VHF freq available to use. Granted your most likley not going to be the only person in the US on the freq but who cares. BTW, VHF is technically 30mhz to 300mhz.
When talking business band 30-50mhz is VHF low, VHF high is 148-160mhz.

On the ham bands VHF is 144-148.

 

[LUISJG]

What frequency range would that be?

we use 159. something ..tone 100
again this Mexico realease frequencie

 

[Spikepretorius]

Please excuse my ignorance but is 2m and 29mhz one and the same?

Down here we use 29mhz and VHF. One or two clubs still use 27mhz

 

[DaveInDenver]

Please excuse my ignorance but is 2m and 29mhz one and the same?

Down here we use 29mhz and VHF. One or two clubs still use 27mhz

Not a silly question at all, all these numbers and letters and what they represent are easily confusing.

Anyway, 2m (which is 2 meters) is the wavelength and 29MHz is the frequency.

You can convert one to the other using:
View attachment 9900
'c' is the speed of light (3.0 x 10^8 m/s), 'f' is frequency in cycles/sec and lambda is the wavelength in meters/cycle.

So 2 meter wavelength works out to approximately 150 x 10^6 cycles/sec (which is megahertz or MHz). 29MHz is usually on what's called 10 meter and 27MHz is usually called 11 meters.

VHF is usually defined as the range of frequencies from 30MHz to 300MHz. Right below that is HF (3MHz to 30MHz) and above VHF is UHF. HF is 'high frequency', VHF is 'very high frequency' and UHF is ultra high frequency. These are arbitrary and seemed reasonable when they started being used in the early and middle 20th century. Now UHF isn't even that high (300MHz to 3GHz), but the convention stuck.

 

[ntsqd]

A group can apply for a frequency. There are plenty of UHF and VHF freq available to use. Granted your most likley not going to be the only person in the US on the freq but who cares. BTW, VHF is technically 30mhz to 300mhz.
When talking business band 30-50mhz is VHF low, VHF high is 148-160mhz.

On the ham bands VHF is 144-148.

One thing to note about this, I know a fellow who had to go to a seminar with many co-workers. They decided to carry their work 2M HT's with them for car to car comm. In a city a couple hundred miles from home base they were booted off "their" frequency by that city's Ambulance dispatcher.
OOPS!