What radio

[xtatik]

I just want to have enough radio to communicate w/ other vehicles and also one that I can talk over some distance.

Well, with no mention of where you travel, I'd say go with a single band 2m and stay local, you'll be fine. And, good luck with the Technician test!!
I'm part of a VE team that consists of offroaders and we'll be having another testing session at an event in Anza Borrego this October. You'd be welcomed and you can PM me for details if you're interested.

 

[rusty_tlc]

Tacovendor,
I'm thinking you might want to qualify your needs for us to give you a focused answer. For simple squawking up and down a column of vehicles, a CB or FRS radio serves just fine. .....

Well, kinda. It may be true on rough trails where everyone is moving slow but not so much on longer trips that involve miles of dirt and gravel roads. Even with three trucks in convoy you can get stretched out far enough that CB and FSR fail. This is especially true when you get space far enough to avoid the dust trail from the truck ahead.

The ONLY reason I ever use CB is when the majority of the group have nothing else. That said, a $40 radio shack CB and Firestick antenna are pretty cheap so I have them in addition to my HAM radio.

 

[soonenough]

I like the Kenwood TM-V71A...and the buttons are illuminated (Yaesu's are not) which makes for easier operation at night....

I just wanted to point out that this isn't necessarily true. The buttons on the Yaesu FT-7800 and FT-7900 (along with several other Yaesu radios) are illuminated orange like the rest of the radio's lights.

I have an FT-7800 and it works great. One downside is that the head of the radio is definitely bigger than some of the Icoms I've seen.

 

[Hedge]

Well, kinda. It may be true on rough trails where everyone is moving slow but not so much on longer trips that involve miles of dirt and gravel roads. Even with three trucks in convoy you can get stretched out far enough that CB and FSR fail. This is especially true when you get space far enough to avoid the dust trail from the truck ahead.

The ONLY reason I ever use CB is when the majority of the group have nothing else. That said, a $40 radio shack CB and Firestick antenna are pretty cheap so I have them in addition to my HAM radio.

x2...also, on the 2m radio voice quality is clearer due to the fact it is FM. CB uses AM and tends to be less clear.

 

[xtatik]

Well, kinda. It may be true on rough trails where everyone is moving slow but not so much on longer trips that involve miles of dirt and gravel roads. Even with three trucks in convoy you can get stretched out far enough that CB and FSR fail. This is especially true when you get space far enough to avoid the dust trail from the truck ahead.

The ONLY reason I ever use CB is when the majority of the group have nothing else. That said, a $40 radio shack CB and Firestick antenna are pretty cheap so I have them in addition to my HAM radio.

Well, if the wind isn't blowing I'd suppose you'd need about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile of separation. Three vehicles.....and being generous to your argument, that's only two miles from lead to tailgun. I'm by no means a proponent of CB, but it should easily accomodate this distance if properly installed and tuned. An AM signal doesn't suffer the line-of sight characteristics that FM will. You should be getting roughly a mile per watt.
With FRS, you're right.....even with the "16 mile range" super bubble-pack models...you'd have to eat dust in order to stay in touch. But, they will do the job.

 

[rusty_tlc]

Well, if the wind isn't blowing I'd suppose you'd need about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile of separation. ...

Until you take into account "nature breaks", Photo Ops, wash outs, etc.

The reality is you wind up with a few miles between each rig over a distance of 40 or 50 miles.

 

[Tacovendor]

I don't want to rely on "line of site", I need a radio that is capable of working at 1 mile and 100 w/ a repeater. Does this make sense? I'm a professional firefighter and use kenwood vhf radios and know the importance of the use of repeaters. Just need an overall utility radio for the rig and I don't need to talk from coast to coast. Thanks for all of your help.

 

[xtatik]

I don't want to rely on "line of site", I need a radio that is capable of working at 1 mile and 100 w/ a repeater. Does this make sense? I'm a professional firefighter and use kenwood vhf radios and know the importance of the use of repeaters. Just need an overall utility radio for the rig and I don't need to talk from coast to coast. Thanks for all of your help.

The key words you've use here are "rely on" and it's the basis of what I've been saying and really is dependent on where you go and how much you want to rely on it.

I completely understand the "utilitarian" use of ham radios...so, yes, it makes some sense. Just understand, the FM (2m and 70cm) rigs being mentioned here as well as the Kenwood, Motorola or King units you may have used professionally, are in-fact "line-of sight" radios. If you spend your money on one, you will be relying on line-of-sight capabilities because they lack the ability to send "skywave" signals. With them, generally you can expect one mile per watt. In perfect conditions an FM signal will provide an add'l 15%, and can even bend its signal to terrain somewhat, but not often.

On average, you can talk simplex (truck to truck) up to forty miles apart, depending on terrain. You can reach repeaters up to seventy-five miles away in some cases, depending on terrain and the repeaters placement (elevation). Bottom line....if you can see it (truck or mountain-top repeater), you'll probably be able to open its squelch and talk to it. If you travel beyond these ranges or in terrain that would shorten them, an FM radio is not to be relied upon.

A full-featured radio has the abovementioned capabilities on FM, as well as HF skywave capablity giving you the ability to talk into the next state or next country if need be (a real emergency). Owning and having these extra capabilities does not require you to be licensed above Technician Class, and the use of HF in an emergency, regardless of your license class, is allowed. For the most part, using the HF capability outside of an emergency situation would require an upgrade to General Class or Amateur Extra.

Again, everything I'm explaining here is contingent upon where you spend your time, because if the radio is intended to be a safety feature....that should dictate how you spend your money.
Over and out.

 

[Tacovendor]

Sorry to be a pest, so if I understand correctly a 2m radio will do in most cases? What does 'Simplex" mean. As for emergencies I have a SPOT device for dire emergencies.

 

[cnynrat]

I think what Randy is saying is that yes, in most cases a 2m radio will be sufficient. As he pointed out it will let you reach a repeater 50-75 miles away depending on local geography. Many repeaters are placed in advantageous locations such on top of mountains, so it's not unusual to have geography going for you.

Randy's concern in earlier posts is that there are locations where there aren't many repeaters, so if you are looking at the radio as your last resort emergency communication tool, and you travel to such remote locations where you may be more than 75 miles from a repeater, you may want to consider an HF capable rig. Sounds to me like you have that covered with the SPOT, so IMHO you will be fine with a 2m radio.

Simplex is direct radio to radio communications without going through a repeater.

 

[Tacovendor]

Thanks again for all of your info/help.

 

[Ryanmb21]

Bumping a great thread, learned some stuff.