HAM Radio for offroad?

Justintoxicated · 08-10-2007, 04:53 PM

Well, decided I'm going to get my HAM radio lisence so I can use a real radio. Those 5 mile Handleds just don't cut it. Maybe 5 miles in a perfect barren environment.... With a HAM radio you can connect to a 200watt repeater so you can comunicate for a much greater distance.

Anyone else have a lisence and radio that is planning on showing up to the next offroad meet @ ocatillo?

hondarider227 · 08-11-2007, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justintoxicated

Well, decided I'm going to get my HAM radio lisence so I can use a real radio. Those 5 mile Handleds just don't cut it. Maybe 5 miles in a perfect barren environment.... With a HAM radio you can connect to a 200watt repeater so you can comunicate for a much greater distance.

Anyone else have a lisence and radio that is planning on showing up to the next offroad meet @ ocatillo?

Why not just get a c.b. No lisence needed up to certain power I think. Kronos you drive a truck right. I have been talking about getting a c.b. It just might be time to do so. I am not too sure about ham. I know you can talk to people far away.

kronos2 · 08-12-2007, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hondarider227

Why not just get a c.b. No lisence needed up to certain power I think. Kronos you drive a truck right. I have been talking about getting a c.b. It just might be time to do so. I am not too sure about ham. I know you can talk to people far away.

if u get a c.b you have to make sure you get a booster with it or one built in. i was planing on geting one and finding a way to mount the antena to the cut outs on the bed rails. i would put two up. no you dont need a lisence for a cb. just make sure you dont swear and dont pizz off the truck drivers. they can be a good friend for traffic info or then could send u flying right into a speed trap. as for the ham, i wouldnt put one in a truck like ours. the range from what i have been told can get u talking to ppl half way accross the country. c.b with a booster would be the best.

hooligan · 08-12-2007, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hondarider227

Why not just get a c.b. No lisence needed up to certain power I think. Kronos you drive a truck right. I have been talking about getting a c.b. It just might be time to do so. I am not too sure about ham. I know you can talk to people far away.

yeah, c.b. was on my mind too. wouldn't even a hand held c.b. be better than a walkie-talkie?

as far as the walkie-talkies go, not everyone was on the same channel so sometimes you could hear and sometimes others couldn't hear you. some were on channel 5, code0 and some were on channel 5, code1

kronos2 · 08-12-2007, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hooligan

yeah, c.b. was on my mind too. wouldn't even a hand held c.b. be better than a walkie-talkie?

as far as the walkie-talkies go, not everyone was on the same channel so sometimes you could hear and sometimes others couldn't hear you. some were on channel 5, code0 and some were on channel 5, code1

hand helds arnt allways the best. but it should be cheeper. for a good cb your looking about $200. plus antenas and a better mic. plus instal or do it yourself.

hooligan · 08-12-2007, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kronos2

hand helds arnt allways the best. but it should be cheeper. for a good cb your looking about $200. plus antenas and a better mic. plus instal or do it yourself.

i dunno, looking at the cost... 200 bones for a good cb, then mount, then amplifier, etc. better off just making sure that everyone is on the same channel.

i don't think everyone is willing to go out and blow 300 bones on a cb setup. btw, what's your 20? you in RB yet? LOL!!!

kronos2 · 08-12-2007, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hooligan

i dunno, looking at the cost... 200 bones for a good cb, then mount, then amplifier, etc. better off just making sure that everyone is on the same channel.

i don't think everyone is willing to go out and blow 300 bones on a cb setup. btw, what's your 20? you in RB yet? LOL!!!

for 200 it should come with a booster built in. i want one cuz i like being able to chat with other drivers and geting traffic info as well as po-po news as well. im moving down the 25th. i just picked up a rapid hitch. cost me some coin but is cool to have.

tazstitan · 08-12-2007, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kronos2

for 200 it should come with a booster built in. i want one cuz i like being able to chat with other drivers and geting traffic info as well as po-po news as well. im moving down the 25th. i just picked up a rapid hitch. cost me some coin but is cool to have.

Damm.. Your movin back down south ???
I think HAM radios would be a pain but CB's wouldnt be bad.

**loufish** · 08-12-2007, 11:27 PM

This is something like what I have in my titan...

http://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd...5&isArchived=0

It's a FM unit, 50 watts and I use a magnet mount right in the center of my roof. These type of units BLOW away a CB, but cost more, so not everyone has one. Mine is set up for the popular race channels (SCORE, MDR, BFG Pits, etc, etc ) and of course for the radios carried in the fanny packs of the bikes we chase...

Please stay away from adding amps/boosters to a CB unit if you go that route, they blast other units on the same channel that are closer and most bleed over to other channels ruining other peoples communications.

Who do you want to talk to? Find out what they have, and match it...

hondarider227 · 08-13-2007, 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loufish

This is something like what I have in my titan...

http://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd...5&isArchived=0

It's a FM unit, 50 watts and I use a magnet mount right in the center of my roof. These type of units BLOW away a CB, but cost more, so not everyone has one. Mine is set up for the popular race channels (SCORE, MDR, BFG Pits, etc, etc ) and of course for the radios carried in the fanny packs of the bikes we chase...

Please stay away from adding amps/boosters to a CB unit if you go that route, they blast other units on the same channel that are closer and most bleed over to other channels ruining other peoples communications.

Who do you want to talk to? Find out what they have, and match it...

http://www.cobra.com/index.php?page=...duct_id=5&id=1
I was thinking something like this all you see is the handle

Justintoxicated · 08-13-2007, 11:38 AM

Well I got my license the test was easy I just read a PDF and went and took the test. I'm not sure why everyone thinks HAM is harder than CB. Other than having to say your callsign and taking a test that a two year old can pass.

The FM Ham Radio is supposedly MUCH better than CB. With CB you have to use an illegal amplifier and the range does not go nearly as far, otherwise it's 4 watts, plus you won't have a handheld CB. With a 5 watt hand held ham radio you can talk to people over with a much farther range by using repeaters. Basically you talk to a repeater which will boost your signal out over a huge area since most are located on tops of hills ect and can put out 100's of watts legaly.

I'm sticking with the 2 meter band and the repeater fires the signal all over. Plus you can encrypt the msgs to filter out what other people are saying (you enter in like a pass code on all the radios you want to work together and talk through a repeater, and you won't get voices from other people using the same repeater). My friend has both systems and says CB radios suck in comparison. The local Radio store does not even sell CB radios anymore. Looks like everyone is switching over to Ham Radios with 2 Meter band.

I'm looking @ different antenna mounts to plug my handheld into while in the car. Is the Magnetic really my best bet? What about something that would attach to the utility track?

AFAIK, CB is pretty much Line of sight? Just like the motorola hand helds but a bit stronger.

This is the radio I am using.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Yaesu-VX-170-VHF...QQcmdZViewItem

Youc an screw in an external antenna, or a hand held Microphone j]ust like the CB. Then disconnect that **** and throw it in your backpack for use outside the truck. No Amp required, although it might be fun to have one in the truck connected to the antenna.

Justintoxicated · 08-13-2007, 03:19 PM

Here are some links.

Repeater Lists:
http://rptrlist.w6jpl.ampr.org/

Practice Tests:
http://www.qrz.com/p/testing.pl

Study Guides: (Only need a Technician Lisence)
http://www.hamradioinstructor.com/guides.html
http://groups.google.com/group/RadioTeacher
the one I used is the Technician's Study Guide 2.0 found in the second link.
(and I took some of the practice tests).

It's not that hard and if your serious about offroad or wanting a radio that actualy works well even with obstructions like mountains, hills and dunes. Then it's worth a few hours of your time to invest in HAM over CB. My Friend was hitting a repeater about 40 miles away with just the hand held.

I took the tests 1-5 a few times then read the study guide 2.0, went and took the test and it was easier than any of the practice tests, I mean it was real easy.

The radio I had last trip did not have the option for Channel 5 -1 or 5 -0, it only had channel 5, and it was not reaching anyone when I was back at the Cabin. And when I could hear other people unless were were in line, it was pretty unclear. For a little more you can pickup a like new FM unit on ebay. That would be enough. However I want to get an external antenna for the Titan, since you lose ALOT of signal being inside the truck. They have an external setup you clamp on to the door and just use the antenna that comes with the radio, it's like $20.

I also intend to use the hand held in my backpack on the ATV. (I am going to add some headphones and mic to my helmit, and a push to talk button on the handle bars)

loufish - know anyone in DR0NK? I'm interested in joining to use their private chained repeaters in Glamis.

**loufish** · 08-14-2007, 01:10 AM

Quote:

loufish - know anyone in DR0NK? I'm interested in joining to use their private chained repeaters in Glamis.

Sorry, no I do not...

Justintoxicated · 08-15-2007, 08:34 PM

loufish these radios are really good. Just waiting for the FCC to give me my callsign.

Come on taz get your licence it's easy as hell to get it. And the radios spank the Moto's. I hear even without using a repeater they are considerably better. Still learning to use mine, lots of people seem o think it's funny to list repeater frequencies without the PL.

Lou if you know any linked repeaters I can use please let me know. I think I'm going to invest in a 50 watt unit for the truck, but first I have to rig up some kind of antenna. I really want to build something for the utility track, but I might have to go with a magnetic mount....Just not sure where to run the cable to in that case.

hondarider227 · 08-15-2007, 09:25 PM

OK so you got me thinking and after talking to a cb store they said ham is the way to go my question besides the radio what else do you need. I think I am gonna look at a icom ic-v85 radio. I get icom products thru work so I know my marine supliers can order me one.