But that'll never happen. Some of us have little or no interest in amature radio.. ..Just like some of us are more or less interested in digital photography! :D

 

lol! Well, some wishes just don't come true...

 

FRS is UHF, not VHF.

Like John said, the "4 Watt" advertised range of FRS radios is total BULL. If you climb up to the top of a radio tower in the Nevada salt flats and hold the radio above your head, you might get 4 miles of range. Otherwise, expect 1/2 mile or so.

99% of them are walkie-talkies. They do make base stations, but they are not any more powerful. It is just a desktop unit with the antenna attached to it. The car mounted one basicly has the transmitter inside the antenna base which is magenetted to the roof of the car. It is just a remote control inside the vehicle.

 

Erh, uh, VHF, UHF, whatever. It sure ain't HF or whatever the 27 MHz CB band is..

 

DOH! I remember now. I used "retired" (and they were pretty "tired", lol) UHF business band radios from the plant here to make the 4 watt versions. Yes, I stand corrected: UHF

I've been talking about VHF so much lately I have it on the brain...

 

I have GMRS hand held radios and they are better than the FRS radios by a lot

 

FRS actually shares some of the GMRS frequencies. GMRS allows you to use 5 watt portables, and up to 50 watt mobiles and base stations. You can use whatever antennas you want. You are not going to see a HUGE difference when we are talking portable-to-portable. You will gain some range if you have a higher powered mobile and a good external antenna.

There is a difference though... GMRS is NOT a license free band. GMRS use requires an FCC license which costs $75.00 and requires no testing or pre-requisits. The license covers you and your immidiate family. The band has been poluted by unlicenced users because every radio shack and walmart sell GMRS radios like they are "enhanced FRS radios" and could care less about informing the user they need a license. The reuslt is a bunch of people that aren't licensed using it and interfering with legitimately licensed users. It may or may not bother anyone depending on where you live. It is more popular in some places, less in others.

Now, with all that said, it is hardly a major issue on the FCC's radar. Hell, they don't seem give a crap at all. So, I will say this. If you are not interfering with a licensed user on GMRS, knock yourself out. If you do find yourself bothering someone with a valid license, do them a courtesy and find another channel. I envision the GMRS band becoming license free in a few years anyway.

 

On the other hand, the FCC has been intensely prosecuting illegal operations on ham bands. I guess they just have a focus. Also, we have the ARRL to push our agenda and I don't know that GMRS operators have such a group.

 

Even the ham radio community has a hard time getting any real attention from the FCC. Yea, if you push them enough and basicly do all the fox hunting work for them, give them a name, address, phone number, and mother's maiden name, they will come shut down the illegal operator. For GMRS, good luck. There is no organization fighting for them.

 

My 50 watt ham rig is more than enough for trail use :)

The last time I had the CB hooked up in the truck, I had a mag mount K40 on the roof, which was massively big, A friend moved out to Montana over the summer, and left behind a few of his antennas, on being a K40 trunk lip mount, once I get the appropriate hardware, I'll be making a removable mount for it to go in the bed, basically 2x4's and a few pieces of metal.

 

IF you have anyone else on the trip with a radio! Doc is the only one I've ridden with so far with 2 meters in the truck, I do believe.

On the first Centralia trip, with 30+ trucks, CB was ridiculous. There were so many folks goofing around you couldn't direct the meet. I got on one end offroad, and Doc took up the rear, and we kept 2 meters on so we could talk even when the group made the CB's useless with idle chatter.

Experienced ops: can you say "net control operator"?

 

Hahaha, A ham buddy of mine is writing his own net control program for the PC with a few cool features in it.

 

that's why you have 40 channels

hmmmm.... I wonder does my CB have a scanner or dual watch?

 

Have you tried that in a large group very close together? Sometimes the truck next to you desenses your receiver so much it becomes useless. Most CB receivers are not so selective, and nearby RF energy can make it difficult to use the other channels reliably. Desense is radio shorthand for "desensitization" -- where nearby off-channel signals overload the receiver and prevent it from receiving other signals clearly, or at all.

In addition, using two different frequency groups allows you to monitor the two frequencies for activity simultaneously.

 

man...ya'll know all about radios.....how do u know so much? just take an active interest over the years? a toy as a child? etc?

 

You learn about it by using it and needing to know about it -- and wanting to get a ham license also. I have been into electronics since I was 11 years old or so. I'm 49 now, so that's a little while...

 

Back to part of the original question.... John can get distracted sometimes... :-) I have the same antenna. To tune it, you have to slide the whip part up or down a hair at a time to find a good length. To do so, you have to have a meter to find where it needs to be. It's easy to adjust though. There is a piece that you unscrew to loosen up the whip, then you can move it up and down a bit till you find the proper length, then you just have to make sure you tighten the screw nice and tight. I'll see if I can get a pic of it at lunch, if not, it's the stainless or chrome piece that is at the top of the base before the actual whip section. Sorry if I just really confused everyone. Haven't had any coffee yet......

 

That's how most of them are. It's just a little set screw that holds the whip in place. You can adjust it up and down by loosening the screw. Just adjust it so the SWR is as low as possible.

 

yeah, i orgionally had it all the way in..i didnt know that it was ok to have it out, but i unscrewed the thing, and pulled it out a little bit, and i'm gettin better reception..i figured longer is better....i didnt use a meter or anything, just got lucky...but i picked up a convo from california the other day...and im in virginia....and then the other day i picked up clear as day and had a convo witha guy from another county, so all's good.


the only prob i have now is where to put it..i have it under my seat, but it makes it hard to see the channel #'s and etc....

 

Well, the long-distance is the skip thing. That really is not a function a precision tuned antenna. That is just atmospheric conditions taking your signal up and over to la-la land. It's funny how you can have a conversation with someone 1,000 miles away but the guy 2 miles down the road might as well be on the moon.

 

yeah i figured it was an atmosphere f-up.... and u're so true, they sounded cleared than guys in my own city.....its very odd...but none the less, mobile communication is awesome.

 

Sorry to drag this OT again, but John, do you think things would have been all that different if we were all operating HAM equipment? A big part of that is just poor radio discipline, not the choice fo bands/equipment. I saw it at the Centralia trip in October as well. And we only had what, half a dozen or so tranceivers. I mean someone tied up the channel for over a minute or two that night just pumping (barely comprehensible I might add) music over the line!

CB is what it is: it's for us common folk..

Personally I'm not sure I could ever afford the impressive collection of radio gear you have. Ceartianly not all at once anyhow. You've been collecting gear for how long? And some of it you admit to getting second hand. Naw, I'll stick to CB, FRS and the sort..

 

It would have been different because MOST (though certainly not all hams) have already learned about net control operations and the necessary radio discipline. It's not perfect, but way better than most CB operators who have no training. My point is not the band/equipment -- but who's USING the band/equipment. CB operators do not operate ham gear (with rare exceptions) and so generally we don't have TOTALLY untrained operators. I don't think you quite got my point, but hopefully that makes it clear?

The total cost for the radio's in my truck is under $200. The "big rig" I got for free because it had been lightning damaged, and I repaired it for about $40 and the time (over 20 hours!!!) to fix it. I fixed it over the course of a month or so, working on it now and then.

That's part of what being a ham is supposed to be about: being able to build and maintain your own equipement, not just being an "appliance operator". Most can NOT do that when they start, it's learned over time -- and many never get as good at it as I am, and some are BETTER. However, technical expertise at some level is the hallmark of the experienced amateur radio operator.

So, for those unwilling or unable to acquire the necessary training and expertise, the legal options are FRS, GMRS, and CB. Taking a step above that to ham gear CAN cost more, but doesn't have to cost a lot if you're patient. Me? I'm just CHEAP! I'm always trying to find a cheaper way to get to where I want to be with something, even if it takes more time.

 

The good old van allen belts in the ionoshpere. Without them you wouldn't be able to use a radio at all, oh and you'd be dead too.

 

I wonder if we could teach some proper radio etiquette for meets and such instead. Maybe a 10 minute "Please don't do this, please do this." session would be in order?! I still wonder how efficient having 20+ radios all trying to talk will ever be. But then I'm not a HAM, so I don't know jack about such things.

And I'd have to say that it sounds like you've been fortunate in collecting your gear. The lightning damaged set looked to be worth quite a bit. Sounds like you were in the right place at the right time!

And when you say "unwilling or unable" to learn about radios you make it sound like we're all lazy or something! I'd love to become a licensed radio operator, really. Unfortunately I just haven't got the time. For that matter, I don't really have the need either.