Jump to content

Radioactive

Members
  • Posts

    10
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Radioactive's Achievements

  1. I use it pretty often actually. I hunt civil war relics and old coins with a metal detector. Sometimes we put on group hunts and in hilly and wodded terrain, the vhf band just gets better range. I have had really good results with murs, license free, good range and clear comms. I like it. Wal marts across the country use the crap out of it too.
  2. Im surprised you didnt hear a little more, especially on gmrs because so many different people use it for various things, example Repeaters, work crews, retail stores, small medical facilities etc. Ham you would need the repeaters for your route programmed in, and also the simplex call channels, but seems less and less people on ham radio. As far as the accident, no surprise there. If you want real time road inforamtion, NOTHING beats the good ol' cb. But even it has fewer people on it these days, but an accident with a traffic standstill will definetely liven up the cb. Unfortunately everyone is so glued to their cellphones these days, any "communications" they carry on while driving is on the phone, unless they are hobbyists and or radio nuts like us. I always monitor cb 19 when traveling, usually scan the cb band to hear some traffic, and have some gmrs repeaters programmed in just in case I want to reach out a bit. Also have a network radio, its great for world wide crystal clear communication and yes, Im aware its not "real" radio. So good luck on the return trip, my advice add a cb for road trips, you can pick up the old "emergency kits" for around $20 bucks and they are perfect for a temporary cb and with the little magmount actually get out and receive pretty well. I keep one in my wifes suv and my pickup truck in the door pocket, "just in case".
  3. Well I'm glad you figured it out. I'm not from the area, what is bluecomm? Maybe with one of the 2 clear frequencies you can put an OT ctcss pair or split dcs/ctcss and have a fairly "private" frequency for a while. Good luck!
  4. Ok thanks PG and Logan5, I've decided pot get some LMR400 and mount on the top of the tower. An enclosure T the base of the tower isn't really practical as there is n power there and that would involve more than I'm wanting to get into for this project. Thanks again guys.
  5. Ok, I am getting ready to put up a gmrs repeater on my property. I have an antenna tower on my property that's up on a small hill above my garage, where the repeater will be located, but putting the antenna on this tower will: increase the overall height of the antenna by about 30 feet, but to do this it will increase the coax length by about 60 feet to get the run to the garage versus putting it directly beside my garage on a tripod and mast, losing about 30' height but reducing the run of coax by about 60'. So which is the better option, the tower or the tripod/mast. Thanks for your input.
  6. Derp, just saw your (and my) call signs listed by our users names. Lol. You have been a ham longer than me and here I was "explaining" it and how easy the test is to you, my apologies. Good luck with your GMRS repeater, I wager you and I are a lot alike in our concept of radio comms. Talk to you later!
  7. Hello, This is just purely my opinion, so remember that. First let me tell you this, I've held a ham radio license since 1995, I have had an interest in radio comms since I was very young, I really got interested in ham after some severe storms, and particularly interested in skywarn. Being a young man I didn't know anyone else with a ham license, I listened to all the local repeaters and talked some, the folks were nice and all but I have always been more interested in the utilitarian uses of radio, than "rag chewing". I like to utilize 2 way radio for meaningful communications rather than discussing ailments and ho hum daily errands and such. To me, and I suspect to lots of others using GMRS, the ability to talk with your group of people, or family, without constant random contacts from "strangers" is a major advantage of GMRS over amateur(ham) radio. Now I have nothing against hams and rag chewing, to each his own, but that's just not my cup of tea. I keep my ham license because it also definitely has advantages, more repeaters, more modes of operation, widespread skywarn, around the world communication potential without using repeaters, heck you can even contact astronauts on the international space station, so I'm not bashing ham radio in any way at all. But the people on their repeater even if they hear you, they may be intentionally ignoring you so you will go away, so you won't be using their repeater. I would suggest finding the least used frequency pair and putting your repeater on that frequency. If you want to make random contacts on various frequencies, get your ham license. It's a very very very simple and easy process, the study questions are available and in a few days you will be more than able to pass the test. On those frequencies there are tons of people that will gladly answer your call sign. Good luck!!
  8. Hello Randy, Steve and Everyone else! My call sign is WQTK702, my name is Stephen, Steve, I'm interested also in building a small, portable solar powered repeater. There are a few on the web/youtube that are very impressive. I have the container, 2 handhelds, a duplexer, a solar control unit and small panel. Currently waiting on the coax leads for the portables to the duplexer, and the repeater controller. Trying to figure out the wiring to wire up a small gel cell, the 2 radios on battery eliminators, the repeater controller and tie it all into the solar charger. Going to be challenging, but fun as well. Still need to order an antenna for the container and an so-239 chassis mount so I can also attach an external separate antenna to the system if I want. I'm also considering a regular duty repeater as there aren't many near me, I wonder how you would go about getting space on a cell tower? And how much that would cost?
  9. Hello, I'm new here but not new to radio comms at all. My advice, get one of the Chinese dual band radios like a Wouxun or Baoefeng, you can easily get 2 Baofengs for $88 bucks brand new online. These are great for GMRS and Ham, as well as for monitoring several other hands including, FRS, Marine, MURS and Public Safety. They are around 4-5 watts, so you can't legally transmit on MURS or FRS with them, but for Ham and GMRS they will do 100% better than any bubble pack radio. They are as small as, if not smaller than, your current bubble pack radios so your wife can put it in her purse and won't have to "wear it around town", but it will be readily available and be much more useful than what you currently have. Also they will work fine with what you have now, so other family members covered by your GMRS license can use those and talk to you on the radio if need be, you are in California and we know what an earthquake can do to communications, so at least they would have something to possibly contact you with. Just a few days ago I was in my truck driving the opposite direction from my brother in his truck, both of us were using these Baofeng radios and we talked reliably and clearly for about 6 miles simplex, which is great considering we were inside the trucks using only the stock rubber duck antenna on 4 watts, in hilly Southwest Virginia terrain as well. Just thing what a 25 watt mobile with a 1/4 or 5/8 antenna with some gain could do! Good luck and glad your back into radio somewhat, I have seen the benefits of reliable 2 way comms many many times in my life, it is worth a little time effort and $ to have something to supplement the cell phones and land lines with.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Guidelines.