COMS

[redneck]

I'm a comms guy and I'm seeing all kinds of antenna on people's rigs.

By the looks of it there is the obvious CB, but there is also some VHF and UHF length antenna...

Which means their either Hams.. or they are on MURS, or GMRS...

What freqs do you guys use? I've got all kinds of radios in my Yeep and I'd like to know where everyone is.

I assume channel 3 on the CB; where else?

[abendx]

IOR normally runs CB4... and if too busy, CB16. Adjustments can be made as necessary.

There are a couple of HAMS in the club and a few with VHF that stick to the Business Band where things are semi legal.

We haven't come up with a freq plan for the VHF stuff as there just isn't enough interest in FM it seems. 151.880 a MURS channel is sometimes used.

[Desert Dog]

Like Brad said

CB channel 4 primary (because we are a 4 wheel drive club)
CB channel 16 is our back-up (because 4x4 = 16)

2 meter trail com = simplex 151.880 MURS

When I'm the only one on 2 meter (which is usually the case), I monitor national simplex 146.52 just to pick up chatter or ragchew with other wheelers in the area.

We also have what they call "mountain Simplex" that the mountain communities around Lake Isabella use = 146.550. I trained and tested with some of the guys at the Sequoia Amateur Radio Group, so know some of them. A lot of 4-wheelers in the Isabella/Bodfish/Kernville area use this.

Most of the buggies in Bakersfield use two meter only (no CB), but only a few of the jeeps have ham. Only 3 of us in IOR have an actual mobile station on our rigs, mostly FT-2900rs that can blast 75 watts on simplex. Several others use handy talkies with rubber duckys, so basically don't transmit any better than a tuned CB.

Regards,

KK6EYY

[Raidisk]

I usually monitor cb ch 19 and 4 back and forth, and when on the trail I talk on 146.580 simplex between hams. If I'm the only one with vhf and no one has a cb (most of the time), ill hand out my Chinese import handhelds and talk on murs ch 2, 151.880. Works quite well but I have to lock all the keypads before handing them out otherwise my friends will be lost in menus, or will key all the repeaters in the area

[abendx]

[quote="Raidisk"]I usually monitor cb ch 19 and 4 back and forth, and when on the trail I talk on 146.580 simplex between hams. If I'm the only one with vhf and no one has a cb (most of the time), ill hand out my Chinese import handhelds and talk on murs ch 2, 151.880. Works quite well but I have to lock all the keypads before handing them out otherwise my friends will be lost in menus, or will key all the repeaters in the area[/quote]

You know.... I've thought about buying a couple of el chepo handhelds for just this reason. Talking AM sucks balls and IMO the handhelds are MUCH better than AM in every way, even at 5w. Out at JV I carry my VX-8DR around camp with a zero gain antenna (you know, one those 2" jobbies) and can pick up about 80% of what I can from the rig with a real antenna. It would just make for a much better time if we could convince everyone to buy a Chinese handheld and stick the the Business Band. If they are all the same, we can get a clone cable and make things really easy. At 30 or 40 bucks, it seems to me to be a no brainer to get rid of the CB altogether.

[Desert Dog]

[quote="abendx"]You know.... I've thought about buying a couple of el chepo handhelds for just this reason. Talking AM sucks balls and IMO the handhelds are MUCH better than AM in every way, even at 5w. Out at JV I carry my VX-8DR around camp with a zero gain antenna (you know, one those 2" jobbies) and can pick up about 80% of what I can from the rig with a real antenna.[/quote]
The last time we were all in JV (goatfest), Richard and I couldn't hear you after we got about a mile away. But I could hear Richard and the rest of the URF guys from camp on the lakebed, and they were on the Fissure Mt trail - about 10 miles away.

Dusty has a nice handheld tri-band, and had to use his peaked and tuned CB on freeway ridge because me and rob couldn't hear him more than a couple miles out - but he was loud and clear on a tuned CB pushing 15 watts. He now has a diamond mag mount antenna and connects to 12v power and gets pretty damn good range. Adding a real antenna really made that HT perform much better.

Travis also has a handy talkie, and he can't reach the race car when its at the other end of the short-course track at the stampede (about 5 miles).

My handheld that I use to monitor races (Yaesu FT60) Hits the repeater traffic great in JV (race ops), but I couldn't talk to crew members on simplex when they would head into a trail. At home, I can contact people on simplex about 10 miles out when in farmland. I can hit a repeater from my work that is about 25 miles away if atmospheric conditions are great. Not too bad for an HT with a rubber ducky.

What I have found in the last couple years playing around with these things on the trail: with flat terrain, good line-0-sight, and favorable atmospheric conditions - a 5 watt handheld is good. When wheeling in hilly terrain, canyons, bad weather - the extra power output of a dedicated mobile station really makes a HUGE difference on simplex. The 75 watts of the 2900r is a BEAST on the trail.

Having said that, I would take a 5 watt HT over most of the poorly turned/installed CBs in the club in a heartbeat Half of the CBs in this club are unusable

[Raidisk]

Yeah cb has its advantages and disadvantages. For the cheap chinese handhelds I bought four Puxing px-777 vhf ht's at $50 each shipped from 409shop.com I am amazed how rugged these radios are. I run a yaesu ft-1900r in the mobile, and a ft-60 in the glove box. Both have the mars mod done to them so I (Can Listen In), haha. All are programmed for murs 1&2 and i believe they can be cloned with a $5 cable off that site. Very simple menu functions with a keypad lock.

Also, If anyone is going up to gorman this weekend, ill be there sunday with my HF and Vhf swr meters and antenna analyzer. So if anyone is questioning their antenna set up, maybe i can help. just look for my truck.

[abendx]

[quote="Raidisk"]Yeah cb has its advantages and disadvantages. For the cheap chinese handhelds I bought four Puxing px-777 vhf ht's at $50 each shipped from 409shop.com I am amazed how rugged these radios are. I run a yaesu ft-1900r in the mobile, and a ft-60 in the glove box. Both have the mars mod done to them so I (Can Listen In), haha. All are programmed for murs 1&2 and i believe they can be cloned with a $5 cable off that site. Very simple menu functions with a keypad lock.

Also, If anyone is going up to gorman this weekend, ill be there sunday with my HF and Vhf swr meters and antenna analyzer. So if anyone is questioning their antenna set up, maybe i can help. just look for my truck.[/quote]


I won't be at Gorman, but am going to hit you up the nexxt time I am in town to tune my VHF radios in my truck and buggy. VHF SWR is EXPENSIVE!! Thank you for having one.

[Raidisk]

Yeah sure thing, I live down on Hueneme rd near Saviers so just pm me. I can cruise over in the evening sometime

[Desert Dog]

[quote="Raidisk"]Yeah cb has its advantages and disadvantages. For the cheap chinese handhelds I bought four Puxing px-777 vhf ht's at $50 each shipped from 409shop.com[/quote]
Dammmm. That's a smoking deal. Ill have to check that site out and maybe gets some for our raffles. What better way to get more folks on 2m that to give away some radios.

[quote="Raidisk"] Also, If anyone is going up to gorman this weekend, ill be there sunday with my HF and Vhf swr meters and antenna analyzer. So if anyone is questioning their antenna set up, maybe i can help. just look for my truck.[/quote]
I have both meters and will be tuning at the IOR booth on Sunday. I had it set-up last year too, but out of the 200 vehicles there, I only tuned 5 CBs

2 of them had the washers stacked wrong on the connector and one of them connected the wire on his Wilson flex to ground (he thought I was a ground wire). You can come over to the booth and help out if you want. Hopefully we get more people to get there shit fixed this year.

[abendx]

[quote="Raidisk"]Yeah sure thing, I live down on Hueneme rd near Saviers so just pm me. I can cruise over in the evening sometime[/quote]

Oh damn.... you're here in the Nard. Sweet.... I'm here in my back yard all day and night long until this JK is finished. PM me your number and I'll give you a buzz.

[Raidisk]

Haha I see that alot when my friends ask me why they can't hear me across the parking lot. And the Wilson silver loads, someone told me what the short wire was for but I forgot. I usually tape em off. Ill look for you tomorrow, I should be going up after I get out work today around 6.

[Desert Dog]

Im heading up after work at about six too. I think im gonna take the buggy. See you around the bonfire tonight

[redneck]

In my Jeep:
I have an 85 watt CB (10 meter ham rig).
I also have a Yaesu FT-7800 2m 440
I also have an APRS 2 meter/GPS rig that tracks the GPS coordinates of my jeep while wheeling.
I also have a 6 meter antenna for my 2m/440/6m HT.

In my 92 Chevy I have a 75 watt Icom 2 meter rig

In my 2002 Chevy I have a 2m/440 mobile.

I also have a Yaesu 857d all band, all mode transceiver...

I've been in Ham radio for 21 years....been into redneckin my whole life, so I've done a lot of off-road radioin, and I don't get many people on the radio....

Lower frequencies like CB are going to do better over hilly terrain, where higher frequencies (6m, 2m, 70cm) will do better in canyons and around obstacles (trees, buildings, et cetera).

Ultimately, antenna is the most important thing.

[Raidisk]

I've been eyeing the 857D for a Long time now, even before I got bit by the offroad bug. I'm saving up for a bunch more stuff for the runner, then Ill get the radio. I'd like to build an overhead console and use the YSK separation kit to stick the face up there and out of the way. I used to drag along a yaesu ft-817nd and a 30uF adjustable loading coil with a wander lead for the different bands. Couple that with a 102" whip and a good band opening on 40 meters and you'd be surprised with what you could do with 5watts pep.

If only 857s new weren't $8xx. But for now, the cb and vhf combo is doing the trick. If we can only get more people on vhf now.

[redneck]

[quote="Raidisk"]I've been eyeing the 857D for a Long time now, even before I got bit by the offroad bug. I'm saving up for a bunch more stuff for the runner, then Ill get the radio. I'd like to build an overhead console and use the YSK separation kit to stick the face up there and out of the way. I used to drag along a yaesu ft-817nd and a 30uF adjustable loading coil with a wander lead for the different bands. Couple that with a 102" whip and a good band opening on 40 meters and you'd be surprised with what you could do with 5watts pep.

If only 857s new weren't $8xx. But for now, the cb and vhf combo is doing the trick. If we can only get more people on vhf now.[/quote]

Shoot; used they're going for $700+... That's so stupid: 5 years ago, I bought this rig for $800 and it included an ATAS-120 automatic screwdriver antenna and the separation kit! I could sell it for more than I bought it for after 5 years of use!

I really thought about putting it in my jeep... but I can't beat up $1000 worth of radio for something that rarely get's used in BFE... it's a better fit in my 4x4 chevy pickup... it's one of those round-to-its.

[Lake_v2]

So i got this radio thing and the instructions talk about ohm rating on antenna and cable



Kenwood tm-281a

What antenna and cable to run?

[abendx]

[quote="Lake_v2"]:thinking:

So i got this radio thing and the instructions talk about ohm rating on antenna and cable



Kenwood tm-281a

What antenna and cable to run?[/quote]

I'm running some Kenwood in the house and in the truck.... I can give you a hand getting that thing setup.

A lot of options for you, but you can't go wrong with a Larsen NMO 150B and NMOKHFCXTH (antenna and cable).

[Uncle Cracker]

all greek to me

[abendx]

[quote="Uncle Cracker"]:dontknow: all greek to me [/quote]

We can put one in your's too.

[Raidisk]

that antenna and mount Brad recommended would work great. dont really have to worry much about the impedance (Ohms) of the coax as long as you get a pre-made mount with a piece of coax already soldered to it. almost all of the nmo mounts that have a piece of feedline attached will say 50-52 ohms in white lettering on the coax itself. just have to tune the antenna for the best match and call it good.

[Uncle Cracker]

[quote="abendx"][quote="Uncle Cracker"]:dontknow: all greek to me [/quote]

We can put one in your's too.[/quote]
guess i'm gonna go that route soon enough.
price me something brad (with MY budget in mind)

not hand held

[abendx]

[quote="Uncle Cracker"][quote="abendx"][quote="Uncle Cracker"]:dontknow: all greek to me [/quote]

We can put one in your's too.[/quote]
guess i'm gonna go that route soon enough.
price me something brad (with MY budget in mind)

not hand held[/quote]

Handheld can be done for cheap.... less than 50 I think. A mobile is a better option since you'll get to use a much better antenna... the power is also greater, but in our application, not as important as a good antenna with a good ground plane. A mobile is also easier to use.

A little more cash would get you a dual band radio.... not something you need, but the nice thing is you'll get to talk to those FRS/GMRS radios if you like.

We can get you going for under 200. Is that in your budget? That would get you a Yaesu (1900 or 2900) or Kenwood (281) radio, antenna, and cable (similar to what I pointed Matt at). Install will only take a couple of hours (routing cable cleanly). If it's too much, I can look at other options for you.

If I can't find something in your price range, you could always do a handheld and run it to a mobile antenna and run a hand mic. I'm guessing you'll be in for just around a hundred on that.

Also... getting a ham license isn't too hard (well... if you aren't like someone I know that went to take without studying at all, you should be good). It's not exactly necessary for our application, but good to have.

[chuckanut105]

[quote="abendx"]

Handheld can be done for cheap.... less than 50 I think. A mobile is a better option since you'll get to use a much better antenna... the power is also greater, but in our application, not as important as a good antenna with a good ground plane. A mobile is also easier to use.

A little more cash would get you a dual band radio.... not something you need, but the nice thing is you'll get to talk to those FRS/GMRS radios if you like.

We can get you going for under 200. Is that in your budget? That would get you a Yaesu (1900 or 2900) or Kenwood (281) radio, antenna, and cable (similar to what I pointed Matt at). Install will only take a couple of hours (routing cable cleanly). If it's too much, I can look at other options for you.

If I can't find something in your price range, you could always do a handheld and run it to a mobile antenna and run a hand mic. I'm guessing you'll be in for just around a hundred on that.

Also... getting a ham license isn't too hard (well... if you aren't like someone I know that went to take without studying at all, you should be good). It's not exactly necessary for our application, but good to have.[/quote]


Hey fuck you Brad I studied just now before the exam. I love that little hand held that I got off you. works great. Make you get a mic for it and its great for the Jeep or even OTR. Its even cooler when you can hack the racetrack band.

[abendx]

[quote="chuckanut105"]Hey fuck you Brad I studied just now before the exam. I love that little hand held that I got off you. works great. Make you get a mic for it and its great for the Jeep or even OTR. Its even cooler when you can hack the racetrack band.[/quote]

Oh man... I think I'd have stuck with the no studying story.

Yeah... that one you have, the Woxun is a great little radio. I should have kept that one and more money in my pocket... the Yaesu I have now isn't that much better and cost a ton more. I think it'd work great in the jeep with a mobile installed antenna... hell, one could even add an amp to get more power.

Hurry home buddy... we miss you.