Looking at Mobile radios....HAM? GMRS?

WilliamA

Hey all, I've been getting things put in order for my next big adventure and one of the things that's been on my list for some time is a new radio. I'm currently running a low-end Midland CB and it works okay, but I'd like to explore some better (longer range) options. I was looking at mobile ham radio but now the more I read, the better I like the sound of GMRS. I've been looking at the Midland MXT 115 (I actually had my hands on one of these today but decided more research would be a good thing) or MXT 275 units. They are reasonably priced and will fit where I want to put them to boot. Any others I should consider? I've been wrestling with an antenna choice though. My Jeep is a ragtop and as such, things will be more difficult. I have learned a great deal reading about the subject but there are miles to go. I know there are some HAM guys out here too so I'd love to hear some back and forth about advantages/disadvantages. I'd like to be able to access the GMRS frequencies and I think (?) you can do that with HAM, but not the other way around. I really don't want to spend $500 bucks on a radio to see if I like it.

I should note here that I'm not a radio guy and though I've been reading a great deal, have barely scratched the skin of the radio onion. As to licensing, I know that either HAM or GMRS requires a license so that's a given in either case.

WilliamA

CampHub

William, amateur is the only way to go. Clubs and individual hams have setup repeaters all across the country that increase range from line of sight to 100's of miles with enough linked repeaters. Check the ARRL website and start with a tech license this will get you on UHF and VHF bands http://www.arrl.org/getting-your-technician-license Reach out to a local club to get you tested and on the air. Check here http://www.arrl.org/clubs/search/Location.state:WI to find a club near you. You might be surprised how easy the questions are with your background here is a site with practice exams and question pools https://hamexam.org/
There is a lot of used radio equipment out there to get you going on the cheap.

WilliamA

Camphub,

Thanks for the info. I have been reading tons of info on comms of late but there is much that I don't know. Where to start? I decided to focus on radio frequencies and how they differ in distance vs power output. I also have been reading about the myriad antenna options and how to get the best bang for my buck.

My first step is to go back to the drawing board with my CB radio (since I already have that setup installed, it seems like a logical place to apply my learning) and rework it to achieve my personal best s/n ratio. That means gutting the system and checking/testing each individual component and it's installation, learning about the pitfalls of each one. To that end, I bought a new CB radio that is much higher quality (and more features) than my $40 dollar noisemaker. I won't stop tweaking that until I've worked it over to my satisfaction and have a much better understanding of the antenna system, it's placement, ground planes, swr and etc, since learning there must be directly applicable to radio principles in general.

As is the case with most things, I don't really understand what I want, but have a good idea of what I don't, so start with the basics and let the science lead me by the nose.....

WilliamA

WilliamA

I spent a good part of the day yesterday removing my overhead console so I could do surgery on it. I peeled back the leatherette and enlarged the hole to plant my new CB in it. It's a tight squeeze and the new radio barely fit. It's in and working but I might toy with a different design for the console and make another. I can migrate my internals over without too much work and still have enough leatherette to cover another one. It'll be a good low-buck project.

I also removed my antenna and completely re-did the mount system, cleaning all of the connections. I re-mounted it and made a better ground strap. I had downloaded a CB radio how-to for dummies and carefully followed it to the letter while reassembling everything. Armed with my newfound smarts (and the new radio with it's built-in SWR meter) I started dialing in the antenna for best SWR's. After cutting off the antenna a quarter inch at a time I was able to achieve my personal best ever standing wave ratio of 1.2 on channel 1 with 1.4 on channel 19. I was super happy with the results and while I think I can squeeze a tiny bit better on the mid-channels, decided to celebrate with a coffee. Besides, I was pretty cold and needed a break.

Kathy's house is in a hollow if of a meandering valley ten miles north of interstate 94. We don't get cel reception here unless we go up the hill or towards town. Even so, my new radio/antenna tune was able to pick up truckers on the interstate 10 miles away! That's the best I've ever achieved. I am really happy with the results and most important, feel like I've gained a huge step forward in my understanding of radio systems. I thought I would need to replace my antenna because of the crummy performance and that bugged me because when I bought it from a radio specialty store the guy told me it was a really good one (Browning model 140 base-loaded) but the performance has always been pretty crappy. Turns out, it's always been my crappy installation/tuning job that was the culprit.

Some lessons are harder to digest than others. We often need to come back around to the humbling experience of realizing that as often as not, we shouldn't assume we know what we're doing and more quiet time spent understanding the system will earn much bigger rewards than throwing a bag of money at the problem.

I'm happy with the new radio and don't feel that it was extravagant. It has a number of features that are both useful (SWR meter) and ergonomic (adjustable lighting). I am REALLY happy about my antenna and newfound knowledge thereof. That will give me a much-needed new understanding of what I need, how it mounts and how to make it work best for me.

Now I can design my new console to fit 2 radios and whatever I decide for a second comm source, have some level of confidence that I can make it work well.

Everything affects everything....

WilliamA

CampHub

@WilliamA Glad to hear you have figured out your CB issues and are getting the performance you hoped for. You should be able to see up to 25 mile range on 4 watts depending on terrain. My 50watt 2m 70cm rig in the jeep I have been able to have simplex contacts up to 50 miles away. I have a Icom ic-2820h installed. The radio is under the co-pilots seat and the remote head above the radio. The antenna is on a bracket I bent up on the hood, little more of a ground plane there. Everyone is always welcome to come over to amateur radio side of life!

WilliamA

@CampHub said:
@WilliamA Glad to hear you have figured out your CB issues and are getting the performance you hoped for. You should be able to see up to 25 mile range on 4 watts depending on terrain. My 50watt 2m 70cm rig in the jeep I have been able to have simplex contacts up to 50 miles away. I have a Icom ic-2820h installed. The radio is under the co-pilots seat and the remote head above the radio. The antenna is on a bracket I bent up on the hood, little more of a ground plane there.

CampHub,
Thanks for the info on your radio. The more I've read and the better I understand radios, the more I'm leaning toward the HAM direction. I've actually read a good deal about the very radio that you have. I'm wondering if you have any advice about that radio in particular or perhaps a more basic unit that might be a bit less daunting than a dual frequency radio for a starter like myself. I am attracted to the setup you have with the remote head unit. I've done some looking and found others with a remote head unit that are single frequency radios. I've also read that the ic-2820 is a bit of a beast to program. Any thoughts? Also, of course.....A good antenna. I'm planning to make a fixed mount for the antenna that attaches to the side of the Jeep up high by the drip rail. I have some designs for a mount that goes on at drip-rail level but doesn't attach to the drip rail as I have a soft-top. Any suggestions on hardware, blogs and additional reading would be appreciated.

WilliamA

CampHub

@WilliamA, I understand the pain of programing these newer radios, I use a software radio programmer. It takes all the guesswork and frustration out of it. There is a buggy free version called CHIRP and a radio specific version that works very well from RT Systems. I would recommend eHam and QRZ where you can find reviews and equipment for sale. Ebay also has a lot of ham equipment but be careful and get some assurances it will work when you get it.

Now, ham radio is seeing a change into the digital age. It has been around a while and a lot of hams call it internet ham radio that really isn't radio. You can talk all over the world with these units and yes it uses the internet. Some of the newer DMR units are aware of where they are and will automatically load repeater frequencies that are in range. Check out what RFinder is doing if your interested in getting a little further into the rabbit hole. There are so many different avenues you can get into which makes it great and reminds me I don't have enough time.

There are a ton of YouTube videos of guys explaining how to get started and what radio to buy and they do a much better job then I could. Enjoy!