CB vs FRS

[CslRkH2]

If you could only have one, which is more useful offroad?

[CslRkH2]

If you could only have one, which is more useful offroad?

[DRTYFN]

Should have had a third choice: BOTH

[CslRkH2]

What's the effective range of an average CB?

[PARAGON]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by 05H2SUV:
What's the effective range of an average CB? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>max effective range of CB is supposed to be 4 miles

[PARAGON]

You can get 4 watt FRS/GMRS radios now that operate at max range of 12 miles.

[HummerNewbie]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by PARAGON:
You can get 4 watt FRS/GMRS radios now that operate at max range of 12 miles. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

If you are at the top of Lions Back http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

[CslRkH2]

Is CB range effected by the terrain/forest canopy like FRS is?

[Spike]

Given the low cost of the FRS radios and CB radios it would be foolish not to buy both. I opted for the hand held CB. Here is a picture of the setup I have in the back of my H2. I actually just picked up another set of rechargeable FRS radios with a desktop charger on sale at LL bean.

[HHummer]

12 miles would require on top of the hill, over a lake, with a tail wind!

[GeneseeMtn]

CB or FRS?
Neither!

You can't beat the clarity & distance of a VHF for off road use - zero static & distance 20 mile range easy.

You just have to convince your friends to have VHF as well (or buy some portables to lend out if your friends are poor). License recommended. Kenwood & ICON are good VHF mfrs.

[TBDAugs]

Agree with Genesee.

Marine band VHF is the way to go, problem is it's not a common vehicular purchase.

With DSC enabled Marine Band VHF by the way, you can attach it to a DSC enabled GPS chartplotter and then be able to track your position as well as all your buddies positions on your chartplotter. Garmin's chartplotter GPS's all are DSC enabled.

Also has an emergency rescue feature that broadcasts your GPS coordinates to all other DSC enabled VHF units and emergency responders.

Then all you need to do is hit the GOTO button on your chartplotter and it plots a course to your position.

If you want really great distance though, Single Side Band...

BSEEAugs

[GeneseeMtn]

When you order the VHF, you'll want it "unlocked" by the seller if you can arrange it so you can program in the frequencies & tones. There are common "Hummer" frequencies and tones that Hummer owners typically use & have licensed for off-road communication.

I'm lucky, a buddy of mine has a spare Kenwood handheld VHF, so I don't have to buy one.

BTW - Don't use HUMMER Channel 7 in Moab or you'll be talking over a local trucking company and you'll get a visit from the FCC, ask Harley Dave (GMPartsGuy) how I know http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[tower]

You need a license to operate an amature (ham) radio. FWIW, the one I had in the Tahoe was 45W UHF and 50W VHF. Our commercial (emergency) channels were UHF and my truck could reach everywhere our base station reached.

[Beastmaster]

Please do not use Marine band VHF for this type of thing. The FCC really frowns upon it to the point that they will cite and fine people on it. Truckers sometimes use Marine band radios, and I've heard that the FCC will DF the band sometimes in the Midwest and other landlocked states.


<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by TBDAugs:
Agree with Genesee.

Marine band VHF is the way to go, problem is it's not a common vehicular purchase.

With DSC enabled Marine Band VHF by the way, you can attach it to a DSC enabled GPS chartplotter and then be able to track your position as well as all your buddies positions on your chartplotter. Garmin's chartplotter GPS's all are DSC enabled.

Also has an emergency rescue feature that broadcasts your GPS coordinates to all other DSC enabled VHF units and emergency responders.

Then all you need to do is hit the GOTO button on your chartplotter and it plots a course to your position.

If you want really great distance though, Single Side Band...

BSEEAugs </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

[Beastmaster]

Actually, unless you have a General Mobile Radio Service license from the FCC for channel 7 (which I believe is 151.925 Mhz), you'll generally get in trouble for it.

I highly recommend anyone who wants to use a VHF frequency to use either the old Motorola Blue Dot (154.570) or Green Dot (154.600), which have been reassigned to the Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS). MURS is now part of the Citizens Band Radio Service classification. It's license free now per the FCC.

On a lot of AZHOG runs, we will use the Motorola Blue Dot frequency as one of three radio types. The other we use are FRS/GMRS and CB.

I think the biggest thing is this: What will most of the people you are travelling with use as a communication method?

Many people in Arizona still use CB. It's cheap, effective, and providing it's mounted and tuned correctly, should reach everyone in your group.

Others use FRS/GMRS. Others use VHF. Because of the fractionalized communication methods out there, I carry and use all three on the trail.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by GeneseeMtn:
When you order the VHF, you'll want it "unlocked" by the seller if you can arrange it so you can program in the frequencies & tones. There are common "Hummer" frequencies and tones that Hummer owners typically use & have licensed for off-road communication.

I'm lucky, a buddy of mine has a spare Kenwood handheld VHF, so I don't have to buy one.

BTW - Don't use HUMMER Channel 7 in Moab or you'll be talking over a local trucking company and you'll get a visit from the FCC, ask Harley Dave (GMPartsGuy) how I know http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

[PARAGON]

Well, I know you can get a modern UHF/VHF radio. Is there a modern commercial radio that covers all the common frequencies. One where you can program FRS/GMRS, emergency UHF/VHF, CB etc.?

With doing the HOPE thing and then the need for CB and FRS/GMRS, it would be easier to just have one programmable radio installed.

[PARAGON]

It would be nice to find something to permanently install while my truck is in this condition

[Beastmaster]

Holy cow. What project are you doing?

[Beastmaster]

Oh...forgot to answer the question.

If you're interested in doing the single radio thing, you can get an ICOM IC-706MKIIG or a Yaesu FT-857D, which will cover 11M (CB), UHF, and VHF, along with all the Amateur bands.

[PARAGON]

Navigation radio (mine's an '03), Mp3 player, motorola cellular hands free kit that goes through the radio like Onstar, rancho 9000 shock controller, rear camera, on board air compressor w/ switch/gauge inside and 5 gallon tank mounted underneath, power inverter, recessed mounted electronic brake controller.... I'll have to look in my shop to see if I left anything out. My truck has been like this for a week and I have no idea how long it will be like this since this kind of stuff seems to take me forever these days.

Along with the stock air compressor I will end up with 3 air compressors on board. The shock controller has it's own compressor.

Thanks for the radio suggestions, I'll take a look at those since that would be the easiest route.

[Beastmaster]

Forgot one other minor issue. The ICOM and Yaesu radios need to be modded to accomodate "out of band" use.

It's really easy to do. Google will provide all the information you need.

In all practical purposes, I'd get the ICOM. There's a reason why it's the #1 selling Amateur Radio in the world. The Yaesu is like #2 or 3, so you won't go wrong with it either, but you'll find far more information on the ICOM than the Yaesu.

-Steve

[PARAGON]

I really like the fact that it as the remote mounting faceplate. Makes mounting it much easier.

[KenP]

Damn, Paragon. That's one hell of a project. Hope it's done in the next couple of months. YOu could always bring the white 'burb. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

[Beastmaster]

Yes, that feature (available on both, IIRC) is really cool. You're able to stow the radio somewhere safe (euphimistically speaking) and mount only the faceplate in a visible area.

ICOM's remote mount kit is something like 10 feet worth of cable. Yaesu's version gives you something like double that.

The other cool thing about both of them is that you only need two antennas to achieve 10/11M (11M is CB) and UHF/VHF.

My only misgiving is that the ICOM is about 900 bucks. The Yaesu averages about 600 new on EBay.

Each of their remote mount kits are about 50 to 60 bucks. ICOM gives theirs away in their current promo. Still, $250 difference is quite a bit....that would pay for your antennas and still have money left over.

Here's a comparison between the two radios from a Ham Radio perspective.

http://pages.cfu.net/~sjs/857vs706.htm

Hope this helps,
Steve

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by PARAGON:
I really like the fact that it as the remote mounting faceplate. Makes mounting it much easier. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

[PARAGON]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by KenP:
Damn, Paragon. That's one hell of a project. Hope it's done in the next couple of months. YOu could always bring the white 'burb. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Yep, ground clearance of about 4" and all of that Denali Fascia plastic would equal a bunch stuff left on the trail that we would need Shaggy's truck to pack out. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

But hey, it is full-time AWD.

[PARAGON]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Beastmaster:
Yes, that feature (available on both, IIRC) is really cool. You're able to stow the radio somewhere safe (euphimistically speaking) and mount only the faceplate in a visible area.

ICOM's remote mount kit is something like 10 feet worth of cable. Yaesu's version gives you something like double that.

The other cool thing about both of them is that you only need two antennas to achieve 10/11M (11M is CB) and UHF/VHF.

My only misgiving is that the ICOM is about 900 bucks. The Yaesu averages about 600 new on EBay.

Each of their remote mount kits are about 50 to 60 bucks. ICOM gives theirs away in their current promo. Still, $250 difference is quite a bit....that would pay for your antennas and still have money left over.

Here's a comparison between the two radios from a Ham Radio perspective.

http://pages.cfu.net/~sjs/857vs706.htm

Hope this helps,
Steve

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by PARAGON:
I really like the fact that it as the remote mounting faceplate. Makes mounting it much easier. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> </div></BLOCKQUOTE>It certainly helps. I'll have to look at the comparo. Really, for something like this, that I will have and use over a long period of time, price is not as important as functionality. If the ole "you get what you pay for" rule applies I will have to pony up for the more expensive one.

[KenP]

I forgot to compliment the underdash rust. Don't you just love it?! http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif

[PARAGON]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by KenP:
I forgot to compliment the underdash rust. Don't you just love it?! http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif </div></BLOCKQUOTE>I guess I should have gone and got a tetanus booster because I keep busting my knuckles working under there.

Yep, pretty sad that they put bare untreated metal back there to just rust away.

[DRTYFN]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by PARAGON:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by KenP:
Damn, Paragon. That's one hell of a project. Hope it's done in the next couple of months. YOu could always bring the white 'burb. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Yep, ground clearance of about 4" and all of that Denali Fascia plastic would equal a bunch stuff left on the trail that we would need Shaggy's truck to pack out. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

But hey, it is full-time AWD. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, you know you'll be riding shotgun in a PEWTER H2 on the tough stuff anyway.http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gifhttp://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

[PARAGON]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by DRTYFN:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by PARAGON:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by KenP:
Damn, Paragon. That's one hell of a project. Hope it's done in the next couple of months. YOu could always bring the white 'burb. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Yep, ground clearance of about 4" and all of that Denali Fascia plastic would equal a bunch stuff left on the trail that we would need Shaggy's truck to pack out. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

But hey, it is full-time AWD. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, you know you'll be riding shotgun in a PEWTER H2 on the tough stuff anyway.http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gifhttp://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Don't bet on it. I have an aversion to the passenger seat. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[ree]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by PARAGON:
...
Really, for something like this, that I will have and use over a long period of time, price is not as important as functionality. If the ole "you get what you pay for" rule applies I will have to pony up for the more expensive one. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Paragon,
Did you pony up for the single radio, go multi-handheld, or is the jury still out?

Others,
When you guys say GMRS/FRS is very common, I assume you mean the combo radios that do the GMRS high and low frequencies and 7 of the FRS channels. Is this right?

If so which 7 FRS channels do most peoples combo radios have? And how often are people using the GMRS channels unlicensed?

Or do a lot of people who use handhelds really have true 14-channel FRS only radios?

[PARAGON]

I ended up getting a Midland handheld that served well. Right now, I am waiting on getting a broadband radio. I've got to go to one or two "classes" to get what I am wanting

As far as GMRS/FRS, you get a deal to get your licence when you buy one, so I would assume those that have GMRS opted for a licence. All of mine are GMRS/FRS and I probably have 12 radios.

[ree]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by PARAGON:
I ended up getting a Midland handheld that served well. Right now, I am waiting on getting a broadband radio. I've got to go to one or two "classes" to get what I am wanting

As far as GMRS/FRS, you get a deal to get your licence when you buy one, so I would assume those that have GMRS opted for a licence. All of mine are GMRS/FRS and I probably have 12 radios. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I was looking at the midland handheld too and was planning on licensing for GMRS.

I can't seem to find any consumer-oriented true FRS radios (channels 1-14). So I'm guessing that everyone out there using "FRS" is really using a GMRS/FRS combo with only the FRS 1-7 channels. Anyone know otherwise, please pipe up.

[Bondage]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Spike:
Given the low cost of the FRS radios and CB radios it would be foolish not to buy both. I opted for the hand held CB. Here is a picture of the setup I have in the back of my H2. I actually just picked up another set of rechargeable FRS radios with a desktop charger on sale at LL bean. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Spike - the back of your rig is WAY too neat and WAY too tidy. That sort of neatness scares the crap outta me.
http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif
SEan

[Spike]

originally posted by Bondage,
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Spike - the back of your rig is WAY too neat and WAY too tidy. That sort of neatness scares the crap outta me.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>
After 2 years it is a little more cluttered, as I have added the additional 2 rechargable FRS radios to the mix. They are sitting in the cup holder in front of those other radios. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif
Oh I forgot, I also have a snow scraper/brush back there too. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif It's gettin a little tight back there!!

[Bondage]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Spike:
originally posted by Bondage,
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Spike - the back of your rig is WAY too neat and WAY too tidy. That sort of neatness scares the crap outta me.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>
After 2 years it is a little more cluttered, as I have added the additional 2 rechargable FRS radios to the mix. They are sitting in the cup holder in front of those other radios. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif
Oh I forgot, I also have a snow scraper/brush back there too. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif It's gettin a little tight back there!! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

LOL The roll of toilet paper I use as a wedge to hold my fire extinguisher in place keeps getting lose, bouncing out of the tray, and unrolling all over my cargo area. I actually like your neatness. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif I think it's time I get organanzized.
http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif
Sean