The Frankenstein Build! LT/Expo/Trail rig..and BS

No I didnt. Didn't think I'd need too but now that I have the mounts it looks like I'll be pushing how much bolt will be out.

 

Haha yea..there is a loooootttt to ham. I honestly know so little about it all its sad. But it's just so damn vast it's crazy.

This site is very nice. Worth the 20 bucks. https://www.hamradiolicenseexam.com

After a bit of studying and with your engineering background you'll be fine. You could probably pass the test now. Once you get the license then you can start playing and listening and talking. You'll then get the hang if stuff fast at that point.

 

Yea I just used that the night before the test and I passed haha

 

Pretty much. The test is pretty easy. Not hard anyways.

 

So why is everybody into Ham? What makes it different from a CB?

 

One reason is the range offered by ham radios. Even the simple handhelds can broadcast and hear much, much farther that a CB in normal conditions.

 

Ah I see, how much we talking? Like 30 miles? I don't understand why you need to do all this testing. Is it's frequencies used by the government?

 

CB is basically line of sight so on the trail this can severely limit range. A mile or two is typical but we all have examples where the range has been more. For instance, a few weeks ago I was at about 6,000 feet in elevation near Lake Chelan and was hearing and talking to another offroader on CB channel 22 who said he was near Cle Elum. That is at least 40 miles away.

That kind of range is not typical for a CB but it is for a ham. In fact, on some wavelengths you can talk to other hams in other countries.

I suspect the whole licensing thing is to maintain a semblance of control by the Feds. They do this by managing and restricting the wavelengths you can broadcast on. Television, Radio, Cell, Ham and CB all share the broadcast spectrum and all except CB require licensing to be able to use.

 

Other countries?? Holy crap! And yes I've heard of weird instances on CBs too... Are they as hard to tune as a CB?

 

Ahh bummer man! Looks like your screwed then..for this trip anyways.

No. Well...some. But most are just open purely for ham operators.

Ranges for simplexing, aka talking directly from one radio station to another, can be anywhere from 5-1000+ miles depending on the radio and antenna. Normal hams, usually 2m or 70cm or 143-147hz amd 440-445 I think, is about 20-30 maybe 40 miles with clear line if site.

But if you can use repeaters then the range can be extended much much further. Especially if the repeater is linked to more repeaters. Then there is digital which allows you to use the Internet as a repeater basically and you pretty much have unlimited rang at that point. My dad and I talk through digital repeaters over 4000 miles away.

And there is high fi radio. Which can do simplexing of huge ranges. But you have to get the general level license to use high fi.

But ham is literally just for hobbiests. The gov keeps the frequencies open for amateur radio operators to use for a few reasons. One is that it's open development allows new technologies to be developed. The other is basically there is a free group of people that can communicate with more people over long distances. This comes in handy during emergency situations. Ham operators get called upon all the time for emergency type stuff. Or even not emergency stuff but things like long distance races. I've helped on a 100 mile horse race and we were at every check point and called in all the times as well as called for vets for the horses and anything else that was needed.

Ham is pretty cool. It's a huge wormhole of stuff though. I haven barely dived down it. My dad has really gone all out with it. Even building his own repeater. It's pretty cool stuff what you can do though.

 

In terms of uses for us though. Mostly distance. We like to spread out and CBS usually limit us. Plus we are in mountainous areas that don't help.

There is also aprs which lets us track eachother so if so,done gets lost we can know where they are.

And it will make meeting up with eachother much easier as the range again will help a lot.

 

Trouble tuning a CB is usually related to the choices people make for antenna location or how well there antenna is grounded. Personally, I've never had trouble tuning a CB.

 

Damn, it does sound like you can really get into it! Maybe I will...

Yeah my CB was fine after I regrounded it. I've just heard of people fighting them like crazy

 

You can be stuck and only cb like me, ha

 

Do it sooner. It takes up to two weeks for your callsign to register through the system.

 

Well..the test won't teach you how to use the radio haha You're gonna have to do that yourself. But i can help. We will just use simplex anyways this trip. You'll want to learn to program it though too.

 

But it's pretty easy. Again timmy and I will help out a lot on the trip. Just need the license to make it legal haha

 

You aren't alone. The CB will remain the main means of communication between trucks on the trail.

 

I thought as much. Any good external speaker recommendation? I have it mounted in the center console so i dont want to keep it open the whole time

 

Which radio do you have? This is the one I am using. I like it. Plenty loud, I can easily hear it over the tunes.

$17 Uniden (BC7) Bearcat 7-Watt External Communications Speaker. Durable Rugged Design, Perfect for Amplifying Uniden Scanners, CB Radios, and Other Communications Receivers.,Black

http://www.amazon.com/Uniden-BC7-Communication-Speaker/dp/B009PIRQ6E