South Carolina BS thread under new MANAGEMENT and lives in SC

So far I'm happy with it . Do wish it had a little stiffer spring but it's mounted on my front bumper so when it does lean it pushes against the hood

 

Who all is going to overland south? And are you taking your family? I need to take a camping trip.

 

I'll be there and the family will be there on and off like last October's event

 

Planning to get there Saturday morning, and camp Saturday night. Might come Friday night to set up camp and hang out for a bit, but likely not actually camping Friday night.

 

I have had a gmrs license since around 2012.
WSAH441. I'm a big fan of it... Even better would be a HAM but I don't have time for that yet. My wife and I have multiple Baofeng radios and I have a notebook with all my frequencies and local repeaters. They can come in handy, definitely don't get rid of them. I need to do a vehicle mounted setup. Check mygmrs dot com for local repeaters. Some offer a connection through the Zello app if you have cell service on your phone. I use it for the hunt club. I really need to take my HAM test thus year.

Edit!!!!
Don't forget, if its an emergency you can hop on HAM and call for help legally.

 

Not knowing a ton about gmrs hardware, you have to have a ham capable gmrs though, correct? Or would you just get a ham unit and only run gmrs channels, presuming you don't have the license?

 

There are no legal (licensed) radios that transmit on both gmrs and ham radio frequencies

There are many ways to do it on one radio, generally a ham radio “unlocked” but it’s not approved by the fcc

A tech license is fairly easy to acquire, and learning what you need to pass it would give you the knowledge needed to know what frequencies to transmit on in an emergency

 

Satellite phone it is!

 

Well said. I have HAM(tech) and GMRS licenses. It seems like on HAM you just get the basic rag chew nets in my area and that's about it.

I use the handhelds around the house(for storms, you can find repeaters with SKYWARN pretty easy), camping/hiking, and have the mobile yaesu ftm-400xdr on in the truck.

Just get starlink mobile/roaming and tmobile starlink calling while you're at it.

 

Pretty sure KOH teams runs GMRS, since that's coming up quick.

 

I already have the satellite phone, trying to avoid starlink. Got the phone for the boat, but it lives in the truck glove box most of the time. The phone is really just for emergencies, but it can hotspot if I ever needed it.

 

Prerunning starts tomorrow, qualifying starts Friday

Would it be reasonable to think that either the organization or individual teams have set up repeaters along the course? The mountains are one thing, but I'm pretty sure the unlimited and T2 classes get upwards of 50 miles away from the pits. Some teams run remote pits, but not all, and even then, you're looking at 20+ miles to the truck at times

 

I keep a SpotX in a Faraday bag. When I'm in the woods it stays attached to me. Nice to know I can just push a button and help is on the way. Originally purchased for the boat but its many applications led to us getting one for my wife, in laws, my parents, and friends starting to get them. Its nice being in the middle of nowhere and being able to text off satellite. $12 a month isn't bad.

 

Hah, I keep the sat phone in a faraday bag too. Great minds!

 

I'll be out there most of the weekend. Going to attempt camping with our 6 month old (7 months at the time of the event) that first Thursday while it's not as crowded.

 

I have a hard mounted

$165 Midland MXT275 MicroMobile® GMRS Radio – 15 watts Two-Way Radio with Integrated Control Microphone – Overland Caravanning Tractors – Detachable External Magnetic Mount Antenna - 8 Repeater Channels

Midland MXT275 (15w) radio that I've been using for the past 4-5 years. Works great but as others have mentioned the range isn't the best. I'd recommend the MXT575 (50w version) if you're wanting to go with a vehicle mounted setup. I also picked up a Rugged Radio GMRS handheld at Overland South in October and have been very pleased with it. Much clearer than my Midland but downside is you have to charge it a few times on a longer trip.

 

Shoot, that might be enough to convince my wife to join and bring our little one!

Appreciate the recommendations! I figured if I'm going to hard mount another radio, I might as well go all in with a 50w.
Glad they're small, because I'm running out of room. Bet I could build a trim pate and fit it inside the cubby on the left, below the 4wd switch.

 

Lots of info from other sites on it. I would assume at least the main pit would have a raised antenna up to reach the cars, likely running a bit higher on wattage, or as read on pirate remote cars rather than repeater stations.

https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/king-of-motos-king-of-hammers-freqs.283068/
https://www.ruggedradios.com/blogs/news/theruggedradiosguidetokingofthehammers
https://www.pirate4x4.com/threads/koh-ultra4-communications.864702/page-2

 

Just got a moment to read everything. Great links, thank you!

 

Yup I'll be there