Radio Recommendation

Good morning guys, I have a question and I would like to think this is recovery related. What radio sets do you guys recommend to keep in the truck for talking with others when I'm off-roading in a group? I'd prefer not to put a HAM or CB in my truck. I see so many choices but unsure of any recommendations.

 

Some reading ... https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/switching-from-cb-to-gmrs-frs.616473/

 

Oh sweet, thank you!

 

Yeah I agree... Ham is better for many reasons but GMRS is so damned easy it's a great place to start.

In my truck I run Ham and GMRS and can relay issues from GMRS into the Ham Spehere.

 

The more I've been reading, I might bite the bullet and take the test for HAM honestly. Even some of the handheld radios I've seen are classified as HAM due to one reason or another, and the FCC is one entity I would not like to end up on their radar. (Coming from a former communications Marine who dealt with radio's and satcom)

 

It's good stuff. A lot of us out here run APRS (data over analog radio) that does messaging and position reporting. Lets us stay in contact when we are remote and since it is somewhat automated (the A in APRS is Automatic) your radio does the work while you enjoy the drive. I usually have an APRS mode running at home on the weekends and I look on the map to check in on people that are out wheeling so I can go help if need be.

Going camping later this year with 25 people from work. I'll be the Med/Comms guy.

 

Love APRS but have yet to get any of my buddies on it. Would be great to be able to see everyone's location on a map but sadly there is no way turnkey solution for that at this point.

In southern California lots of the offroading areas are in valleys that sadly have little digipeater/Igate coverage. Been thinking I should probably get my truck setup to be a mobile digipeater/Igate to give some coverage when I am out and about.

 

If you are just looking for maps, have you considered Meshtastic?
License Free
Pairs with your phone
Nodes cost about $50

It used to be the hobby of uber dorks who liked building the nodes by hand with a soldering iron, but now there are easy turn key solutions like the T-Echo and many others. You can even configure them to power TAK - Team Awareness Kit.

 

Here's a decent link to tell you about it.
https://www.onesdr.com/what-is-meshtastic-a-fun-way-to-stay-connected-off-the-grid/

And this is where it all starts....
https://meshtastic.org/