Any Members in Arkansas?

The more I research, I don’t think I’d even want to rely on ham in a real emergency if I’m solo. At that point, I’d rather have a PLB instead of calling in the blind for help. Still, I don’t put myself at risk of being in those situations right now so I’m happy to forgo the ability to make radio contacts hundreds of miles away

 

Where are you thinking you’ll put the 6db antenna?

 

Helpful diagram in choosing the proper antenna for your situation

 

I looked at some pictures, and some are mounting on swing out, or hood mounts. I could probably use my existing mounts on both vehicles, unsure yet, more research is needed. I am concerned about tight trails, but 30 mile range plus option of hitting a repeater is tempting. I do want a scanner option tho. and I bet those things get NOAA a long way away, where my CB doesn't get it in the mountains at all.

 

Ground plane is a potential issue..."The minimum ground plane required should be ¼ wavelength in radius. At 462-467 MHz that’s about 6 inches", so would almost have to be hood or roof to get max.

 

What are you concerned about with tight tails?

Ground plane affects CB also and people still get okay performance from bumper mounts etc

Edit: What do you mean by scanner feature? The

$165 mxt115 - 15 watt GMRS micromobile two way trails radio - off roading outdoor RZR farm - 8 repeater channels extended range - external magnetic mount antenna - NOAA weather alerts

mxt115 has a channel scan feature

 

You haven’t ever Tail Gunned for Speedy Chip @TerraNerva before. He’ll leave you in the dust to get from A to B

 

Maybe you ought to get the 40W radio. Haha

 

Yea, that's one feature I want. And I'm not gonna go to trouble of switching for OK performance. CB is one thing but why not get all of what it has to offer? Difference between OK in a CB and great in a that setup is night and day. I can see a difference between my 3' firefly on my cruiser front bumper and 5' firestick on tail light mount on my Tacoma. 3' on front works better consistently from hood location.

 

Ah, I see what you’re saying. I agree about getting the most out of the system. That’s why I have an 8 foot antenna for my CB

 

Another useful diagram when choosing an antenna location

 

Good thing about GMRS is you won't ever be out of range when you tail gun like a tortoise!

 

Maybe I'm trying to be out of range...

 

Turns out I found a pair of Cobra 16 mile FRS/GMRS handheld radios buried deep in my closet that I thought I remembered having as a kid. Need to get some fresh AAA batteries and see if they still work

 

Fixed my squeaky OME leaf springs...just needed to add 500# of sod

 

Another bit of research...the RG58 cable for GMRS radios lose 10.6db for every 100' of cable. So, if you have 15' of cable running from your ratio to your antenna, you will be losing 1.59db. Seems like a 3db gain antenna will basically just negate the db loss through the cable.

 

Kind of a cool video here with these guys using the stock antennas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If2mwSfXcpQ

 

Well, I'm official, WRFX540.

 

WRFX522