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

So neither option applies in our case. We already do CB and are feeling its limitations.

What are that advantages of a dual band radio? Is that 2 meter and 70 centemeters? Monte and I talked a little bit about this that day we were waiting for you and the trailer but there is so much information, it is hard to take it all in at once. Hearing it again will help.

When do you use 70CM and when 2M. Is it a single antenna?

 

Yea same antenna. The thing with dual band is you can monitor and broadcast on two frequencies. Thats the main pro.

With my dads and my radio we can set them up as repeaters but to do that we have to have one channel on 70cm and one on 2m since the radio can not listen and broadcast at the same time on the same band.

Really different repeaters in the areas will use either 70cm or 2m. Just allows you more options.

Also because they are different wave lengths they do have some pros and cons with regards to distance and such. 2m travels farther I believe due to the larger wave length

 

^^^ what he said except I'm not sure 2m goes further. I'll have to research that.

 

Is a single band radio always 2 meter?

 

Not always. But it's the more popular choice

Yea its one or the other. Or its that 70cm bounces better or something. ..I cant remember

 

2m and 70cm travel about the same. The big difference in distance is the antenna. Depending on the antenna depends if it send out the signal in more of a flat "horizontal" pattern (great for flat terrain)or if it is more omni directional sending the signal out in more of a circular direction (better for mountainous terrain).

A good dual band radio is more versatile in traveling around to different areas. Some places have more repeaters of one or the other. Although I would say 2m is more common for Hams, while 70cm is more common for government radios. If you have a 70cm radio you can monitor (but not TX) on a lot of police and fire bands.

Depending on the dual band radio, you can also setup APRS on one side while still using the other side to talk. APRS is a location beaconing system. This can share you GPS location to others around you and if close enough to a station setup as an igate, it will relay your location to the Internet for the whole world to be able to see were you are. You can even send text messages via APRS.

Another use for a dual band is to talk/monitor two different freqs. There are tons of reasons while you would want to do this, But I wont list them all.

 

Chip! About time you chimed in.

Thanks for more info.

I tried doing dprs or aprs but couldn't get it to work on my way down here. Gotta play with it some more.

 

What radio do you have?

 

Icom 5100.

 

Haha for sure man. It is a lot to take in. But pretty damn cool when said and done

 

That's a cool looking radio.

It doesn't do traditional APRS, it does D-PRS. This is the part of ham radio that is really shitty. Almost every manufacture has it's own propitiatory protocol for things, and none of them share/talk to each other. Although APRS is pretty much universal among them all.

Your D-Star/D-PRS signal can only be read by other D-Star (Icom) radios. If you have a DSTAR repeater in your area that is setup properly to convert the D-PRS signal to APRS and send it to www.APRS.fi, than you will show up on the web.



With A GPS unit and a TNC I think you can get your Icom to speak the language of APRS.

 

Yeah, it can fry your brain sometimes. I am studying for my Extra license right now, One chapter is guaranteed to put you to sleep. But once I past it, there is no more tests for me.

Doesn't hurt that I was a radio operator in the Army.

 

Well the 5100 has built in gps. So should be okay.

I knew it was dprs and yea the whole digital protocol wars is stupid. Haha happens all the time for technology. Makes ya wonder who will win it..

 

So I feel like dual band is definitely worth it, but there's quite the price range from $300 to $800 for the radio. The most common ones I've seen are the Yaesu and Icom, are those the good ones? There's probably a better place to ask, but we're on the subject
Also, what antennas are you guys running? I already have a magmount Wilson on the cab, would it be bad to run another mag mount up there? Alternatively I'm thinking a corner of the hood mount. I saw MrGrimm running that.

Also, how do you like the Uniden 520xl CB radio? I'm using the 510 but I think it's limiting me a lot. I thought for sure I had a good setup because the receiving is awesome (hearing people skipping from Georgia here in CA), but transmission only goes out for like a mile even on flat.

Oh and I just noticed a random blue coat hanger in the parking lot of those hdr shots you took in your OP

 

I think dual band is worth it. I'd get one for sure. Price range and features are of course your limiting factors.

Icom and yaesu are the top brands for sure.

I'm just running a mag mount for my ham. It works fine. Not sure if running dual mag antennas will be bad or good. I run dual mag ones on Igor but didn't really get to mess with them. Hood mounts work great. My dad put his cb on the passenger side and drilled a freaking hole in the roof for his ham

The 520xl is IMO the best lil CB you can get. Idk why but they seem very powerful for broadcasting and receiving. Having the rf gain nob is well worth it.

Ha! Finally someone did I noticed it after I took them too as it was near dark when I took them. Was funny.

The 2820h is what I was going to get originally. It is a nice unit

 

Really? Sweet man. Doing what?

 

Yea I would get that first too still hoping the new job I applied to works out. But not holding out.

Nice man! That's kinda cool. Nori but cool

 

Those are the lights I was telling you about Timmy that Ben posted. Also check out visionx lighting canons. I'd probably run a set of the 6"s as a driving light.

My piaas died too so yea..I am looking for some options. Your holes are big enough you could fit a led cube easy in them. Which I think LEDs make awesome flood/fog lights so I all for that

Edit: no jk Ben was wrong give me a second

 

Here Timmy

http://fyrlyt.com

http://www.sierraexpeditions.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=4215

Plus they have some great info on lighting in general.

 

Very nice.