Trail Comms - What and How? Hopefully a sticky!

@m603holden

 

Well, comms went well at Jambo! Once we had Barnwell's band plan. Some of us had GMRS some CB, and some both. Came in handy. Seems there were no communications issues on or off trail.

Some in the group purchased a Baofeng while there, but they seem to be programmed with the old FRS/GMRS frequencies. Easy to remedy.

 

Anyone here using Cup and String for trail coms?

@m603holden @ETsemaj

 

Agree to all.
I also promote multiple comms and use both Ham and CB regularly. Write up in electronics link of build thread.

ICom 5100

Combo CB/scanner

 

is your antenna, dual band with a pigtail coil in the center?
if it is..
Shrink wrap the pigtail; it will stop whistling

common issue back in the days in early car cell phones..

 

I have no radio in my truck currently and am considering adding a CB and/or GMRS radio. At present I dont have a big need (more like want) other than preparation for future trail rides and family adventures.

My BIL has a CB in his truck so CB would be nice to use between trucks when appropriate and I like that I can use the GMRS with the multitude of handhelds we have around the house and take camping.

I'd be grateful for suggestions on some solid introductory setups that won't break the bank.

 

Craig’s list or other used CBs. Find a ham radio club and email them. Someone has one in their basement for garage sale price.
Personally I’d stay away from family radio.

 

Was cruising Craigslist earlier. Some of the less expensive models from Uniden and Midland on Amazon seem like pretty cheap ways to get in. What kinda antenna would be needed? I see a lot about firesticks.

 

Depends on two key factors. How high is your garage and how well do you want it to work (distance on transmit).

CBs are low power so if you only want a few miles a simple mag mount top of cab will work fine, like the one in my build thread under electronics.

My ham antenna is much better, so it’s on a power tilt, so I can park in the garage.

Firestiks are excellent, but placement, cables and especially the connections are really important with any antenna, and you should tune it for your preferred frequency. I have a 1.00 SWR on channel 19.

 

I dont know what I dont know.

No garage, so no concern there. Not trying to reach anyone in another state. I dont want a 10 foot whip though. Something quick disconnect for carwashes, etc would be nice though but that may not be possible. Like inside, I dont know what I dont know. For know it's all just for shits and giggles anyway as I try and figure out the ins and outs.

 

CB is wideland easily used but is within a frequency that is more suited to line of sight communications so a larger antenna is always better. SWR is important with any rf. CB (Citizen's band) are limited to 4 watts legally on 11m. With a ham tech license, you are allowed to use 1500w on 2m/70cm and some parts of other bands. Sometimes you can only get an antenna so large to compensate for the legal limited power on CB. Duplex operation in 2m/70cm on ham significantly increases your effective range.

Nothing wrong with either, if your buddy is a few hundred yards to a few (depending on altitude) miles, cb will work fine. If you need to communicate across town, hams will do it without sneezing. I have both and their utilization depends on the situation. More people tend to have CB as it is way more feasible to get into and fantastic for getting comms quickly without requiring a formal exam like ham. A good middle ground would definitely be GMRS, licensing doesn't require testing and it is good for 10 years.

 

You lost me with some of that technical speak. No plans for HAM at present. Any equipment suggestions for CB or anything to avoid?

 

4' firestik FG NGP (no ground plane) with spring to simplify your install, check your SWR with a CB specific meter (52 ohm impedence) on all channels. 2.0 or higher usually means a faulty connection somewhere or antenna location needs to be modified. Avoid sharp bends in the coaxial cable. Don't punture the coax when installing because water is the death of shielded wiring. Never transmit with antenna connected or you will fry your transceiver.

I'll attach a picture when I get a chance on my mount location

 

I'm a HAM that still uses CB. I like the quality of President CB radios. I'm currently using THIS ONE. It's tiny, making it easy to mount in the Taco, and I get great audio reports from folks I talk to. Meaning it sounds great over the air. And it receives weaker signals than other CB's I've used. It with a standard antenna could work for you. Most important is to have someone that knows what they're doing help you mount and tune the antenna. I mount that CB to my headliner. You can see it in my build thread link in my signature.

 

Would a 4ft Firestick Firefly tunable antenna rail mounted in the center of the header rail be sufficient or problematic?

 

It would work fine. IF you remove the coating on the under side of where you mount it, to get a good ground.

 

Try to keep it a few inches away from vertical metal surfaces.

 

So ordered my radio the other day. Contemplating antenna and mounts now. Considering a hood mount bracket, bed rail mount, or tailgate mount with a firestick. Performance wise is one better than another?

 

CB likes to have a ground plane. The Hood works best of your ideas. Bed rail and tailgate mounts work well with a good ground. If this is for trail use, you can use any of the 3. You're not a trucker trying to "GET OUT" as they put it. I personally run mine above the taillight with a proper ground and good coax line. It is actually one of the better performing setups I've had. More important than the location is having a well grounded mount. Back to the bed rail mount, if that's right behind the cab, forget it! If it's towards the rear, go ahead. The cab will cause a boatload of reflection that will kill the signal. Near the tail light also keeps the antenna a bit lower for trail use. As for the FireStick, they work more than well enough for trail use. Get a spring to go with it if you are worried about hitting it on trees and such.

 

Exactly what I was looking for. Not looking to stretch 10 miles down the highway but a couple would be nice. So bedside or tailgate if I run a ground wire should get the job done?