Trail Comms - What and How? Hopefully a sticky!

Man, I am sad I missed out on this shit.

 

No prob @tex.proud . Bottom line is we are all here to help.


@Beretta4x4 I'll tag @SR-71A . He's a guy I run in the woods with a bit these day. I think he runs a higher powered GMRS unit. He might be able to share some real world experience as well

 

This depends on your area and who you wheel with. I like HAM even when I am talking on GMRS. HAM has so much more you can do with it besides talking on the radio. APRS is a super cool thing on the trails.

 

I still think CB and GMRS is all you need.


Anything else is just an option if you'd like. They're all just options

 

Sweet, that would be great!

Can you explain APRS?

 

Thank You! That's the reason for this thread. Comms! How and how to do it! My bad.

 

I like options, but I thought i would ask to have a resource here on TW

Edited to add: what are the limitations of the different systems? In my experience, best case on CB is a couple miles, what about the other options?

 

I'll keep it short.

Uses radio waves to share information such as frequencies other people are on, their location, messaging, and also plots their track if you'd like. Can be fed to a map like this. Needs no internet.

 

I can try... I am not the best guy in the world for this.

Automatic Packet Reporting System. Digital packet radio is essentially using your radio to transmit small bursts of data to other radios and the internet.

It’s most frequently used to report positions and send text messages to other radios and to SMS systems.

 

And the plots

 

From what I understand, the FCC authorized data transfer on GMRS frequencies, but currently there aren't any GMRS devices that can do that. How do you go about a setup like that?

 

I think the biggest thing is there are towers that gather all this information. They all use the same frequency . I think the thing right now with GMRS is they haven't really put up towers with a GMRS frequency yet.

 

@m603holden do you think there’s any reason mobilinked can’t do it’s thing on GMRS?

 

I saw something like that on a GMRS forum, but again I'm a newb. I'm guessing those towers work like a transfer buffer?

Sorry for the 20 questions, but what is mobilinked?

 

Towers

 

GMRS doesn't allow for data transmission. APRS can work on any frequency that allows data transmission, but...

 

But, if you’re allowed to stream packets on GMRS... hook the mobilinked to the mic on the GMRS and as long as you have a receiving station with the same setup it should work.

BUT if you wanna get that involved playing with radio, HAM is much more geared for experimentation and it might be worth the $10 exam fee and a cheap mobile unit to go HAM.

That being said... I don’t mind adding more antennae to my truck.

 

Yeah I there's a bunch of other stuff too, but I figured I'd give the simplest reason. Even though it lacks a data port like a tnc port, you could still do it through a second radio like they do with the

$40 UV-5r 8Watt Ham Radio Handheld Long Range UHF/VHF Radio with 2 Rechargeable Battery, Portable Radio for Adults with Earpiece, GV-771 Antenna, Programming Cable (3rd Gen)

UV-5r.

 

That's pretty interesting. I'm not a fun a fan of a billion antennas on my truck, though, lol. What is mobilinked?

 

Towers? I don’t need no stinking towers!

Won’t APRS still work me to you, you to me. It just won’t upload to the net if one of us isn’t within range. But, it still plots on my tablet.