HenryJ wrote:Ok I am primarily interested in the Ham and APRS, what kind of costs are we talking about?
I assume this requires a license? What does that involve?
What would I need for the basics?
I do frequent areas without any cell coverage and it is also unlikely to have communication to a CB. We frequently use the FRS for vehicle to vehicle and hiking.
The APRS is using the HAM frequency of 144.39, so it is covered by the same ham license as the voice radio. (So, yeah, theres a license, but it isnt hard to get). You dont have to do any morse code for the Technician level license which gives you access to everything like I have running in my truck (and more).
A good basic setup for going out in fringe areas would be a radio (handheld or mobile mounted), and an good antenna (Mag mount works fine).
Ham radio goes much farther than a cell phone (without even taking into account the frequency which travels farther, a cell has what, 500mw (I dont remember) and a typical handheld ham radio is doing 5watts. Mobile mounted units average about 35 to 50 watts.
I can hit repeaters on 2m (144 to 148mhz) easily that are 50 miles away using my truck, without going to high power.
You can expand that range with high gain antennas, etc, also.
The setup I have (Yaesu FT8800 truck radio, and Yaesu VX-7R handheld)
![Image](http://www.yaesu.com/ProductImages/VX-7R_thumb.jpg)
![Image](http://www.yaesu.com/ProductImages/FT-8800R_thumb.jpg)
can setup to do the extending.. I can park the truck somewhere, set the radio up and the truck will repeat anything it heards from my handheld.. I have used it up in the hills [park the truck near the top and hike down into a ravine and get the signal out just fine] and have done it at Cayucus, CA [parked the truck in the parking lot, walk out to the end of the pier, and talk through the truck to one repeater and reach all the way back home, about 180miles].
You can pick up good used 2m gear for $100 or less a lot of times.. I would usually suggest starting with 2m, or a dual band radio, since in most places there are more 2m repeaters and users. Although you might check out your area, 440mhz (70cm) is becoming more and more popular.
There is a relatively new setup going now called IRLP (Internet Radio Linking Project).. The repeaters are connected to the internet through a broadband connection, an you can 'dial up' a repeater from another.. For instance I can go outside, punch in "8838" and talk to Palmer Station, Antartica.. Or punch in "4267" to talk to Dayton, OH stations. There are about 1,529 nodes connected to the IRLP system now. Its been going about 2 years I think.
Its pretty easy to get the license, you just study the qwuestions and take a test
I think the license is around $10 or so, and it good for 10 years at a time (only have to take the test the first time, not when you renew).
Check out
http://www.remote.arrl.org/hamradio.html it has a lot of good links for test info, how to find a local test site, study materials, etc.
I'd be happy to answer questions and help out.. One of the best things offroad in my opinion is the ham radio.. I havent had to use it stuck yet, but I have been on the recieving end of a distress call..
A friend was in the mountains behind Springville, CA (still on the highway, but back where there is little traffic and no cell phone, and their company radio didnt work either) driving for Home Depot.. (he had a 2m radio mounted in the truck also).. On a climb out of a little valley the truck blew the fan clutch and stuffed the gan THROUGH the radiator (there was a blade sticking out the grill!
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
) He was able to reach me on the radio and I called in to his store and got a tow heading that way.. To give you an idea, he was about 95 miles from me, in the hills.. The repeater was on a higher hill between us.. That repeater reaches from beyond Los Banos, all the way to the Grapevine, well over a 100+ miles. Otherwise he said it would have been about a 7 or 8 miles hike out to get a cell signal.
I already had my license, but after that I decided not to go anyplace way out of the beaten path without the radio in my truck! (I dont like forced hikes
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
)