RadioBanter - View Single Post

February 23rd 05, 12:31 AM

On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 10:35:32 -0600, wrote:

I have a general class ham license but have been out of
it a LONG time

I want to get back into some form of free ham radio
comms that would allow me to stay in touch with people
while living in an RV

So.... I want something small and compact. And Im not
sure what "mode" of communications I want. I may want
some form of digital comms like packet or pactor....
not sure

Any advice on all this? What to get equip wise? What
modes to get into?

Are you trying to keep in touch with hams or non-hams?

If non-hams, ham radio won't help much here. Phone patches are pretty
much a thing of the past.

Your best bet in contacting non-hams through ham radio may be simply
to join some of the traffic nets on SSB or CW, and pass messages to
the outside world through the nets, but that's a little laborious.

A computer with email might be much better for contacting non-hams.
There should be a lot of places on the "road" where you can hook up
temporarilly to the Internet.

There may be wireless Internet hookups, too, but I'm not real sure...

For staying in touch with hams, you have a lot more options. Yaesu,
Icom and Kenwood all make small multi-mode radios that give you
coverage of all bands from 160 meters up through 440 mhz. See their
web sites. Combined with a screwdriver antenna on your RV, you can
work the world -- see the High Sierra web site for the latest on
screwdriver antenna technology -- "screwdrivers" are pretty much the
best way to go now, mobile-wise.

A few compact, 100-watt, multi-mode RV-appropos radios to look at:
Icom 706 series
Yaesu ft-857 series
Kenwood 480 series
Kenwood ts-2000 series

Bob
k5qwg