Joey wrote:
"My parents are both techs so we`re currently limited to parts of 10m as
the lowest band and I`d like to have something available without
needing repeaters for disaster comms."

I`d like a million dollars too!

75 miles is reliably unlikely without a line of sight path between
radios at VHF unless expensive techniques are used.

A repeater located between the radios makes success much more likely.
Examine the ARRL "Repeater Directory" and borrow a hand-held (likely for
2-meters) and see which repeaters you can call up from both ends of the
path you would like to work. You will probably find you are in-business
but not for profit as it is amateur radio. For back up in emergencies,
you can use your cell phone or a wired phone.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI

There are actually very few repeaters that one can use handheld
between here and there... D'oh! I can use the big antenna on the
house here and hit quite a few more tho. Plenty of linked 440 systems
tho...

Joey


On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 16:14:44 -0500, (Richard
Harrison) wrote:

Joey wrote:
"My parents are both techs so we`re currently limited to parts of 10m as
the lowest band and I`d like to have something available without
needing repeaters for disaster comms."

I`d like a million dollars too!

75 miles is reliably unlikely without a line of sight path between
radios at VHF unless expensive techniques are used.

A repeater located between the radios makes success much more likely.
Examine the ARRL "Repeater Directory" and borrow a hand-held (likely for
2-meters) and see which repeaters you can call up from both ends of the
path you would like to work. You will probably find you are in-business
but not for profit as it is amateur radio. For back up in emergencies,
you can use your cell phone or a wired phone.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI