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Mobile radio - CB, FRS, or 2-meter ham?
On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 16:11:28 GMT, "Omega"
wrote: wrote in message roups.com... : My view - as a longtime ham-radio operator who used to diss CB - and : who has actually has used 2-meter simplex during a major area disaster : to locate one of the very few area gas stations still with electricity : to pump gas - is that a good mobile CB setup is better for emergencies : than a good mobile 2-meter setup. That's because the CB will go : further simplex (no repeater) than the 2-meter rig will when repeaters : are either down or tied up due to an emergency - or if you are in some : locale either lacking repeater coverage or where you don't know the : active local 2-meter repeater. The "idiot days" of CB - when every car : had one - are long over here in North Carolina; only truckers, hunters, : and farmers seem to have mobile rigs here now. I now use CB almost to : the total exclusion of 2-meter - though I have excellent setups for : both in my car. : FRS does have its uses. Like keeping in contact with others on : campouts, skiing, or in limited areas in Iraq (now a major use). A : major downside of FRS is the total inability to attach a good antenna. I really have to disagree with that. There is no way a 4-watt output AM CB is going to communicate as far as a 50-watt output FM 2-meter radio to a 5/8-wave antenna on the roof. In addition, if you are talking about a real emergency, like a forest fire, where ARES/RACES has been activated, the local hams will set up a portable repeater on 2-meters if the normal repeaters have been compromised. There is a place for CB, and many have both, but it's not because CB has a greater range simplex than does a good 2-meter radio setup. Dick - W6CCD |
"Dick" LeadWinger wrote in message ... On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 16:11:28 GMT, "Omega" wrote: wrote in message roups.com... : My view - as a longtime ham-radio operator who used to diss CB - and : who has actually has used 2-meter simplex during a major area disaster : to locate one of the very few area gas stations still with electricity : to pump gas - is that a good mobile CB setup is better for emergencies : than a good mobile 2-meter setup. That's because the CB will go : further simplex (no repeater) than the 2-meter rig will when repeaters : are either down or tied up due to an emergency - or if you are in some : locale either lacking repeater coverage or where you don't know the : active local 2-meter repeater. The "idiot days" of CB - when every car : had one - are long over here in North Carolina; only truckers, hunters, : and farmers seem to have mobile rigs here now. I now use CB almost to : the total exclusion of 2-meter - though I have excellent setups for : both in my car. : FRS does have its uses. Like keeping in contact with others on : campouts, skiing, or in limited areas in Iraq (now a major use). A : major downside of FRS is the total inability to attach a good antenna. I really have to disagree with that. There is no way a 4-watt output AM CB is going to communicate as far as a 50-watt output FM 2-meter radio to a 5/8-wave antenna on the roof. In addition, if you are talking about a real emergency, like a forest fire, where ARES/RACES has been activated, the local hams will set up a portable repeater on 2-meters if the normal repeaters have been compromised. There is a place for CB, and many have both, but it's not because CB has a greater range simplex than does a good 2-meter radio setup. Dick - W6CCD I have talked from Tigard to east Portland on a stock AM CB with no problems. I cannot make the same trip with 2m rig (even a 75 watt setup and a 5/8 antenna) because of intervening terrain. QRP HF does have it's benefits. |
On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 06:30:18 +0900, "Brenda Ann"
wrote: "Dick" LeadWinger wrote in message .. . On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 16:11:28 GMT, "Omega" wrote: wrote in message roups.com... : My view - as a longtime ham-radio operator who used to diss CB - and : who has actually has used 2-meter simplex during a major area disaster : to locate one of the very few area gas stations still with electricity : to pump gas - is that a good mobile CB setup is better for emergencies : than a good mobile 2-meter setup. That's because the CB will go : further simplex (no repeater) than the 2-meter rig will when repeaters : are either down or tied up due to an emergency - or if you are in some : locale either lacking repeater coverage or where you don't know the : active local 2-meter repeater. The "idiot days" of CB - when every car : had one - are long over here in North Carolina; only truckers, hunters, : and farmers seem to have mobile rigs here now. I now use CB almost to : the total exclusion of 2-meter - though I have excellent setups for : both in my car. : FRS does have its uses. Like keeping in contact with others on : campouts, skiing, or in limited areas in Iraq (now a major use). A : major downside of FRS is the total inability to attach a good antenna. I really have to disagree with that. There is no way a 4-watt output AM CB is going to communicate as far as a 50-watt output FM 2-meter radio to a 5/8-wave antenna on the roof. In addition, if you are talking about a real emergency, like a forest fire, where ARES/RACES has been activated, the local hams will set up a portable repeater on 2-meters if the normal repeaters have been compromised. There is a place for CB, and many have both, but it's not because CB has a greater range simplex than does a good 2-meter radio setup. Dick - W6CCD I have talked from Tigard to east Portland on a stock AM CB with no problems. I cannot make the same trip with 2m rig (even a 75 watt setup and a 5/8 antenna) because of intervening terrain. QRP HF does have it's benefits. If you did, one of you had a fixed antenna, like a beam or quad. Or one of you was on a hill. Did you have exactly the same conditions on both ends? Same locations, similar antennas, etc.? I.E. if there was a beam on one end for CB, was there a similar gain beam on 2-meters? I have used CB from all kinds of vehicles since it was originally authorized, and 2-meters since it had commercially available equipment (over 50 years) and I have never seen a situation where an unmodified CB could under similar conditions outdo 2-meters. Unless we are talking about skip of course, and there would be no skip between Tigard and Phoenix. Typically, you are lucky if you can get 5 miles mobile to mobile with stock CB's. |
On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 17:28:46 -0700, Dick LeadWinger wrote:
If you did, one of you had a fixed antenna, like a beam or quad. Or one of you was on a hill. Did you have exactly the same conditions on both ends? Same locations, similar antennas, etc.? I.E. if there was a beam on one end for CB, was there a similar gain beam on 2-meters? I have used CB from all kinds of vehicles since it was originally authorized, and 2-meters since it had commercially available equipment (over 50 years) and I have never seen a situation where an unmodified CB could under similar conditions outdo 2-meters. Unless we are talking about skip of course, and there would be no skip between Tigard and Phoenix. Typically, you are lucky if you can get 5 miles mobile to mobile with stock CB's. It's been awhile, but on the highway, I seem to recall about 3, 4, maybe 5 miles, max, with my old Rat-shack 5-watt AM CB rig, on flat mid-Texas plains. When I tune the local simplex frequency on 2-meter FM, I hear guys all over a city of a million folks talking with decent strength. bob k5qwg |
On Tue, 12 Apr 2005 03:18:40 GMT, Bob Miller
wrote: On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 17:28:46 -0700, Dick LeadWinger wrote: If you did, one of you had a fixed antenna, like a beam or quad. Or one of you was on a hill. Did you have exactly the same conditions on both ends? Same locations, similar antennas, etc.? I.E. if there was a beam on one end for CB, was there a similar gain beam on 2-meters? I have used CB from all kinds of vehicles since it was originally authorized, and 2-meters since it had commercially available equipment (over 50 years) and I have never seen a situation where an unmodified CB could under similar conditions outdo 2-meters. Unless we are talking about skip of course, and there would be no skip between Tigard and Phoenix. Typically, you are lucky if you can get 5 miles mobile to mobile with stock CB's. It's been awhile, but on the highway, I seem to recall about 3, 4, maybe 5 miles, max, with my old Rat-shack 5-watt AM CB rig, on flat mid-Texas plains. When I tune the local simplex frequency on 2-meter FM, I hear guys all over a city of a million folks talking with decent strength. bob k5qwg I agree completely. And I see I should have said between Tigard and Portland, not Phoenix. Must be because I live in Arizona. :-) Dick - W6CCD |
"Dick" LeadWinger wrote in message ... On Tue, 12 Apr 2005 03:18:40 GMT, Bob Miller wrote: On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 17:28:46 -0700, Dick LeadWinger wrote: If you did, one of you had a fixed antenna, like a beam or quad. Or one of you was on a hill. Did you have exactly the same conditions on both ends? Same locations, similar antennas, etc.? I.E. if there was a beam on one end for CB, was there a similar gain beam on 2-meters? I have used CB from all kinds of vehicles since it was originally authorized, and 2-meters since it had commercially available equipment (over 50 years) and I have never seen a situation where an unmodified CB could under similar conditions outdo 2-meters. Unless we are talking about skip of course, and there would be no skip between Tigard and Phoenix. Typically, you are lucky if you can get 5 miles mobile to mobile with stock CB's. It's been awhile, but on the highway, I seem to recall about 3, 4, maybe 5 miles, max, with my old Rat-shack 5-watt AM CB rig, on flat mid-Texas plains. When I tune the local simplex frequency on 2-meter FM, I hear guys all over a city of a million folks talking with decent strength. bob k5qwg I agree completely. And I see I should have said between Tigard and Portland, not Phoenix. Must be because I live in Arizona. :-) Dick - W6CCD Well see, now.. that's the problem.. y'all are flatlanders. :) Yes, most any amount of power on VHF will go for astounding distances (I've talked with 4 watts from Salem to a repeater on the WA side of the Columbia River, about 60 miles distant) over flat land or to a high point. Problem is, Oregon doesn't have a lot of flat land, especially the Portland area. Hell, we have an extinct volcano right there in town, plus several other hills, including the west hills between Portland and Tigard (about 14 miles). To talk simplex with my friend over in Tigard on 2m, I had to use a beam and bounce my signal off a commercial radio tower on top of Healey Heights. |
Dick wrote:
I really have to disagree with that. There is no way a 4-watt output AM CB is going to communicate as far as a 50-watt output FM 2-meter radio to a 5/8-wave antenna on the roof. But CB is likely to find more people - especially more local people - in many areas. CB is much more likely to find the guy in the pickup two cars ahead of you who just filled up after most gas stations in your county lost power in a major storm and with it the ability to pump gas - and thus tell you which are the few area stations that you can fill up at. My area (Burlington, North Carolina) is fortunate to have a lot of downsized AT&T hams - so finding someone local on 2 meters is easy. But MANY areas aren't that way. No $4 to park! No $6 admission! http://stores.ebay.com/INTERNET-GUN-SHOW |
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