wrote in message
...
im an EE, but have never gotten into ham radio. Now, I have a reason!
Im going off roading in the california desert, and I'd like to be able
to communicate back home in San Diego. What band and equipment would
be the best (for both base and mobile) in order to communicate
reliably during the day? Or is this unreasonable?

www.winsystem.org

Click on the link on the right that shows Site info/plots and see if your
area is covered. Requires Tech class license or above. May help in areas
not covered by cell phone.

HF mobile (requires General class or above) will work in areas not covered
by any other infrastructure depending on time of day and frequency
selection, which can be a problem because of the limitation of a
pre-determined contact schedule. In any case, you should be able to talk to
somebody, somewhere who can get to a phone or e-mail. The last resort would
be Sat Phone for use anytime, anywhere you can see the sky.

CB has mostly limited range. You might get lucky if you are close enough to
a highway or town, but forget about 100-500 miles.