Anyone use Ham duel ban radios?
Elk
Contributors to this thread:
Anyone use Ham dual ban two way radios in the mountain backcountry? Do they work better than CBs or FRS or GMRS radios or VHF marine band?
Not sure about out west, but I have a buddy in the Catskills in NY. No cell towers up where he is and they all use the ham radios at his cabin. They work well for them.
Good to know restrictions for amateur radio operations. They're not the same as CB radio regulations.
No one here willing to share their experiences and expertise on these radios in use in mountainous terrain? Pro vs, cons on distances, clarity, on types of radios other than get a license. Looking to stay in contact with hunting partners in the 2-4 mile range for recovery or emergency use. TIA
Fisherick
I don't have a lot of expertise in radios but over the years I gained a lot of experience with them
First of all you are asking a question without a lot of details
In our serch to find the perfect radio for my outfitting business I never really did. We operated in all terrains including mountains
The best overall radios for that were in our experience were low band UHF Depending on the conditions we could get about 5 miles On flat country about 25 miles. We also used Motorola talk about radios with base stations in the trucks. The old models were 25 watt base station and 5 watt hand held. Still a choir to get great reception in mountains
There are some good sites Twowayradios.com that can link you to blogs and forums where radios are discussed and you will be able to narrow down what will work
I can assure you CB and marine and normal ham will not work for you
One piece of advice I can give you is that whatever radios you choose get the best antennas that you can afford. The antenna makes a difference
Good luck
I’ve gone down this rabbit hole a couple times. Even taking a ham radio class. Never did pull the trigger on purchasing anything because I couldn’t find anything that guaranteed what I was looking for.
I wonder today if units like the inreach that can send out texts and receive texts would be the most reliable option? And have dual purpose use.
I'm just guessing, but in a couple years I wouldn't be surprised if we'll be able to use those starlink satellites just about anywhere in the continental US. Portability is going to be dependent on getting antenna size down but I suspect Musk has grand plans.
Thank you gentlemen for your replies.