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Comm Gear

Good morning everyone!

Sorry for the delay in answering questions.

First off, you do need a license to operate these radios. It is a simple process to get a license and with all the online tools, it is very easy to study for.

I will say that amateur radio is a fun hobby. There are a lot of aspects to it that fill many niches from public service, such as Skywarn and emergency communications during disasters, to contesting and just the electronic side of it with building gear and antennas.

I personally got my license because I do go into the woods and wanted a more reliable form of communication, but again that took into account that i have friends who also have license and we communicate in our group on most occasions.

The gear I have is middle of the road with some radios being less expensive and some being much more expensive. The hand held (VX-7R) I think is currently in the $300.00 range. The FT-817(pack radio) is probably more in the $600.00 range. Just keep in mind that this is gear that suited my needs. There are lots of options.

As to the weight of the pack radio, the radio itself weighs about 2 pounds. The majority of the weight is the external battery. I use SLA 7 or 5 amp hour batteries and they weigh from 3 to 5 pounds. the 5 amp hour battery will last me 2 days or more of mostly listening with limited transmission. Even with the radio,battery and several antennas I still have room in the pack to spare.
 
Mountainman38 said:
What happens if a license is not procured prior to use? I've used non-HAM radios in surveying that said you were supposed to have a license (which none of us did), and so far I'm still a free man. :cool:
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Certainly the odds of getting prosecuted for using a radio without a license may be small in most cases....but they still exist. The radios that you were using don't have the range of the higher powered 'HAM' radios so that lessons your chances.

Mountainman38 said:
Gotcha -- sort of a self-policing kind of thing, then. The radios we used were just Motorola business radios, so I'm not sure why they had the warning about needing a license.
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That's GMRS. It also requires a FCC license to operate though you don't have to take a test to get the license. There's also FRS which is essentially a lower power version and doesn't require a license.
 
Most HAMs carry commo gear for the fun of it, but we study up on nearby repeaters and "nets" so that if an emergency were to occur, and the cell phone won't get 911, we could get all the help we need.

I have a dual band 50 watt VHF radio installed in my Rhino- While wearing my helmet with mike and speakers installed I just plug in and have intercom and full radio service.

My truck has a VHF and HF rig installed. I usually carry a VX5R handheld or an FT 817 QRP radio.

When you're out in the boonies, it's easy to forget that your "7 day standby" cell phone battery might only last a few hours at full power trying to hit a distant cell tower. I've "lost" my cell phone more than once this way. My HAM radios are instant backup. Heck, one system even lets me use my HAM radios to make a telephone call over the radio.
 
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