P1000 ham radio

[CashMoney]

Just wondering if and of you guys are ham radio operators and if you have mounted one in your 1k yet. I'm still not sure where I want to put a mobile. A lot of my friends and I got into them for using them in our jeeps. They work great in our area and the APRS is pretty cool for keeping tabs on people where cell phones don't work.

 

[Admin]

 

[ohanacreek]

In the process of getting my license and probably going to mount one when I do.

 

[CashMoney]

best trail communication ever.

 

[SuperYeti]

I am, I've just got a portable I take with me, one of the Baofeng UV82's with a Nagoya NA-771 antenna. Great combination for under 100. I've programmed every known station, forest service resource road, and search and rescue frequency into it. It's always in the truck with me, and gets transferred into the Pioneer when I'm out and about.

 

[CashMoney]

I can't remember what model it was but it was like a $35 baofeng. I have a hard time hearing it though

 

[ohanacreek]

I've got two baofengs that are 8w handheld.

Setting up a mobile rig for my truck that is 60w, with a decent antenna I've picked up operators 100-150 miles away across the Appalachian foothills of North Alabama.

 

[Itsalljake]

Alright, you peaked my curiosity. Now i'm researching radios. Got a couple Ranger's on the ranch and hopefully adding me P1k to the mix soon. Cell service is nil so I've been considering good two-ways with Ham capability. General consensus, is Baofeng the way to go?

 

[SuperYeti]

I'm extremely happy with mine, you can't beat the price. Also front panel programmable, plus the programming cable for faster setup is about 15 bucks off ebay, overall the sound quality has been great. The only downside I've seen so far, is they don't suppress some of the end of hail squelch that the motorola's put out when I was using one on-site with a client last year. Besides that SOLID. You could also setup a couple of the reasonably priced Yaesu base stations in a repeater configuration, that way you can get better handheld coverage station to station by setting up a nice big omni antenna at home, and then relaying through it to speak to someone else at the far side of the property outside the range of the handhelds. Lots of fun stuff you can do for well under 1000, even an interconnect into a landline if you so chose, however to do that you'd probably want your own VHF frequency instead of using the ham bands.

 

[CashMoney]

For the price the Baeofongs are pretty hard to beat. Most radios you can't even buy a spare battery for what a whole radio and battery costs from them. It really helps them to put on a better antenna too. Definitely got the computer programming cable though as they are a pain to manually enter info into for saving frequencies.

 

[allgm1]

I know this is a loaded question but, with a hand held what kind of range do you get? I used to do cb radios so I know terrain has a lot to do with it.

 

[CashMoney]

Most of it has to do with your antenna. If you had a roof mount or something which you can hook to a hand held you'll probably get way more range than cb. Its tuff to guesstimate range though like you say as terrain is a big factor. But the ham hand helds are up to 5 watt so you definitely get some good distance. A legal CB is only 4 watt and on the AM band where the ham bands you'd be using are FM. The other side of ham is a lot of places have repeaters that are free to use so if you bounce of one of those range is pretty huge.

 

[CashMoney]

If anyones interested in getting their license that doesn't have it here's a link that can help you find testing in your area. I think it was 15 bucks for for the test and the license and its good for 10 years. Also you get the questions and answers to study before you even take the test so there's no trick questions and no reason not to pass. A lot of it is simple math and common sense anyways. ARRL | Licensing, Education & Training | Getting on the Air

 

[ohanacreek]

I know this is a loaded question but, with a hand held what kind of range do you get? I used to do cb radios so I know terrain has a lot to do with it.

With the rubber stick antenna that come on it I'm only receiving maybe 2-5 miles.

With a $30 mag mount antenna hooked to the same handheld RX @100-150 miles.

I can get MOST repeaters to signal check in a 50-60 mile radius now where only the one that was 10 miles away will give me a check.

Edit:
I'm in rolling, tree covered foothills 200-1500' and elevation changes from @600'ASL to @2000'ASL

 

[CashMoney]

Something like this antenna will greatly help the handheld out too if a mag mount is out of the question. Amazon.com: Authentic Genuine Nagoya NA-771 15.6-Inch Whip VHF/UHF (144/430Mhz) Antenna SMA-Female for AnyTone, BaoFeng, and Yaesu: Car Electronics

 

[allgm1]

Thanks @ohanacreek, and @CashMoney, I looked into the equipment that @SuperYeti had posted, seems like its a rather inexpensive way to communicate. I may have to get one lol.

 

[ohanacreek]

Something like this antenna will greatly help the handheld out too if a mag mount is out of the question. Amazon.com: Authentic Genuine Nagoya NA-771 15.6-Inch Whip VHF/UHF (144/430Mhz) Antenna SMA-Female for AnyTone, BaoFeng, and Yaesu: Car Electronics

Similar if not the one I have.

 

[ohanacreek]

Thanks @ohanacreek, and @CashMoney, I looked into the equipment that @SuperYeti had posted, seems like its a rather inexpensive way to communicate. I may have to get one lol.

Do get a license.

 

[SuperYeti]

Something like this antenna will greatly help the handheld out too if a mag mount is out of the question. Amazon.com: Authentic Genuine Nagoya NA-771 15.6-Inch Whip VHF/UHF (144/430Mhz) Antenna SMA-Female for AnyTone, BaoFeng, and Yaesu: Car Electronics

Yes, that's the one I have. The length is a little ridiculous for wearing on your belt, but I find it works much better.

 

[ohanacreek]

Sorry the link for the one I bought in my order history takes me to the same selection menu.

I've got the mag mount from the list.

 

[Itsalljake]

Something like this antenna will greatly help the handheld out too if a mag mount is out of the question. Amazon.com: Authentic Genuine Nagoya NA-771 15.6-Inch Whip VHF/UHF (144/430Mhz) Antenna SMA-Female for AnyTone, BaoFeng, and Yaesu: Car Electronics

With this inspiration I just picked up two of these ...Baofeng BF-F9+ V2 Two Way Radio (Black) And 2 771 Nagoya antennas and the extra length batteries, all for about $200. Fortunately one of my neighbors is Ham certified and CERT registered so he's going to help me with programming. Lots of rolling hills on the ranch with no cell service. Going to be nice to know when lunch is ready.