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To communicate with others at distances of about 30 miles you would need
a radio that operates on the vhf/uhf bands. Of course you can also use
the HF band radio too but it is preferred to use the higher frequencie
bands of vhf/uhf due to the lack of atmospheric noise. On these
bands there is usually no interferance of any kind which makes
communications quite pleasureable. You have 3 basic choices to talk
to others at this distance. FRS/GMRS, Ham, CB. If you are
new to radio, please get help in selecting an antenna as this is the
single most important part of ANY Radio system. Like a stereo with
poor speakers a poor antenna isn't going to work well and you will be
dissappointed. Ask or do some research before you buy and know what
you're getting int. |
Under 30 Miles |
Brands:
Yeasu, Icom, Kenwood, Midland many CB's from Japan.
and
Boefeng, TDL, Anytone, CB, and others from China.
The first 4 brands come from Japan and are generally considered safe
from spying and remote operation hidden inside. Newer models do have
some remote operation features so read or ask about them.CB radios are
mostly made in china but many designs are japanese and safe. Use caution
on anytone models as they are chinese.
China
Every other brand of radio gear other than the 1st 3 from Japan are ALL
Made in China and many do have remote shutoff / kill features. If this
is a concern, ask or do some research. |
3 Choices:
1. You can buy GMRS/FRS radio's which may not need a license at all. UHF
only.
2. Ham radios operating in the VHF & UHF bands or even the HF band offer
more power and longer ranges than gmrs/cb. License required.
3. CB radio is lower price than ham gear but offers ranges from 5 miles
to the whole country during times of 'skip'. The ssb models offer more
range. No license required. Many people familiar with CB don't like the
noise but as of a few years ago, FM transmissions are legal on CB
and FM is far less susceptible to noise so you might want to try it now. |
GMRS/FRS
Both of these radios use the same 22 channels/frequencies. Do not be
missled by the 60 or 100 channel advertising. They are refering to
tone encoding that simply prevents you from hearing others on the same
channel. It does not prevent others
from listening to you. It gives you the false
appearance that you have "private" channels and you don't. The
transmission can still be heard by anyone who is on your channel with
the tone turned off.
FRS radios are all walkie talkies and
low power with no license required. Typical range is 1 to 3
miles maybe more.
GMRS radios use the same 22 channels
as the frs do but offer much more power in base station and mobile
radios, typically 20 to 50 watts. They are also capable of
repeater split channel operation offering much farther range. LIcense
required but its just a fee that covers the whole family at home.
Since these radios use the same 22 channels ase the frs radios you can
talk to each other. Depending on antenna and power the range can be 3 to
10 miles in hill country and 30 plus miles line of site or thru a
repeater in hilly areas. Antenna's play a big part in range of
these radios just like any other radio. |
Ham / Amateur Radio
Radios operating in the VHF and UHF bands can offer more range than
either the gmrs/frs or cb bands. This is due to higher power limits than
both of the other radio types. Still the GMRS models can provide
virtually the same range and operation as the Ham rigs with the
exception that the ham bands have hundreds of 'channels' available to
them along with other modes like single side band (SSB) operation with
high power. Also a little better choice in high performance antenna's
are available for the ham uhf/vhf bands giving a better advantage
over other types too. Still gmrs can equal ham radio with repeaters
systems. There is more to learn about these systems but for now I"m
trying to keep this simple for new people to understand.
VHF and UHF bands are basically Line of Site meaning they can only talk
to other radio's that they can 'see' on the horizon. You may not
be able to see the other station too far away the the radio signal
has a strait path with little or no obstructions. HF can bend and
bounce off the atmosphere offering world wide coverage. Only Ham
Radios offer this kind of range capability. CB does also under
certain conditions but not like the reliability of the Ham bands on HF
frequencies do. |
CB radio
These radio's have been around since the 60's and were originally
intended for families to be able to talk to others for daily things like
getting items from the grocery store or personal use needs.
Trucking took it over in the 70's for police traffic reporting. Today
it's quiet again since trucking has moved to cell phone's. The CB band
is an HF band which means it has atmospheric noise and also 'skips' to
other parts of the country and world. Still it coming back for many who
are preparing for coming disasters. A wide range of radios and
antenna's are available online. If you decide on this type, try to get a
model that is SSB & FM capable. SSB offers more power and FM
offers lower noise. Most are made in china but still use designs from
Japan. Anytone is Chinese.
Range is typically 5 to 15 miles depending on antenna and terrain.
K40 makes excellent mobile antenna's. You don't need to spend
money on an antenna that can accept 1000 watts as the legal CB limit is
5 watts for AM/FM and 12 watts for SSB. There are illegal
amplifiers for sale which can get you into trouble if you use one. Ham
is the better choice for more power legally. |
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