Communications Equipment / Radios

Ordered the ARRL Tech and General flash cards today. I know I could have used hamstudy.org, or made my own, but I decided to buy them so I can use them without being tethered to a phone or computer, and save the time involved in making my own. I'll also be able to share them with family members who would be less likely to use a phone or computer for studying.

To qualify for free shipping, I went ahead and threw in the CV2ANTNCG fender mount, Larsen NMO2/70B antenna, and Larsen NMO-K mount kit.

I am interested in APRS because I think it would be useful for family to see where we are while we are on the road. From my research, for APRS, the Kenwood TM-D710GA is the radio to get. Unless anyone can tell me otherwise, I'll be ordering one of those in the next few days and trying to figure out how to mount it in the cab. Also going to use a relay to manage power it when the ignition is engaged, even though it'll run directly off one of the batteries.

jshupe wrote:
Ham has been on my radar/to-do list for years. This truck build is just the excuse I needed to stop procrastinating and start working on it...not looking at ham for traffic, but more for emergency communications when out of cell range

Good reason for ham radio Ham radio gives you some real flexibility, especially when cell is not available.

jshupe wrote:
...my scanner installed I have heard about two nearby wrecks...on CH19. Proof enough to me that these will be more useful than cell alone...

I find VB just has too much junk and the lack of professionalism to be worthwhile. It is also annoying to passengars in the cab.

If CB were professional enough to where other CBers would give a concise reports I might change my view. My HF rig certainly has the capability of receiving 11 meter broadcasts (CB), but why bother when you can operate in the 10 meter band?

jshupe wrote:
beats a phone app. Especially if you aren't using the phone app for GPS, which I'm not going to do unless Waze comes out with a RV specific mode...

Yep, Waze and other apps have their faults, lease of which is sending you down an unfit road. It is better when I have someone playing navigator and then we use "street view" to see what kind of road or gas station is ahead.

Some of the new apps let you avoid gravel roads and such, but nothing like the RV apps that resolve road clearances for your RV.

Yes I like what we can do with ham radio. I certainly have thought about putting in APRS, which would thrill my brother to follow my rig on the road.

Those Baofeng radios are good little radios for what they cost. We have good coverage for the few miles around the RV on simplex. That generally means anywhere on the campgrounds we can find each other, plus with DCS we can filter out the majority of noise or other interference.

When traveling in anything I run either a real GPS or the Navigon GPS app on the iPhone for turn by turn, Waze for traffic, and my HT for company. I use Waze for highway traffic only and there are FAR more users of Waze than CB, including truckers. They have somewhat changed who you can and cannot see on your display, but in the earlier days I could see other Waze users around me on the highway and more often than not they would be the trucks I passed. It was pretty obvious on the map as I was passing them. Waze is about as real-time as it gets. In the MH I also have the CB on in the background, and haven't yet heard traffic discussion that wasn't already displayed on Waze by the same guys.

ng2951 wrote:
Your cellphone is better for traffic than CB or ham radio. GoogleMaps and Waze does a pretty good job of telling you traffic ahead.

GPS is still essential when you get into areas where cell service is spotty.

If you do not have a ham license, FRS/GMRS radios will do all you really need. Both the pardette and I are hams, and the ham radios serve us well when navigating around fuel pumps or backing in. We do a fair amount of dry camping where cell service is barely available.

FRS/GMRS radios can do the same as ham radios the way you will likely use them.

In short, if you have a ham license the available hardware is pretty nice, but I wouldn't knock myself out to get a license. Get a pair of FRS/GMRS radios, that is what they are made for.

Ham has been on my radar/to-do list for years. This truck build is just the excuse I needed to stop procrastinating and start working on it. I do have a pair of FRS/GMRS radios we already use for those sorts of things. I am not looking at ham for traffic, but more for emergency communications when out of cell range, APRS, and experimenting on packet radio. I use my cell for traffic but wanted some redundancy. In the week or so I have had my scanner installed I have heard about two nearby wrecks on the scanner that could have impacted me but I avoided, and heard truckers discussing a jam on I35 on CH19. Proof enough to me that these will be more useful than cell alone. Hearing the info when you are going down the road, in real time, beats a phone app. Especially if you aren't using the phone app for GPS, which I'm not going to do unless Waze comes out with a RV specific mode. When I did use it, it sent me down some roads I didn't quite fit on.

Your cellphone is better for traffic than CB or ham radio. GoogleMaps and Waze does a pretty good job of telling you traffic ahead.

GPS is still essential when you get into areas where cell service is spotty.

If you do not have a ham license, FRS/GMRS radios will do all you really need. Both the pardette and I are hams, and the ham radios serve us well when navigating around fuel pumps or backing in. We do a fair amount of dry camping where cell service is barely available.

FRS/GMRS radios can do the same as ham radios the way you will likely use them.

In short, if you have a ham license the available hardware is pretty nice, but I wouldn't knock myself out to get a license. Get a pair of FRS/GMRS radios, that is what they are made for.

There used to be a radio shop just off I-35, South of downtown IIRC. Kind of a dingy shopping center but lots of toys in the store. Still there?
Some of these classes will tie you down and beat the knowledge into you and you'll walk out of class with a license (at least passing it). You might be able to do both in the same day. NMO is a great mount that's been around for 40'years out of commercial service. There are lots of antennas that will screw onto it.

jshupe wrote:
For ham, with a dual band antenna, would I be better with a ~2' antenna in the middle of the roof, or a ~4' antenna sitting on the truck bed that comes to about the same height? Since they would have roughly the same total height, it seems the 4' would be better in some situations, but would there realistically be much difference?

Decided to go with a Larsen NMO2/70B on a CV2ANTNCG fender mount.
Larsen NMO-K for cabling and Kenwood TM-D710G radio.



Trying to decide whether to take the license test or buy the radio first, but at least I know what I'm buying. Looking at possibly buying the ARRL flash cards and going to take the test in about a month, so might go ahead and order everything.

We purchased a CB for our Northern Canada, Yukon and Alaska trip. Big mistake could not use it due to mountains and it seemed no one else had one.

For ham, with a dual band antenna, would I be better with a ~2' antenna in the middle of the roof, or a ~4' antenna sitting on the truck bed that comes to about the same height? Since they would have roughly the same total height, it seems the 4' would be better in some situations, but would there realistically be much difference?

jshupe wrote:

Thanks. I don't plan to transmit often, mostly receive... So not terribly worried about the SWR readings.

As you have kind of discovered already, a REALLY bad VSWR reading indicates a problem with the antenna and if it is bad enough, it will affect receiving too. Your initial 2.5 wasn't really that bad though.

Glad you got it squared away. Given the location of the antennas, I'm kind of amazed that you got it that low.