Ham radios
One or twice the subject has come up but the FRS and the other channels are not a great idea. When out on the road in the middle of nowhere and the cells don't work and the CBs, now rare, and you don...
Forum Discussion
As a ham myself, I can give you my experience...
If you're looking to communicate with someone else along with you, they work great, much better than FRS.
However, if you're wanting it for "emergency" communications with the outside world if you don't have cell signal, I don't think it's effective. There just isn't enough people "listening" out there. Sure, some areas are active, but the vast majority of space is pretty dead. Even on the repeaters, I find most places to be quiet.
For example, I recently made a trip out west from Dallas, TX to southern CA, AZ, and NM. Over the course of that 4 week trip, I got ZERO responses on the 2M calling frequencey. While driving, I'd call out every hour or so. Usually when I reached a campground, I'd try once.
Bottom line, I don't consider it a reliable mode of communication for a personal emergency.
I do a lot of hiking, and I'm thinking hard about getting a PLB for a true emergency.
AA5RV
If you're looking to communicate with someone else along with you, they work great, much better than FRS.
However, if you're wanting it for "emergency" communications with the outside world if you don't have cell signal, I don't think it's effective. There just isn't enough people "listening" out there. Sure, some areas are active, but the vast majority of space is pretty dead. Even on the repeaters, I find most places to be quiet.
For example, I recently made a trip out west from Dallas, TX to southern CA, AZ, and NM. Over the course of that 4 week trip, I got ZERO responses on the 2M calling frequencey. While driving, I'd call out every hour or so. Usually when I reached a campground, I'd try once.
Bottom line, I don't consider it a reliable mode of communication for a personal emergency.
I do a lot of hiking, and I'm thinking hard about getting a PLB for a true emergency.
AA5RV
