Portable handheld radios

csamayfield55 wrote:
I tried running a CB in my truck for a while, EVERY channel had nothing but Spanish. Tore it out and tossed it.

WE have Midlands GMRS we go everywhere with. Has WX on them and also in the trailer radio.

Chris

You need to use ch. 17 on the west coast and ch. 19 for the rest of the country.

Two 0.5 watt FRS radios for help with parking and around campground.
Two 5 watt 2 meter ham radios for car to RV communications.
One 50 watt mobile 2m/70cm APRS radio in RV when that extra punch of power is needed and family/friends can watch in real time where we are as we wonder about. Also monitor 146.52 MHz on the road.
For fun in camp will use a DMR and D-Star radios and a scanner to find local repeaters.
I play with the cats too.

I tried running a CB in my truck for a while, EVERY channel had nothing but Spanish. Tore it out and tossed it.

WE have Midlands GMRS we go everywhere with. Has WX on them and also in the trailer radio.

Chris

azdryheat wrote:
Cellphone covers most everything

come to my neck of the woods. well over half the places we camp you'd need to go between 5 and 25 miles to get cell coverage. and many roads we go on are without cell coverage for 25 or more miles. I NEVER plan on relying on my cell phone.

We would like a CB in my truck, but have no clue on what I need.
Would be nice to get road and traffic conditions from truckers

For weather a Midland Weather/All Hazards Alert radio.

For the rest I don't use hand held.. I use some very nice mounted radios.
Traffic: Mostly my Cobra CB One of the better models, It does not have weather band but I suggest one that does.

Weather.. If the Midland can't hear the NOAA stations, I use my Ham Rigs.. Multiple, all have weather in channels 30 to whatever I need. (the first radio I put weather into it went into channel 30 so now I always use 30,31,32, and so on for weather.. That way I don't have to think "What channel is it on this one?")

I do recommend a CB for freeway travel. Saved me grief or worse a few times.

Our Motor Home's radio has built-in WX with auto channel selection. We are rarely out of cell range, so having the smartphone with different weather apps is very helpful. It offers a lot more info than the NOAA Weather radio stations.

-Michael

We have a set of FRS radios to use when we camp... MIDLANDS i think... Cell phone gives us WX alerts.

At the camp sites we like to watch the live radar channels from the local towns using our OTA BATWING antenna...

ALways have a WEATHER tab on the Computers/Tablets...

When setup in a POPUP you kinda want to keep track the high winds...

Roy Ken

azdryheat wrote:
Cellphone covers most everything

Perhaps. In some areas. Here in the West, however, there are still vast areas that have no cell coverage.
I took the tests and got my General Class Ham license. It cost $15 to take the Technician test and the General test on the same day. The preparatory class given by the local Ham Radio Club was free. No code is required.
I have two 2 meter/70 centimeter 5 watt handhelds, a 2 meter radio in the motorhome (75 watt output), an all mode all band radio in the truck, an all band all mode radio at home, and a 100 watt hybrid HF radio.
I also have several 40 channel CBs that are not in use at the present time.

I have 2 handheld CB radios. One is a Cobra and the other is a Miland. The Cobra has weather radio built in. We have them because they will also work with the CB in the truck.