Can you hear me now? Reliable communications for the trail, daily driving, or emergency situations.
Most offroaders have a CB (citizen band) radio installed in their rig. A CB in typically adequate for short trail communications, but it is generally limited. The radio is legally limited to 4 watts, the antennas used are generally short (though optimum is 102" most used are around 4’), and the antennas are typically mounted to the rear of the vehicle all leading to a compromise in performance resulting in a range of only a couple of miles, or so. During the last Day of Dirt Adventure (http://www.c4x4.com/201305f3.htm) our convoy was so stretched out with 74 vehicles that the Wagon Master and the tail gunner could not communicate via CB radio. However, CB is not the only communication option. Amateur (Ham) Radio is becoming popular with off roaders and almost required equipment for the Expedition rig as it provides more reliable communication over a greater distance. Ham radio does require a license, which is obtained by passing a test. There are 3 levels of license class; Technician, General, and Extra, each class offering access to greater band/mode allocations. The test session typically cost $15 and you can take all 3 license test in one sitting if you desire. Most local radio clubs will have test sessions, sometimes as often as once a month. Some clubs will even provide classes once or twice a year. To search for a local club go here: (http://www.arrl.org/find-a-club ) , or do a Google search for your area and Amateur Radio. There are study books available (see links below). Here are the FREE study guides that I used to pass the Tech and General class test, (http://www.kb6nu.com/tech-manual/). Once you pass the test you will be issued a call sign by the FCC and your license is good for 10 yrs. Most off road enthusiasts will find the Technician class license will provide them with the communications they need. Some people may think that a ham radio is a big clunky radio and that they don't have room to mount one in their vehicle. This is not true, and in fact most mobile ham radios are smaller than the larger CB radios (Cobra 25, Cobra 29, etc.) that a lot of people buy. Also, a lot of mobile ham radios have remote heads, where the "face plate" of the radio can be separated from the radio. The radio can be mounted almost anywhere in the vehicle with the smaller "face plate" being mounted to the dash or console, they are then connected via a data cable. There are also ham radios available that don't cost too much more than those big CB radios, though with any hobby things can get expensive quick.
Most Technician class license holders will utilize the 2 meter (144 MHz - VHF) and 70 cm (440 MHz - UHF) bands primarily; most repeaters are also on these bands. VHF and UHF frequencies are considered line of sight as except for in rare occasions the station you are trying to communicate with has to be able to “see” you; buildings, foliage, height of receive/transmit antenna, and curvature of the Earth all effect how far you can communicate. A repeater takes your incoming signal on one frequency and simultaneously retransmits the signal on a different frequency. Repeater antennas are mounted high on towers giving a nice large coverage area virtually doubling or tripling your range. On the trail ham radio can provide clear (FM) conversation within the group, but also back to base camp or to other groups in the area. Using a linked repeater system a ham radio could also allow you to contact someone at home or to a buddy to tell him to bring you a new driveshaft. Most importantly it could be used to save you or your buddies’ life. Even the mecca of off road, Moab, does not always have cell service and a CB isn’t going to back to base camp or into town for help. If someone was injured in a rollover accident or during a vehicle recovery, ham radio would be the quickest and perhaps the only way to get the emergency help needed that may save their life. Two meter and 70 cm frequencies are also used by storm trackers to send reports to the National Weather Service and during emergency situations that render most forms of communication (telephone, cell phone, police/fire radio transmit towers) inoperative to provide local communications with emergency management officials. Using the May 20th Moore, Oklahoma tornado as an example as I live in the general area; the landlines and cell towers were either knocked down, without power, or if they were working they were so jammed up with people trying to get ahold of loved ones that communication in/out of the area was virtually non-existent. If you survived the storm and were a ham radio operator you would have been able to use our handheld radio and put a call out to either a repeater or another operator outside of the affected area that would have a better chance of getting a telephone call out to your loved ones. To relate this to off-roading even the mecca of off road, Moab, does not always have cell service and a CB isn’t going to back to base camp or into town for help. If someone was injured in a rollover accident or during a vehicle recovery, ham radio would be the quickest and perhaps the only way to get the emergency help needed that may save their life.
For larger scale tragic events (Hurricane/Tsunami) the use of bands in the General/Extra class allocations are used allowing longer range communications to resources outside of the affected area. The General and Extra class license gives you the ability to use radios that allow you to talk all over the world. If you intend to use ham radio in an expedition vehicle you would likely want at least a General class license with an HF (High Frequency) radio as there may not be help within line of sight communications or the terrain (mountainous) may not allow for line of sight communications unless you are able to climb to the top of the mountain with your radio.
You can still get into Ham radio relatively cheap, in some cases less than a larger CB radio. There are single band, dual band, triple band, quad band, and Multi band (HF, VHF, UHF) radios. For cheap local and trail communications a handheld (HT) ham radio can be mounted in your vehicle with a hand mic, power cord, and external antenna. I can sit in my house with my 4 watt HT and the stock “rubber duck” antenna which is the most in-efficient antenna possible and communicate via a repeater 10 miles from my house, using the same HT in my vehicle with an externally mounted antenna would only increase my communication distance. For better mobile communications a dedicated mobile radio allowing more watts would be a good choice, but by no means the only choice. There is a lot more to ham radio, this only scratches the surface, but hopefully this has sparked your interest. If you are interested in getting into Amateur Radio and have any questions please feel free to contact me. I am no expert but will do what I can to get you the info you need. Jonathan Blackwell KF5WUF
Radio Sales: http://www.universal-radio.com/ https://www.hamcity.com/store/pc/home.asp
Amateur Radio Resources:
Study Guide Books: The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual Gordon West Technical Class Preparation
Ham Radio Podcast:
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