INGO HAM Radio Club

[PistolBob]

I would presume under the circumstances as long as they arent run by an org that needs to pay FT staff year round they will be back eventually. Though this might be a good excuse to throw in the towel since ham radio is not as popular as it once was. You know, die before all of their attendees do since the majority seem to be older.

FCC says we have 746,000+ licensed amateur radio operators now. The most we've had in the history of the United States. I never hear them though.

 

[turnerdye1]

Hey I've been doing some research into HAM here within the past year and bought a couple Baofeng's back in March. They've been sitting since and I haven't had time to really get back into it. Recently my grandpa had talked about wanting to get some sort of radio's to communicate in case the phone/electrical systems get compromised.

He is wanting to get into something fairly cheap but reliable that can communicate at 15-20 miles. Mainly from his house to mine and my brothers.

So I've started doing research again and I'm fully aware that you need to take the Tech Test to get into the full aspects of HAM. I've done some studying and believe that I could past the test with no problems. The concern would be my grandpa. He's a good ole boy and isn't really tech savvy and when talking with him I don't think he would be able to pass the test easily. My brother isn't really interested into getting into HAM but accepted the idea of keeping a radio around in case of emergencies.

During my research I've saw some things about FRS and GMRS but I know they have their limitations and the GMRS requires paying a fee for a 10 year license. Upon speaking with my grandpa I think he would prefer to go the GMRS route and just pay the fee.

My only concern would be the range as usual. We live in north central Indiana and the terrain is fairly flat. We have one town in between us, fields, and woods and we are about 15-20 miles apart. Realistically would GMRS have that kind of range with a hand held unit with a 3ft? fixed antenna? Or would we need to build a "semi" base station and setup a high antenna. I checked Radio Reference I believe and did not locate any local repeaters in my area.

I was looking at buying a couple Baofeng UV5R-8W for a little more power or would that be over kill?

Thanks for any advice in advance. I'm completely new to anything radio

 

[Route 45]

You are not going to talk station to station on handheld GMRS with the stock antenna over flat terrain with woods and a town between you over 15-20 miles. Height is your friend in radio communications, as UHF is only reliable over extended distances with a fairly clear line of sight. This means that both radios would need antennas high in the air for reliable communication. If both stations had elevated antennas, you may be able to talk over that distance on GMRS frequencies.

With my 5w handheld ham radio, I can reliably hit a repeater 15 miles away on my Baofeng on the 70cm band, which is UHF and close to the GMRS band. But the receiving antenna is hundreds of feet in the air. Handheld to handheld, the range is generally just 2-3 miles without good line of sight.

So long story short, with 2 5w radios connected to base antennas high in the air, a solid "maybe." For reference, I sometimes talk to a base station 32 miles away on the amateur 2m band (VHF) without using a repeater, but I have an antenna in my attic and he has a beam antenna on a 40 ft tower, and we both have to run 50-80 watts to barely get a weak signal most of the time. However, I've never been able to do that distance on UHF.

 

[fullmetaljesus]

I don't mean to best you up but you say you need to pass the test to get into all aspects of ham. I feel it's important to point out that until you have a lic you are only permitted to listen. You are unable to transmit.

The tech test is really quite easy. It's mostly regulations and safety and a little tech.

You can go to
Inhamoperators.com
To find a bunch of info on how/where to study and how to find a test local to you. It even has some radio files you can upload to your radio to program many indiana repeaters

 

[PistolBob]

GMRS family license will be dropping to $35 soon. If you had a GMRS repeater in the middle of you guys, you'd be a lot better off. You could buy one and find a place to put it....just remember, when it goes down so does your comm link. A decent used GMRS repeater can cost $1000-$3000 depending on power output and features.

 

[turnerdye1]

You are not going to talk station to station on handheld GMRS with the stock antenna over flat terrain with woods and a town between you over 15-20 miles. Height is your friend in radio communications, as UHF is only reliable over extended distances with a fairly clear line of sight. This means that both radios would need antennas high in the air for reliable communication. If both stations had elevated antennas, you may be able to talk over that distance on GMRS frequencies.

With my 5w handheld ham radio, I can reliably hit a repeater 15 miles away on my Baofeng on the 70cm band, which is UHF and close to the GMRS band. But the receiving antenna is hundreds of feet in the air. Handheld to handheld, the range is generally just 2-3 miles without good line of sight.

So long story short, with 2 5w radios connected to base antennas high in the air, a solid "maybe." For reference, I sometimes talk to a base station 32 miles away on the amateur 2m band (VHF) without using a repeater, but I have an antenna in my attic and he has a beam antenna on a 40 ft tower, and we both have to run 50-80 watts to barely get a weak signal most of the time. However, I've never been able to do that distance on UHF.

Alright thank you very much! My grandpa has a 40ft tower in his backyard that I think we may try to run a small antenna up to help out. I'm still researching those.

I'm thinking I'm going to take the tech test first to get a feel for it. Then try and walk my grandpa through it the best I can. These are more SHTF or if a disaster hits so he may not even use them but I would like him to be licensed so we could practice.

I don't mean to best you up but you say you need to pass the test to get into all aspects of ham. I feel it's important to point out that until you have a lic you are only permitted to listen. You are unable to transmit.

The tech test is really quite easy. It's mostly regulations and safety and a little tech.

You can go to
Inhamoperators.com
To find a bunch of info on how/where to study and how to find a test local to you. It even has some radio files you can upload to your radio to program many indiana repeaters

Thanks! I've been checking out that site and binge watching Ham Radio Crash Course on Youtube. Luckily there's a testing location in Marion that seems to do one every month.

GMRS family license will be dropping to $35 soon. If you had a GMRS repeater in the middle of you guys, you'd be a lot better off. You could buy one and find a place to put it....just remember, when it goes down so does your comm link. A decent used GMRS repeater can cost $1000-$3000 depending on power output and features.

I don't think we can afford to go that route. One we don't have a central location that could let us put up a repeater and that cost is a little out of our range.


Is there any reason to go with the 8W radio over the 5W for my purposes?

 

[Cameramonkey]

Ive tried the newer 8w radios. dont bother.

My SWR shows they are closer to 6 1/2 watts, and the receivers are less sensitive. I took the 5s on vacation and barely got comms a little over a mile away. Took the 8s the next year and couldnt even make contact between the exact same spots. (we rent a cottage from a family and so we are always in the same place)

As to the tower, look at a directional antenna if you are going to keep trying this route. you want all of that energy directed your direction, not just radiating out in all directions. I doubt you guys will succeed, but I wont discourage you. Its fun playing and trying to see what you can do.

And your dad can pass the tech test. All he has to do is study. As others have said, the Tech test is mostly regulatory and very easy. Very little engineering or technical questions.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Oh, and there are options besides cheap Chinese radios. $80. You can get a quality brand without spending hundreds.

Yaesu FT-4XR VHF/UHF Dual Band FM Handheld Transceivers - Yaesu - Handheld Transceivers - Transceivers and Receivers

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www.dxengineering.com

 

[LockStocksAndBarrel]

Woud it be blasphemy to suggest CB for talking with grandpa?

 

[Cameramonkey]

Woud it be blasphemy to suggest CB for talking with grandpa?
No, it would be cool.

Though we are back to the same distance limit. Without illegal amps, I dont think i've heard of it going beyond 5 miles or so.

 

[fullmetaljesus]

Woud it be blasphemy to suggest CB for talking with grandpa?

If he wanted to take up hunting as a new hobby would you buy him an atlatl?

(I kid I kid)

 

[Gaffer]

If he wanted to take up hunting as a new hobby would you buy him an atlatl?

(I kid I kid)

I agree with your statement but....

 

[turnerdye1]

Well I went ahead about bought (6) 5w Baofengs. I was talking with my grandpa about this and now my brother is interested as well. They only have a few miles between them and will likely have much better communication that myself to them.

I went ahead and got 16ft antennas for each of us and portable 18" antennas for each radio. Just hoping to help the range the best I can. Time will tell I guess.

I also bought a well reviewed programming cable from Amazon to use on Chirp.

 

[Sagamore - One]

Well I went ahead about bought (6) 5w Baofengs. I was talking with my grandpa about this and now my brother is interested as well. They only have a few miles between them and will likely have much better communication that myself to them.

I went ahead and got 16ft antennas for each of us and portable 18" antennas for each radio. Just hoping to help the range the best I can. Time will tell I guess.

I also bought a well reviewed programming cable from Amazon to use on Chirp.

You may want to look into a Signal Stick antenna https://signalstuff.com/product/super-elastic-signal-stick-sma-male/, and put a "Rat Tail" counterpoise under it . It made a noticeable difference on my HT.

 

[turnerdye1]

I've heard a lot of good stuff about the signal sticks. And I do plan on picking a couple up.

Did some research on a rat tail. Is it really as simple as connecting a copper wait under your antenna to help boost sending and receiving signal?!

 

[Sagamore - One]

Yes . Try it and find out. Get a 19 1/2 inch piece of copper wire and sandwich it between the antenna and the ht. No permanent modification to the ht. Only drawback is that you now have a tail hanging down to tuck in when you put the ht in a pocket.
The Signal Stick is only $20 or so and comes with a lifetime warrantee. I purchased two, one for my ht and the second for my vhf police/fire scanner.

 

[lonehoosier]

Here comes Radio control.

 

[PistolBob]

View attachment 121446


Here comes Radio control.

Gotta wonder what imaginary left wing nut butthurt triggered this? (Stolen from a post I saw on reddit today)

 

[fullmetaljesus]

Well I went ahead about bought (6) 5w Baofengs. I was talking with my grandpa about this and now my brother is interested as well. They only have a few miles between them and will likely have much better communication that myself to them.

I went ahead and got 16ft antennas for each of us and portable 18" antennas for each radio. Just hoping to help the range the best I can. Time will tell I guess.

I also bought a well reviewed programming cable from Amazon to use on Chirp.

Make sure you get the correct license(s) for the freqs you will be operating on.

 

[turnerdye1]

Make sure you get the correct license(s) for the freqs you will be operating on.

I'll either be going this month or next to the Marion test location. I'm in the T5 set of questions in my study guide currently.