What type of communication radio is best?

Jerry Little

Jerry Little

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Title was suppose to say what type of communication radio is best? (Auto correction gee) So if this is a bit off topic. I will start going offroad 4x4 sometimes deep in mountains. Up around Lake Tahoe what is better for me to get ham radio or a cb radio? I dont want real expensive equip. If you say ham do I have to get a license? If so how. What is good radio to get? I see a lot of offroaders with antennas
 
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It all depends. CB is more common and carried by most off-road Jeeps, but it has less range than a "ham" radio that you would need a license for.
 
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Mounted to the taillight with a Teraflex mount.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006D9W22G/?tag=wranglerorg-20

IMG_20171128_093331415.jpg
 
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The best of both worlds would be a HAM radio and a CB radio. Most of us use CBs, but I know @Jerry Bransford and some of the others have their HAM radio license, which I'll likely get myself pretty soon here.
 
I have an old Realistic from the 80's that I pulled the limiting circuit out on. It puts out 11 watts now and I can make a florescent light glow when keying the mic near it...still not near the 100 watts truckers can put out now days.
 
I ha e found that after using firesticks up to 4ft I get much better range from an 8ft steel whip. I mount it with a high quality stainless quick disconnect and a high quality large stainless lug. It's reliable, not damaged by trees, gets the best range of anything I've ever used, it's not expensive, and I can still fit in the garage.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
 
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CodaMan said:
This would be about the best CB out there and very popular because of its small size. Most would also use a 2' or 3' Firestik for an antenna.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004VXNI/?tag=wranglerorg-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000WYYP14/?tag=wranglerorg-20
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Same exact set up I have. The 520 xl does everything a CB needs to do. A 2' or 3' firestik is easily tuned and will not catch up on objects (lean towards 2'). I also have the ARR overhead mount, and while it places the CB easily within ear shot and hides wires/antenna, I would make my own if I could do it again. Its just a hollow square tube with ears that mount to the door surround knobs. I bet you could make one for less than $20 vs the $90 that ARR charges
 
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Imapepper said:
Life's too short for low power...View attachment 54342
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astjp2 said:
I have an old Realistic from the 80's that I pulled the limiting circuit out on. It puts out 11 watts now and I can make a florescent light glow when keying the mic near it...still not near the 100 watts truckers can put out now days.
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Which is strictly illegal.

Running more than 4 watts is not only illegal, it is illegal for a reason. CB channels are very narrow and they are spaced very close together. The more power an AM CB signal is given, the wider its signal becomes. That means more power cause your signal to bleed over into adjacent CB channels which interferes with legal CB users and that really pisses me off when it happens to me. I often have to move 3-10 channels away from some yahoo (asshole) running a high power linear amplifier to boost his CB signal that is splattering across multiple channels just so I can communicate with other Jeepers.

Ham radios are not based on narrow channels, you can run a LOT more power legally because of that and the fact that hams have taken tests to certify that they have more skills that allow them to use more power more intelligently and legally.... as required by international treaties with virtually all countries that govern the use of the radio bands. .

I run both a legal 4 watt CB for strictly offroad use and a legal 75 watt 2 meter ham radio for occasional offroad and longer range communications if needed. A CB is required by most groups for offroading, a very small percentage of Jeepers have ham radios. If you're going to have just one 2-way radio in your Jeep, make sure it's a CB. A Uniden Pro-520XL is a great choice, it can be found for $40-50 brand new all over the web including Amazon.com.

N6TAY

CIMG3873.JPG
 
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I just installed a Uniden 510, seems to work fine even without being tuned.
When I bought the cable and bracket form a local guy (old fella with more CB's than you can shake a stick at) he said he could tune it if needed, once I got it hooked up at my place I tested it and was able to get the above mentioned old fella at his house, had a great chat and he said no need to tune that I was coming in loud and clear :)
 
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I have a Midland handheld CB. It’s strictly for trail use and I have no problem communicating with those in our groups.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000K2YR/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I was recently given a handheld HAM radio because the local club uses them as well. Until I get my license, it’s strictly for listening only.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MAULSOK/?tag=wranglerorg-20

The benefit that I like about the handhelds is that I can carry them around with me when out of the Jeep. I also don’t have to worry about them getting stolen, since my Jeep never has windows in it.

Is your goal communication between vehicles in your caravan, or to the outside world when you are deep in the mountains? I would think that will help determine what you need.
 
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Flib said:
I just installed a Uniden 510, seems to work fine even without being tuned.
When I bought the cable and bracket form a local guy (old fella with more CB's than you can shake a stick at) he said he could tune it if needed, once I got it hooked up at my place I tested it and was able to get the above mentioned old fella at his house, had a great chat and he said no need to tune that I was coming in loud and clear :)
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You should always tune an antenna. You might see that it works great on some channels but like crap on other, or you may not even notice that it's working like crap .. that's what tuning fixes.

Just get an sub $25 SWR meter and adjust the SWR to the lowest number possible on channel 20.
 
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CodaMan said:
You should always tune an antenna. You might see that it works great on some channels but like crap on other, or you may not even notice that it's working like crap .. that's what tuning fixes.

Just get an sub $25 SWR meter and adjust the SWR to the lowest number possible on channel 20.
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Channel 13 for the jeep club, that's all I need it for. If I need it tuned I'll take it back to the old guy.

Doing a run next Saturday on a trail called broken yoke so I can give it a good test then.
 
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Flib said:
Channel 13 for the jeep club, that's all I need it for. If I need it tuned I'll take it back to the old guy.
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The antenna (not the radio) needs to be tuned (its length adjusted) even if it's for just one channel. Tuning the antenna does two things... 1) Most importantly, it verifies the antenna was installed correctly. An incorrect install usually means the antenna mount is shorting the transmitter dead to ground. 2) It lets the antenna radiate all the transmitted power being sent to it. An untuned antenna will actually reflect back much of the transmitted signal right back to the radio instead of being radiated out of the antenna.
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
The antenna (not the radio) needs to be tuned (its length adjusted) even if it's for just one channel. Tuning the antenna does two things... 1) Most importantly, it verifies the antenna was installed correctly. An incorrect install usually means the antenna mount is shorting the transmitter dead to ground. 2) It lets the antenna radiate all the transmitted power being sent to it. An untuned antenna will actually reflect back much of the transmitted signal right back to the radio instead of being radiated out of the antenna.
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What's more, this reflected energy can do damage to the radio itself.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
 
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