Ham & off road

I got my license just for the trails. The group my buddy and I meet yearly at the Cruise Moab Land Cruiser event are increasing using 2M radios. Right now I have a HT but will eventually get a mobile permanently mounted.

Seems like a lot of Yaesu fans but not much love for Icom. I'm liking the ID-5100D

I wanted a vanity call sign and for whatever reason, seemed like a good choice at the time, ended up with W0WED. :lol:

Side note, anyone consider a mount below the mirror for their remote head?
 
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reidbailey said:
I got my license just for the trails. The group my buddy and I meet yearly at the Cruise Moab Land Cruiser event are increasing using 2M radios. Right now I have a HT but will eventually get a mobile permanently mounted.

Seems like a lot go Yaesu fans but no love for Icom. I like the ID-5100D

I wanted a vanity call sign and for whatever reason, seemed like a good choice at the time, ended up with W0WED. :lol:

Side note, anyone consider a mount below the mirror for their remote head?
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I was checking out the 5100D the other day, nice radio but the head unit is huge! Bigger than the Yaesu FTM-400DR by a fair bit(think Iphone6 vs Iphone6plus). For that reason, no, I definitely would not go for the under the mirror mount. The lower to the dash the better IMO so it doesn't block too much field of view.
Both radios are right at the $600 mark, but I still prefer the Yaesu, and it has a $100 mail in rebate(got my cheque a while back :) ).
 
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Ol'Baditude said:
I was checking out the 5100D the other day, nice radio but the head unit is huge! Bigger than the Yaesu FTM-400DR by a fair bit(think Iphone5 vs Iphone6plus). For that reason, no, I definitely would not go for the under the mirror mount. The lower to the dash the better IMO so it doesn't block too much field of view.
Both radios are right at the $600 mark, but I still prefer the Yaesu, and it has a $100 mail in rebate(got my cheque a while back :) ).
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I tend agree with you on the size. My HT is a D-Star Icom so the compatibility sounds good but your recommendation of the FTM-400DR has me leaning that way. I'm not in a rush so I'll keep researching.

I know it' a taboo subject with many HAMs, but it would be nice to have a radio that can be modded for off-road race frequencies. In my other hobby I race BITD and SCORE. The ability to have one radio is nice. Not that we chase in the 4Runner, but getting to the race we tend to use radios since cell can be spotty. Any have recommendations?
 
Would be great to get race radio as well. I would recommend that you dig around in race radio world a bit, Weatherman or someone like that may be able to steer you in right direction.
 
reidbailey said:
I know it' a taboo subject with many HAMs, but it would be nice to have a radio that can be modded for off-road race frequencies. In my other hobby I race BITD and SCORE. The ability to have one radio is nice. Not that we chase in the 4Runner, but getting to the race we tend to use radios since cell can be spotty. Any have recommendations?
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This may be more of a suggestion for newer hams but for trail coms and the possibility to be heard on race comms (for emergency use only! :) the Kenwood TM281 is hard to beat. Simple, powerfil and easily modded. There is nothing fancy about it but it is a rugged desert workhorse!
 
Intruder said:
I went with the 857D because of HF since I got the Basic with Honours license (up here that means you passed with over 80%) but didn't do enough research first. The guy at the store told me the ATAS antenna would work but it was terrible. I think if I had mounted it on top of my roof rack it would've worked ok but that would've lasted 5 minutes on the trail before being taken out by a branch. The reviews on the ATAS antenna are pretty mixed. If I had to do it over again I'd rather just get a more basic VHF/UHF with dual channel and cross-band repeat. The 857D has a ton of stuff I'll never use which means I sometimes accidentally press the wrong button and have no idea which mode I'm in. Maybe I should read the manual some day...
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Great info, thank you! I might look into a 10m cheap back up radio that I can just carry with me if I know i'm going to be by myself and in the boonies, which isn't that likely anyways.

Intruder said:
Remember those guys you went to school with who barely studied but still did really well because they just remembered stuff?
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Yes I hate those people lol
I'm a terrible test taker no mater how much knowledge I have of the topic.
 
D710A and V71A in 4runner

DannyLlama, I also use the APRS to keep the spouse happy. Just make sure she understands that a stale position does not mean trouble. If you look at aprs.fi, you should be able to see where the aprs digipeaters (look for the green six pointed stars) are located in your area. Although you can get into a lot of dead spots,I've been pleasantly surprised at the coverage, a lot of them are placed on the fringes of the parks.

Since I had a hard time finding examples of installs in 5th gens, I will put some nice pics here. I've got the D710A faceplate mounted on the upper dash - personal preference- and the V71A faceplate mounted down low in the center cubby. For the D710A, the main body is under the driver's seat, with the faceplate cord tucked into the door jamb and run across the dash. V71A main body is under the passenger front seat with the cord run up through the center console. For both radios, I ran the antenna cable under the trim to the rear, up the pillar and out through the tailgate grommets to lip mounts on the left and right hand sides of the tailgate.
 

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Thanks for the info! Do you need both D710A and V71A in order for the APRS to work? Or is there another reason you have 2 units?

Thanks!
 
First and foremost, congrats [MENTION=75328]DannyLlama[/MENTION] passing your test!

I too am studying for the technician license, hope to take & pass it next month.

I'm also very glad this thread popped up, as there was not much info before about communications & HAM's.

I purchased a VHF/UHF radio, Yaesu FTM-350AR with Comet SBB-224NMO for use on all 3 bands 2m/220hz/70cm.

Thank you everyone for the input on which frequencies/repeaters are used in the SoCal area, I was also curious who id be able to contact while wheeling.

Hope to make contact with some/all of you in the future!

73
 
Congrats on passing the test and welcome to the amateur radio world!

Most everything has already been said that I would say so I will keep it short-ish, sorta.

146.460 is a great frequency to use while off-road here in AZ. All of the clubs in AZ and all the Toyota guys are running 146.460 while off-road. If I remember correctly, you are up around Sedona, in which case you need to get the couple of public Mingus Mountain repeaters programmed into your radio. Lots of people monitor those machines and you can get all the down to Phoenix and way north of Flagstaff on them.

Also, I run a Kenwood TM-D710A in the FJ and a TM-D710G in the 4Runner. I love these radios and have found them the easiest to use of all the mobiles while being packed with all the features that I want, including APRS capabilities. I also run Diamond dual-band antenna which I have also found to not only take the beating of all things off-road, but they are amazing rx/tx.

Lastly, I am a certified Volunteer Exam Coordinator with ARRL and Laurel. I am always willing to set up amateur radio tests for all licenses locally in AZ. I run with team of VECs who are all Toyota off-road guys and we are passionate about getting other off-roaders into and on Ham radios. We can set up testing for large groups or one off tests for individuals. If anyone wants to test, let me know!

Hope to hear you on the air some day. When you get your callsign, post it up.
 
DannyLlama said:
Thanks for the info! Do you need both D710A and V71A in order for the APRS to work? Or is there another reason you have 2 units?

Thanks!
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If you wanna run APRS, you'll want a dedicated radio for it and another for talking on. I used to run APRS on a Kenwood TH-D7a with a portable Garmin e-Trex, would just throw that in the back somewhere and let it do its thing. You can do APRS a lot cheaper nowadays with these cheaper radios that have a tnc embedded in the radio, or just find a used D7a on Ebay!

I'm surprised as to how many folks here actually have ham licenses, as well as how many more are interested in ham radio! Makes me wanna grab a radio from the closet and get back on the air again!
Yeah, I have a problem with radios...

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Danny,

Congratulations on the license!:thumb: I'm running a Yaesu FTM-350 AR with an FGPS-1 for APRS. Lets the wife know were I am when I head out to the desert. Also, for 35 bucks I picked up a cheapo Baofeng UV-82 from Amazon. It works great and for the price, you can't beat it. It's nice to have with you if you separate from the group on a hike or sitting around by the campfire while a group takes off for a night run.

146.460 here for trail comms also. Seems to be a pretty common frequency for Toyota folks. Last month when I was in Mojave, we came across a group of FJ's on the same frequency. It's nice to know its a well used frequency in case you need help or just trail info.

73

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Dawg4Runner said:
Danny,

Congratulations on the license!:thumb: I'm running a Yaesu FTM-350 AR with an FGPS-1 for APRS. Lets the wife know were I am when I head out to the desert. Also, for 35 bucks I picked up a cheapo Baofeng UV-82 from Amazon. It works great and for the price, you can't beat it. It's nice to have with you if you separate from the group on a hike or sitting around by the campfire while a group takes off for a night run.

146.460 here for trail comms also. Seems to be a pretty common frequency for Toyota folks. Last month when I was in Mojave, we came across a group of FJ's on the same frequency. It's nice to know its a well used frequency in case you need help or just trail info.

73

P1040550.jpg~original
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I really like those 350's, would definitely pick one up if I found a good deal.
Which software are you using for APRS position tracking?
 
Ol'Baditude said:
I really like those 350's, would definitely pick one up if I found a good deal.
Which software are you using for APRS position tracking?
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The GPS module I'm using is the Yaesu FGPS-1. It plugs right into the back of the head unit and is a plug and play unit so I didn't have to mess with any third party software.

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Dawg4Runner said:
The GPS module I'm using is the Yaesu FGPS-1. It plugs right into the back of the head unit and is a plug and play unit so I didn't have to mess with any third party software.

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Thanks, but not quite what I was asking. Let me phrase it differently: When your wife wants to know where you are when you're out in the desert(as you mentioned in your previous post), how does she find out, assuming she's using APRS to do so?
 
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