Ham radio: more power or external antenna?

[MadeInMaine]

Hey guys.

Another newb ham radio question.
I want the mobility of a handheld ham radio, but the strength of an in vehicle mounted radio.
I am trying not to buy both;
so would you say buy a handheld with an external antenna I can magnet to the roof when I need...
Or just buy the in vehicle and not be able to exit the vehicle with it?

Thanks for advice

Owen

 

[LawnDart]

Hey guys.

Another newb ham radio question.
I want the mobility of a handheld ham radio, but the strength of an in vehicle mounted radio.
I am trying not to buy both;
so would you say buy a handheld with an external antenna I can magnet to the roof when I need...
Or just buy the in vehicle and not be able to exit the vehicle with it?

Thanks for advice

Owen

I'll say both is the ideal. But the cab of a vehicle eats up a huge majority of your signal going out, or receiving a signal going in. So at the very least an external antenna you can plug into is worth having.

 

[MadeInMaine]

I'll say both is the ideal. But the cab of a vehicle eats up a huge majority of your signal going out, or receiving a signal going in. So at the very least an external antenna you can plug into is worth having.

I am looking at this radio.
Do you think 7/8W is enough when walking/hiking around outside vehicle? Then external antenna when inside?

BaoFeng BF-F8HP (UV-5R 3rd Gen) 8-Watt Dual Band Two-Way Radio (136-174MHz VHF & 400-520MHz UHF) Includes Full Kit with Large Battery https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MAULSOK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_Wd3.zb9X9T7SH

 

[Ryan1975]

Hey guys.

Another newb ham radio question.
I want the mobility of a handheld ham radio, but the strength of an in vehicle mounted radio.
I am trying not to buy both;
so would you say buy a handheld with an external antenna I can magnet to the roof when I need...
Or just buy the in vehicle and not be able to exit the vehicle with it?

Thanks for advice

Owen

Cross band repeating. Set up the mobile radio to cross band repeat your handheld to a repeater miles away. Get the best of both worlds. Baofeng is junk.

 

[MadeInMaine]

Cross band repeating. Set up the mobile radio to cross band repeat your handheld to a repeater miles away. Get the best of both worlds. Baofeng is junk.

I have no idea what all that means, but I’ll look into it.

What would you suggest for a good beginner handheld?

Cheers

 

[MadeInMaine]

At the least for a handheld, get an external antenna and a power plug to run it off vehicle power.

The better question is, are you planning to talk to a convoy or split up groups? Or are you trying to reach out of valleys and across counties to talk to emergency services? Specific use-case is important here to give the right information.

It will be more for emergency when we travel outside cell service range.
Including hiking away from 4Runner at some times. Not always camping at the 4Runner

 

[BobsTrail]

I have an F8 and I can hit a local repeater 8 miles away standing in my yard using 8 and the 4 watt setting. This was with the built in antenna.

The F8 does not do very well in town with repeaters from the inside only. A mag mount on the roof is way better. If you are out of cell range, you may also be too far from a repeater unless you had a built in radio. (More power)

I have a Yaesu FTM-3200 with 65 watts for those times.

---BobH KI7IKX Salem, Oregon

 

[Satex]

A mobile radio with an external antenna is the best, but if you don't want to go that route - go with the handheld radio and the external antenna.

 

[mikey's2010SR5]

I am one to say both. But if you are staying with the handheld go external antenna. If you don't go external antenna at least put a nice antenna on the handheld.

I am one that has both.

 

[MeefZah]

It would be pointless to use a handheld inside a vehicle without utilizing an external mobile antenna. You might literally have a range of a few hundred yards on simplex depending on power setting and frequency, using the handheld's antenna. If you are already going to limit yourself with a handheld and not a mobile, and further limit yourself with a shit-ass brand, then at least get a decent mobile antenna to get the most possible range out of your setup.

My druthers would be a good quality mobile mated to a good antenna, with a good quality handheld to use for truck-to spotter comms and hiking and such.

You can buy a good Kenwood handheld for $125.

 

[MadeInMaine]

Thanks everyone for weighing in.
If you say the baofeng is crappy, could you say why and what is a better alternative?

But it sounds like mobile is the way to go. With that said, I’ve been reading about APRS, GPS, and Bluetooth mobile radios....

1. Are those features worth getting?
2. Any suggestions on which radio you like and I should get?

Again, this is mainly for getting out of city, away from people, and have a little bit of comms if necessary. As well as police/emergency medical communication

Cheers

 

[e60ral]

how are you planning on using your ham radio for police/emergency medical? i don't think it will be nearly as useful for that as you are expecting.

APRS is a cool feature, but check the repeater coverage in your area. I use APRS sometimes to play around with, but would recommend something like a Garmin inReach if tracking and being able to message is critical to you. Looking at APRS tracks on my offroad trips I would often have long periods without any connection, but your terrain/repeater coverage may be better.

i would spend money on a good mobile rig, and then supplement it with a cheap HT (i don't think you will use it much, but you can get a cheap HT for less than $50 so go for it)

i don't know what kind of repeater coverage you have in your parts, but I started out with just a cheap HT and an external antenna and it wasn't enough in the woods. around town I could hit repeaters pretty much anywhere in the county and the next county over, but when i got into the mountains I could hear repeaters but I couldn't reach them. With the extra power from my mobile radio i can actually check into repeaters unless I'm in a tight valley or something.

 

[BettysNephew]

Like many lately minted hams I started with a Bao Feng to get my toes in the water. I put a mag mount on the roof and it worked much better than from inside the truck. Even though the mag mount is a big improvement it cannot compete with a permanent antenna installation. The next purchase I made was an Icom mobile radio. With the increased power and the mounted antenna I found out what all the excitement about ham radio was. Solid contacts and very clear reception. Plus I got crossband repeat to use with the little Bao Feng when I was out of the truck. No comparison with what happened to the range. My final purchase was an Icom ID51A which I caught on sale for a very reasonable price. Another massive leap forward in handheld capability. Much clearer than the BF and better range also. The BF has been given to my daughter to allow her to listen to storm spotters in our area as we have a very active ham community that does this locally. BTW personally I find the D Star to be somewhat of a waste of extra money as the computer connecting didn't feel like "real" radio to me. YMMV
I certainly understand the draw to the BF for its price but a basic 2 band handheld from one of the big 3 would be a longterm better choice. Later on add the mobile rig and you might keep the BF as back up or an in rig unit for spotting.
73 AE0DF

 

[BettysNephew]

Thanks everyone for weighing in.
If you say the baofeng is crappy, could you say why and what is a better alternative?

But it sounds like mobile is the way to go. With that said, I’ve been reading about APRS, GPS, and Bluetooth mobile radios....

1. Are those features worth getting?
2. Any suggestions on which radio you like and I should get?

Again, this is mainly for getting out of city, away from people, and have a little bit of comms if necessary. As well as police/emergency medical communication

Cheers

The BF radios are noted for having poor modulation from the mike and many hams have reported band splattering outside of selected frequency. Go with an Icom, Yaesu or Kenwood depending on your choice of features.

1. GPS and APRS yes depending on your usage. I have bluetooth on my Icon2730 and. have never used it. Thought it would do more than what it is capable of.

2.Again one of the big 3 and choose the features you need/want. Personally I have been very happy with my Icom gear but also have friends that like and own the others.

I would say though for most folks to stay with a fairly simple 2 or possibly 3 band radio with about a 50w output and it will do a lot of what you want. Be sure to budget for a good permanent mount antenna as it will do more good for range and reception than extra power.

 

[MossJenks]

My advice is to buy a $30 Baofeng to get yourself started. Get your license, learn about repeaters in your area, practice a bit and then decide if it's something that you enjoy and something that is useful to you. If it is, then go for a good mobile unit with repeating capabilities and maybe upgrade to a better HT if you feel you need to. These setups work pretty well in emergencies around here because we have mountain top repeaters all over. In Mississippi it might not be as good.

You really need to make a hobby out of it to make amateur radio a viable emergency backup. It's just not the sort of thing where you can just buy a radio, throw it in your truck and expect it to be useful when an emergency comes up. It's not rocket engineering but it's far from simple. You need to spend quite a bit of time learning your equipment, learning how to operate it and learning about your local radio environment. And practice, practice, practice. It's a lot of fun if you're into it but if not it's probably not going to work in an emergency.

For emergency use a satellite tracker like DeLorme/Garmin InReach might be a better choice. More reliable reach and lower "maintenance".

But I'm also the guy who gives the ever-unpopular advice to take your vehicle 4-wheeling at least once before you spend a bunch of money on a lift, winch, etc, so keep that in mind.

 

[e60ral]

i use mine to fill the gap between slightly inconvenienced and emergency. i like to travel solo, so when i start heading down unknown trails i scan repeaters to find one that is being monitored then check in. Ham operators would love to help out other hams, so I let them know I'm exploring some back roads and that I'm not expecting anything tough just checking to see what repeaters were used in the area. Usually someone will volunteer to stay on to monitor the repeater in case i have any problem and sometimes it's a good opportunity for some rag chew.

i've heard stories about ham operators driving 4 hours in the middle of the night to recover a vehicle, and I have no doubt that someone monitoring a repeater would go out of their way to relay a message to my wife, or to a local 4runner/offroad group, etc... if I needed something.

but getting help with a dual band radio really depends on a repeater being monitored, sending out a simplex emergency call on 146.52 is a long shot, so while it's a nice gap filler something like the inreach is much better for emergencies. there are also inexpensive EPIRB's, but while the inreach can be used for any kind of situation, EPIRB is 100% real emergency only.

I'll second the suggestion for buying a cheap radio and a tech license to try out the hobby, but if your goal is purely for remote comms for emergency checkout the inReach

 

[Ryan1975]

I have an F8 and I can hit a local repeater 8 miles away standing in my yard using 8 and the 4 watt setting. This was with the built in antenna.

The F8 does not do very well in town with repeaters from the inside only. A mag mount on the roof is way better. If you are out of cell range, you may also be too far from a repeater unless you had a built in radio. (More power)

I have a Yaesu FTM-3200 with 65 watts for those times.

---BobH KI7IKX Salem, Oregon

I hit a repeater on a mountain top 31 miles away from my handheld on a mag mount qtr length antenna ...from my office - clear line of site, 5w through the office glass. lol, was kinda impressed with myself for that one.

 

[Ryan1975]

I have no idea what all that means, but I’ll look into it.

What would you suggest for a good beginner handheld?

Cheers

Cross Band Repeating for (newbies / dummies?) ...I google image searched for a cartoon and what do you know I didn't have to MSPaint it.

In a nut shell - when you're out of the truck on walkabout you take your handheld and program it to the 40cm band (440mhz ish) and program the left side of your dual band radio in the truck (like Yaesu 7800 / 8900) to that same frequency. You then program the right side of the radio to a local repeater that you know will have maximum coverage and enable cross band repeating.

I'm slightly hungover so let me know if I'm making any sense.

 

[Ryan1975]

What would you suggest for a good beginner handheld?

Cheers

I'm a Yaesu brand whore...so take anything that I say with a grain of salt. Recommend a major brand that is reputable and not chinese made so as to not have any frequency bleed over. Look into Yaesu, Kenwood and pretty much anything sold by HRO.

 

[BobsTrail]

I hit a repeater on a mountain top 31 miles away from my handheld on a mag mount qtr length antenna ...from my office - clear line of site, 5w through the office glass. lol, was kinda impressed with myself for that one.

That is impressive. Through the glass? Did you have the mag mount inside on a file cabinet? Not as easy to hide as using your cell phone to web surf while working.