HAM: Reasonable 2 meter range?

[WhiteRhino]

My hand held unit has about the same range as a good mobile mounted CB. My mobile HAM puts out 75 watts by catalog and actually reads higher on a meter.

[oz97tj]

My hand held unit has about the same range as a good mobile mounted CB. My mobile HAM puts out 75 watts by catalog and actually reads higher on a meter.

How is your handheld putting out similar range to a mobile? When I was looking at handhelds, most were 5 watts with some 3 and some 7 watt ones. Mobiles were mostly 50 watts with a few 75.

[kb8ymf]

That was probably a mis-speak. Hand helds are now limited legally to 7W but there are very few of them and an additional 2 watts is a pittance and really isn't work the expense of the few additional watts.
Mobiles are the FIRST radio any individual should purchase. There are now 2 radios @ 75 watts and one @ 60. One manufacturer is still sitting in the 50 watt arena.
Icom 75
Yaseau 75
Kenwood 60
Alinco 50

Theses are the big 4. There is also a war going on and I think I saw the Icom that WR has for less than $200 now. The Yeasu is $159 and their lower powered unit is $139 so prices are cheaper than a Cobra CB.
Diamond is the only antenna I will buy and make sure it DOES NOT have a curly 'Q' in it. it can and will grab tree branches like a mad dog.
The only yhing yo'll have to make is an antenna mount as Ham radio antennas don't have spring mounts but WR, dds4x4, rtikul8, and myself have all made our own variation which prevents the antenna from beomming a 'two' piece antenna.
j-kb8ymf

[oz97tj]

That was probably a mis-speak. Hand helds are now limited legally to 7W but there are very few of them and an additional 2 watts is a pittance and really isn't work the expense of the few additional watts.
Mobiles are the FIRST radio any individual should purchase. There are now 2 radios @ 75 watts and one @ 60. One manufacturer is still sitting in the 50 watt arena.
Icom 75
Yaseau 75
Kenwood 60
Alinco 50

Theses are the big 4. There is also a war going on and I think I saw the Icom that WR has for less than $200 now. The Yeasu is $159 and their lower powered unit is $139 so prices are cheaper than a Cobra CB.
Diamond is the only antenna I will buy and make sure it DOES NOT have a curly 'Q' in it. it can and will grab tree branches like a mad dog.
The only yhing yo'll have to make is an antenna mount as Ham radio antennas don't have spring mounts but WR, dds4x4, rtikul8, and myself have all made our own variation which prevents the antenna from beomming a 'two' piece antenna.
j-kb8ymf

My Yaesu is 50 watts on 2m and 35 watts on 70 cm. Oh well. I'm also striking out cause my Diamond antenna has the curly in it. lol I think it's all how you mount it though. Mine is mounted on my tailgate near the centerline of the jeep and only sticks above the roof about 8 inches. Yeah, I know it's not ideal, but I can still get pretty darn good range out of it without it catching on trees. And the curly allows it to flex when something does catch it, but the curly part is basically between my spare and the rear window. I could see if the curly was exposed then it would be an issue though.

[WhiteRhino]

How is your handheld putting out similar range to a mobile? When I was looking at handhelds, most were 5 watts with some 3 and some 7 watt ones. Mobiles were mostly 50 watts with a few 75.

It was not a mis speak, reread it. My hand held HAM (7W) works about as well as a good mobile mounted CB (4W) In other words, a mile or 2. It has a short 10" or so antenna vs the 36 or 42"mobile antenna. Kim Kinne (KB8DWY) was using my hand held while I was in my mobile. Hope that clarifies.

[oz97tj]

It was not a mis speak, reread it. My hand held HAM (7W) works about as well as a good mobile mounted CB (4W) In other words, a mile or 2. It has a short 10" or so antenna vs the 36 or 42"mobile antenna. Kim Kinne (KB8DWY) was using my hand held while I was in my mobile. Hope that clarifies.

I get it now. For some reason I was thinking you meant same distance as your mobile 2m. Thanks for clarifying.

[WhiteRhino]

Well, I've hear that it's necessary to talk slowly and repeat things to police officers.

[hemrides]

thanks Oz and WhiteRhino for the info. What radio mfg. do you guys prefer? Do the radio and Ant need to be tuned as they do for a CB? I will hit Google to find more out.

Thanks

Dave

[oz97tj]

thanks Oz and WhiteRhino for the info. What radio mfg. do you guys prefer? Do the radio and Ant need to be tuned as they do for a CB? I will hit Google to find more out.

Thanks

Dave

I have Yaesu. It's the only one I've ever had. Basically, it was the cheapest radio that met the criteria I was searching for that had a reasonable price. I also read reviews and such online, and it was all very positive. As for the antenna, they are pretuned. I just screwed all my parts together and it works great.

[OldSailor]

Keep in mind that an increase in antenna structure/height will have a MUCH GREATER effect on your signal as received by others than an increase in power output will. For example, if using a 5-watt handheld and a 50-watt mobile into the same antenna, the best that the person receiving your signal can expect to see is a 10 db increase in received signal for the higher-powered transmitter. On the other hand, if you take a 5-watt handheld rig transmitting out of it OEM "rubber ducky" attached antenna, and then take that same handheld rig and connect it to a good, properly-mounted, mobile antenna, the received signal strength that someone receiving your signal will dramatically increase.

IOW, when comparing how a handheld 2m transmitter "gets out" to how a properly-installed mobile 2m transmitter gets out, the lion's share of the latter's better range comes from its better antenna system, not from its 10-db increase in output power.

I've know a lot of ham operators who want some basic 2-meter service available in several cars. An inexpensive solution is to install a good antenna system in each vehicle, and then use an electrical co-axial cable adapter to allow a handheld transceiver to be connected to the PL-259 antenna connector on each vehicle.

Naturally, if money is no object, then installing a dedicated mobile 2-meter, or dual-band or tri-band, transceiver in each vehicle is a lot more convenient. But one of the low-cost advantages of the "adapted" method is that, when on the trails, one can disconnect the handheld from the vehicle's antenna system, connect the OEM rubber ducky antenna to the handheld, and then exit the vehicle and stay in communication with other stations while walking around. Having a handheld is particularly advantageous when talking someone through a rough part of the terrain, particularly when the distance between the observer and the driver is such that even shouting is difficult to hear.