mountainpete
Spamicus Eliminatus
Hi guys,
Bit of background first, then the questions :elkgrin:
Well I just came back from a week exploring a variety of lakes in the Southeastern corner of British Columbia. Had a base camp at a nice campground where my wife and I stayed with my sister and the family (they travel trailered, we tented). Did mostly day runs from there and hit a number of lakes for flyfishing...
Almost all of the roads in those areas are "radio controlled" for logging purposes as are most of the backcountry roads in BC and some in western Alberta. They run on the commercial frequencies of 153 - 158 and almost every person from hunters to guides to commerical trucks have a VHF radio on those bands. Everyone is on those frequencies and actively talking. Since I'm on those type of roads a number of weeks a year, and knowing were and communicating with those fast running logging trucks would lighten my stress level a lot, I'm contemplating getting a radio. It's also a nice safety net since there are a lot of ears listening...
Now the thing is that an amateur 2M radio does not go in those frequencies (which I have been dragging my heels getting because I would have no one really to talk to). They usually max out TX at 147 or so, although the can RX through the 150's. The option that the locals use is a Land Mobile unit which is programmed at the dealer to access the used frequencies (and they would show me how to program more myself). But a Land Mobile unit limits me then if I want to get an Amateur licence in the future (it is less user friendly for dialling in frequencies and out of the box is only TX in the 150's - also $50 a year to the government for a licence). Now I don't want to have to buy two radios in the end if I decide later that I want to get an Amateur licence - but right now I would have absolutely no one to talk to on Amateur radio. So my questions are...
In your area, do you have radio controlled roads like this? What do you use to communicate? Can an amateur radio be programmed to TX outside of the normal range? And if so, is the performance poor in comparison to the proper radio? I want the best all around hardware for what I need.
Also, if I go Land Mobile route, this would be the radio Icom ICF121.
Thoughts? :wavey:
Pete
Bit of background first, then the questions :elkgrin:
Well I just came back from a week exploring a variety of lakes in the Southeastern corner of British Columbia. Had a base camp at a nice campground where my wife and I stayed with my sister and the family (they travel trailered, we tented). Did mostly day runs from there and hit a number of lakes for flyfishing...
Almost all of the roads in those areas are "radio controlled" for logging purposes as are most of the backcountry roads in BC and some in western Alberta. They run on the commercial frequencies of 153 - 158 and almost every person from hunters to guides to commerical trucks have a VHF radio on those bands. Everyone is on those frequencies and actively talking. Since I'm on those type of roads a number of weeks a year, and knowing were and communicating with those fast running logging trucks would lighten my stress level a lot, I'm contemplating getting a radio. It's also a nice safety net since there are a lot of ears listening...
Now the thing is that an amateur 2M radio does not go in those frequencies (which I have been dragging my heels getting because I would have no one really to talk to). They usually max out TX at 147 or so, although the can RX through the 150's. The option that the locals use is a Land Mobile unit which is programmed at the dealer to access the used frequencies (and they would show me how to program more myself). But a Land Mobile unit limits me then if I want to get an Amateur licence in the future (it is less user friendly for dialling in frequencies and out of the box is only TX in the 150's - also $50 a year to the government for a licence). Now I don't want to have to buy two radios in the end if I decide later that I want to get an Amateur licence - but right now I would have absolutely no one to talk to on Amateur radio. So my questions are...
In your area, do you have radio controlled roads like this? What do you use to communicate? Can an amateur radio be programmed to TX outside of the normal range? And if so, is the performance poor in comparison to the proper radio? I want the best all around hardware for what I need.
Also, if I go Land Mobile route, this would be the radio Icom ICF121.
Thoughts? :wavey:
Pete