Long Range Emergency Communications Set
- Thread starter VegasUnderworld
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VegasUnderworld
Adventurer
That sure is a fancy looking radio you have. Currently, we have the Yaesu FT 7900, a SPOT Connect satellite messenger and beacon, and cell. Is that a satellite phone at the bottom left? That was an option we considered getting, but I didn't want to add another monthly bill.
RobRed
Explorer
Sounds like you have it covered as well
The HAM is a Yaesu FTM350.
The bottom left is a sat phone, iSatPhonePro (Inmarsat). You can get prepaid cards for the USA so no monthly bill if you don't want it. YOU can still make a 911 call without service on the Sat Phone. It support email and sms as well.
The HAM is a Yaesu FTM350.
The bottom left is a sat phone, iSatPhonePro (Inmarsat). You can get prepaid cards for the USA so no monthly bill if you don't want it. YOU can still make a 911 call without service on the Sat Phone. It support email and sms as well.
VegasUnderworld
Adventurer
Interesting. So, the satellite phone is like cell phones that can access 911 even without service? If that's the case, I may buy a used satellite phone just for the 911 access and hope I never have to use it.
psykokid
Explorer
Its currently water under the bridge, but yaesu had a $100 rebate on the 8800 through the end of the year which made it about 20 bucks more than the 7900 in the end. I think the rebate is now $80 but still, not bad. My father in law went into HRO before the holiday because they had both on sale and ended up going with the 8800 over the 7900 because of features like cross band repeat and the like. His only gripe with the 8800 so far as been that the buttons around the display aren't back lit. He's gotten used to it and now knows the buttons on his mobile rig by touch.
VegasUnderworld
Adventurer
Thanks, psykokid. I hate my radio now. Stupid cheap radio! HAHA
DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
The FT-7900 is a fine radio, better for a mobile IMHO. Not only are the buttons backlit but the whole interface is more substantial. I've had to replace both of the multifunction pot/switch on the face of an FT-8800 a couple of times due to the shaft bending and breaking from our dog hitting it. The whole face is just that much more fragile and more fidgety. It's not the worst repair but not something the average ham is probably not going to tackle.
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Mashurst
Adventurer
I have owned both and I could not agree more. With the hyper memory functionality set up it is the only way to fly for mobile IMHO. Duel monitor is cool and adds some flexibility to what you are going to monitor but the hyper memory setup works very well once you have it set up.
I have two of my hypers set up so they begin scanning groups right away. One is for public service, the other is for a small subset of local repeaters as well as a few chosen simplex frequencies. I also have one set up to come up with my local club repeater and not scan, with no groups selected. So this one can be used both to put me on my minimum monitor frequency and to clear any groups and open everything up. The other two are set to not scan right away. They come up with other repeaters that I sometimes want to monitor plus they can be set to scan with one touch of the scan button with groups of local repeaters.
Keeping the scan groups small (under about ~10) makes them effectively equivalent (or even superior) to a duel monitor function which is the only real edge the 88 has on the 79. Yes it is true that this all has to be thought out and set up in advance but I think that is the correct way to do it anyway, as doing so while driving is um... bad.
The 88 can do everything the 79 can plus some cool tricks but for solid comms while driving the 79 is the clear choice to me.
All that said, I am also adding an FT-857 to my setup to so that will give me duel watch as well. I don't really plan to be making any kind of adjustments to that while driving.
Arclight
SAR guy
I like your installation. A couple of other things I found:
1. You can buy an FT7800/8800/8900 mounting bracket on eBay for about $10. It will give you a nice pocket for the radio faceplate to snap into.
2. For an overhead mount, check the auto parts store for a "Rear View Mirror Replacement Kit." These kits come with a glue-on metal wedge and a nice pivot like a rear view mirror has. Pop-rivet a piece of Aluminum to this, and you've got a nice place to attach a radio faceplate with double-sided tape.
Here is my setup:
The radio is mounted inside the dashboard, where the factory stereo amp used to be.
Arclight
1. You can buy an FT7800/8800/8900 mounting bracket on eBay for about $10. It will give you a nice pocket for the radio faceplate to snap into.
2. For an overhead mount, check the auto parts store for a "Rear View Mirror Replacement Kit." These kits come with a glue-on metal wedge and a nice pivot like a rear view mirror has. Pop-rivet a piece of Aluminum to this, and you've got a nice place to attach a radio faceplate with double-sided tape.
Here is my setup:
The radio is mounted inside the dashboard, where the factory stereo amp used to be.
Arclight
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RangeBrover
Explorer
Great write up, a HAM is definitely the next coms upgrade for the Cruiser. From some of the pictures I'm seeing it looks like some of you run both CB's and HAMS? Are there any units that integrate both?
VegasUnderworld
Adventurer
The guy who posted just before you appears to run ham and CB. I only run ham and GMRS.
There aren't any out of the box options for ham with cb that I'm aware of. The cb frequencies are just too low. If there is an out of the box option, I'm sure it's out of my price range. It's possible that there are mods available, but I'm sure there are legal reasons why it shouldn't be done.
There aren't any out of the box options for ham with cb that I'm aware of. The cb frequencies are just too low. If there is an out of the box option, I'm sure it's out of my price range. It's possible that there are mods available, but I'm sure there are legal reasons why it shouldn't be done.
RangeBrover
Explorer
Thanks for the reply. I only ask because while HAM would be great for long range, it seems not many people are willing to invest in getting the license an equipment. I'm definitely going to install a HAM, but I'll most likely have to keep the CB for local trail rides.
VegasUnderworld
Adventurer
I would recommend GMRS over CB if you don't want to take the ham exam. Within legal limits, CB is good for a couple miles. The cheap GMRS handhelds you can get at Walmart and Best Buy have that kind of range at half a watt and it's much clearer.
You can get an FCC GMRS license for around $80 and it's good for 5 years. It's more than the ham exam, but there is no GMRS tests and the license covers the rest of your immediate family. With the GMRS license, you can transmit up to 50 watts which gives you plenty of reach. I have some 5 watt handhelds that are able to activate a GMRS repeater 20 miles away. I've activated a GMRS repeater with my 45 watt mobile at around 50 miles away. It was still loud and clear at that distance, so I'm sure it could reach much further than that.
Options are always good.
You can get an FCC GMRS license for around $80 and it's good for 5 years. It's more than the ham exam, but there is no GMRS tests and the license covers the rest of your immediate family. With the GMRS license, you can transmit up to 50 watts which gives you plenty of reach. I have some 5 watt handhelds that are able to activate a GMRS repeater 20 miles away. I've activated a GMRS repeater with my 45 watt mobile at around 50 miles away. It was still loud and clear at that distance, so I'm sure it could reach much further than that.
Options are always good.
I have had 2 7800 installed in my suburbans for about 6-7 years. when i was looking to purchase the options at the time were 7800, 8800, 8900. In mid 90s i bought an 8100 which is the org model that developed into the 8800 & 8900. I also had issues with the failure inside the faceplate where several of the buttons failed to work and twice had to send the unit in for repairs. As well in dual watch if I was monitoring a frequency on one side of the unit and transmitting on the other, I often got bad intermod, so between those two issues, i steered away from the 8800 and 8900 going for 2x7800, which gives me independent dual watch. Basically the cpu are in a compartment in the rear wheelwell of the suburban and the control head is mounted in the center console on a gooseneck which position my radio at an alright angle near the heater controls. I'll take a pic of the install once i clean out the junk out of the area!
Once I got the 7800s I loved them, for same reason already mentioned: backlit buttons, the unit is far more ruggedized, volume dials arent as flimsy on the 78 as on the 88/89. The only option i miss is cross-band repeat, I never used it with my 8100, but with the 7800 i could have used it a number of times. I purchased a device on ebay, that allows connection of 2 radios to make a crossband, although I have yet to use it, primarily because as it stands it connects to the radio using the mic connector, requiring the removal of the mics. I want to connect them using the data jack at the rear of the cpu, just havent obtained the cable yet. The advantage of this little unit, is that you can activate it with DTMF code. So if im out on a hike and cant hit a repeater, I can turn on the crossband from the field, if I dont need it I dont have to activate the feature before leaving the truck.
There was thread last week about a cb/ham off shelf unit, answer is no there isnt one available. yes you can transmit on a modified HF but this is not legal and will run you in the range of 800-2000. if space is an issue and still want/need CB, get a cobra 75, this is basically ad 12v powered with external antenna handheld. the entire unit is inside the mic, so you dont have to find room to mount the box.
Nic
Once I got the 7800s I loved them, for same reason already mentioned: backlit buttons, the unit is far more ruggedized, volume dials arent as flimsy on the 78 as on the 88/89. The only option i miss is cross-band repeat, I never used it with my 8100, but with the 7800 i could have used it a number of times. I purchased a device on ebay, that allows connection of 2 radios to make a crossband, although I have yet to use it, primarily because as it stands it connects to the radio using the mic connector, requiring the removal of the mics. I want to connect them using the data jack at the rear of the cpu, just havent obtained the cable yet. The advantage of this little unit, is that you can activate it with DTMF code. So if im out on a hike and cant hit a repeater, I can turn on the crossband from the field, if I dont need it I dont have to activate the feature before leaving the truck.
There was thread last week about a cb/ham off shelf unit, answer is no there isnt one available. yes you can transmit on a modified HF but this is not legal and will run you in the range of 800-2000. if space is an issue and still want/need CB, get a cobra 75, this is basically ad 12v powered with external antenna handheld. the entire unit is inside the mic, so you dont have to find room to mount the box.
Nic