Al Gilliland

I everyone. I've been ready the posts on this section with enthusiasm. I travel a fair bit around eastern Canada by myself. Sometimes into Montana/Idaho. Would love to be able to chat while on the road. CB has always been the fallback but I find the conversation to be vulgar from the truckers and I'm not sure of the other common channels. From what I have read it sure seems like ham is the way to go.

So couple of questions.

Would ham allow me some stimulating conversation while travelling?

Are other ham operators using them when travelling so potentially traffic updates would be made available.

Would a handheld with an exterior antenna be strong enough or install a mobile.

And if a portable is adequate, what's your thoughts on the Baofeng. They sure seem cheaper that other models on Amazon. And maybe that's what they are is cheap. But for someone like myself looking for what I mentioned above, maybe they are good enough until I decide if this is a hobby I would like to pursue. If Baofeng is adequate can you suggest a model and matching antenna.

Really appreciate any feedback. I will challenge my ham operators license shortly as I already have several licenses including air/ground and use high wattage UhF and VHF on a regular basis at work (flight paramedic and captain with municipal FD)

Thanks again

Cheers
Al

MrKenmore

Hi Al. Glad to hear you have an interest on ham radio. I heard once CB is like going to a bar and ham is like going to church. That's very true. Although I find even regionally, hams can be different. Where I am in NY, the hams are more well NY sounding. I can hear the Connecticut Hams and they are more polite and cordial! Such is the nature of regional personalities I suppose!!!

You will do well with a Baofeng and an external antenna. A 2 meter mobile radio putting out 60 watts will only set you back 150 bucks. A reasonably price indeed.

There can be some folks on the "call frequency". However this is not guaranteed. The nature of CB limits channels. So everyone goes to one of few. Say 19 for truckers. Hams might find their own frequency (simplex no repeater) to hang out on which you would not necessarily know. It's regional. However, there are VHF and UHF repeaters that will open your up to more contacts.

I enjoy the hobby tremendously. My wife is licensed as well!!

Desert Fox

Both the USA and Canada have HAM licensing requirements and they are not the same. That being said, I believe there is reciprocal HAM operating agreement between the two countries that you will need to check out after you get your license. I take it that you will be getting a Canadian license. I will try and answer your questions in the order you listed them.
- I take it you will be using 2 meter VHF/FM voice transmissions. I don't know that the conversations on 2 meters is all that stimulating, travelling or stationary. You will hear HAM "rag chewing" (general conversations) about things HAM. Best freqs to use, latest radios, emergency communications, etc. I guess it all depends on what stimulates you.
- Making contacts while moving is not all that easy. In the USA, we have the 2 meter National Simplex Calling Frequency, 146.52 MHz, which is used to make initial contact on 2 meters. If you do make contact with a fellow HAM in a town you are travelling through he/she will most likely refer you to their local repeater which uses two freqs. If you don't have that repeater programmed in your radio they will quickly be out of range. (Buy a repeater directory, you may need one for both countries) If you contact a HAM in a vehicle you can talk for a long time if you are both going the same direction and near the same speed. But if the other car is coming at you with a closing/opening rate of 130 MPH relative speed, you will be quickly out of range on simplex.
- After you get your license, I recommend that you buy a Kenwood, ICOM or Yaesu Handy-Talkie (HT) as your first radio. With an external antenna attached to your car you can expect to achieve a ranges of 60+ miles using a mountain top repeater. I am not a big fan of Chinese radios. They are cheap, but they tend to have problems with battery life, being slightly off freq once in a while, and they don't take well to hard use. (I know someone will come up and say they love their BaoFeng and that's fine. They are just not for me) Plus, if you buy one, you will also end up buying one of the radios I listed above. Keep us informed as to your progress.

Al Gilliland

Hello mr kenmore

Many thanks for being the first post. You mention the Boafeng being a good model and then talking about 60 watts for $150. Are you talking a different model as I understood that handhelds put out up to 8 watts. Does the external antenna increase the reception range. My feelings is that it must but most likely not the wattage output. Can you recommend a model and vehicle antenna and again appreciate your input

Al Gilliland

Desert fox. Many thanks for your in depth reply. I will look into the differences between our countries and licenses. Also will lookout for the ham directory. As for conversations. Would love to hear general discussions while travelling as long as folks don't mind me joining in. What would your guess would be the distance with a 8 watt handheld and external antenna. Recommendations of which antenna to consider?

Al Gilliland

Sorry also meant to ask. Can a ham radio be tuned into CB frequencies or FRSP

Desert Fox

1. Get your HAM license before you go much further. Contact your local HAM club, they will help you get started. You will have to study and take a test.
2. Once you get your license, what you want to buy is a "HAM Repeater Directory" one for each country.
3. Generally speaking, depending on the band, HAM radios are capable of tuning to CB or FRS freqs, BUT IT IS AGAINST THE LAW, so we don't do it.
4. Most American market HAM HT radios have a 5 watt output. As I stated in the earlier response, the range with an external antenna can vary greatly depending on where you are geographically and how fast you are going. There is no one exact answer when you are moving at 65 MPH through hill and dale.

Tacman

Al, since I am in your "neck of the woods" I will give a shot at answering some/most of your questions.

Depending on the band/frequency you operate on you will be limited to relatively short ranges or duration of conversation. This is partly because you are travelling in a vehicle and most likely talking with people operating base stations at distances anywhere from a few miles to 40-50 that you will come in and out of range on. Extending the talk time requires using repeaters. Specifically in Montana/Idaho the repeater locations are fairly dispersed. I don't think you are going to find this to be the easy, casual affair you imagine it will be since I assume you will want to keep moving and not stop at the side of the road and be referencing repeater locations, frequencies, etc.

The handheld you mention is quite exceptional value for the money. I have several Baofeng GT-3's and when a comm's tech at work analyzed and tested the radios for me we were shocked to find they hand better spec's and finer tolerances than some of the well known name brand radios my employer typically spends multiple hundreds of dollars on. Range will be exceptionally short for your application however unless you use an external antenna ( I have gotten 20 km range on RX mode and about 12-14km in TX with the supplied antenna and no repeaters in the mountains north of Idaho). I don't typically find alot of chatter in that area or region. Since most of the traffic on the VHF frequency seems to be logging road comms you wont really be getting the "traffic reports" you are referring to.

Travelling and broadcasting are not issues as long as you hold your certification as a ham operator and operate in the prescribed manner using your call sign. Nonetheless I would suggest reading the course material through and through several times as the Canadian test has some tricky questions that may never be averted if you just attempt to challenge it without any formal prep ahead of time.

Go ahead and buy a Baofeng handheld as they are awesome and useful in any event but understand they must still be used with full compliance under your ham licence. Then if you think you will utilize an amateur radio in a mobile capacity you can spend $400-600 dollars on a good mobile rig dedicated toward that use. You are fortunate to have two decent retail outlets in your city that have radios you can actually go have a look at.

Operating on FRS frequencies using a modified amateur radio is frowned upon as that band was set aside for a specific user group using lower powered radios and no operating protocol. While you may very well reach people on those frequencies you are just as likely to be conversing with someone calling their kids in to the campsite for dinner as that is what this frequency range is typically utilized for.....

I hope that helps.

Rick

Al Gilliland

Hello Rick

Many thanks for the info you provided. It truly seems I may need a mobile eventually to do what I want. Any thoughts on a cheaper mobile. Too bad boefang doesn't make a mobile as I'm sure they would be a hit.

Your mentioned two good stores in Calgary for Ham. Do you happen to know their names.

Again thanks for all your info. Where are you located.

Cheers
Al
Calgary

Tacman

Al you have NTF Communications in Calgary as well as Radioworld.
I like Ray at NTF. You can get a VHF mobile like the Yaesu 2900 or the Dual band Yaesu FT7900 for $200 and $400 dollars respectively. Remember with the exchange rate plummeting and likely to stay low for a long time the prices will likely only go up.
If you go with a dual band you cant go wrong with an antenna like the Larsen 2/70NMO.
I'm up in Edmonton.

Rick