Interesting article about off roading with a HAM radio...

[Rottwheeler]

http://offroadpassport.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2821

[bobracing]

He has some good points but I've found a cell phone works just as good or better. Most places you can get a cell signal, not always but usually, and it getting better.

Most people will end up with a Tech no-code license (last time I looked) and this will allow you up to use most bands upto 6m, which these bands are mostly line of sight, 2m being the most popular. 2m is nice for clear talking back and forth between rigs but if out in the middle of no-where, the chances for a simplex signal getting to someone is small, but better than a CB. A repeater might be around, if you know the frequency, but again, probably more likely to pick up a cell signal.

Don't get me wrong, they have their place but it's not the be all, end all, thing to have.

[Rottwheeler]

http://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/i ... tate_id=53

List of Repeaters in WA state... and you can navigate to the entire US as well.

[mattawajeep]

He has some good points but I've found a cell phone works just as good or better. Most places you can get a cell signal, not always but usually, and it getting better.

Most people will end up with a Tech no-code license (last time I looked) and this will allow you up to use most bands upto 6m, which these bands are mostly line of sight, 2m being the most popular. 2m is nice for clear talking back and forth between rigs but if out in the middle of no-where, the chances for a simplex signal getting to someone is small, but better than a CB. A repeater might be around, if you know the frequency, but again, probably more likely to pick up a cell signal.

Don't get me wrong, they have their place but it's not the be all, end all, thing to have.

Most runs up in the mountains with the club, the only time you get cell signal is on the very top of the mountain, and it's flakey even there.

But you do have a point about reaching someone without a repeater, which Is why it just takes a bit more planning. Leaving a radio with someone in base camp would be a really good idea, along with taking a list of repeaters in the area.

[White trash]

Somehow those before us survived running tiny and thin bias tires sans bead locks on rigs with archaic "suspension" without 3859:1 crawl ratios on rigs mostly without cages or even so much as a 19 channel cb. Ahh the good old days!

[Roman]

Somehow those before us survived running tiny and thin bias tires sans bead locks on rigs with archaic "suspension" without 3859:1 crawl ratios on rigs mostly without cages or even so much as a 19 channel cb. Ahh the good old days!

Coming from the guy that had 60's, 44's, and bead locks on his wheeler...

[White trash]

Somehow those before us survived running tiny and thin bias tires sans bead locks on rigs with archaic "suspension" without 3859:1 crawl ratios on rigs mostly without cages or even so much as a 19 channel cb. Ahh the good old days!

Coming from the guy that had 60's, 44's, and bead locks on his wheeler...

Yup and my rig was stupid. The hardest trails were a cake walk so I forced myself into getting silly in the rocks to make things interesting. Wheeling got boring real quick.


I know the "in" thing to do is go big or go home but if I build another wheeler it'll be on 35's with a basic doubler not the uber low stuff I used to run. No sense in making the trails boring and driving to and from the mountains means I'll wheel 10 times more often than if its a big production as it was before.

[OldGreen]

Amen. Gas and go.

Radios are fun to play with but you actually have to get to the woods to make it happen.

[Rottwheeler]

Somehow those before us survived running tiny and thin bias tires sans bead locks on rigs with archaic "suspension" without 3859:1 crawl ratios on rigs mostly without cages or even so much as a 19 channel cb. Ahh the good old days!

Ahhh... the good ol' days...

I'm looking forward to getting this on the trail as is... after I get some brakes on it that actually work!

[OldGreen]

Bless you.