Out of Pod Experience

Don't share your calls here though, if you want to do that use EVE Mail. You should know why, if you've got one.

Got myself a general class from the US FCC, myself.

Here's my kit.

Got a mount and antenna in the car, too. Got a real antenna too, for when i'm out of the car and the duckie doesn't cut it.

Sound illegal in one way or another. I'm interested now.

id like to get equipment like this sometime soon but im very new to it. i assume the uses of these radios are for civilian broadcasting to eachother pretty much so if many people have what you have, you can communicate with eachother over it like a simple walkie talkie. is this how it works? could someone point me in the right direction of getting set up with something like this but on a lower end budget?

pretty much if anyone seen the most recent die hard with a vengeance i think its called, the fat guy warlock in his basement with the "cb radio" i thihnk he called it. i want something like that to communicate with others who have the same device. (or does it have to be the same model or can it be different models but has to be on same channel or something?)

Yes these are for "civilian" communications. Not sure which country you live in but you WILL need a license to use equipment like this. Check with your national government Communications Bureau for licensing requirements for Amateur Radio. If you are interested in "Citizens Band Radio" you might need a license as well depending on what country you live in. In the US you won't need a license for CB radio but you will for Amateur Radio.

As for low end cheap equipment, you could check eBay. Search for Ham Radio or Amateur Radio equipment. Brand names to look for would be "Icom" "Kenwood" "Yaesu"

There are several types of equipment to look at. Handheld units, Mobile Units and Base Station units. Handheld units are usually VHF/UHF band transcievers. Mobiles can be either VHF/UHF and/or HF units. Base Station units are similar to mobiles except you keep them in the house instaed of the car. The difference between HF and VHF/UHF is that HF (high frequency) is used for long distance communications from 150+ miles to thousands of miles or worldwide comms. VHF/UHF is usually used for local or regional comms

Brand new stuff is pretty expensive. A simple 2m handheld used for local communications is a minimum of $150-$200US. If you look into "base station" units, they start $800US for a beginner unit. If you have any sort of technical background, you can order kits and build your own radio as well.



PRO TIP: Don't look at the movies for a realistic portrayal of Amateur Radio or CB. The majority of hams aren't gamers with neckbeards living in momma's basement....lol

As to the basics, all you need to have is your license, some basic knowledge on how transceivers work and what frequencies you can transmit on, your basic beginners radio, and an antenna.

You can check Youtube for ALL kinds of examples of how Ham Radio works. I suggest starting with K7AGE videos. Go back to the beginning of his stuff. He has some great videos on what he does. He's an excellent representative of ham radio and shows a lot of what you can do with it

I used to have a old Cobra for my Bronco years ago but when I went to the pickup I never got around to fully transferring all the equipment over so now I figure its sitting in a box somewhere in storage. We had a little local group that would chat each night and on Fridays we'd play hide n seek across the city.

Not sure what the 11 meter is but yeah cb, one of these guys. Used to have a whip until a friend went through the automatic carwash. With the pickup I had a coil over antenna mounted into the external toolbox but I just never got around to installing the CB itself. Antenna later served to sport a full size Jolly Rogers until somebody stole it.