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Been 30+ years since I last had one.

Got to thinking that at our rural WV location... a CB might be of use. Cell phone are very very spotty.

...and if hard times come. Or whatever.

I don't mind spending money, but do not need really fancy stuff.

Or VHF?

Any thoughts or brand recommendations. I am wide open to ideas.

If there other threads on the topic... please redirect me.

Thanks

CB's are pretty much line-of-sight, and short range.....

You may want to consider ham radio. They have the potential for distant communication.

But this is much more complicated than simply buying a CB radio and learning as you go.

You must be licensed by the FCC to transmit on ham; there are three levels of licenses: Technician (beginner’s), General and Extra. You will likely want both a Technician and General license. Locate a local ham radio club, attend some meetings and ask a lot of questions. Ham clubs often offer classes that will help you pass your FCC tests. the members of my local ham radio club are extremely friendly and eager to help each other (just like gun guys helping out other gun guys). A FCC license is good for 10 years before renewal is required. The Technician test will be 35 questions taken from a pool of 412 questions. You need to be able to answer all 412 questions. 74% of the questions must be answered correctly in order to pass the test.

You will need to learn if there are Repeater stations nearby your transmission location (hunting location). A repeater is a high powered station (antennae often situated on a mountain top or tall building) that picks up your transmission and automatically repeats it greatly amplified. A mobile car unit may not reach an emergency help source without going through a repeater. A hand held radio is very unlikely to reach a emergency help source without a repeater.

Another option is to use a combination of both a hand held unit and a mobile car unit where your mobile unit has been configured to act as a local repeater which receives and repeats the signal from the hand unit to a nearby permanent repeater.

A mobile repeater in your car can enable your hunting group to talk with each other while in the field. Check your state hunting laws to know what type of communications are permitted. Typically communications such as “a big buck is coming your way!” are prohibited.

Another consideration is whether to purchase a handheld unit that can withstand being submersed in water for several minutes. Consider the possibility that you could fall into a creek, become injured, and need to call for help using your hand held which got wet when you fell in the creek.

I purchased a Yaesu VX-6R because it is submersible (appx $250).

You will find very low priced hand held Chinese Baofeng radios. They have their merit. But they are priced very cheaply for a reason. Consider them a “throw-away” radio. Do you want to trust your life to a cheap radio?

Some units can be configured to broadcast your GPS location every few minutes - this can help you to be found by a search and rescue team.

Ham radio is a new topic for me. For reasons similar to yours, I have recently begun learning ham radios. I have obtained my Technician license and am now studying for the General test. The General license will permit me to operate on a greater range of frequencies.

There is a lot to learn. “I don’t know what I don’t know”. When to use different frequencies - HF vs VHF vs UHF. How to bounce radio signals off of the atmosphere in order to transmit extremely long distances (globally). What band to use for transmitting from one state to another state (I.e., Montana to Texas). You will learn about electricity, current, ohms, resistance, capacitors, antennaes, repeaters, propagation (bouncing), courtesy. In order to pass the tests, you must have the knowledge needed to build some of your own components - even if you never plan to build your own. But, focus on passing the tests - then focus on learning how to use the equipment. There are many websites which allow you to take an unlimited number of practice tests using the actual test questions - repetitively taking the tests will expose you to all 412 questions. Both the General and Extra tests are taken from their own pools of questions (there is a different pool of questions for each level of test).

If this seems overwhelming, I will admit that I have found it overwhelming at times. But it is starting to come together.

My long term goal is to hunt in mountainous areas. At my age of 60+, I want to be able to call for help should I or a friend be seriously injured and require rescue.

Best of luck to you.

Forrest
N8ADV

I bought one just for entertainment but even with a good antenna it is not very good in the hills so I'm disappointed. It's a Cobra S and I do like it though.

Cobra 29

Yep.

Wilson 5000 antenna if it's going in a vehicle.

Cobra 29 LTD Classic if going CB tho a lot of people are now doing GMRS. Seems to be a bit better.

I have a cobra 29 with weather at the cabin to be able to speak to the house. I have a dual 4' set of firesticks at the cabin up in some trees.

At home, is one of the small uniden 510 (I think the model) and an 8' whip.

Or a Wilson 1000, if ya don't want a centerload.

Anyone know where a good base antenna can be found? I need one on my shop to communicate with our ranch workers.

Brings back memories. Before cell phones , and everybody had one in our small community, car and home. Got me unstuck out of muddy-snowy conditions many times when out hunting-exploring etc .
Cobra at the house, with a 500 watt linear, Midland in the truck . Starduster antenna 150 ‘ up a pine tree.
There was a radio guy we used to go that would tweak our radios for max output, and install different channels in them .
Kinda fun stuff, the good ol days !

We all had them too, then beepers with an ashtray full of quarters and the lucky ones had bag phones!

CB radio is very short range and line of sight. GMRS is longer range but also line of sight. In hilly surroundings you'll want to communicate through a repeater and since not many people are usually on GMRS, that leaves Ham frequencies. AdventureBound (above) gave you the best advice so listen to what he told you!

GMRS is far more common than CB today for general use. Many places have enough repeaters to make it a viable system if you do need to stay in contact with someone.
I have the Midland 15W with a 6dB gain antenna in my truck and it reaches as far as line of sight allows. They make a 50W but there is no where around here that would benefit from the extra power.

Find a good outlaw radio guy that will tune it and remove the limiters.
Out of the box it is limited to keep from exceeding FCC regs.
Usually a good bit below the 5w (I think) limit.

A good radio guy can get you well over the limit.


Some Ham just had a blood pressure spike.
He will tell you all about the law, the fines, the people hunting illegal radios.
And 10% of OTR semis are doing it with no problems.
For infrequent use in remote areas, I'd do it and never give it a thought.
For over a decade I did it daily with no worry. Even when I was driving the same 40 mile stretch of road 4 round trips a day.

There are no “limiters” on CB radios. 5 watts is all the radio is capable of.

I've had a Cobra 29 LTD WX for years, gonna keep it just because