Base communications upgrade.

[The Lazy L]

I operate under the belief that anything is better than nothing. Example a Hi-Point pistol for $150 is better then no firearm until you can save up the money better.

I have a J-pole VHF/UHF antenna mounted in my garage attic. Antenna coax runs from the attic to the house basement. A PL259 to SMA adapter connects the coax to a Baofeng hand held UV-5R. UV-5R is a 4 Watt maximum unit.

For the upgrade I replaced the hand held UV-5R with a Baofeng UV-25x2, a 25 Watt unit. Testing for range will have to wait until one of my like minded children visit.

My next step (hopefully this summer) is to move the J-pole from the attic to my 80 foot tower. If 25x2 can give us the range close to what we currently get with the CB SBB then the 25x2 will replace the CB SBB in the mule and a Baofeng UV-50x2 will be purchased as the base station.

 

[bkt]

Nice work, L! I have the UV-50x2...almost got the 25x2 for the size. Hopefully, you can find someone locally to do some testing with, even if it's using GMRS, FRS or MURS frequencies.

I sent a couple buddies to HamStudy.org: Cutting edge amateur radio study tools and both of them spent a few hours studying and aced their technician exams. Now I finally have folks who live a fair distance away (30+ miles) to do range testing with. The good news is we can all hit repeaters common to us. So far, simplex (point-to-point) isn't working. This Spring, I plan to elevate my attic j-pole (currently at about 28' up) to a mast at the peak of the house to get it up to close to 40'. That might do the trick to reach them simplex.

 

[dademoss]

I envy your 80 foot tower, but I wouldn't want to climb it. Those little UV radios are nice, I have a UV-2501 triband for the car

 

[Justaguy987]

I have a UV-25x2 in one of my vehicles. Just curious, but does anyone have a problem with the knobs falling off?

 

[The Lazy L]

I have a UV-25x2 in one of my vehicles. Just curious, but does anyone have a problem with the knobs falling off?

I haven't. But some of the reviews mentioned knob troubles so I'm extra careful.