Portable comms

[The Lazy L]

Had a friend message me his new comms setup for his battle rig. Young hard working man with family and single income. He has a something is better then nothing mentality (which I agree with). He lives in a hilly subdivision, reports ranges of 1 to 1 1/2 miles (unknown what frequency he was using). Thought some would find his setup interesting.

He broke his video into two parts to clear his Internet size limitation limits, unfortunately this forum doest not permit videos, so I'll post screen captures instead.

All of his items could be purchased from Amazon. He provided a parts list and description for your preview.

Electronic hearing protection: Howard Leight Impact Sport $49.91
Radio: Baofeng UV-5R $26.
Extended Radio Battery: $15.99
Antenna cable: ABBREE AR-152 AR-148 Tactical antenna SMA-Female $8.50
Mike: Speaker mike for Baofeng reinforced cable $13.75 (presently out of inventory).
Cable between mid and hearing protection: Startech.com 3 foot 3.5 mm audio cable $4.30

Total cost $118.45

 

[Bacpacker]

Not a bad rig at all for just over $100.

 

[dademoss]

In the "7 hills of Cincinnati: I can hit another HT at 1.25 miles. Get that antenna up in the air and it's a lot better, and even then it's unpredictably weird. We ran an exercise in Anderson township for simplex, very interesting results.

 

[The Lazy L]

In the "7 hills of Cincinnati: I can hit another HT at 1.25 miles. Get that antenna up in the air and it's a lot better.

Your 1.25 miles, MURS, FRS, GMRS or 2-meters?

I think his goal was to keep from snagging the antenna on brush/limbs. Otherwise he would have strapped a hundred foot tower on his back?

 

[Bacpacker]

Simplex exercies are the best at finding unexpected holes in your comms plans. Most of the times in places you never even considered.

 

[dademoss]

Your 1.25 miles, MURS, FRS, GMRS or 2-meters?

I think his goal was to keep from snagging the antenna on brush/limbs. Otherwise he would have strapped a hundred foot tower on his back?

Sorry, 2 meter simplex, 146.52. We couldn't hear Schiff on 70 cm. Terrain is the key complicator around here.

 

[dademoss]

Simplex exercies are the best at finding unexpected holes in your comms plans. Most of the times in places you never even considered.

Yeah, we are trying to map the county for a repeaters down scenario, it's a frigging long process.

 

[Bacpacker]

Yes it is. We got to the point that we ran all exercises simplex. It forced everyone to tune up antennas, find thier best place to operate, set up relay stations, etc. We also did a lot of work supporting bicycle rides, some over 100 miles long up in the mountains. One ride was 80% in the mountains and ridges near here at 115 miles, we ended up figureing the ride out over the years and could have coverage over the entire route in 2 state in all but about 3 miles.

 

[dademoss]

We also did a lot of work supporting bicycle rides, some over 100 miles long up in the mountains. One ride was 80% in the mountains and ridges near here at 115 miles, we ended up figureing the ride out over the years and could have coverage over the entire route in 2 state in all but about 3 miles.

In East TN, you could school us, I HATE bike rides;

 

[Bacpacker]

I almost always brought up the tail end of the ride, all the slowest of the entire pack. Sometimes as many as 400 riders. There was usually 20-30 that lagged way behind everyone else. But up in the mountains, sometimes with bad weather rain wind, etc. as high as 6000 feet elevation. We had several cases of hypothermia a couple years, so our SAG (Support and Gear) vehicles were critical to keep an eye out for folks.
I learned more from this one event than everything else we did over the years combined.

I liked rides much better than runs. We also supported a track club for some runs.

 

[dademoss]

I only did a stop once, every other time was SAG, never did a run. Red cross runs the "runs" and I won't sign their volunteer agreement.

 

[Bacpacker]

I always ran SAG. Wife was normally Net Control at the S/F line. We also ran APRS for most events. All SAGS and NCS station had it. Ride directors really liked being able to see where the ride was at any given time.