Citizen Band radios?

[jdonovan]

I live at the bottom of a narrow valley, and can't even get commercial radio reception, so imagine SW would not work well from a base station. Are there mobile rigs that would be suitable?

No radio setup you're going to manage on your own will go through the hills. Mobile, or base, if you are using the 50+ MHZ range you really need line of sight from transmitter to receiver.

You could easily do short range SW work via NVIS. (general simplification) It goes straight up and bounces off the atmosphere. Good for a few hundred miles of range.

 

[bullbreaker]

I believe that would be the Browning Golden Eagle, I remember growing up in northern Idaho someone had one and you'd know who it was as soon as they keyed up. Nice quality signal, too, it was the set everyone wanted to have. I still have about 5 units kicking around; an SBE Console II base, an old tube Realistic base, the first cb my dad got (Raytheon) and a couple other mobiles. Everyone had radios back then, especially out in the sticks because it didn't take much weather to take the phones out.

Dan that was it you got it couldn't remember name.

Boone

 

[k0ua]

I live at the bottom of a narrow valley, and can't even get commercial radio reception, so imagine SW would not work well from a base station. Are there mobile rigs that would be suitable?

I suppose I could run power up the hill a quarter mile or so and mount a transmitter up there. The extra 800 feet of elevation makes a big difference.

Well VHF and UHF is not going to work well without a repeater to hit or a remote base, as discussed earlier. But HF will still work especiall NVIS (Near Vertical Incident Skywave) as pointed out by the other poster But you will still also be able to work around the US. Your signals may not be the best "across the pond" depending how deep your valley is and your takeoff angle but I bet you could make some European and South American contacts on 20 Meters. Another thing to consider is satelite (ham spacecraft) operation. Another is the weak-signal digital data modes Your passes may be a little quick with a narrow view of the sky, but it is do-able.. I have never seen any location where you could not make some contacts. Sure some locations are better than others, Especially on VHF/UHF but I would not give up. Well you probably wanted a simple answer and I wrote a book but the simple answer is I don't see a big problem.

James K0UA

Post Script: you are comparing commercial broadcast, either 88-108 MHZ FM which is VHF and maybe AM broadcast band 530-1700 Khz. which is MF ( and you are probably trying ot listen to ground wave not skywave) to HF whose characteristics are different. Also there are many nice mobile rigs for either Vhf/UHF (cheap) to nice HF setups (um.. affordable)

 

[Soundguy]

If some of you have questions about getting into ham radio from a hobbyist or public service perspective I can help answer questions. Of course if you are licensed (I have been since 1971) the penaltys for doing illegal things could be more severe as you cannot plead ignorance. But the opportunity's and the sheer amount of frequency's and modes available are greatly enhanced also. Of course there are some things to learn, mostly rules and regs. and radio theory. There is no Morse code test anymore, and ironically Morse code use among hams is at least as great as it was, and in fact is showing more interest lately. I also like digital weak signal modes that are worked with a PC. Anyway it is a technical hobby, but you can put as much or as little into it as you want, and take it in any direction you want. Ham or Amateur radio is many things to many different people. Let me know if I can help

James K0UA

de ke4rrd

73's

 

[Depmandog]

Great info James! Very interesting to say the least. You keep talking like that and you know I WILL get the bug.

 

[k0ua]

de ke4rrd

73's

73 :thumbsup:

de k0ua

Depmandog, jump in, Sunspot cycle 23 is on the upswing, should be good conditions for the next few years. It is a lot more interesting when there is actually propagation to the 4 corners of the earth with having to run a Kilowatt or have a ton of aluminum in the air like when the cycle is down in the dumps.

 

[beppington]

73 :thumbsup:

de k0ua

Depmandog, jump in, Sunspot cycle 23 is on the upswing, should be good conditions for the next few years. It is a lot more interesting when there is actually propagation to the 4 corners of the earth with having to run a Kilowatt or have a ton of aluminum in the air like when the cycle is down in the dumps.

What do yo do with your ham radio? Is it just like talking to your buddies on the phone?

 

[k0ua]

What do yo do with your ham radio? Is it just like talking to your buddies on the phone?

Yes and no. Amateur radio is about 100 hobbies with a radio related thread running thru all of them..Yes some people like to just get on and talk to their mostly same buddies all the time usually on the same frequency. Not so interesting for me. Some hams like to build equipment, or antennas or station accessories. I do some of this. Some like to talk about their projects and some hardly ever get on and talk with anyone more than just testing the project they just built. This is similar to what you see on here with the guys construction projects. Some are focused 100 percent on public service, and have no interest in conversing with anyone, except in a disaster to pass radio traffic. I have done this, and would again, but it is not my primary focus Some are DX (distance) chasers, working toward one or more of the many certificates and plaques, and try to work as many countries, regions, states etc on various modes and bands. I have done my share, but I don't really care about the awards or plaques or QSL (confirmation) cards for that matter.
Some only work VHF and above frequency, and enjoy the extra challanges that come with making things work at those more limiting frequencys. (microwave techniques in building equipment can be more challangeing)
Some just like to get on and make new friends every time and chat a while with them if they are interesting to them or not so long if they are not.. I fit in here for quite a bit of my operating. I also like the computer based digital modes, which is much like what I am doing here, exchanging information thru a keyboard, but without infastructure. When you are on HF and you are communicating from you station thru your wire or aluminum antenna to his antenna and down to his station there is no supporting infastructure like you have here. It is just you, him and the natural ionosphere. If both of you are on battery power, and/or solar charged, the world could go to heck in a handbasket and you could carry on. Not so much here as you know with our wifi, home routers dsl or cable borne services, the huge fiber backbones, gateway routers, servers etc. All of the million things that make up the internet and this service.

Anyway I have touched on only a few aspects of Amateur Radio, and I may not be the best spokesperson for this, but I have been into it since 1971. Others (many) on here (and you know who you are) please feel free to jump in with your views on Amateur Radio. It is very diverse, almost like a bunch of tractor owners.

Hope this helped a little to explain a difficult to explain and diverse subject.

James K0UA

 

[Pete Judd]

I got into ham because of the boat, planning on going around the world, and ham and marine ssb is the only way to communicate over long distances. I have a whole HF shack setup at home as well as on the boat, but have not upgraded my license to general to be able to use it yet. My call sign is KD7LMQ, and from where I sit out in the country I have a range of over 60 miles to one repeater on 2 meters, that will give me another 50 miles of talking. An other repeater will take me into Idaho, and California.

It's a interesting hobby, you can make what you want of it.

I also get flooded in once an a while, and involved with the local net to help people in need, that can't get out. Kind of like the old channel 9 on the CB.

 

[ultrarunner]

I got into ham because of the boat, planning on going around the world, and ham and marine ssb is the only way to communicate over long distances. I have a whole HF shack setup at home as well as on the boat, but have not upgraded my license to general to be able to use it yet. My call sign is KD7LMQ, and from where I sit out in the country I have a range of over 60 miles to one repeater on 2 meters, that will give me another 50 miles of talking. An other repeater will take me into Idaho, and California.

It's a interesting hobby, you can make what you want of it.

I also get flooded in once an a while, and involved with the local net to help people in need, that can't get out. Kind of like the old channel 9 on the CB.

Came by a sailboat that had old radio equipment and a insulated wire running stern to the top of the mast...

I was told it was illegal to use it because the regs had changed...

Any idea what kind of equipment and the reason for the change?

Boat was circa 1967 Pearson...