HAM Radio, yall use them for the back country? Any advice for getting into it?

[TrickyTross]

Looking at using some 5 or 8 watt hand helds this season for myself and my hunting partners. Had a thought that I might even be able to talk with them whilst they were hunting our west this year with me at home.... But we have been talking about it and i think we are gonna pull the trigger and go through the proper channels for licensing and then purchasing some radios. Any advice anyone would be willing to share? Any of yall use the HAM?

 

[come2elmo]

I am toying around with the HAM radio thing too. Bought a cheap baufeng from amazon and started listening to the channels nearby and watching all the youtube stuff I can. Lots of opinions on if HAM is better then gmrs and there are some threads on HT about it. Not unlike the man bun(6.5 cm) vs the old men ('06,270) discussions here. I am a nerd so yet another toy i suppose.

 

[TrickyTross]

I am toying around with the HAM radio thing too. Bought a cheap baufeng from amazon and started listening to the channels nearby and watching all the youtube stuff I can. Lots of opinions on if HAM is better then gmrs and there are some threads on HT about it. Not unlike the man bun(6.5 cm) vs the old men ('06,270) discussions here. I am a nerd so yet another toy i suppose.

I like what I am seeing with it for sure. I am hoping that I can communicate with my buddies while they are out west this year, however, if they are able to talk with each other and I have to wait for a phone call, Im alright with that.

 

[come2elmo]

yea it all depends on the repeaters in the hunting area and if they are linked to ones in your area. I haven't dug into the major complexities but you might be able to use the internet and somehow get linked to the repeaters they are on. Lots of variables. there are sattelite repeaters too but again not sure how prevalent those are.

 

[thatsjet]

I'm a ham, have been for a while. If you were looking for something for person-to-person chat I'd be more likely to suggest you pick up some FRS/GMRS radios and start with those. For actual ham bands, everyone using the radios would need a license. For FRS you don't, for GMRS you can use a little more power and "ask" for a license which is granted with no test and no fee but only one person in your party needs the license. Pretty convenient.

Keep in mind, radio communications are line-of-sight which means once you're over a ridge you're out of contact. Of course you can solve for some of that if you're using ham bands on a repeater and the repeater is in range, but that could be equally spotty as point-to-point and a lot more complex to set up and understand.

 

[come2elmo]

I thought there was like an 85$ fee for a gmrs license but it applies to your whole family