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#1
posted to rec.boats
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FRS radio
On Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at 1:20:14 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Tue, 16 Apr 2019 05:18:39 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 4/15/2019 9:04 PM, wrote: On Mon, 15 Apr 2019 16:58:47 -0700 (PDT), True North wrote: I was thinking of getting a set off and on for the last 15 or more years. They started off with modest range claims but seemed to get more powerful maybe up to or so kilometers. Even wondered if they would help communicating with the wife while backing the boat into the driveway. She likes to hide in my blind spot while directing me. The range claims jumped when the upped the allowable power to 5 watts. Five watts and a decent antenna should get you to the horizon in open country. FRS radio output power was "upped" from half a watt to two (2) watts (not 5 watts) in 2017. Some channels are still limited to half a watt though. I finally found the chart that explained all of that. It is interesting that I still haven't heard anyone else on these radios and they are on all day. As Luddite points out it's 2 watts, not 5. The other limiting factors are that they have non-detachable antennas, so it's not so easy to replace with an upgrade. And they are UHF (around 450 Mhz), so *anything* messes with the signal. Walls, leaves, grass, you name it. That theoretical 30 miles drops to a mile or less in normal terrain. They are cool radios, but they are best suited for short distance, occasional use. You are seeing that with your absence of other users. Tt's not our old CB.  |
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#2
posted to rec.boats
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FRS radio
On Tue, 16 Apr 2019 15:46:40 -0700 (PDT), Its Me
wrote: On Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at 1:20:14 PM UTC-4, wrote: On Tue, 16 Apr 2019 05:18:39 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 4/15/2019 9:04 PM, wrote: On Mon, 15 Apr 2019 16:58:47 -0700 (PDT), True North wrote: I was thinking of getting a set off and on for the last 15 or more years. They started off with modest range claims but seemed to get more powerful maybe up to or so kilometers. Even wondered if they would help communicating with the wife while backing the boat into the driveway. She likes to hide in my blind spot while directing me. The range claims jumped when the upped the allowable power to 5 watts. Five watts and a decent antenna should get you to the horizon in open country. FRS radio output power was "upped" from half a watt to two (2) watts (not 5 watts) in 2017. Some channels are still limited to half a watt though. I finally found the chart that explained all of that. It is interesting that I still haven't heard anyone else on these radios and they are on all day. As Luddite points out it's 2 watts, not 5. The other limiting factors are that they have non-detachable antennas, so it's not so easy to replace with an upgrade. And they are UHF (around 450 Mhz), so *anything* messes with the signal. Walls, leaves, grass, you name it. That theoretical 30 miles drops to a mile or less in normal terrain. They are cool radios, but they are best suited for short distance, occasional use. You are seeing that with your absence of other users. Tt's not our old CB. The funny thing is before the truckers got cool (Smokey and the bandit stuff), CB was that way. I knew some CB guys and it was real quiet on those bands before around 74-75. There were fishing pros on the Chesapeake who used them because people would be listening on VHF but they had the CB bands to themselves. With the right antennas you could get from Schiebels down to Tangier Island or beyond (25-30 miles) |
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#3
posted to rec.boats
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FRS radio
On Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at 7:38:20 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Tue, 16 Apr 2019 15:46:40 -0700 (PDT), Its Me wrote: On Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at 1:20:14 PM UTC-4, wrote: On Tue, 16 Apr 2019 05:18:39 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 4/15/2019 9:04 PM, wrote: On Mon, 15 Apr 2019 16:58:47 -0700 (PDT), True North wrote: I was thinking of getting a set off and on for the last 15 or more years. They started off with modest range claims but seemed to get more powerful maybe up to or so kilometers. Even wondered if they would help communicating with the wife while backing the boat into the driveway. She likes to hide in my blind spot while directing me. The range claims jumped when the upped the allowable power to 5 watts. Five watts and a decent antenna should get you to the horizon in open country. FRS radio output power was "upped" from half a watt to two (2) watts (not 5 watts) in 2017. Some channels are still limited to half a watt though. I finally found the chart that explained all of that. It is interesting that I still haven't heard anyone else on these radios and they are on all day. As Luddite points out it's 2 watts, not 5. The other limiting factors are that they have non-detachable antennas, so it's not so easy to replace with an upgrade. And they are UHF (around 450 Mhz), so *anything* messes with the signal. Walls, leaves, grass, you name it. That theoretical 30 miles drops to a mile or less in normal terrain. They are cool radios, but they are best suited for short distance, occasional use. You are seeing that with your absence of other users. Tt's not our old CB. The funny thing is before the truckers got cool (Smokey and the bandit stuff), CB was that way. I knew some CB guys and it was real quiet on those bands before around 74-75. There were fishing pros on the Chesapeake who used them because people would be listening on VHF but they had the CB bands to themselves. With the right antennas you could get from Schiebels down to Tangier Island or beyond (25-30 miles) Even that was a stretch and required the "just right" conditions. Over water was better, but over land was just a few miles if you were lucky. I got into CB in the late '70s, and had a Shakespeare "Big Stick" on a 35' mast in the back yard. With an old Johnson "White Face" base station tweaked to put out about 15 watts and a Turner +3 power mic, I had the county covered.. If I needed more, I could crank up the 200 watt linear amp and walk tall, as they used to say. With SSB, I talked from SC to TX and beyond late at night when the "skip" rolled in. Heh, fun memories. |
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#4
posted to rec.boats
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FRS radio
On 4/16/2019 8:39 PM, Its Me wrote:
On Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at 7:38:20 PM UTC-4, wrote: On Tue, 16 Apr 2019 15:46:40 -0700 (PDT), Its Me wrote: On Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at 1:20:14 PM UTC-4, wrote: On Tue, 16 Apr 2019 05:18:39 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 4/15/2019 9:04 PM, wrote: On Mon, 15 Apr 2019 16:58:47 -0700 (PDT), True North wrote: I was thinking of getting a set off and on for the last 15 or more years. They started off with modest range claims but seemed to get more powerful maybe up to or so kilometers. Even wondered if they would help communicating with the wife while backing the boat into the driveway. She likes to hide in my blind spot while directing me. The range claims jumped when the upped the allowable power to 5 watts. Five watts and a decent antenna should get you to the horizon in open country. FRS radio output power was "upped" from half a watt to two (2) watts (not 5 watts) in 2017. Some channels are still limited to half a watt though. I finally found the chart that explained all of that. It is interesting that I still haven't heard anyone else on these radios and they are on all day. As Luddite points out it's 2 watts, not 5. The other limiting factors are that they have non-detachable antennas, so it's not so easy to replace with an upgrade. And they are UHF (around 450 Mhz), so *anything* messes with the signal. Walls, leaves, grass, you name it. That theoretical 30 miles drops to a mile or less in normal terrain. They are cool radios, but they are best suited for short distance, occasional use. You are seeing that with your absence of other users. Tt's not our old CB. The funny thing is before the truckers got cool (Smokey and the bandit stuff), CB was that way. I knew some CB guys and it was real quiet on those bands before around 74-75. There were fishing pros on the Chesapeake who used them because people would be listening on VHF but they had the CB bands to themselves. With the right antennas you could get from Schiebels down to Tangier Island or beyond (25-30 miles) Even that was a stretch and required the "just right" conditions. Over water was better, but over land was just a few miles if you were lucky. I got into CB in the late '70s, and had a Shakespeare "Big Stick" on a 35' mast in the back yard. With an old Johnson "White Face" base station tweaked to put out about 15 watts and a Turner +3 power mic, I had the county covered. If I needed more, I could crank up the 200 watt linear amp and walk tall, as they used to say. With SSB, I talked from SC to TX and beyond late at night when the "skip" rolled in. Heh, fun memories. Same here shortly after getting out of the Navy in 1977. We lived in a house right on the ocean and I had a Radio Shack "base" unit and a Big Stick. I modified the radio a bit ... 15 watts and about 35 watts SSB PEP. On Saturday and Sunday mornings I could talk to a guy in Italy. Evenings it was Texas and the West Coast. --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com |
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#5
posted to rec.boats
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FRS radio
On Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:43:44 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote: On 4/16/2019 8:39 PM, Its Me wrote: On Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at 7:38:20 PM UTC-4, wrote: On Tue, 16 Apr 2019 15:46:40 -0700 (PDT), Its Me wrote: On Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at 1:20:14 PM UTC-4, wrote: On Tue, 16 Apr 2019 05:18:39 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 4/15/2019 9:04 PM, wrote: On Mon, 15 Apr 2019 16:58:47 -0700 (PDT), True North wrote: I was thinking of getting a set off and on for the last 15 or more years. They started off with modest range claims but seemed to get more powerful maybe up to or so kilometers. Even wondered if they would help communicating with the wife while backing the boat into the driveway. She likes to hide in my blind spot while directing me. The range claims jumped when the upped the allowable power to 5 watts. Five watts and a decent antenna should get you to the horizon in open country. FRS radio output power was "upped" from half a watt to two (2) watts (not 5 watts) in 2017. Some channels are still limited to half a watt though. I finally found the chart that explained all of that. It is interesting that I still haven't heard anyone else on these radios and they are on all day. As Luddite points out it's 2 watts, not 5. The other limiting factors are that they have non-detachable antennas, so it's not so easy to replace with an upgrade. And they are UHF (around 450 Mhz), so *anything* messes with the signal. Walls, leaves, grass, you name it. That theoretical 30 miles drops to a mile or less in normal terrain. They are cool radios, but they are best suited for short distance, occasional use. You are seeing that with your absence of other users. Tt's not our old CB. The funny thing is before the truckers got cool (Smokey and the bandit stuff), CB was that way. I knew some CB guys and it was real quiet on those bands before around 74-75. There were fishing pros on the Chesapeake who used them because people would be listening on VHF but they had the CB bands to themselves. With the right antennas you could get from Schiebels down to Tangier Island or beyond (25-30 miles) Even that was a stretch and required the "just right" conditions. Over water was better, but over land was just a few miles if you were lucky. I got into CB in the late '70s, and had a Shakespeare "Big Stick" on a 35' mast in the back yard. With an old Johnson "White Face" base station tweaked to put out about 15 watts and a Turner +3 power mic, I had the county covered. If I needed more, I could crank up the 200 watt linear amp and walk tall, as they used to say. With SSB, I talked from SC to TX and beyond late at night when the "skip" rolled in. Heh, fun memories. Same here shortly after getting out of the Navy in 1977. We lived in a house right on the ocean and I had a Radio Shack "base" unit and a Big Stick. I modified the radio a bit ... 15 watts and about 35 watts SSB PEP. On Saturday and Sunday mornings I could talk to a guy in Italy. Evenings it was Texas and the West Coast. These guys were using a base station antenna that was probably too tall but in the 70s who was going to drive down to Ridge Md to catch them. The head boat he ran had a marine antenna is high up as it could be on a 2 deck boat with a fly bridge. They didn't know about co phase in those days. I don't think they had any heaters. The guy I was fishing with had a standard radio and a marine antenna. Most days we were still getting the Scheibel base until we got to Tangier and we could always raise the Bay Queen that was running around the south Bay |
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#6
posted to rec.boats
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FRS radio
On Tue, 16 Apr 2019 17:39:30 -0700 (PDT), Its Me wrote:
On Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at 7:38:20 PM UTC-4, wrote: On Tue, 16 Apr 2019 15:46:40 -0700 (PDT), Its Me wrote: On Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at 1:20:14 PM UTC-4, wrote: On Tue, 16 Apr 2019 05:18:39 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote: On 4/15/2019 9:04 PM, wrote: On Mon, 15 Apr 2019 16:58:47 -0700 (PDT), True North wrote: I was thinking of getting a set off and on for the last 15 or more years. They started off with modest range claims but seemed to get more powerful maybe up to or so kilometers. Even wondered if they would help communicating with the wife while backing the boat into the driveway. She likes to hide in my blind spot while directing me. The range claims jumped when the upped the allowable power to 5 watts. Five watts and a decent antenna should get you to the horizon in open country. FRS radio output power was "upped" from half a watt to two (2) watts (not 5 watts) in 2017. Some channels are still limited to half a watt though. I finally found the chart that explained all of that. It is interesting that I still haven't heard anyone else on these radios and they are on all day. As Luddite points out it's 2 watts, not 5. The other limiting factors are that they have non-detachable antennas, so it's not so easy to replace with an upgrade. And they are UHF (around 450 Mhz), so *anything* messes with the signal. Walls, leaves, grass, you name it. That theoretical 30 miles drops to a mile or less in normal terrain. They are cool radios, but they are best suited for short distance, occasional use. You are seeing that with your absence of other users. Tt's not our old CB. The funny thing is before the truckers got cool (Smokey and the bandit stuff), CB was that way. I knew some CB guys and it was real quiet on those bands before around 74-75. There were fishing pros on the Chesapeake who used them because people would be listening on VHF but they had the CB bands to themselves. With the right antennas you could get from Schiebels down to Tangier Island or beyond (25-30 miles) Even that was a stretch and required the "just right" conditions. Over water was better, but over land was just a few miles if you were lucky. I got into CB in the late '70s, and had a Shakespeare "Big Stick" on a 35' mast in the back yard. With an old Johnson "White Face" base station tweaked to put out about 15 watts and a Turner +3 power mic, I had the county covered. If I needed more, I could crank up the 200 watt linear amp and walk tall, as they used to say. With SSB, I talked from SC to TX and beyond late at night when the "skip" rolled in. Heh, fun memories. My furthest CB chat was from the east side of El Paso over the valley to the west side - about 30 miles. |
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