I am brand new to the world of radio communications. I’ve always carried one at work but never knew the intricacies involved. Anyway, I was wondering if you guys could help me out. I live on the High Plains 35-40 miles north of Amarillo Texas. It is flat, harsh land out here. Judging from advertised ranges I figured I would be able to supply myself and a few choice others in the city of Amarillo with two way radios and be able to communicate in a shtf type event. We have a plan should the unthinkable happen and it involves me covering nearly 45 miles on foot, with all my gear. There is a 3 day time frame before the plan moves into the second stage. I was hopeful that with two way radios we would be able to communicate with each other rather than me flying blind 45 miles in a very unforgiving environment no matter the season. I guess what I am really asking is; what is the best two way radio available to the general public at this point and time? Im aware of potential liscensesing being necessary and that is no concern to me. Price is not an issue either. Although after reading you can only get a couple miles out of a two way I really wouldn’t want to spend more than 100 bones tops on a set. If what I seek costs more than so be it. So lay it on me fellas. I appreciate your time and any response or shared information. Have a good day folks.
Lol. Those fingers got away from me there. I still cant type for nothing on this laptop. I meant to say licensing. Thanks again boys. Or girls?
I’m a little confused over your plan? I don’t understand the kind of event you are conceiving, but it’s the range that is the issue? Hand-held to hand-held is really line of sight, minus a bit. Even high power equipment doesn’t really solve the problem. From a vehicle, with a better antenna on the roof, your range goes up - but unless one end of the link is up a tower, I’d be surprised if you got more than just a few miles reliably. If the location is pretty flat, then some kind of repeater on a tower, even a modest one - say 40 feet or so, would get your range up - maybe 20 miles radius around the tower? You’d have to do some maths to predict a range, but is this a possibility in the scenario you’re preparing for? Solar powered charging of a float battery would seem possible? In truly dire circumstances, longer ranges need lower frequencies and longer aerial systems.
What exactly do you need it to do, what distances are you hoping for, and are we talking vehicle or really pedestrian?
Difficult for me to picture what you are doing as Texas is bigger than England!
Well, good news for you. There’re an number of pocket sized two way radios available that would fit your requirements and won’t require you to sell your kidneys to afford it. But can you tell us more about your requirements? Please confirm the followings:
- two-way
- the range you wanna cover? How many miles?
- use within 3 days?
- vehicles or backpacking use?