Hello I am very new to radios and am looking for advice or if this is even possible. I’m looking for lisence free two way radios that can reach up to 2 miles or longer if possible, that will talk with a vehicle mounted CB type radio. Is this Possible? Thank you for the Help
You’ve got a bit of a snag here. When you say CB type, if you mean a CB (which is a historic but still used system that uses frequencies in the 27MHz band) then hand held CB radios are very awkward. Long pull up telescopic antennas and ranges that can make 2 miles seem like a thousand on some days yet on others have you chatting with somebody in a different country. If somebody has a real CB then it’s usually best to treat these now as mobile to mobile. You can get things like the Uniden PRO401HH Handheld CB Radio which has a long rubber duck style antenna, but range is not huge or predictable. These kinds of products are the only ones commonly available - for real CB. The popular GMRS and FRS radios tend to have similar ranges, but there are rules - making hand-held to hand-held the only one for the very simple FRS, while you can do more with GMRS but there are more rules on what you can’t do. If the vehicle has a radio, first thing is to find out what it for certain. CB, rather than CB type - because many folk struggle to tell the difference.
All this said - distance is usually down to topography. two people ten miles apart both on hilltops - works fine. Two people half a mile apart with a hill between them can’t hear each other.
Thank you. Hey I’m just looking for something simple that I can have in the truck and be able to talk with friends/family while out hunting and driving around.
GMRS or FRS, but one is more complicated to obtain than the other - and the easy option has very short range - but don’t expect huge amounts of distance with any of them.
It also depends on where you are located, since CB is different in some countries. If you are in the US, where we’re based, there are a couple of other options besides the PRO401HH that may work for you.
The Cobra HHRT50 Roadtrip is a portable handheld CB radio that can also be used in a vehicle. It comes complete with an external magnet mount vehicle antenna and a removable antenna on the radio itself, so you can easily swap it out for use either inside or outside the vehicle.
Another option, which may be even more appealing for your application, is the Midland 75-822. This is a 2-in-1 CB radio that is literally plug-n-play. It’s one radio with a detachable battery pack that can be swapped out for a vehicle power adapter, turning it into a hand speaker mic radio when in your vehicle. This is pretty cool for any radio, but it is perfectly fit for CB.
You might need something more secure so that your friends and family will not know when you are driving around and hunting them.