Great! Even more good information. Thank you, again. I think it safe to say that we want to go unlicensed and that's probably without needing to say it.
What kind of radios are we looking at? Any models that anyone suggests? How about price of getting started?
It is said "The antenna and its set up accounts for 75% of a stations capability." That being said I will skip ahead to the fun part...RADIOS !!! I will get back to the drudgery of antenna set up in later posts.
1] BASE OR MOBILE RADIO(used as a base station)? ANSWER: MOBILE. Everyone has seen a mobile radio before, a small rectangular box thing that fits nicely into a small small space such as a vehicle and is powered by a 12 volt DC source. A base radio is a small suitcase sized thing that is powered by 110 volts AC. A base radio is actually a mobile radio circuit board mounted inside a box along with a power supply that converts 110VAC to 12VDC , and usually has slightly larger and fancier knobs and meters. For our purposes, MOBILE RADIOS (used as a base station) ARE THE WAY TO GO. They are less expensive, smaller, can easily be put in a vehicle if need be, and the main thing is they are designed to run on 12VDC. In a SHTF situation you want you rig to run straight off of 12VDC. Just think of the wasted fuel running a generator, all day, just waiting to receive a message. Also DC to AC inverters usually draw 1/2 - 1 amp in idle and are less efficient than running your radio rig straight off of DC.
2] CB or 10 meter HAM (converted to 11 meter)? ANSWER: A converted 10 meter radio will, almost always give you more channels to use, plus other features. But I will tell you a little about both here.
Some CB radio models can be modified to have "extra channels." The more superior of these mods will give the CB radio 40 extra channels above and/or 40 below the regular 40 CB channels, that is accessed by a secret switch that has been installed. Easy to use and will give you up to 120 total channels. The more inferior of the mods varies from model to model (PLL chip to PLL chip) and will give the CB radio approximately 25 to 60 extra channel above and/or below the regular 40 CB channels. These extra channels will be scattered, not in proper sequence, and will have gaps (missing channels). You will need a chart or frequency counter to find any particular frequency while working one or more switches and the channel knob. Here are a few common CB models that can be modified: Cobra 2000 (base), Cobra 148GTL (mobile), Galaxy 949 (mobile), Galaxy 959 (mobile). There are many others but these are the most common.
IMHO, converted 10 meter radios are the best for our purpose. The basic conversion mod is relatively simple compared to adding extra channels to a CB. They have various bells and whistles that CBs don't have and will range from 120-400+ total channels (including the 40 CB channels), depending on model. They also have better overall circuit quality when compared to CBs.
Stay away from radios that claim to do more than 50 watts (from the radio itself). These radios have a built in amplifier and usually suffer from heat related issues. Also, they can't be matched up with the most common types of amplifiers (low drive) and will have to be used with a more costly, and less common high drive amp if amplification is needed. The term "HP" (High Power) in a radio's model doesn't necessarily mean it's good or bad, just stay away from anything that claims over 50 watts.
Radio suggestions: Let's start with Galaxy mobile 10 meter radios. There good for the money. Don't pay new price for any Galaxy model above '55...'. Reason being, the main extra feature you get for that price, SSB (single side band mode), is an inferior, unstable (for my liking) sideband circuit. If you want stable SSB, get a radio (with SSB) with microprocessor control, such as Magnum or RCI. There are other brands but these two are the most common. RCI tends to produce more lemons but when you got one that works its good. The Magnum model S-9 is my personal favorite. I own two of them. Magnums also have top shelf receive circuitry and far better AM modulation (transmit sound quality) than RCI's. The Connex brand is good but is nothing more than a Galaxy circuit board with a few extra bells and whistles, therefore Connexes are overpriced and I would never pay new price for one. Stryker brand is a very good radio based on the Magnum brand. But, to my knowledge, Stryker doesn't have a model with SSB. Stryker's are basically like lower S model Magnums (S-3 & S-6).
Don't buy anything yet. I will be back with more equipment buying tips very soon. And I will have plenty more posts regarding options concerning the rest of the radio equipment you will need and the setup......as long as you all seem interested. Can't wait to get this on the air.
