Recent content by Joel Kasper

GMRS is very similar to 70cm. I use GMRS in my Jeep and it works just as good as my 2m/70cm radio. It sounds like you have some noise from the vehicle. I had an older BMW and I ended up giving up on putting a radio in it because I could never get rid of the noise. What are you driving?

Yes GMRS is going to $35 on April 19th

If you are looking to test for your license you may want to move up the date. As of April 19 it will now cost $35. https://www.arrl.org/fcc-application-fee

Glass mounts tend to have fairly hi losses and most have power limitations. Most max out at 50W which is what most meter mobile radios have. There are many though that are between 65 and 80 watts.

Take a look online and see it you have any Fusion repeaters in your area. We have several in my area which is nice.

Rugged Radios has been selling and marketing radios that look and operate exactly like Chinese radios for 3 times the price for years. They have also been selling and marketing commercial radios to the public even though they know it is illegal for people to use them. See the link below to the...

Like Jim my radio is a Kenwood V71A. It comes Echolink ready. I have a Mobilink TNC and an andoid tablet running aprsdroid. I also run a program called Backcountry Navigator which lets me download routes from places like FunTreks. It works with aprsdroid to display APRS stations on the map. One...

I have built all manner of jpoles, slim jims and ladder line jpoles. All of them worked great but had long term reliability issues. I currently use a Diamond X50 mounted to the chimney. Excellent antenna and not to large and very durable. I live in Wisconsin so weather plays a big factor.

The Comet Antennas SS-460BNMO is about $40 and has a spring built in so it wont break off as soon as it touches a branch. Any solid antenna you use when wheeling will not last unless you are in the desert southwest where there are no trees. You could try a ladder line antenna. There are a...

I use a similar setup with the tablet but use the Mobilink TNC2 . I run Back Country Navigator that has loadable maps and works with aprsdroid. Used it on the Rubicon last year and it was great!

Well as has been said they are cheep radios from China. The reason the FCC is looking to ban these has more to do to the fact that they transmit outside the ham bands and interfere with other users than that they are noisy. At 5W the noise is not normally a problem. If I were to guess the...

Another choice would be a small HT like the FT-4XR. The whole radio is about the size of the Cobra Mic. If you want more than 5W out you could add a LA-44 amplifier that will get you 70W out.

The main issue with Ham is that it is not channel based. Most units do allow you to have memory channels that are associated with frequency's or repeaters. Most allow you to page up and down on the mic but do not have a display on what memory you are on.

The RG-8X will work fine. Kenwood, Yaesu , and Icom all make great dual band (2m and 440) radios for around $350. You will need a dual band antenna as well. If you just want one ham band buy a 2m radio. You can get a good one for less than $200. If you get in touch with your local amateur...

I use a Kenwood V71 radio connected to a Mobilik TNC2. The TNC2 communicates via bluetooth to a GPS android tablet On the tablet I have APRSdroid running with Backcountry Navigator. APRS droid does the work and Backcountry Navigator pulls the APRS data from it and integrates into its mapping...