CB radio

[ThundahBeagle]

Ever heard of PACE? Getting out and away from the uncivilized civilization means creating redundancy. Whether, food, water, shelter, transportation, or communications, you need a plan. Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency everything. Never rely on just one item because it will fail.

Imagine if you leave behind your spare tire and rotopax because there is "no chance" anything will happen.

Willy

Two are one and one is none

 

[Hogan]

As far as comms is concerned, my setup isn't ideal but I'm comfortable with it.

• 2m/70cm mobile rig in the truck (with APRS TX/RX)
• 2m/70cm handheld (with APRS TX)
• Garmin inReach

In addition to the usual cell phone. I'd like to get a PLB as a last-resort emergency beacon should all other methods fail but I haven't pulled the trigger yet. We also haven't traveled so far out that there's nobody/nothing for miles and miles, but that will obviously change once we eventually head out for the Yukon/NWT/Alaska (still at least 2-3 years away from that).

It's also important to determine if you're wanting comms for convenience or emergency. Of course, comms for convenience and not emergency just leaves you exposed but maybe you travel with others or in areas with heavy or regular traffic. The flip side is if you, well, flip...down a cliff/hillside and can't be seen from the road. What then? This is where redundant satellite comms/beacons comes in, IMO. Whether that's an inReach + PLB or what, you can't rely on others to find you in an emergency and you need to make sure you have a way to ask for help when all other conventional methods of communication fail.

 

[Prerunner1982]

Two are one and one is none

And 5 is plenty.
At least regarding my comms it's plenty. haha
ham radio x 3, GMRS, and CB.

 

[M Rose]

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Amen to both of these.

I always travel solo and usually way the hell off-grid, so don't need comms to talk to those in front or behind me, and depend on my bike far more than the radios I've had and still have if my vehicle breaks down.

View attachment 207620
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I know it's not a popular opinion and likely to draw flak, though in my experience over the years, a great deal of the radios and gadgets added to vehicles aren't actually used as much as they could be, often aren't even understood as far as correct operations or licensing, and are added more for the cockpit effect. Because it looks cool and everyone else is doing it so we think we need to, too.

I'm back down to my CB (for highway reroutes and the NOAA channels) and Inreach. And my eBike.

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Nice Bike. And as always, beautiful photography

 

[M Rose]

And 5 is plenty.
At least regarding my comms it's plenty. haha
ham radio x 3, GMRS, and CB.

I’m in similar boat. 4 ham radios, GMRS, CB. 1 ham radio is my dedicated 2m packet radio for APRS and Winlink, second ham radio is 2m voice, 3rd is all band all mode 1.8m-70cm, and 4th is my DMR HT. I mostly use my all band all mode radio while out solo because as everyone knows, HF gets out further than VHF/UHF most of the time. 2m Voice I only use around town or in groups. GMRS I only listen on when on a group ride where people refuse to get their amateur radio license, CB is always on, but I never hear anything other than Max when he seees me driving the “Adventure Machine “ around the block.

 

[MOAK]

Ever heard of PACE? Getting out and away from the uncivilized civilization means creating redundancy. Whether, food, water, shelter, transportation, or communications, you need a plan. Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency everything. Never rely on just one item because it will fail.

Imagine if you leave behind your spare tire and rotopax because there is "no chance" anything will happen.

Willy

Never heard of it, however, as we tend to find ourselves way off grid most of the time we carry an up to date PLB, a couple weeks worth of dried food, two completely outfitted back packs, and always a close family member that knows where we are and when we are supposed to call them..

 

[North40overland]

Go GMRS for sure. There is a large debate but for people new to the category I recommend Midland Radio's. They work great, require basically no programming, are relatively inexpensive and they are very easy to install. I have a couple but my favorite is the MXT-275. It works really well and has held up great.


Hope that helps.

 

[gritt]

And 5 is plenty.
At least regarding my comms it's plenty. haha
ham radio x 3, GMRS, and CB.

Right there with ya, I can do HAM (HF/VHF/UHF)/GMRS/CB in my truck. I'm pretty well covered when it comes to comms.

 

[Padre Richard]

Just make sure you acquire a GMRS license. $70 bucks for 10 years and you're entire immediate family is set. No test either. I'm about to test for HAM myself but I've got a GMRS license as well.

I believe the fee is now $35, changed just recently.

 

[SJ.Overland]

Yep it has finally dropped as there is now the same fee for HAM

 

[Willys Yella Jeep]

Just make sure you acquire a GMRS license. $70 bucks for 10 years and you're entire immediate family is set. No test either. I'm about to test for HAM myself but I've got a GMRS license as well.

I believe the fee is now $35, changed just recently.

I wish that they would simply include it in the basic ham license. It seems like a cash cow.

 

[M Rose]

I wish that they would simply include it in the basic ham license. It seems like a cash cow.

But the Technician license offers so much more than just UHF/VHF capabilities. You also get access to most of 10m, and CW privileges on 15, 20 and 40m… and a whole lot more power… GMRS and Amateur Radio while similar are two completely different services, and with good reason.