Advice for the Wyoming newbie!

[csocs_wolf]

Passed the tech exam. Should be on file by end of week, I would expect. Was hoping to pass General, as well....but charter internet went down the entire week preceding the test. Missed it by a couple questions. Will try again later. But am on my way, regardless.

 

[csocs_wolf]

Ton of good info here. Thank you.

If you were to have a dual band, in th etruck, as you suggested, unless the truck power is low, th current drain on the batter y will be high. You could be eating your kill as you will have to wait for a battery jump. I have left by dual band on in the car, and by morning, "click click click", the battery is dead.

I have 2 good 12v's on the camper with a 100w panel on the roof. Not sure what kind of drain to expect on a 50W+ mobile setup, but would hope that would last me through a day's hunt or more. When I'm back at camp, I always have the generator. This is probably my best option for the long term, I think.

To get max range, the higher the rantenna, the more range you will have. If you take the truck up to a high point, after the hunt you have to go back and fetch the vehicle. Things to consider. You can replace your radios with a 1/4 wave antenna that can get somew better range.

I bought a 2m 1/4 wave (0.69 on 70cm) antenna for the truck. Also picked up a slim jim antenna w/ 16' coax for throwing up a tree branch and getting way up there while in the mountains. Haven't tested the setup yet, but hoping those changes alone will give me some range over the store-bought gmrs w/ rubber duckies we used last year.

You could get yaesu hts that have a function that tells you when one ht is out of range, and alerts you that you are out of range. Each radio pings and waits for a response from other units. ARTS, Auto range transponder system.Havn't used it much but its a good option if you need it. ARTS will increase battery consumption so thats a negative.. Take along another battery pack and that problem goes away.

That is an interesting and useful feature. Wish I would've known before I bought the Baofengs. Maybe an option down the road to look at.

Most hams don't like to think of a cell phone but do you have cell phone coverage. If so just call each other.

No cell coverage in the area. Maybe 30-45 miles (hour+ by truck) up the road to get a call out.

 

[PrimeNumber]

Passed the tech exam. Should be on file by end of week, I would expect. Was hoping to pass General, as well....but charter internet went down the entire week preceding the test. Missed it by a couple questions. Will try again later. But am on my way, regardless.

Congratulations! You'll clean up on that General exam next time around.

Your Baofeng with the Nagoya antenna will have a significant range advantage over your old GMRS, especially so on 2m. Hang that slim jim up high and it's a whole new world. It's usually easy to talk through repeaters 25+ miles away with this kind of gear.

You sir are on the way!

 

[SCPD]

When I worked at the Echostar Uplink facility in Cheyenne about 11 years ago, I was amazed on how this could be a hot bead of two-way, and amateur communications. Unfortunately I did not stay there long enough to get a GMRS, or a Ham repeater on the air. With the great terrain, I would have imagined coverage would be fantastic. I lived near the refinery so things would get a tad "smelly" once and a while and things went my way to move back to the Midwest.

 

[csocs_wolf]

When I worked at the Echostar Uplink facility in Cheyenne about 11 years ago, I was amazed on how this could be a hot bead of two-way, and amateur communications. Unfortunately I did not stay there long enough to get a GMRS, or a Ham repeater on the air. With the great terrain, I would have imagined coverage would be fantastic. I lived near the refinery so things would get a tad "smelly" once and a while and things went my way to move back to the Midwest.

I live on the north side of Cheyenne, but know the area you're talking about well. I saw several repeaters on the list in the area. Eventually I'll put an antenna on the roof and be able to take advantage of all that activity. But, I spend a lot of time about 30 minutes northeast on some land I have nearer to the Albin repeater (although it's a lot of rolling hills and rock up there). Even when I'm not hunting Mule Deer and Pronghorn up there September through October, I'm camping and shooting. Or out at Curt Gowdy or Glendo fishing/camping. And then all the time I spend west of Laramie towards Encampment hunting Elk during October through November. So not sure how cost effective a permanent antenna would be at home. I have a couple old dishes in the garage and was curious on the viability of doing a directional hit on one to a local repeater and leaving it there.

The 2m/70cm ht's solve (hopefully) the emergency communication during hunting season problem. But as I read and understand more, I'm most interested in the computer and digital aspects of amateur radio. As an IT professional and developer, I hope to dive a lot deeper into it. Cost of equipment seems to be the biggest hindrance.

 

[csocs_wolf]

License is listed. Woohoo!

Jonathan
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Amateur (HA) KG7NKS
GMRS (ZA) WQUH946

 

[temchik]

License is listed. Woohoo!

Jonathan
--
Amateur (HA) KG7NKS
GMRS (ZA) WQUH946

Congratulations! I got mine not a couple of weeks ago, waiting for my vanity sign now, taking really long time...

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KC1CIO / WQUI904