talk to people

[KF8ZR]

It actually depends who / what you're talking to.
Get a GMRS radio and follow this general listing:

If you're talking to your drinking buddies try Channel 1
If you're talking to people you work with that'd be Channel 2
If you're talking to your wife's friends that she goes shopping with but you don't want her to know then use Channel 3. That's the "private" channel and nobody will know you're on there.
If you need to speak to government agents try channel 4.
If you're speaking with illegal aliens then only use channel 5.
If you want to speak to people in Michigan then Channel 6 is where you'll be.
If you're trying to link up to multiple stations then use channel 7 for that nonsense.
If you are expecting a call from someone else then use channel 8
If you need help and are broken down on the side of the road then try channel 9. That's the "emergency" channel
If you are doing off-roading with a quad or three wheeler, etc. Then always use channel 10

what would be a good frequency that me and my friends can use to talk that covers a good range of area even with a short antenna

 

[riverradio68]

If it's you and a group of friends, BS-ing on the block about the local gang of mutts roaming your neighborhood - GMRS makes better sense. It's a $35 filing fee, 99% guaranteed, issued in hours, good for 10 years and covers your entire family (including dead relatives). Amateur is a test and fee and while it opens a ton of spectrum doors it can also open a ton of unwanted political doors as well. The other option is to take the bus to your local commercial radio provider and maybe lease a community repeater. The drawback to that is they will want to sell you REAL radios which are not $40 bucks a pop!

 

[Wynterspop]

How do you get the test

Ham Radio Prep – Ham Radio Online License Class

A Ham Radio License Course designed for beginners. You can find lessons, instructional videos, and practice exams. Get started with our free lesson.

hamradioprep.com

 

[Thorndike113]

Before you go running off and getting a Ham License (which you may find to be a cool hobby) here are a few things to look at.

Ham Radio - Is a hobby (and some ham out there probably wants to kill me for that statement) where you deal with the technical end of things and in all reality, usually get stuck doing contesting and spending 10's of thousands of dollars, and it doesn't stop. It can be real fun because you can have the ability to get into some really cool things having to do with radio technically if you stay away from contesting. The HUGE downside to Ham Radio is that if you are looking for just communications between you and others, EVERY SINGLE PERSON who wants to communicate with you MUST obtain a Ham Radio license.

MURS (151.82-154.600) - You get 5 channels to use on VHF hi-band license free and "By FCC Law" the radios must be (like all radios) type accepted for the MURS band. Quite honestly, I have never met a person to this day that operated in that band with a MURS type accepted radio. Over the past 2 decades you can find people who blew 50 watts out their radios communicating with people. I would not encourage that behavior but you I think you get my point. Its a radio band that is good for local comms on the same property or while travelling down the road between vehicles.

GMRS (462.55-462.725) - This band allows you to operate through repeaters and from radio to radio with a max power output of 50 watts. For general comms, this sounds more like what you would want. You can run low and high power depending on your situation. Unlike Ham Radio which requires EVERYONE to obtain a license, GMRS is one license per household. Toss $35 at the FCC with an application (which you can find online on their site) and you have a radio license. You can conduct business on it, or just chat with friends or others who have GMRS licenses or people with bubble pack radios. Its more of a community type radio similar to what CB radio used to be, but without the skip from across the country.

Hopefully this helps because I can tell you right now, a lot of people who are clueless about radio who are in your exact predicament will hear someone say ham radio and then they get their ham license and realize that if they want to communicate with their wife and kids, ALL OF THEM must obtain their own ham license, which I know many wives, mine included, will not do or are unable to do. There is a radio band out there for each person and entities needs. Its a matter of picking the right one that works for your purposes.

 

[Patty01]

what would be a good frequency that me and my friends can use to talk that covers a good range of area even with a short antenna

GMRS is always a great option just create an account with the FCC and purchase the license for $75

 

[SteveC0625]

GMRS is always a great option just create an account with the FCC and purchase the license for $75

GMRS licenses are now $35. Price was reduced earlier this year.

 

[iMONITOR]

what would be a good frequency that me and my friends can use to talk that covers a good range of area even with a short antenna

What do you consider "good range"? Most all the hand-held radios will only do roughly between 1 & 3 miles between them without the aid of a repeater.

 

[Patty01]

1 Mile is great for not having a license with 2 watts, with a license you can get all the way up to 50 watts and paired with a good antenna you could easily get 15 or more miles.

 

[KF6DGN]

Save money and time. Sell the radios. Download Zello to your phones/tablets and “play radio” on the app. Total cost $0? Study/training Time about 5 minutes. Maybe 20 minutes to learn all about Zello. This is a lot easier than having your family members and or your friend study for and taking the amateur radio test.

 

[522]

Save money and time. Sell the radios. Download Zello to your phones/tablets and “play radio” on the app. Total cost $0? Study/training Time about 5 minutes. Maybe 20 minutes to learn all about Zello. This is a lot easier than having your family members and or your friend study for and taking the amateur radio test.

Except internet is required for Zello to work. Usually fine most of the time. For me however, the places I hike/backpack/camp are typically on the fringe of cell phone coverage.

With that said however, rough terrain is sometimes challenging with even radios... depending on how far the radios are apart.