Got my GMRS license back in Feb. but the closest repeater is in BR, about 40 miles away. Line of sight and interference makes it hard to transmit and there is something bleeding over channels 3, 17 and 18, in/around Breaux Bridge. I have a post about it on mygmrs, but no one seems to know what it is, although, many are experiencing the same noise across the country. I built a +12db Yagi, a couple weeks ago and I am able to hear the two repeaters on the west side of BR, loudly, but I don't have enough power to transmit and have them hear me. I am thinking about getting an actual base station @50w, instead of the handheld UV-9G @5w.
I was in Metarie, the other day, and there were active conversations going on from all over the country. Seems to be a pretty small group of people, as they all knew each other by name.
There are no GMRS repeaters in my area, although, there is a pretty active HAM network on 2m. Sounds like a bunch of old grandpas on there, though . Might be an option. Seemed to propagate well. I am about 20 miles from the tower and I could hear them perfectly fine.
As for using this type of radio for SHTF comms, I wouldn't count on GMRS for long-range anything. 2-3 miles is pushing it for anything handheld and 462 & 467mhz is not really good at long-range comms; you need something with a longer wave. A CB with a 100-500w amp would be better, although, it's currently illegal to use (SHTF, AROL, right?). CB comms sit around the 10m band, I think, so they are more apt to skip and penetrate through stuff. Only issue is the yo-yo's in California, Arizona, Tennessee and everywhere else with 5000 watt base stations, blasting across the channels, trying to drown each other out. I know there is a HAM tower in Parks, La, 1k feet up, on the 70cm band, with pretty good coverage. More to consider, you still have to get/build an antenna in the range you want to use. Not just any antenna will work. A 70cm antenna won't work in 160m. The good thing about the lower bands, is, the antennas are more forgiving and can be less complex. There are also radios you can modify to use almost any frequency, I believe. It's called the MARS mod. For secure SHTF, I would look into something with AES encryption and pirating an ex-government tower on LMRS or something like that (again, SHTF, AROL, right?). It wouldn't be long range, but it depends on your needs and SIGINT. We could dive really deep into OPSEC and SIGINT with all this, too.
If the internet goes down, those internet capable repeaters aren't going to do much and, what are we going to do about power?
I was in Metarie, the other day, and there were active conversations going on from all over the country. Seems to be a pretty small group of people, as they all knew each other by name.
There are no GMRS repeaters in my area, although, there is a pretty active HAM network on 2m. Sounds like a bunch of old grandpas on there, though . Might be an option. Seemed to propagate well. I am about 20 miles from the tower and I could hear them perfectly fine.
As for using this type of radio for SHTF comms, I wouldn't count on GMRS for long-range anything. 2-3 miles is pushing it for anything handheld and 462 & 467mhz is not really good at long-range comms; you need something with a longer wave. A CB with a 100-500w amp would be better, although, it's currently illegal to use (SHTF, AROL, right?). CB comms sit around the 10m band, I think, so they are more apt to skip and penetrate through stuff. Only issue is the yo-yo's in California, Arizona, Tennessee and everywhere else with 5000 watt base stations, blasting across the channels, trying to drown each other out. I know there is a HAM tower in Parks, La, 1k feet up, on the 70cm band, with pretty good coverage. More to consider, you still have to get/build an antenna in the range you want to use. Not just any antenna will work. A 70cm antenna won't work in 160m. The good thing about the lower bands, is, the antennas are more forgiving and can be less complex. There are also radios you can modify to use almost any frequency, I believe. It's called the MARS mod. For secure SHTF, I would look into something with AES encryption and pirating an ex-government tower on LMRS or something like that (again, SHTF, AROL, right?). It wouldn't be long range, but it depends on your needs and SIGINT. We could dive really deep into OPSEC and SIGINT with all this, too.
If the internet goes down, those internet capable repeaters aren't going to do much and, what are we going to do about power?
