Discussions
Reply to: Ham radio for local communication Posted March 22, 2022

Hi Robert, thanks for the detailed reply.  It is very useful information.  It’s funny that you mentioned “bowl” because that is exactly how it can be described.  I live in a valley with hills and mountains all around.  There are a few repeaters in every direction, but unfortunately my brother-in-law and my nephew can’t reach any of them from the other side of the hills.  I nearly joined our local Ham Club, but I changed my mind because my brother-in-law and nephew didn’t want to use Echolink – which is how most members of the club communicate.  The local club does run a repeater, but my brother-in-law and nephew can’t reach it unless they drive around the side of the hill.  It only takes 10 or 15 minutes, but it’s not ideal in an emergency situation.   I downloaded a list of repeaters from Repeater Book and we tried them one at a time.  We found a few that we could both reach, but the signal was weak and intermittent.  Not reliable at all, which is why I’m now looking into upgrading and raising my brother-in-laws antenna.   One of the local club members made an antenna from an old satellite dish – similar to what is in this video on youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH9_xW_QvVk He claimed it increased his range immensely.  He suggested that we make one for my brother-in-law.  We have obtained an old dish that we plan to experiment on.  Fingers crossed.   Regarding your other suggestions:  We have identified a central location for when the SHTF (my son is in between all of us and has a lot of land) which is well stocked with supplies. I made an emergency communication card for everyone with directions on how to communicate with the Ham or FRS radios after an emergency.   I’m looking into something called LoRa – Long Range Communications which might help once we are all centrally located.   https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001178678568.html Also, I just purchased my GMRS license.  I’ll look into upgrading my FRS radios to GMRS now.  They seem to have better range and more features.  Unfortunately, the GRMS radios are much more expensive.   I appreciate all of the feedback from everyone here.  It’s given me some great ideas and I’m feeling much more confident than I was yesterday.   Thanks again everyone! Greg

Reply to: Ham radio for local communication Posted March 21, 2022
Reply to: Ham radio for local communication Posted March 21, 2022
Reply to: Ham radio for local communication Posted March 20, 2022

Hi Seasons4.  Thank you for the suggestions.  Both my brother-in-law and I are using Arrow dual band J pole antennas.  We went with a dual band antenna because, well it was dual band and it was cheaper!  Even so, I have good signal in my area and I can reach quite a few repeaters, but not any my brother in law can reach, because of the hill between us. We’re going to try to raise his antenna higher to see if he can reach a big repeater to the north of us.  We’ve tried using this repeater a few times but his signal is just too weak.  He bought a tall painter’s pole that we’re going to try to mount to his chimney.  That should raise his antenna about 18′ higher than it is right now. I’ll look into Dstar and System Fusion.  I’m not at all familiar with those.  My brother-in-law is not very techy, so I’m trying to make everything as simple as possible for him.  Using Echolink was challenging for him. I’m thinking of buying a TYT TH9800 quad band radio.  Even if it doesn’t allow me to communicate with my brother-in-law and nephew it will give me an HF radio to use.  I know it’s a cheap knock off of a Yeasu, but I’m not ready to invest in a ton of radio equipment right now.  I just want the minimum necessary to get the job done.  The reviews are pretty mixed on the Th9800.  Do you have any experience with it?  Any other suggestions?  Thanks again.  Greg.

Ham radio for local communication
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10
Posted March 20, 2022
Ham radio for local communication
12
10
Posted March 20, 2022
Reply to: Ham radio for local communication Posted March 22, 2022

Hi Robert, thanks for the detailed reply.  It is very useful information.  It’s funny that you mentioned “bowl” because that is exactly how it can be described.  I live in a valley with hills and mountains all around.  There are a few repeaters in every direction, but unfortunately my brother-in-law and my nephew can’t reach any of them from the other side of the hills.  I nearly joined our local Ham Club, but I changed my mind because my brother-in-law and nephew didn’t want to use Echolink – which is how most members of the club communicate.  The local club does run a repeater, but my brother-in-law and nephew can’t reach it unless they drive around the side of the hill.  It only takes 10 or 15 minutes, but it’s not ideal in an emergency situation.   I downloaded a list of repeaters from Repeater Book and we tried them one at a time.  We found a few that we could both reach, but the signal was weak and intermittent.  Not reliable at all, which is why I’m now looking into upgrading and raising my brother-in-laws antenna.   One of the local club members made an antenna from an old satellite dish – similar to what is in this video on youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH9_xW_QvVk He claimed it increased his range immensely.  He suggested that we make one for my brother-in-law.  We have obtained an old dish that we plan to experiment on.  Fingers crossed.   Regarding your other suggestions:  We have identified a central location for when the SHTF (my son is in between all of us and has a lot of land) which is well stocked with supplies. I made an emergency communication card for everyone with directions on how to communicate with the Ham or FRS radios after an emergency.   I’m looking into something called LoRa – Long Range Communications which might help once we are all centrally located.   https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001178678568.html Also, I just purchased my GMRS license.  I’ll look into upgrading my FRS radios to GMRS now.  They seem to have better range and more features.  Unfortunately, the GRMS radios are much more expensive.   I appreciate all of the feedback from everyone here.  It’s given me some great ideas and I’m feeling much more confident than I was yesterday.   Thanks again everyone! Greg

Reply to: Ham radio for local communication Posted March 21, 2022
Reply to: Ham radio for local communication Posted March 21, 2022
Reply to: Ham radio for local communication Posted March 20, 2022

Hi Seasons4.  Thank you for the suggestions.  Both my brother-in-law and I are using Arrow dual band J pole antennas.  We went with a dual band antenna because, well it was dual band and it was cheaper!  Even so, I have good signal in my area and I can reach quite a few repeaters, but not any my brother in law can reach, because of the hill between us. We’re going to try to raise his antenna higher to see if he can reach a big repeater to the north of us.  We’ve tried using this repeater a few times but his signal is just too weak.  He bought a tall painter’s pole that we’re going to try to mount to his chimney.  That should raise his antenna about 18′ higher than it is right now. I’ll look into Dstar and System Fusion.  I’m not at all familiar with those.  My brother-in-law is not very techy, so I’m trying to make everything as simple as possible for him.  Using Echolink was challenging for him. I’m thinking of buying a TYT TH9800 quad band radio.  Even if it doesn’t allow me to communicate with my brother-in-law and nephew it will give me an HF radio to use.  I know it’s a cheap knock off of a Yeasu, but I’m not ready to invest in a ton of radio equipment right now.  I just want the minimum necessary to get the job done.  The reviews are pretty mixed on the Th9800.  Do you have any experience with it?  Any other suggestions?  Thanks again.  Greg.