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Very first question should be, what do the people you ride with use? Second quesiton should be...and be honest...are you actually interesting in radio/electionics? If you aren't and just want to be able to talk to others on the trial then GMRS is easy and not very expensive. But, if you want to...

The Larsen is a great antenna. If you every need a new one that's a great antenna. As for mounting it up on the roof vs where you have it now, all antennas have trade-offs. Where you have it now is actually really good for off-roading because it allows you to see it and know when it's going to...

Take the easy route. Start with a basic handheld and try it. If you end up liking it then you can pony up for the mobiel GMRS and the HT will be relagated to spotter and spare duty.

Have you tried changing the squelch level setting? A setting of 1 is basically right at threshold and it's probably picking up a touch of the noise floor before the squelch circuit captures. I've heard this on onther radios as well so I don't think it's anything wrong.

Well, it seems that tones aren’t needed so I won’t program them in except maybe on one channel for the caravan. Thanks everyone. I kind of felt the tones would be counter productive and it seems you all feel the same.

Agreed! The reason I asked the question is that I've been using tones for years. Mostly to block out all the weird roger beep junk on the road to the trail head. But once in the back country I rarely hear anything. I'm thinking about putting a tone on only one channel and using that to convoy...

Just curious, when you go out as a group do most of you run PL tones on your GMRS radios, or do you leave them carrier squelch to hear everyone? If you do use tones is there a particular tone that has become standard? Just wondering since one of the great things about CB was that everyone could...

No I don't, but my best friend actually lived in Loveland and seeing your call sign you probably know him. His name is Eric and he was with CAP. We used to talk on Zello all the time, and still do now that he's moved back to California. Something I told him he shouldn't do, but he had his reasons.

Almost all critical services use civilian communications. My agency used Verizon for our computers, LAPD uses T-Mobile, the list goes on. Twenty five years ago agencies used separate radio networks for their computers and it was hugely expensive and range limiting. For instance, when my agency...

Correct, the service only works where you have LTE or WiFi coverage. The advantage over calling and text is that it is a one to many type of communication instead of one to one. This makes it great for talking to travelers spread out over a huge area or when in a caravan type situation. Another...

Regarding hands free, Zello can be set to toggle mode. To use it you simply touch the big button and it keys up. After you're done speaking you touch it again to unkey. That feature was made specifically for hands free operation in states that require it. Here is an example of how it works...

My hiking group has members from as far away as a hundred miles. When we are all heading out to meet up we us Zello as our go to channel to coordinate. We find it incredibly useful. Once we hit the trail we use GMRS. I thought the off road community would find it useful and put it out there just...

No problem. I guess this just isn't my crowd. I'll contact the administrators and have my account deleted. Good luck all.

Then by all means, don't use it. I put this out so that people would be aware of it. To each their own.

I believe I was clear that it's not for "off grid" communications. It's for coordinating over long distances with others when not in an off grid situation. As for more reliable? I guess that depends on what you mean. You can go fire up a 40 meter rig and try to make contact with someone and if...

While off-grid communication is usually handled via GMRS, CB or Ham radio there is yet another option that groups might find useful. Push to Talk over LTE is an emerging technology that is being used by many industries that used to use two-way radio. Basically its an app that runs on either...

It's off the 395 north of Ridgecrest.

It's all about having the right tools for the right job. VHF/UHF radio is really in it's own for "local" communications. Meaning simplex line of sight or local via a repeater. For the distance you're talking about you might consider actually using a Zello account and an app on your phone. If...

Well, a brand new 2021 Crosstrek Sport is now in the driveway. Getting a radio in this thing is going to be a real trial. I may just end up using a hand held and trying to find a way to clip it to the dash or something. Fortunately, I live in the Los Angeles area and we have tremendous repeater...