HAM Radio Call Sign Check-In Thread

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NJRadioGuy

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Not sure if I checked into this thread when I registered on the site, but here goes. W2IRT, West Caldwell NJ.
41 years in amateur radio, contester/DXer and award chaser, and I love CW, but brand spanking new to this wonderful hobby of overlanding and offroading. Although it's been almost 18 years since I was active on 2m/UHF, I'm about to buy an FTM-400 this month to replace an ancient Icom 208H in my Jeep Grand Cherokee so I can do some APRS on my travels. I'm occasionally active on the "Venture Overland" Brandmeister talkgroup on DMR (also brand new to DMR).

My question to fellow hams here, how much activity or usefulness do you find on 2m/440 on the trails and while camped out, etc? Do you pre-program your radios for repeaters in your destination area every day or two, or do you just stick to .52 or .46 simplex? On a recent trip to Virginia I only had one single QSO on .52 on the entire trip, and not a single one on the repeaters near my destination. Maybe it was because I had a "2" callsign in "4" land? Also, does anybody find GMRS to be useful on the road in addition to amateur radio? I'm licensed on that service as well (WRJB851) and need it for club trail rides but have never had a contact outside of that environment on GMRS. 73 to all and safe travels. de W2IRT.
 
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M Rose said:
SaskSilver17 said:
VE5 PPR, Prairie Pine Railroad
Been a ham for about 10 years, but have only a little bit of experience with them. I have a Yaesu Vx-8dr HT radio, and am looking for some advice on putting a 2m rig in my truck. Budget friendly, and am wondering what features work and what are just salesmanship.
Would like to stay with the same brand, but am open to some ideas,
Also, looking for mounting ideas for a 17 era Silverado, when I got it, everyone seemed to be struggling on how to route cables, but I have seen a few posted.

Thanks in advance!

73

Derek
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For a budget Yaesu 2 meter rig, the FT/-2980 is hard to beat... but it has several shortcomings for Overlanding... main one is it’s single band. I find myself using both 2m and 70cm when out on trail rides. The other shortcoming is the ability to easily program repeaters on the fly. But seriously worth the look for $145.00

Personally I would look at a radio that does more than just 2m. The Yaesu FT400XDR ia a solid choice for Overlanding due to its APRS capabilities... or spend about $50 more and go with the Kenwood 710g to have access to the TNC inorder to be able to send out packet email...
we had a guy stranded last week in Northern Idaho and the only way he could get help was to send out emails via packet radio to his boss and to the towing company... so for me packet is almost more important than phone especially if going solo.
Click to expand...
I have the ftm400xdr. Love it.
 
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J

JLW82

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NJRadioGuy said:
Not sure if I checked into this thread when I registered on the site, but here goes. W2IRT, West Caldwell NJ.
41 years in amateur radio, contester/DXer and award chaser, and I love CW, but brand spanking new to this wonderful hobby of overlanding and offroading. Although it's been almost 18 years since I was active on 2m/UHF, I'm about to buy an FTM-400 this month to replace an ancient Icom 208H in my Jeep Grand Cherokee so I can do some APRS on my travels. I'm occasionally active on the "Venture Overland" Brandmeister talkgroup on DMR (also brand new to DMR).

My question to fellow hams here, how much activity or usefulness do you find on 2m/440 on the trails and while camped out, etc? Do you pre-program your radios for repeaters in your destination area every day or two, or do you just stick to .52 or .46 simplex? On a recent trip to Virginia I only had one single QSO on .52 on the entire trip, and not a single one on the repeaters near my destination. Maybe it was because I had a "2" callsign in "4" land? Also, does anybody find GMRS to be useful on the road in addition to amateur radio? I'm licensed on that service as well (WRJB851) and need it for club trail rides but have never had a contact outside of that environment on GMRS. 73 to all and safe travels. de W2IRT.
Click to expand...
I use the repeaterbook app on my phone while traveling to look up area repeaters.
 
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M Rose

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NJRadioGuy said:
Not sure if I checked into this thread when I registered on the site, but here goes. W2IRT, West Caldwell NJ.
41 years in amateur radio, contester/DXer and award chaser, and I love CW, but brand spanking new to this wonderful hobby of overlanding and offroading. Although it's been almost 18 years since I was active on 2m/UHF, I'm about to buy an FTM-400 this month to replace an ancient Icom 208H in my Jeep Grand Cherokee so I can do some APRS on my travels. I'm occasionally active on the "Venture Overland" Brandmeister talkgroup on DMR (also brand new to DMR).

My question to fellow hams here, how much activity or usefulness do you find on 2m/440 on the trails and while camped out, etc? Do you pre-program your radios for repeaters in your destination area every day or two, or do you just stick to .52 or .46 simplex? On a recent trip to Virginia I only had one single QSO on .52 on the entire trip, and not a single one on the repeaters near my destination. Maybe it was because I had a "2" callsign in "4" land? Also, does anybody find GMRS to be useful on the road in addition to amateur radio? I'm licensed on that service as well (WRJB851) and need it for club trail rides but have never had a contact outside of that environment on GMRS. 73 to all and safe travels. de W2IRT.
Click to expand...
I program in the major repeaters in the areas I’m going to be traveling through. I have found UHF/VHF my primary comms plan with HF being my backup. I am currently running an Icom IC-7100 for voice and a Kenwood TK-790H for APRS and packet.
 
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axlesandantennas

axlesandantennas

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NJRadioGuy said:
Not sure if I checked into this thread when I registered on the site, but here goes. W2IRT, West Caldwell NJ.
41 years in amateur radio, contester/DXer and award chaser, and I love CW, but brand spanking new to this wonderful hobby of overlanding and offroading. Although it's been almost 18 years since I was active on 2m/UHF, I'm about to buy an FTM-400 this month to replace an ancient Icom 208H in my Jeep Grand Cherokee so I can do some APRS on my travels. I'm occasionally active on the "Venture Overland" Brandmeister talkgroup on DMR (also brand new to DMR).

My question to fellow hams here, how much activity or usefulness do you find on 2m/440 on the trails and while camped out, etc? Do you pre-program your radios for repeaters in your destination area every day or two, or do you just stick to .52 or .46 simplex? On a recent trip to Virginia I only had one single QSO on .52 on the entire trip, and not a single one on the repeaters near my destination. Maybe it was because I had a "2" callsign in "4" land? Also, does anybody find GMRS to be useful on the road in addition to amateur radio? I'm licensed on that service as well (WRJB851) and need it for club trail rides but have never had a contact outside of that environment on GMRS. 73 to all and safe travels. de W2IRT.
Click to expand...
Long timer here too, since 92. I was really into DXing for a number of years but gradually got away from it. I was actually more active during the Solar Minimums as it made it more challenging and I'm a sicko, haha.

As for usefulness on the trails and travel, 2 meter is kind of disappointing. I used to drive a lot for my former company and would carry at least a hand held and mag mount. 146.52 and call every 10 minutes or so. I've may have had just a hand full of QSOs in all the years I've done that. For a long while, I even had a good base station set up here at home and would monitor 146.52 and shout out since I'm close to the interstate and not too far from the Smokys, which is a huge HUGE tourist destination. Hardly anything.

I'm not much for repeaters but while driving long distances, I would scan from edge to edge and did not hear much unless it was rush hour.

On the trail? I think it's great! My trail buddies and I typically dial down the power to about 1/2 watt and with our external antennas, we are golden. Would not want to use any other radio service for trail chatting.

73 N4EGA
 
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El-Dracho

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NJRadioGuy said:
El-Dracho said:
Wow, that is supercool! Enjoy the class and I wish you good luck for the exam!
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I'm the one teaching the class :) I'm Extra Class, and have been licensed since 1979! I thought this would be a good way to get perspective ham overlanders involved.
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Oh, I misunderstood you. I am sorry. Well, have fun with it anyway! That's a really great idea.
 
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