# 10 Meter Radio? Questions!



## Sgt. Mike

I would appreciate some help regarding 10 Meter Radios. First, what is it's range? What does the FCC license consist of? Antennas and extra equipment needed to be a base station and go mobile if necessary? Is a CB radio better and have a greater distance of communication? I know absolutely nothing about this so I appreciate the help. Thank you, Michael, please feel free to PM me.


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## bunkerbob

10 meter is strictly Ham radio, you do need a license to operate. Lousy year for it though because of the low sun spot activity, next few years will be picking up do to the sun spot cycle increase. I have talked with others in south America and the Philippines on good days.
CB??? short communication range if operated within it boundaries.
You will need to obtain a Ham license to be legal, at least a Technician rating. 
Practice here for the test... QRZ Ham Radio and get one of the books to study with, not really that hard. Amazon.com: ARRL Ham Radio License Manual: All You Need to Become an Amateur Radio Operator (Arrl Ham Radio License Manual) (Arrl Ham Radio License Manual) (9780872599635): H. Ward Silver, American Radio Relay League: Books


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## Sgt. Mike

*10 meter radio*

Any brands better than the other and what price range would you consider to be appropriate for a good radio? Also extras you would consider? I see ham units up to the $5,000 range but that would be a bit steep for us right now. Thanks for your answer. Michael


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## NaeKid

I will let the HAM's answer the 10-meter systems as I have only done some research into the systems and only have a skule-book-knowledge level of it, nothing to brag about that is....

As for CB-radio, where it shines is in its cost and flexibility. You can walk into any store and pickup a handheld CB, a package of FRS or a hardmount CB for your vehicle. If you don't feel like walking into a store, you can buy everything you need online and have it shipped as a nice package deal.

Where CB doesn't shine is in its range. You can increase range and transmission-power with specialized antenna, mounts and height - legally. The higher that you can put the tip of the antenna, the greater chance for greater range to a certain extent. You cannot put the antenna 1 kilometer above ground and expect that the range would be increased by double that of an antenna tip'd out at 500 meters above ground. There is an area that is considered illegal by the FCC and that is the use of signal boosters that can give you a huge amount of range. With that range-boost, you can talk to Mexico - and everyone from Ft.McMurray to Tijuana will be able to hear your booming conversation as if you are parked right beside them. NOT a good situation to be in especially for BugOut situations.

A properly tuned and legal CB should be good for 10 miles if all the other CB's in your group that you wish to talk to are also properly tuned in. Tuning a CB yourself consists of using a SWR meter to make sure that your antenna wire, antenna mount and the antenna itself are run properly (no kinks in the wires, no loops in the wires, no grounding at the connections, etc). If you don't want to use a SWR meter to tune it yourself, you can visit many of the truck-stops and have their local expert tune it in for you.


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## bunkerbob

Sgt. Mike said:


> Any brands better than the other and what price range would you consider to be appropriate for a good radio? Also extras you would consider? I see ham units up to the $5,000 range but that would be a bit steep for us right now. Thanks for your answer. Michael


Good morning Mike, I have two IC-706MKIIG they are fantastic, 2m,440m,HF, use one in Ham shack and one in the truck. Compact but powerful units. Along with a Kenwood HF TS-450s in the shack.
Here is just one site for gear... AES Prices
Yaesu is also great, have some of their handhelds, they also have a comparable model to the ICOM.
Remember don't skimp on the antenna, this will make or break your set-up. You can get good all band verticals that will do fine over a broad frequency spectrum.
In the truck I have two antennas one for 2,440m and another for HF.


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## DocWard

I've been thinking about making the jump to HAM for some time, but haven't pulled the trigger just yet. There is a large HAM convention near me, and I keep saying "one of these days..." I wouldn't mind having one for my vehicle, but nothing spectacular.

I already run a CB, because the group that I typically go camping / four wheeling with runs them. They tend to work quite well for that.

I suppose the question ends up being what do you want to do with it? If you want to just be able to communicate with friends in a convoy, go CB. If you think you will be wanting to make long distance communications and find out what is going on in the world, then it seem HAM is the way to go. That is just my opinion based on what I have read.


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## Sgt. Mike

*10 Meter Radio*

The HAM will be for our emergency survival equipment. Mostly to be used during the tornado months. Quite possibly I will expand to other time but it's emergency use right now. I'm picking up some books to prepare for the test. Michael


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## DocWard

Sgt. Mike said:


> The HAM will be for our emergency survival equipment. Mostly to be used during the tornado months. Quite possibly I will expand to other time but it's emergency use right now. I'm picking up some books to prepare for the test. Michael


Sounds like a good idea then. Good luck with the test and let me know how it goes!


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## 11D20

*Mike*

The Tech license will allow you to operate 6 meters (like the old prc/25/77 radios) 50mhz to 54mhz, 2 meters, 70 cm and others like 220mhz....

Might as well consider a Yaesu, or kenwood in an older flavor like kenwoods ts440, 430, or something similar....Just make sure you get the license....You'll be hunted down by fcc for illegal operation.....caught a cb'r a couple of months ago illegally operating on 28.475mhz, so I started recording him from my radio onto my laptop computer...turned in all of the recordings to the FCC and they want to shut him down...Hopefully, they got a good address to send him his bad news~!

Good luck on your choice...Type in Kenwood ham radio on ebay and study up for a while, as well as yaesu and Icom..then when you find something in your price range check with eham.net and look at their reviews on these products...That is priceless~!


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## nj_m715

When I was in the jeep club we had cb's in the jeeps and in most of the tow vehicles. They great on the trail, by we seemed to limited to line if sight on the highway. If our little convouy got too streched out the first truck couldn't talk to the last truck. You can always take your chances and run a linear amp to improve your range, but you still won't hear back unless they have one too. 
I had a ranger multi band and it allowed me to talk to my guard unit from my pov back when we used prc-77's. Came in handy for long trips. 

my 2 cents is pick one up and add it to the stores. I don't think they will put much effort in to tracking you down while the town's being looted and burned. Get the comm gear now and have it. Get the license when you can. I pretty sure anyone can set up and listen in. you just need a lic. to transmit.


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## DocWard

nj_m715 said:


> When I was in the jeep club we had cb's in the jeeps and in most of the tow vehicles. They great on the trail, by we seemed to limited to line if sight on the highway. If our little convouy got too streched out the first truck couldn't talk to the last truck. You can always take your chances and run a linear amp to improve your range, but you still won't hear back unless they have one too.
> I had a ranger multi band and it allowed me to talk to my guard unit from my pov back when we used prc-77's. Came in handy for long trips.
> 
> my 2 cents is pick one up and add it to the stores. I don't think they will put much effort in to tracking you down while the town's being looted and burned. Get the comm gear now and have it. Get the license when you can. I pretty sure anyone can set up and listen in. you just need a lic. to transmit.


I have never been in a convoy that large! Most of our outings have been three to five vehicles, which is well within CB range. Having said that, you make very good points!


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## NaeKid

DocWard said:


> I have never been in a convoy that large! Most of our outings have been three to five vehicles, which is well within CB range. Having said that, you make very good points!


I helped create the Calgary Jeep Association 10+ years ago. At one point in time, we had 200 Jeeps registered in the club. An average outting had 50 Jeeps in the parade headed out to the back-country for a wheeling trip. Once out there, we would split up into two or three groups and would follow seperate trails to meet-up somewhere for a picnic-lunch, swap stories and then seperate and head back to a final meeting place to head towards home.

You can just imagine how long the parade-line was travelling down the highway at highway speeds, eh?


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## nj_m715

We were not that big, we would just spread out on the highway as the older half or three-quarter ton tow vehicles tried to keep up with the newer big block and diesel rigs. We normally had about about 10-20 jeeps.


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