Very new. Very confused.

[airplane1]

Hi,
I am in south central PA so I do not think we can talk.I am too far for ground wave and too close for skip. I think there are operators here that are up in the area of PA that you could get a contact to but not sure. If they see this post I am sure they will chime in and talk to you about it.

AP

 

[spider87]

Hi,
I am in south central PA so I do not think we can talk.I am too far for ground wave and too close for skip. I think there are operators here that are up in the area of PA that you could get a contact to but not sure. If they see this post I am sure they will chime in and talk to you about it.

AP

Where are you located roughly? And what is the range of ground communication? lol

Indiana, PA - Google Maps

That's where Indiana, PA is.

Also, this is a stretch but, does anyone have an A99 they'll sell used? I found one at a local shop but he wants almost $100 for it. I'd rather pay like $30-$40 used and then $15 shipping?

Thanks

 

[n8fgb]

One thing to keep in mind in using cb for local comms, is the sun is starting to show signs of life. Very shortly you will not be able to talk across the street for all the skip. you may want to see if there is a ham radio club in your area. They can be a lot of help, 2 meter may be what u want for now. you can get a 10 meter radio and wire antenna later for long range when the sun gets going.
Rich

 

[spider87]

One thing to keep in mind in using cb for local comms, is the sun is starting to show signs of life. Very shortly you will not be able to talk across the street for all the skip. you may want to see if there is a ham radio club in your area. They can be a lot of help, 2 meter may be what u want for now. you can get a 10 meter radio and wire antenna later for long range when the sun gets going.
Rich

Kind of a scary thought....

 

[Nursecosmo]

X2 what n8fgb said. Having used both CB and Ham gear, I'd strongly recommend going the Ham route. A cheap 2 meter/440 radio and antenna will get you crystal clear FM communications out to much greater local range than any CB can. If you use the radio in simplex mode, you will have the same to maybe a little more range than with a CB. When you operate through the local repeaters you will have a MUCH greater range. You never did post your town, but you have a but load of repeaters within 20 miles of Penn Hills PA, 56 to be exact and many of them are linked to state wide or larger networks. I assume that this would be a town near your location, as your reported location is between Allegheny and Indiana counties. http://rptr.amateur-radio.net

If you just acquire your Tech license, you will have access to all of the VHF/UHF ham bands as well as some voice privileges in the ten meter band, which will get you world wide communications.

Perhaps the biggest advantage to you will be that studying for the Tech exam will provide you with a comprehensive knowledge base of radio theory.

One or two days of study will be all you need to pass the exam.

 

[Robb]

I agree with Mole here. I'm all for spider getting his 'feet wet' first on CB. There is plenty to learn from right there first - that can be valuable before a Ham ticket is considered. He needs to understand 'the ropes' before he can climb!

 

[packrat]

Thanks Robb,

I was wondering if anyone would say that he was making a good first step starting off in cb, or continue to push him right off the cliff.

 

[nat19]

I also think that he should start with cb first. That way you can learn the basics and see if you like the whole radio thing. If it turns out that it's not a hobby you want to pursue then sell you gear and your not out a lot. If you go the ham route usally, but not always the gear is more expensive and it envolves taking a test. If you get a simple ssb radio and a decent antenna you shouldn't have any trouble getting 20-30 miles locally, and all over the U.S. and Canada if conditions permit, or even farther.

 

[spider87]

Thanks for all of your advice guys.

I am thinking, since I already have a mobile CB with a cigarette lighter adapter hacked onto the power cable, I will go mobile. What kind of antenna should I look to get for mobile (I have a Kia Spectra so I would like to avoid a giant whip)?

 

[nat19]

A wislon 1000 magnet mount would be a great antenna.

 

[spider87]

Any more in the $20-$40 range that would work? Or is anyone selling their Wilson 1000 for $20-$40? lol

 

[airplane1]

Hi spider87,

I Live just a few miles north of Lebanon PA. I talked close to 100 miles on a very quiet night on ssb and regularly 40-50 miles which I am sure is ground wave.

I think you should buy a 2 meter rig as you can get them cheap and a cheap Radio shack discone antenna + coax and get started listening while you study for your ham licence. This is what I did and listening lets you learn from other operators how to communicate on the ham radio. You can scan for repeaters in your area or go on line and find them in a search to program them in.

The setup will be very reasonable to start out with and if you dont like it sell your setup for almost what you paid for it. If you like it then get a HF rig and antenna to build on your setup.

You can even mount it in your car just like a cb but I started mounting my 2meter mobile in the shack as a base.

AP

 

[spider87]

I do have the CB unit already that's why I figured I'd start with CB because now all I have to get is an antenna. However, how cheap are we talking with this 2 meter setup? I'm looking around and it looks like it's going to be like $150+ or am I looking in the wrong place?

 

[spider87]

And on the CB side of things, is this antenna any good if I were to go with this?

I know it's not going to be great but will this work or will this be complete bs?

Midland® 18-258 27MHz Window Mount CB Radio Antenna - RadioShack.com

 

[Highlander_821]

You could go with a K40 roof/trunk mount for 45 bucks plus shipping. Better not to go any lower than that, or there's almost no point. You NEED a good antenna to make any use of CB. The Wilson 1000 would be (and is) my choice for a mobile antenna. They are a little pricey, but they are a quality product that works very well.