I have wanted to get into HAM radio since 2006, but Iraq and college and life got in the way. I studied for about 2 weeks using the "no nonsense guide". I missed one question. I missed 11 on the general exam.

I know there are a lot of "just passed" threads, but for me this feels like quite a big milestone. I've wanted this for a long time and I'm excited to finally get a radio and figure all of this out.

My eventual goal would be to reach 50-100 miles simplex with a mobile rig in order to communicate with buddies out in the sticks. Will that be possible with tech freqs or will I absolutely need HF for general? I plan to study this month for general and take it in 2 or 3 weeks. The terrain here is very flat.

P.S. I know nothing so go easy on me.

For once I get to be the first to congratulate a new ham!

Congratulations!

Yes, you need General, too.  It will go distances you just can't achieve with UHF and VHF and repeaters.

First, congratulations!
Second, study a bit more and get that General.

To try to answer your question, a lot depends on exactly what you mean. I am assuming 2M mostly here.
If you mean mobile to mobile, while actually mobile, you are just not going to get reliable communication over those distances.

In reality, that sort of distance is quite hard for mobile to mobile on any frequency. On HF because ground-wave power drops off fast, and mobile antennas are pathetically inefficient.

If you are talking about choosing a spot (in the car or from home) to talk to someone similarly situated, 50 miles shouldn't be too difficult.
100 is pushing it for regular comms. Especially FM. Now SSB is a different proposition, but few cheaper mobile rigs offer SSB.

The antenna is the key in any case.

Most books will push a 5/8 whip for mobile use.
They are better because even with a relatively poor groundplane the radiation angle is lower.
But, if there are hills around, sometimes a 1/4 with its high radiation angle works better, with the signal diffracting over the hilltops rather than just hitting the side of the hills.

So, static mobile from the highest bit of ground you can find, with a 5/8 whip should get you 50+ miles under most conditions.

Now, if you can arrange it with your friends, horizontal polarization works better for longer distances.
Look up designs for a mobile 'halo' antenna. They used to be common, but as repeaters took over, a 1/4 whip works for most people and vertical, short range comms (to a repeater) became dominant.

Better still, for static mobile would be some form of collapsable beam and a tripod arrangement to hold it up - manual rotation works just fine, no need to get complicated.
With this sort of setup, running (say) 50w, from a hill, you could well get good 100 mile contacts.

Mobile to mobile, running 10 to 50W, reliable contact -- you are probably looking at ~25miles max.

But - try it. Experiment. Prove me wrong :-)

K7UF / G8FVM

You can hit repeaters probably 100 miles away if you have good elevation.

When I was in PA... the best I could do via simplex was about 15 miles...  base station to base station with about 65 watts at each end.

I did manage to hit a repeater once that was a tad over 100 miles... but 30-50 was more common.

I actually did a little map to put it in perspective...

Attached File

Hope you have room and $$ for a really big tower.

There is a reason repeaters exist. If anyone could easily talk to people 100 miles away on 2m FM there would be no need for them.

You might be able to do it with a 100' tower and a big antenna. Or you might need 500'~1000'. Or you could just use a repeater.

Using 2m SSB instead of FM would make 100 miles a lot more feasible with more practical size towers and antennas. If you really want 100 mile simplex over flat terrain, this is the way to go, although all-mode radios are significantly more expensive and complex than FM.

I'm sure someone will be along any moment and produce the magic incantation of the letters "NVIS", which is nothing more than short range propagation using lower frequency HF bands. While it can function, it is nothing that you expect or are likely to want to deal with to chat with your buddies.

I really appreciate the advice guys (and the congratulations) It sounds like it isn't worth the time or effort for 50+ miles on VHF, and HF on a mobile rig doesn't sound like something I want to get into. The antennas alone look pretty intense considering this would just be for occasional use while roughing it in the woods. The good thing is that there are repeaters in that AO so we shouldn't need the 50 mile simplex reach anyway. I just looked and there are 2m repeaters roughly 18 miles from where I'm at. Shouldn't have any issues hitting those, right?

Another question: I'm looking at putting a ICOM 7100 in my Jeep with a 2m/70cm antenna. Would this combo reach the ~25 miles or so, and is it feasible to remove a mobile rig to use as an occasional base station for an HF setup?  I'm new to HAM, but not new to setting up radios in vehicles. I've used a CB for way too long so at least I'm versed in wiring a mobile rig, SWR, etc. I just don't know how to take advantage of (my soon to be legal) frequencies.

FWIW, NVIS was one of the questions I got right on the general exam.

Congrats!

so many variables...today a buddy about 30 miles and I tried a few 2m FM simplex things (both had compromised antennas-low gain and low mounting points) no love on simplex/digital.  
We did use the 440 repeater and audio-coupled some digital MT63 (poor locals).  *who's got their fax machine turned on?*

I'm not sure I'd want the 7100 in my truck if I weren't a full-time mobile HF guy.  A full-power dual band mobile would be my choice :)

Repeaters work, usually all the time-ours are quiet and make great places to catch up with my friends.

on the ticket, and can't forget the obligatory referral to my ham radio podcast here

Congratulations Dude! It's about time!

Moving a radio works great in theory, not so much in practice.

Congratulations, now get that General.

As cheap as some mobile rigs are... just buy two of them. Add a power supply to one of them and make it your base station.

I had zero need for anything 70cm so I opted for 2m only stuff. It's cheaper too.

My current radio count is:

2- Kenwood TM281's
1- Motorola GM300
2- Kenwood TH-K20's
1- Baofeng UV-5RA (2m /70cm)
2- Motorola CP200's
2- Motorola HT750's

I also gave away a 3rd TM281 and a 3rd TH-K20 to my BIL to get him into Ham.


My whole thought process was... keep everything simple, common and redundant.

2 meter stuff is the most common, easy to use and forgiving stuff out there. Repeaters are also way more plentiful and common than any other bands.

If I were you... I'd pick up a TM281 for the Jeep... and another for the house. They push a solid 65 watts on high power, 25 on low.
They are only $132.95 and are awesome little radios. http://www.mtcradio.com/kenwood-tm-281a-144-mhz-mobile-with-free-shipping/
Buy the $49 programming cable and software and save yourself the headache of trying to manually program it.

As far as vendors are concerned... I've been real pleased with Main Trading Co. http://mtcradio.com/
Great prices and fast shipping. Super good folks to deal with. Everything you need can be found there.

I'm with Cale regarding HF in the Vic.

I have zero interest in spinning a VFO whist driving.

Congrats op. Its a lot of fun. Make sure you balance time with family. The DX is like a drug when you get your General Ticket.

+1 to what Jup said above.  Congrats, amediocreshooter!  

Got my callsign on Thursday!

I started Txing last night on DStar on my new ID-51A Plus 2 . Kind of a pain in the ass to setup initially, with all the reflectors and such, but ended up hitting a gateway repeater 20 miles from me in Central FL and chatting with a really nice guy in Jackson, Mississippi.

Very impressed with this radio. Would love to reach out to some arfcommers on D Star