Just a little update here. I have purchased a total of 4 amateur handheld radios. I bought the first pair off of ebay for about $50 each. They are Feidaxin FD-450A units and they only work on the UHF range from 430-470 Mhz. Since I did not have a HAM license, but did have a GMRS license I decided to program the 22 GMRS channels into these and test them. (Yes, I've heard this may
technically be illegal, but I can't personally see anything wrong with it since I've set the radio to all of the correct settings for GMRS and I have a license.) So we took the radios out and tested them in some of the same places I tested the CB radios and the GMRS radios I bought at Wal-Mart that claimed "36 miles range." Here's what I discovered:
- Handheld CB radios - About a quarter of a mile most of the time, sometimes half of a mile at best.
- The GMRS radios from WalMart - About 1 mile under best conditions.
- The FD-450A's using GMRS frequencies - about 8 miles under best conditions.
So it became pretty obvious to me that even with cheap $50 amateur radios, the quality was much better. I decided to start studying for my HAM license. This weekend I went to the ham-fest in Plano, TX and saw these little guys for $50 a piece and couldn't help myself but to buy them:
These are just 2 watts, half the wattage of my Feidaxin radios. But they are dual-band supporting the 2 meter (144-148 mhz) band as well. Plus they are super small and can be recharged with USB. The Leaf has a USB port too! I honestly didn't think they'd do very well. But we tested them and got 8 miles out of them also! A friend of mine just got his HAM license and call sign so I let him try them out with a repeater and was able to clearly talk to people on it and the repeater was also at least 8 miles away. Unbelievable!
I'm scheduled to take my HAM test tomorrow evening. I've been taking the practice test online for 2 weeks now and I'm regularly make 90% or more. So I think I'm ready to take the test! I believe I'm going to keep the tiny little radio in the Leaf at all times as my emergency radio, plus I'm going to buy 2 more of them. One for the wife's car, one for my desk at work, and the other for home.
I'm also going to start work this weekend on mounting an 8-foot tall antenna on the peak of my house. Since my home is actually up on a hill, plus it has a pretty tall roof, I think my antenna will be pretty darned high. I should be able to talk with my handheld radios for quite some distance just in simplex mode.
Anyway, I'm about to join the world of HAM!