"Defeat is the denial that you can" ~E.Thomas
With today's modern cellular devices why on earth would you want anything else, and how is anything better than our modern cellular devices? As a modern society we get almost all of our information from cell phones and hey, why not you have the world in the palm of your hands. In this blog I will be going over the pros, cons, and options of communication devices in your vehicle.
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| The MPV (for example) |
What the Pros use: Ask any professional communicator and they will tell you they have multiple communication setups and that you will have to find one that works for you. I have to say that I agree with them and for the purpose of this blog I will be using my 98 TJ above as a example. From left to right you will find beginning on the left or the passenger side a small cell phone booster next is the factory FM antenna and finally on the right or drivers side a ham radio antenna. One antenna I have planned for but not installed yet is my GMRS radio and that antenna will be on the same side as the cell phone booster. The reason for so many backups is should one fail (Cell phones for that matter) I have a back up to fall back on. And should the need arise that I have to abandon ship and walk I have options to be able to communicate my position and expedite mine or my families rescue. So enough of my rambling lets begin.
Cell Phones: I am not going to stay here long but we have one and all know that once out of a major hub that they can become spotty and not work very well. Another thing is if you are in a grid down or severe weather situation then they are not going to work very well either if at all. Basically put cell phone while our main option should not only be our only option......
Cell Phone Boosters: These extend the range of cell phones and usually run in the $100-$200 range. They are simple to install and greatly increase the range of the cell phone. I have one and it works great but once again if the cell network goes down then it becomes a brick.
CB Radio: From the 1970's and the Smokie and the Bandit days until now CB Radio is still in use but there are some good things and bad things about it. Let break it down breaker, breaker...
Pros: CB radio is easy to get doesn't require a license and is fairly easy to install, CB Radio also has dedicated emergency channels but there are a lot of drawbacks....
Cons: CB radio is used heavily by commercial tow companies, truckers and local yokels so while there is a chance you will be heard you have to cut through chatter to be heard and possibly be overpowered by a nearby radio or base station. Also CB radio has the lowest power ratio of all of the options today only a allowable 4 watts of transmit power.
Second thing about CB is it is not a family friendly radio a lot of truckers and other people talk on there and will teach your little ones to say things that will make Satan shudder and most likely get them kicked out of school for the rest of the year.
The final Con is there is a lot of dead space in the radio, meaning that they work really well up close but will skip an area and work farther away leaving you with dead zones that you will have to deal with and if you can't move or leave the vehicle then you have greater safety risk or at worst a longer wait time.
With this I say if you like or have a CB then use it, but it just isn't it for me.
GMRS/FRS: This is a great close range option that I use, The radios cost about $100-$250 and the license is about 80 bucks but if your like me and need close range coms between cars and people this is one of the most affordable. On a side note, I use this if we have multiple vehicles chasing storms and need to stay off ham radio to use it for Skywarn However the range can be between 50 Ft. and 2 miles max also it has a lot better power rating up to 40 watts, 10x the power of a CB Radio.
Ham Radio: I save the best for last, Ham radio is the most expensive but the most reliable, Radios can set you back $200-$500 dollars and you have to have a license which cost about 50 buck including the study book, and the other downside is you have to pass a 35 question test but hey it's worth it...The network of repeaters and simplex (radio to radio) is immense and it has a great hobby to go along with it. Plenty of hams are willing to help you get started, and a lot of them are first responder's as well. This provides you with a solid network and a solid community waiting to help if anything should go wrong. Another thing is you can get a handheld radio HT for about $200 and still have comms if you need to leave the vehicle
I would recommend is this option over all of the others, if you had to choose.
Satellite Communicators: I am just going to touch a little on these as the price range is astronomical. They are great portable option that keeps a track on your location and some you can send texts over but expect to shell out about $500-$600 for a decent one
This is one in the budget for later on for me...........
With this I hope I explained the options for vehicle communications and that I have inspired you to at least put a few in your vehicle. If you want to see us put in the radio watch the video below.
Until next time take care and remember God is still in control....
