2m Ham Radio Antenna help

[IMaDad]

Picked up a 2m HT and I am studying for my ticket.
I upgraded the rubber duck antenna to another rubber duck antenna.

looking at a mag mount for my truck, or maybe a glass mount. this will be used with the HT until i get a mobile. any suggestions?

also looking for a packable antenna solution for my HT in my BOB. I heard there are some cheap ones you can string up in a tree. any suggestions?

 

[IMaDad]

Got my ticket saturday.
got a "slim jim" roll up j-pole for the BOB/HT set up.

for anyone who says ham is too hard, or too expensive...
I read study tests on the ****ter on my iphone for a few days
I took the test and passed first time, less that 30 minutes and only $15
you can get a uv-5r ht radio and hit the stone mountain repeater from most of metro area. That radio is less than $40 delivered off amazon.

now shopping for a mobile 2m set up with cross band repeat so i can use the beofeng with it.

 

[Zastava]

Congrats!!!
Gotta link for study test and 15.$ test info???

 

[mountainmoped]

http://copaseticflows.appspot.com/hamtest

 

[IMaDad]

sure.
studying:
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=free+ham+practice+test
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=free+ham+test+study+guide

test info:
http://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-exam-session
www.nfarl.org hosted mine. public park in alpharetta and i think $15 is the standard fee. i know there are tests all over.

and the radio i got, and a buddy of mine.
http://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-UV-5R...?ie=UTF8&qid=1366028777&sr=8-6&keywords=uv-5r
free shipping with amazon prime.

 

[TattooedGunner]

Congrats on getting your license!

Stay away from glass mount antennas. They don't work worth a crap. Mag mount is better but not optimal. NMO mount is gonna be the best but you have to drill a hole.

I use a cheap mag mount and it works fine. You don't need anything super nice for repeater work. And I like being able to take it off if I'm going to be parking somewhere in a not so good neighborhood so I don't broadcast I've got expensive stuff in my truck. Same reason I don't have Glock and other gun stickers all over my truck.

Now start studying for your General and get on HF that's fun. Don't wait 12 years like I did.

 

[IMaDad]

Congrats on getting your license!

Stay away from glass mount antennas. They don't work worth a crap. Mag mount is better but not optimal. NMO mount is gonna be the best but you have to drill a hole.

I use a cheap mag mount and it works fine. You don't need anything super nice for repeater work. And I like being able to take it off if I'm going to be parking somewhere in a not so good neighborhood so I don't broadcast I've got expensive stuff in my truck. Same reason I don't have Glock and other gun stickers all over my truck.

Now start studying for your General and get on HF that's fun. Don't wait 12 years like I did.

I was looking at all the rain covers and such for NMO mounts, and I think i am just going to drill a hole in the roof. Hell if i dont like it i will just put a $3 rain cover on and it will look like a satellite radio antenna. I like repeaters but I got into the HAM thing for emergency comms, and I want to base my equipment on simplex in case repeaters are tied up, or not operational.
Looking to do a cross band repeat setup in the truck, and then be able to use the HT's to make simplex or repeater contacts at distance.

what do you think the maximum range a 75 watt mobile with a big NMO antenna would be, running 2m?

 

[Zastava]

Thanks for the info!!...I'm making this a priority.

 

[Zastava]

You say you studied on the bowl... So how many ?s did you miss?

 

[Old_School]

I was looking at all the rain covers and such for NMO mounts, and I think i am just going to drill a hole in the roof. Hell if i dont like it i will just put a $3 rain cover on and it will look like a satellite radio antenna. I like repeaters but I got into the HAM thing for emergency comms, and I want to base my equipment on simplex in case repeaters are tied up, or not operational.
Looking to do a cross band repeat setup in the truck, and then be able to use the HT's to make simplex or repeater contacts at distance.

what do you think the maximum range a 75 watt mobile with a big NMO antenna would be, running 2m?

The NMO really is the best option. Just be sure and get a good brand antenna and NMO mount. I've found some of the imported (Comet and Diamond) antennas have a slightly different thread than the original Motorola NMO spec.

As for distance, 75 watts won't get you much more range than 15 watts on simplex for 2m/70cm. VHF/UHF (esp FM) is basically line of sight. I've been able to get 5-6 miles on occasion, unless someone was at a higher elevation. On water, your distances will significantly increase. Now with repeaters, you might benefit by having more wattage. I've been able to regularly hit some repeaters 50-100 miles away with 15-45 watts. It all depends on the repeater elevation and whether buildings or mountains are obstructing your signal.

In the end, if your looking for long range communications, you'll have to go HF so you can benefit from groundwave or ionospheric bounce (skip). On 10m (28mHz), you'll typically see 10-30 miles on ground wave. On the lower bands, you may be able to talk significantly farther, even without ionospheric propagation.

N4WFB