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absinvestor
Senior Nomad
Posts: 725
Registered: 11-28-2009
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cb radio
We don't currently have a cb radio. Our cell phone is with ATT. We'll be in Baja for about 3 months with much of the time spent boondocking in non-
populated areas. (We lived in Baja for a couple of years and speak reasonably good Spanish.) Are cb's still widely used in Baja Sur and does anybody
have any recommendations for specific brands/models? Thanks Ron
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Bob and Susan
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Location: Mulege BCS on the BAY
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cb's are not used anymore...
handheld VHF is what you really need
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Russ
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And DC charger
Bahia Concepcion where life starts...given a chance!
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David K
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Sunspot activity* causes the ionosphere to reflect AM/ CB radio waves back to earth (known as 'skip')... All the 'noise' from CBers around the US
makes local communication difficult when skip condition exists.
VHF and FM (Family Band) 2 way radios don't have 'skip' to contend with... However, their signals are restricted to 'line of sight' and don't go over
hills or beyond the curve of the earth.
*also affects planet temperatures
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woody with a view
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vhf vs. fm walkie talkie?
how much farther will a vhf go while driving. the fm's are crap unless you can see the other vehicle. will vhf travel farther?
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David K
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Line of Sight... VHF Marine Radios (used on the ocean). People use them to talk to each other who live along the coast betwen San Felipe and
Puertecitos. Bahia Santa Maria can talk to Puertecitos (35 miles) for example.
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BFS
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ham?
Is VHF the same as ham radio?
Aq
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Mexicorn
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10-4 Rubber duck we got us a convoy!
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BooJumMan
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Well, maybe I'm old school being 27 and all but I still use CB radio's!! I dont like the hand helds but I only gave them one chance. 
A properly setup CB works really good. If you've got specific questions, let me know. There is a science to it.
Best to get a Cobra CB, or Uniden. The mid to cheap grade ones will work fine for convoys. If you are looking for communication with neighboring
towns, get something more than $100.  The Firestik tunable antennas work great.
They also have a good amount of info on their website:
http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs.htm
You can buy a bundle kit on walcottcb.com. (Mount, Coax, antenna, radio). Buy a cheap SWR meter to tune your antenna. If you've got a radio shop
nearby you can get them to peak and tune your radio as well.
When I am down there, I get a lot of traffic on the CB, so it seems to me many of the Mexicans are still using it. Your AT&T phone should work a
lot of the areas though.
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DERN
Junior Nomad
Posts: 52
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Check these guys out
www.hamradio.com/
We have an Icom (IC V8000) 75 watts, any frequency you desire to talk on, Ham capability, etc. It doubles as a VHF and a race radio. It has tons of
features that I still haven't, nor will ever use. Kinda depends on what level of radio nut you are. Antennas can be hard mounted like ours or a
magnet version. I want ot say that it ran us about $250-300. Well worth it in my opinion.
As far as power goes, it blows doors on your typical VHF. I believe 25watts for a VHF and 75watts for this type.
DERN
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
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Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
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Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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ICOM-IC-V8000
E-Bay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ICOM-IC-V8000-ICOM-V8000-ICOM-IC-V8000_W...
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tripledigitken
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DERN
www.hamradio.com/
We have an Icom (IC V8000) 75 watts, any frequency you desire to talk on, Ham capability, etc. It doubles as a VHF and a race radio. It has tons of
features that I still haven't, nor will ever use. Kinda depends on what level of radio nut you are. Antennas can be hard mounted like ours or a
magnet version. I want ot say that it ran us about $250-300. Well worth it in my opinion.
As far as power goes, it blows doors on your typical VHF. I believe 25watts for a VHF and 75watts for this type.
DERN |
Dern,
I have a handheld Icom VHF that I take to Baja. Right or wrong I haven't worried about getting a license for it. Do you have a license for yours?
Are you a Ham?
That's a hell of a radio!
Ken
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meme
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Posts: 756
Registered: 8-20-2003
Location: San Felipe,BC
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Most all of the Scorpion Off Road/Search & Rescue are now using IcomV8000 radios. They also receive Marine channels which are used in many homes
& vehicles here in San Felipe
They have made communications very good here.
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DERN
Junior Nomad
Posts: 52
Registered: 5-3-2007
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Ken
| Quote: | Originally posted by tripledigitken
| Quote: | Originally posted by DERN
www.hamradio.com/
We have an Icom (IC V8000) 75 watts, any frequency you desire to talk on, Ham capability, etc. It doubles as a VHF and a race radio. It has tons of
features that I still haven't, nor will ever use. Kinda depends on what level of radio nut you are. Antennas can be hard mounted like ours or a
magnet version. I want ot say that it ran us about $250-300. Well worth it in my opinion.
As far as power goes, it blows doors on your typical VHF. I believe 25watts for a VHF and 75watts for this type.
DERN |
Dern,
I have a handheld Icom VHF that I take to Baja. Right or wrong I haven't worried about getting a license for it. Do you have a license for yours?
Are you a Ham?
That's a hell of a radio!
Ken |
We/I are not Hamsters. We do not have a liscense for ours. Only one time did we get questioned in Baja. That was by a very young milatary guy at the
Santo Tomas checkpoint. He said in spanish that our radio was not allowed, we replied that it didn't function. Off we went on our merry way. Some day
I would like to get my Ham License. Just one more thing to add to my Bucket List.
DERN
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DERN
Junior Nomad
Posts: 52
Registered: 5-3-2007
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One more thing to add
If you're an ex-pat living in an area that has no phone lines, a VHF radio is you're only form of communication. When you get on the horn, every Tom,
Dick and Harry is hearing your conversation. No privacy whatsoever. With a radio like the Icom V-8000, you can have dedicated freqs with your friends
with a similar radio without the typical VHF folks listening in. Not to mention the fact that the power of these radios far exceeds a VHF.
DERN
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Bob and Susan
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8813
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Location: Mulege BCS on the BAY
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"No privacy whatsoever"
...that's unless you use the "secret channel"
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Jack Swords
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Location: Nipomo, CA/La Paz, BCS
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Marine VHF is FM (frequency modulation). That it is FM has no bearing on the distance you can communicate. Marine VHF is limited by type acceptance
to 25 watts. Many of the marine channels are used by aduana, Pemex, the navy, and other coastal government agencies in Mexico. One channel (16) is a
calling channel for ship traffic and is monitored by the navy and port captains for emergency communications. These channels are dedicated for those
uses.
Converted ham radios are capable of much higher power and can operate on the marine bands, ham bands, business bands, and others. These are FM also,
as related to this thread. (Other ham radios for long distance can be SSB. HF ssb is used by mariners also. These can be much higher power again).
Policing of unlicensed radios by SCT here in Baja is spotty at best. Using a marine FM radio on land in the US (as here) is illegal, but with much
better enforcement in the US. Therefore land and sea marine VHF FM is relatively common here. There are lots of channels that won't interfere with
the gov't agencies or emergency marine traffic and these are the channels used. The converted ham VHF radios are used on obscure frequencies not ham
nor marine.
FYI, to legally use your ham radio in Mexico requires a permit from SCT(reciprocal license) that is good for 6 months and costs around $100 usd.
Jack, N1IY
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Paulina
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bob and Susan
"No privacy whatsoever"
...that's unless you use the "secret channel" |
That's what Dern was talking about...
"Woodchuck to Grey Squirrel, Woodchuck to Grey Squirrel, come in Grey Squirrel...."
P<*)))>{
\"Well behaved women rarely make history.\" Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
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absinvestor
Senior Nomad
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thanks for all the great information. Ron
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Mexicorn
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Man O Man alive you guys know your stuff when it comes to those radios!
I had a CB in my 1978 Trans Am- come back rubber duck You got yer ears on? Wheres the smokies?
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