Difference between revisions of "Entry Level Consumer and Amateur (Ham) Radio - Best Bands, Frequencies, Equipment"
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The objective of this article is | The objective of this article is to highlight only those frequency bands which permit affordable, practical, and easy operation. The emphasis of this article is only on those bands which are suitable for mobile or hand-held operation, and which will give a usable communication range. | ||
==Definition of a band== | |||
Thru the speed of light in vacuum, c, there exists a relationship between the frequency of an electromagnetic wave and its wavelength. The easy relationship to remember is that 300MHz is equal to 1m wavelength, with higher frequencies being shorter wavelengths. Therefore, 30MHz will be 10m, while 3GHz will be 10cm wavelengths, respectively. | |||
==Bands== | |||
11 meters | |||
Citizen's Band is located on frequencies from 26.965 to 27.405 MHz. This is commonly referred to as the 11 meters band. | |||
compare to AM, FM bands | compare to AM, FM bands | ||
Revision as of 11:52, 15 September 2012
The objective of this article is to highlight only those frequency bands which permit affordable, practical, and easy operation. The emphasis of this article is only on those bands which are suitable for mobile or hand-held operation, and which will give a usable communication range.
Definition of a band
Thru the speed of light in vacuum, c, there exists a relationship between the frequency of an electromagnetic wave and its wavelength. The easy relationship to remember is that 300MHz is equal to 1m wavelength, with higher frequencies being shorter wavelengths. Therefore, 30MHz will be 10m, while 3GHz will be 10cm wavelengths, respectively.
Bands
11 meters
Citizen's Band is located on frequencies from 26.965 to 27.405 MHz. This is commonly referred to as the 11 meters band.
compare to AM, FM bands
fire, police, emt bands
CB handheld unusable in car
mobile station with 12V SLA or lithium batt pack
AM modulation for safety (can hear several people), but electromagnetic noise from many sources
typical power, antenna size, distance
cannot do CB from inside car with a handheld
bands for taxi, police, fire, etc
only covers handheld or mobile related bands and equipment, with usable voice capability
Yaesu, I-Com, Tin-Tac??
CB, 2m, 70cm, FRS, GPRS
EMS, Fire, Police, Taxi bands
amateur general license
ARRL, local club
internet scanners
used equipment. Include links to e-bay, google shopping, custom craigslist search, amazon.
Mobile, car one is better
good antenna more important than fancy equipment
UHF is line-of-sight
Business Band
GMRS - Theoretical range between two hand-held units would be about one or two miles (about one and a half to three km), mobile units have higher antennas and range of around 5 miles (8 km)
