
I would think something like that would be more useful for at least what I would need it for than anything else. But the range seems incredibly limited. Is there a way to bump it up to like, 15-20 miles? More power, larger antenna or something? And no, if you haven't caught on yet, I don't care about legality.
Well I've ordered a couple so we're gonna find out. I have seen some tests where guys got 2 miles out of them. And they are a mesh system obviously, so you can rig one with power and put it on top of your house or in a tree or something to get the height, and then use another in the house, hooked to your phone.
Also, there's better antennas you can get, but realistically I wouldn't expect much over a few miles. Until we can figure out how to boost the power output.
Also of note. The world record for Lora communication is around 150 km, so it's capable with the correct upgrades, but I'm sure he had some super high end shit.
Mine shipped out yesterday. Coming from China apparently tho(fuck china) so it'll be a while, but I suppose it'll give me time to study up on em.
So apparently "base station" gmrs units are not a thing? Everything I've seen is all mobile units. Then you have to buy a power supply and antenna and everything separate so you can put it in your house. Kinda seems like this even for ham. Irritating.
@sam, this is a good time to buy though. Black Friday / Cyber Monday is probably the cheapest you'll find things.
I got my HF radio! Now I'll be set for off-grid comms.
Radio: csi-radios.com/g90-20-watt-sdr-hf-radio/
Feedline: https://thewireman.com/product/75ft-rg8x-mini-low-loss-pl259-installed/
Digital Interface: https://digirig.net/product/digirig-mobile/
Got my radio the other day! Just going with GMRS for now. I got a Radioddity DB25-G mobile for my truck. Then i got a few handheld baofeng UV5x(GMRS specific) and a few UV5rs. Those will be improved down the road. But anyways, that'll be my short range comms. I'm waiting for an antenna yet, apparently its still sitting in one of the Carolina's, so as soon as i get that I can start messing around and finding my range. I also got a 700 wH battery, which I can use as a power supply in the house, as well as of course battery backup in a grid down situation. Should be able to reach all my family and friends I'll need to reach close to me before i get into the long range stuff.
Still waiting on my LoRa shit so I can start playing with that tho.
Alright, so I've made some progress on this whole off grid comms thing. I've got a Radioddity DB25 GMRS mobile radio mounted in my truck. And a few UR-5X GMRS handhelds, as well as some UV5Rs. GMRS is far simpler for the average joe to operate, so I went that route so I can hand em out to family and friends if need to and just tell em channel 16 or whatever. I may ditch the GMRS in my truck and just go with a normal HAM radio, as you can still communicate with GMRS, and you can communicate with anyone running another radio. There's a ton of marine bands around here that people use for coyote hunting. I haven't decided on that yet.
I also picked up a couple of LoRA devices. Pic below. Just need some 3d printed cases for em. Basically, these are a poor man, or tinkering man's, Gotennas. You can bluetooth them with your phone and text over radio signals with them. So if cell service goes down, you can still communicate with anyone that has one. Range is limited of course, but you can use a "mesh" system and basically they act as relays so you can reach further. Just kind of some cool tech to play with.
Also, I have an EcoFlow River Pro power station. Can see the edge of it in the first picture. But my plan is to charge all of my battery operated devices off of that. My ring cams, flashlights, radios, phones, battery banks. And that will be connected to a solar panel to keep it topped off. That way power outages have no effect on comms. Anywho, just some stuff I've been playing with. Hopefully will never need, but I enjoy messing with em, and it's dang nice to have em.