Gulfstream Greg

There are some ham operated satellites, but it depends on where you are if you could hit them. A good dual band ham radio (2meter and 70cm FM) new is about $400, an antenna another $60 - $100. I bought my first dual bander on ebay for around $300 with an antenna. The dual band radios are easily programmed for local repeaters. They can even be programmed using a computer, in other words plan a trip and program in repeaters along the routes. HF Single Sideband radios use much bigger antennas and are best used when parked but many do have antennas that can be used while moving. The thing with HF is that you can talk several hundred or thousands of miles with out repeaters. Another option are satellite cell phones. They are pricey for the per month subscription.

I think it was $85, help me convince her!

For all those interested I have recently put up a Amateur Ham Radio Free Classifieds and Discussion Forum. So if your interested take a look. Its not very well known yet so pass the word around. www.qstclassifieds.com

I am building a GMRS repeater system. I am having a tuff time convincing my wife that she really should get her ham ticket. The first real disaster if she gets stuck out on the road and the cell phone and landline systems are offline and the roads are blocked she is going to wish she had a radio. So as an alternative a few of us are putting together a GMRS repeater. Hope to have it up and running my mid summer. So that brings up another point. GMRS radios in our toys. We all know about the bubble wrap frs/gmrs combo walki talkies (we hams call them HT's short for handi talkies) They unfortunately are not repeater capable. The frs side of the radio is really low power and the gmrs side can be up to 5 watts. The advertised range is very misleading. It usually means if you can see them with a pair of binoculars you can talk that far. Also you are supposed to acquire a license in order to use the gmrs side of those radios. The GMRS radios I am speaking of using repeaters can be up to 50 watts. With a repeater on a mountain top you can actually have a communications area of several hundred square miles. Even mobile to mobile communications not using a repeater can be several miles. So you ask why won't a bubble wrap radio be able to use a repeater? A repeater uses an input frequency and an output frequency. The mobile transmits on the repeater input and receives on the repeater output. The repeater receives and transmits at the same time, in other words it repeats what it hears simultaneously. All the mobiles get set up that way. The bubble wrap radios transmit and receive on the same frequency. A repeater can not receive and transmit on the same frequency at the same time. The mobile radios can also be set up to transmit and receive on the same frequency, of course with 50 watts.

knowltondata could not have said it better. Its an interest like anything else. And even though its a hobby it is far more. As knowltondata said there is the emergency services angle. We to have what is called ARES short for Amateur Radio Emergency Service. We live in a coastal mountain range that is prone to natural disasters, floods, landslides, fire and earthquakes. I became a Ham not just because I really like radio communications but also to become part of the local emergency radio services. We have probably a far superior communications network than the Government. I think most people have not a clue the many faces of amateur radio. From commute chitchat to world wide communications and local emergency communications. I don't even know all the different modes of communications, voice over am, ssb, fm and fm repeaters, code, TV, digital. Communications are now even possible by connecting repeaters through the internet linking several geographic locations together. One of the best exposures to ham radio can be with the purchase of a communications scanner. Radio shack carries several. Plug in some of the local ham repeater frequencies and do some listening. Tune in when there are some emergency practice nets. Listen to the local chit chat, you might want to comment on a subject that's being discussed, you'll have to get your license first. Cant really compare ham radio to the telephone. Two completely different genre.

That's a really good price. Wish I had the money I would buy it and resell it for a profit.