Ditch Lights and Antennas

 I decided to spend my Christmas money on electronics this year.  I managed to find a Radioddity DB25 and a Cobra 19 on sale.  After looking at various antenna mounting options I figured that using a ditch light, no drill bracket would be the easiest route.  Of course scope creep quickly set in and I figured I might as well add the light too.  Antenna extension brackets were not really cheap but I'm a pack rat so  figured I had something that would work in scrap pile.  Turns out that I had these two nicely angled brackets left over from my tractor mounted snowblower. Here's the outside view.  I'll post the radios once I have them mounted. The electronics are routed through a rubber grommet in the engine compartment. 

 

 

 

Radio Communication - Baofeng UV-82

Back in the day we used CB radios to communicate on the farm and when on the road.  We lived right on the interstate and had a base station. I grew up in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains so while we could usually reach our family farm it would take a good day to reach all of the farms we rented. My stepfather was a truck driver and mom was a Teamster so we were very familiar with using CBs and their limitations. CB radios are still around, but I'm thinking that GMRS will be more flexible and provide better range. The newer handheld radios are certainly smaller.

The primary use case is for communication while hunting. For radios I settled in Beofeng UV-82s, mainly because they are cheap. Yes, I know Beofengs were called bomb magnets in Afghanistan. Yes, I know they are not encrypted or burst or channel hop. Yes, I know there are other handhelds out there that may be "better." I'm not planning on using them for clandestine, tactical comms.You find what works best for YOU and fits your budget.

They're easily programmed with a USB cable and CHIRP. The manual process is a little more clumsy. 

The rubber ducky antenna is crap so I'm using this high gain antenna.

I'm using this two-way speaker that has a jack so I can connect it to my Walker's Razor Electronic Muffs.

GMRS requires an FCC License. Midland has a good guide on the process. One advantage of GMRS is that after one family member is licensed all immediate family members are piggy-backed on.

The list of accessories on the Christmas list, TBD: 

This USB rechargeable battery is interesting. 

A slim-Jim roll-up antenna. Make sure you get the correct antenna connector.

The Signal-Stick has great reviews as an antenna.

Maybe an upgraded radio pouch.

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