05-27-2009, 05:02 PM
Since I had such success asking here about mead making supplies (6 gallons are now bubbling 
), I am gonna give this a go as well:
Is there someone (or organization) on the east side who I can play 20 questions with about short wave radio--specifically cb? It's one of those relatively esoteric subjects which is hard to get a handle on from the net. Given the recent thread on cell phones in cars, I'm guessing some of you can set me straight.
A home base CB with sideband and serious antenna would appear to be enough (for back up communication) but I have no idea of distances involved considering the local topography. We live in an area with no cell phone reception rouchly facing Chiclayo, Peru across the Pacific. Is there any practicality to a CB home base in Puna? We are between Leilani and Kalapana and I would be bummed if I found out there I can't even reach Leilani, much less Hilo on a serious cb set up. And further, wondering if there is anyone even to "reach" in this area in an emergency, short or long.
It appears such set ups have given way to ham operations, but the entry price/learningcurve appears at _least_ three times higher for the serious ham vs. the "serious" cb sideband.
And we rarely get more than a few years out of complicated electronics inside our particular microclimate anyways. Am I better off with a crank up Red Cross radio from HPR?
Am I making my confusion clear?
Cheers,
Kirt
), I am gonna give this a go as well:Is there someone (or organization) on the east side who I can play 20 questions with about short wave radio--specifically cb? It's one of those relatively esoteric subjects which is hard to get a handle on from the net. Given the recent thread on cell phones in cars, I'm guessing some of you can set me straight.
A home base CB with sideband and serious antenna would appear to be enough (for back up communication) but I have no idea of distances involved considering the local topography. We live in an area with no cell phone reception rouchly facing Chiclayo, Peru across the Pacific.
Is there any practicality to a CB home base in Puna? We are between Leilani and Kalapana and I would be bummed if I found out there I can't even reach Leilani, much less Hilo on a serious cb set up. And further, wondering if there is anyone even to "reach" in this area in an emergency, short or long.It appears such set ups have given way to ham operations, but the entry price/learningcurve appears at _least_ three times higher for the serious ham vs. the "serious" cb sideband.
And we rarely get more than a few years out of complicated electronics inside our particular microclimate anyways. Am I better off with a crank up Red Cross radio from HPR?
Am I making my confusion clear?
Cheers,
Kirt
