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Pretty sure you mean marine VHF radios, and believe every commercial ship in the US has to carry one. They are VHF high band FM, work great, only supposed to be used for marine purposes. Nearest equivalent in the US for land use, without a license, is "MURS", which I think is...

If it would fit, I'd get a single band 2m and use the money saved on something else. Unless, that is, the only repeaters in your area are 440. If someone were to give me a 4 band mobile, I'd sell it. The reason being, all the quad band mobiles I know of are FM only. I don't see a point in...

4x4 is, of course, correct. As long as the antenna system is good, adding or removing good feed line only changes loss a little. More importantly, the reverse is true - if changing lengths of good feed line changes SWR at the radio, then it mean, absolutely, that something is wrong with your...

I think your observations on CB are pretty accurate. 1/4 wave is best, but is really long, and a huge PITA, so most don't do that. Typically people use shorter, loaded antennas in the 4' or so range. They don't work nearly as well, but are much more convenient. For antennas that long, a...

I think it's a great plan. How much you have to worry about branches depends on how flexible your particular antenna is, how fast you drive, and how big the branches are. I take my 1/4 wave through a parking garage every day, going slow, and hit concrete beams 3 times on the way in, 3 times on...

Glad it's working, and thanks for the update!

To me, you're trying to do two completely different things at the same time. 1 - learn how to camp. 2 - see how long you can camp. Seems like a bad plan to me. Maybe it would make a good tv show, but sounds miserable. For example, would you ever suggest to someone they learn how to drive...

This is good info...and I'm seeing a trend. Pro fridge - California, Arizona, Baja. Wonders why a fridge works well - ny. I'd love to do solar, but we have nowhere near as much sun as the southwest, and I like to camp in the shade. And we have lots of shade. The temps are different, too...

I think you're going to have a fun trip. Pushing to do things you haven't done before is a great way to go, as long as you're going in aware of the issues, it sounds like you have that covered.

:) I'm trying to figure out how reliable a home fridge would be if you strapped it into the back of a truck and drove it off road for a couple of miles. Clearly the portable fridges are going to be built more ruggedly than home units. Like they do with laptop computers compared to desktop...

I have one and use it all the time. Co-worker talked me into getting one. Some things I do: many items I freeze first in a "disposable" ziplock type hard sized container, then the next day I take them out of those and vacuum seal into bags. To remove from the ziplock containers I just run...

absolutely true. If someone drives a lot, and camps not as much, it's another reason for a fridge vs cooler. With me it's usually the other way around. I'm driving not much, and mostly on the hard road where ice is easy to find, then go camping and stay a few days where the ice holds out...

This is something I need to remember. To me, the idea of APRS feels like wearing a tie. A little noose around my neck tracking me. I know that's a silly reaction, but it's just the way it strikes me. I have to remember that some things that I find just completely boring or pointless in ham...

Best performing antenna? I'd put a dual band NMO antenna, about 20" tall, on the cab. Not on the corners, not on the roof rack. Those locations will work, but not as well. If you don't want to drill a hole in the roof of your truck, take it to a commercial radio shop, they'll do it for you...

I could be wrong, but if you're depending on a battery to power your fridge, I'd use a cooler and ice instead. I say that because lead acid batteries aren't very efficient, in terms of Watt-hours/lb. I believe ice is better. Or in other words, 100 lbs of battery won't keep food as cold as 100...

I wasn't going to jump in, because I don't want to discourage you, but change my mind because of a couple of phrases you used - 'outside of emergencies' and 'make sure'. I absolutely think that this is a great project, fun and practical. And I wish you the best. I just want to insert a little...

I respect your concern. To potentially add to the complexity of your search, though, personally I would trust food grade HDPE containers before any stainless steel unless I was positive the alloy was food grade. I've seen lead in 300 series stainless, even though there isn't supposed to be any...

Hard to say, but maybe your ground wire is too long. Ideally, the antenna mount is electrically connected to the body of the truck. If not, the wire from the mount to the truck body needs to be short, like 6" or so. If you have it mounted to a tailgate, with a long wire to the rest of the...

I used to carry a PPK. But not much for martini's. I'm more a Manhattan drinker, real easy on the vermouth.

Just jumped in to agree with everyone else...they are sending you down the right path. I would also program in 146.520 simplex, as some people, some places, still listen to that. And learn how to manually set tones and change frequencies, so that if someone gives you repeater info in over...