Lipstick on a Pig: The 10 Don'ts of Vehicle Modifications

verdesardog

Explorer
Amature radio can be as easy as CB, just use simplex for car to car. Leave all the technical stuff to the people that want to tinker. 2meter handhelds can be had for pennies these days!
 

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WSS

Rock Stacker
Our rig has both CB and ham. Both radios are modified to save your life if necessary. The ham radio has expanded tx capabilities and can do the FRS and red/green/blue dot freqs. KInda nice to have, GO prepared.

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WSS
 

RMP&O

Expedition Leader
11. Don't have any modifcations done to your truck by an off road specialty shop. Do it your self or leave it alone. When it breaks you must know how to fix it yourself or it should be fixable by any mechanic. I would trust my truck over any vehicle I've seen at SEMA b/c I know I can fix it.

Best bit of advice I have heard on ExPo in sometime.

Cheers
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
I think a lot of HAMs like it that way. They like having this hobby to themselves and they have no desire in a radio that's simple to understand and operate. And since HAMs are the only ones who are buying amateur radios, the manufacturers have no reason to make "simple to operate" HAM radios.
Please, you see difficulty because you want it to be difficult.

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Yeasu's FT-252 and FT-257. You program them, push the button and talk. Yes, you have to get licensed to use the ham frequencies but beyond that there's nothing to it. Is that easy enough? There's no more buttons on these than an FRS radio and a lot less complexity than the typical cell phone. They're not terribly expensive either, a bit more than $100 on the street.

There are a lot of aspect to ham radio beyond just FM simplex conversations and the manufacturers offer radios that try to give as many features to as many hams as they can. But trust me, they offer simple radios, too. There is a market for them and they fill it.

But there's the rub, Dave: There's no reason for someone to put "extra effort" into communications when there is an option that meets his needs without requiring "extra effort." "Effort" - like time and money - is a zero-sum game. The effort a person spends on setting up a radio is effort he could be spending on something that interests him more.
Yes, it takes effort to learn the conventions and history of amateur radio. I am enthusiastic about it, happy to teach it. But I don't want anyone who is not willing to show minimal respect to my hobby to be bothered with it. It's no skin off my nose if the people who I've taught and proctored exams for never key up a mic again. I just expect that when they do they aren't rude or insulting to my fellow hams for being hams.
 

ZMagic97

Explorer
wow almost 50 pages later and still arguing about ham vs cb????

Haha I was just thinking the same thing.

I'll admit I am working on getting my HAM license in a few weeks, and I still see CB as useful. However; HAM is great for me since I travel in small group or with just a passenger, and the APRS is nice for seeing where I have been, making trails for someone to follow on a map, letting family track me, etc.

Also, sometime a HAM will transmit where your cell phone cannot.

My 2 cents: the CB is better for basic group runs, HAM is better when you may need to reach out further.

As for mods I do not understand personally: Bulky armor with no lift and/or bigger/better tires. Seems like more to get hung up on in my opinion.
 

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