Need radio advice...

Not sure what will work for this situation; would appreciate any thoughts.

A bunch of us get together two or three times a year to drive the Tail of the Dragon in TN/NC. We usually stay near Tapoco and get on the road at first light to avoid other traffic; getting 3 and sometimes 4 runs in before we see other cars.

We use FRS/GMRS radios for car to car communications for the rest of our daily drives, but on the ToD we lose reception at distances over a mile or two because of terrain.

What kind of radio would I need to call an "all clear" or to sound a warning over the entire course? 5 miles as the crow flies (11ish miles of nice twisty roads); end point altitudes are 900 ft on the TN side and 1500 ft at Deals Gap with a 2100 ft peak just under a mile straight line from Deals Gap.

A bonus would be communication from Tapoco Lodge back the TN gravel lot - 6.3 miles as the crow flies with a separate 2100 ft peak right in between the two.

Most likely, one of us would run from TN side to Deals Gap to make sure there was no traffic, then warn the lead car if necessary; which could be relayed by existing radios to the caravan. Handhelds would be ideal, but if necessary, a couple of us could do external antennas.

Thanks!

BTW - you may see vids of various idiots treating the ToD like a slalom course - we give rookies two runs to keep their car off the double yellow; if they don't get it, they're not invited back. We push the envelope a bit, but we're safe up there.

I've seen hand-helds @ Best Buy that say they're 10, 15 or 20 miles, can't vouch for them nor do I know what frequencies they work on. It'll probably be hard to get anything to work well in that terrain.

Look out for bikers ;)

WTF is Dacula? I think you made it up :p

Everyone needs a tech class ham license which is really easy to get. Please go to the trouble of getting one, call your local ham club for testing dates. Then you park a car on top of the biggest hill on your route that has a 2 band mobile ham rig in it left on, set to cross band repeat. Then during your route you talk to the car on the hill that is now a repeater and has great range cuz it's way up high and can hear and reach down into the valleys. You talk to the car on 2 meters and listen on 440. This is the setup you use for lost kid searches in remote areas where the searchers are carrying handhelds. I know it sounds complex but it really isn't. This whole deal really does not cost vary much and can be vary rewarding when used to save someones life. Please don't use amateur radio to break the law.

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Originally Posted by srtga

WTF is Dacula? I think you made it up :p

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If you blink, you'd miss it. We're a bit north of your stomping grounds (16 and 20, right?), but just past the Mall of Georgia on I-85 North. Be careful if you come up this way - lots of cops.

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Originally Posted by Pirateye

Everyone needs a tech class ham license which is really easy to get. Please go to the trouble of getting one, call your local ham club for testing dates. Then you park a car on top of the biggest hill on your route that has a 2 band mobile ham rig in it left on, set to cross band repeat. Then during your route you talk to the car on the hill that is now a repeater and has great range cuz it's way up high and can hear and reach down into the valleys. You talk to the car on 2 meters and listen on 440. This is the setup you use for lost kid searches in remote areas where the searchers are carrying handhelds. I know it sounds complex but it really isn't. This whole deal really does not cost vary much and can be vary rewarding when used to save someones life. Please don't use amateur radio to break the law.

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Thanks! Have you ever seen a portable ham setup that we could leave at the highest point (since w're a driving club, we want to use our cars) running on battery? I'm sure I could put the parts in a plastic bin and just set it out by the side of the road...

I've looked up two local clubs and will get the license I need; they all seem like pretty nice folks - was worried it would be a bunch of old rocket scientist types.

I have a pair of Midland GMRS with a supposed 18mile range I have gotten up to 10miles on the highway with open terrain. Probably 2-4miles on rough terrain. They come in handly on ski mountains I got decent range at VAIL last season talk to my father

FRS are not powered enough so look toward GMRS's eventhough you need a business licence to use them you can buy them without it

Most 2 band mobile ham rigs will work on cross band repeat. Just leave it in an old locked amo can hooked to a car or motorcycle battery chained to a tree. Needs a hole drilled for the antenna cable to get out run to an antenna duct taped to a tree branch. Radios are cheap used as there is little interest in ham radio. The Federal Government encourages this kind of innovative use of radio by regular folks as practice so that when there is an emergency in your neighborhood you will know how to set up your own health and welfare network. Kind of like an ice storm in Tennessee! Please don't use amateur radio to break the law. I will one day ride my Ninja at Deal's Gap!

Believe me they are NOT rocket scientists!

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Originally Posted by Pirateye

Most 2 band mobile ham rigs will work on cross band repeat. Just leave it in an old locked amo can hooked to a car or motorcycle battery chained to a tree. Needs a hole drilled for the antenna cable to get out run to an antenna duct taped to a tree branch. Radios are cheap used as there is little interest in ham radio. The Federal Government encourages this kind of innovative use of radio by regular folks as practice so that when there is an emergency in your neighborhood you will know how to set up your own health and welfare network. Kind of like an ice storm in Tennessee! Please don't use amateur radio to break the law. I will one day ride my Ninja at Deal's Gap!

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But they would need a ham ticket to use it.

Since it sounds like yall allready have the GMRS radios (and therefore the FCC lisence for it which is different from a HAM cert),

I'd highly suggest a "GMRS mobile repeater" installed into the trunk on the vehicles of the regulars or strategically placed. I'm on my phone but if you google it there"s some good articles on how to make them relatively cheap. .

Its the kind of thing that I thin should be installed around the dragon as a known freq's so people and get the info before the roll up on a semi or accident.

Also look into the real GMRS mobile radios that use external antennas and put out 45W legally compared to a CBs 4W and FRS's 0.5W . And again good antenna will make a world of difference in signal tx and rx range.

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Originally Posted by Motor On

Also look into the real GMRS mobile radios that use external antennas and put out 45W legally compared to a CBs 4W and FRS's 0.5W . And again good antenna will make a world of difference in signal tx and rx range.

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A real GMRS mobile unit (not handheld) should get great range.