Ham Ops, What Hand-Helds Do You Own?

I never knew anything of this nature even existed.

How far do they reach.

 

There are also allot of repeater systems out there that are linked via 220 or 440 as back bones and make for some really wide area repeater systems. I know of a few along the blue ridge moutains that cover from West Virginia all the way into north Florida. And we have a few that run down the Arkansas Oklahoma border and link all the way into Dallas/Ft Worth area.

 

So you can hold conversations and what not with these walkie talkies, or they they have to go thru the repeater first.

Is there any delays in the messages or is the message instant like if you were talking over a phone?

 

You can use a repeater to extend the range, or for instance to include people who are "at range" in a conversation with a bunch of locals, or you can talk radio-to-radio, which is called "simplex", without a repeater. Simplex range is limited by line of sight plus about 15%, same as with repeaters, except that repeaters, being up high (usually), have a very distant horizon, so they extend the range over which they're useful.
There is no delay when going through a repeater; the caveat is that only one person can speak at a time, so it's not quite like a telephone. Since the repeater can only handle one signal coming in on its receiver at a time, it means only one user can be talking at a time.
That mode is referred to as "semi-duplex", meaning you're talking and receiving on two different frequencies, but not at the same time. The repeater is running "full duplex", since its transmitter is on at the same time as its receiver. Cell phones are full duplex; Nextel and other "phones" that have push-to-talk modes are in half-duplex when used like that, and full duplex when making a regular call.
CB is simplex, as we talk and receive on the same frequency, and talk and listen at alternating times.
HTH,
-- Handlebar --
Icom IC-2SAT, IC-2GAT, IC-U16, IC-V16 (Guess I'm in kind of an Icom rut)

 

Heck with my 2 meter station on our simplex net i hear HT's 7-10 miles away.

We have 2 control stations with GP-9's at 60 foot and my CAABC23 is up at almost 45. 99% of the problem with HT range is the fact too many people put up junk antennas like J-Poles 2 meters is a band that you need capture area and gain ....
The bigger a antenna the better ......

If the winter did not blow it down your antenna was not big enough .....

 

I like the 2 meter Mega link system in New Mexico.

 

You got to love ECHOLINK

 

I've had some great QSO's thru both Echolink and IRLP, but both systems need the operator to know the local node's PL, and perhaps a linking code or command. Being mobile everywhere makes this difficult to know. I also run APRS, so friends can APRS msg me with the node's freq and PL and we can QSO after they have established the link, but finding it on my own while driving is a challenge.

The New Mexico Megalink system posts on APRS the location of their nodes with freq and PL. More local repeaters around the country are starting to do this and I think it is wonderful. But it is always fun when making a new contact on a local repeater, and telling the other station you found it by APRS, when the other station Op has no idea what APRS is, or how it works.