Any suggestions to meet these goals: I want to be able to communicate with someone (voice) within 25 miles of my location via radio I want both parties to be able to use handheld units I want to be able to have both parties inside structues. (no line-of-sight) I don't want repeaters to be involved. Any solutions that don't break the laws of physics? I have tried CB, FRS, MUS, GMRS but all of the units I've had are fairly small (rubber duckys, <5watts) and haveonly been able to pull about 2-3 miles in those conditions. I have pulled about 7 miles line of sight (or close to) with the GMRS. I only have a GMRS license, but would go for other licensing if needed, preferably a system that doesn't require each person to have an individual license...(either allow license sharing like on GMRS or a bulk license (like a corporate thing) Thanks in advance!
What about amateur radio? 25 miles is well within groundwave distance on any of the HF bands. Getting a ham license has never been easier. The only downsides here are that each operator needs their own license, and the service cannot be used for any commercial purpose. 25 miles is kind of pushing the limits for handheld gear with reasonable antenna size. But in most areas, the 2M amateur band already has repeaters available for public use.
Ya might wanna check Art Bell's website. He's got pics of his setup. He's not JUST a night time radio Jock pushing UFO's. He's also a HAM operator.
Art Bell's ham callsign is W6OBB. There are many well-known ham operators past and present, including newsman Walter Cronkite (KB2GSD), NY Governor George Pataki (K2ZCZ), former AZ senator Barry Goldwater (K7UGA), singer/guitarist Joe Walsh (WB6ACU), Apple Computer founder Steve Wozniak (WA6BND), comedian Gary Shandling (KD6OY), and computer "hacker" Kevin Mitnick (N6NHG) We Are Everywhere!
Thanks for the replies..I was pretty sure that amateur radio was going to be the way to go on this, as it probally should be. GMRS is a good program, but is already being overly abused by pirate station operators, if it were more powerful it would probally be a mess.
As a 4 year radio man in the Military I have a little expierience with this. As far as handhelds go, most are 3-5 miles, but.. There are these Sabre (or Saber, cant remember) handhelds that I have seen work more than 25 miles with line of sight (Police and Forest Service use them also). Other than that its all about the antenne. A proper antenna on each end makes all the difference. We once talked from Okinawa Japan to California with a military HF radio with a 30 foot whip antenna. Just bounced that sucker right across the ocean. Gotta love that Ionosphere with HF. Only other option would be the walky talky feature many cell phones use now. Im not familiar with the technology, but I use my Nextel a lot to talk to family over 60 miles away, and supposedly it is national.
Yea I've used the PTT (Push To Talk) stuff on Nextel across the country, but it is dependant on Nextel Repeaters and trunk lines
HamStudy is a nice app for studying for your license: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.hamstudy.mobile