Carcano

One radio I keep with me in my truck when heading deep into the woods is a Icom air band transceiver, while legal to own transmitting is illegal unless you are a pilot, ground crew member, etc. I keep it set on 121.500 Mhz, the International Air Distress (IAD) freq. since if something serious were to happen and I could not raise help via cell phone or over the ham freq's I know the message will get accross on the IAD freq. as it is monitored by most air traffic control towers, FSS services, national air traffic control centers, and other flight and emergency services, plus commercial and private aircraft almost always maintain watch on 121.500 Mhz.

You prob. had UHF FRS/GMRS radios, UHF works better in buildings this is why many commercial users (hotels, for example) operate UHF band equipment.

You could also pickup a GMRS license (no test, simply pay for it via the FCC website) and operate a GMRS repeater. You can build a GMRS repeater using two old UHF Motorola MaxTrac radios and use two antennas (one for RX, one for TX) or spend a couple hundred and get a duplexer. With a GMRS repeater and a good antenna (and good height!) you could get around 10-15 miles of reliable communication, buildings/mountains/trees will all affect distance...

You will not get 30 miles out of it but look into MURS (Multi-Use Radio Service), no license required and the following freq. can be used: 1 151.820 MHz 11.25 kHz N/A 2 151.880 MHz 11.25 kHz N/A 3 151.940 MHz 11.25 kHz N/A 4 154.570 MHz 20.00 kHz Blue Dot 5 154.600 MHz 20.00 kHz Green Dot VHF line of sight, you can use external antennas. These are the FCC restrictions on MURS: Transmitter power output is limited to 2 watts. The highest point of any MURS antenna must not be more than 18.3 meters (60 feet) above the ground or 6.10 meters (20.0 feet) above the highest point of the structure to which it is mounted, whichever is higher. Transmitting on MURS frequencies is not allowed while aboard aircraft in flight. When transmitting in Puerto Rico, Desecheo, Mona, Vieques, and Culebra, care must be taken to not interfere with the Arecibo Observatory Devices that use MURS must be specially labeled and certified.

ROLMFAO, I would rather stay in New Germany

This is a must have if you plan on getting your ticket (ham license), if you are LEO or ex-Military you will know this but for those who don't here you go:

Solid advice Also, if you transmit out of band or use modes your license class dosen't allow you might be lucky and get away with a letter from an OO (Official Observer) or face large fines and have your license revoked.

The online practice tests are a must, I forget the name of the site but one kept track of your weak areas, etc. and would throw those questions up more often until you got them.

The link wasn't showing on my phone that PK90 posted, came up on the laptop.

You gave a great answer, W2MC and I'll add that repeater to my MaxTrac this week

Three license types exist: Tech General Advanced/Extra I hold a General as I have no desire to work the extra parts of the HF bands Advanced/Extra offers due to antenna restrictions and city codes. Training is a test administered by volunteers (written test) and the Tech (entry level) is pretty easy to pass, basic knowledge of electronics, FCC regs, etc. will help when taking the Tech test. You can can a basic HF setup going for around $500, get a used HF rig + PS (DC Power Supply), a di-pole antenna and some coax cable. The station in Jamaica has about $6,000 invested into it, the station here in the states around $2,000 You do not need to go out and buy a bunch of gear when you are first starting out, start small and work your way up with small additions of equipment over time like many of us have.

Nice I'm active while in the US and during the winter 6Y5 from my apartment in Negril, Jamaica W.I. Jamaica ODPEM (The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management), VHF Maritime operations and phone patch for ship to shore and anyone needing to make a call. Never got involved with ARES/RACES but I've thought about it. Running a MaxTrax VHF in the pickup with VHF ham freq. might here me when I'm driving up that way on the old VHF simplex calling freq.

W2MC, another ham that likes guns

How many on here have emergency communications equipment and are trained in the use of such equipment? any other FCC licensed Ham operators on here? In a disaster comms are number one on my list, cell service is down and land lines can also go down.

Paul, what I suggested isn't illegal, I called a NJ FFL and asked but if OP wants that rifle bad enough he should try doing a transfer in PA, wait until he is in FL again, or just apply for the out of state FPID.

And NJSP issues out of state Firearm ID Cards? really??? Man, NJ must be hurting for money esp. with whats going on in Atlantic City. If you have two homes, have a small collection in each home...NJ compliant collection up here and whatever you have the bucks for at the FL home. EDIT: You only need a FPID to purchase a firearm if you reside in NJ, so why can't the OP just have the NJ seller (FFL) ship the rile to a PA FFL and complete the transfer over in PA? If he is not a felon and has a valid FL DL he isn't violating any federal aws regarding a long gun transfer and a FPID isn't required to have that AR in NJ as long as it's compliant.

Hmmm.... if I was the OP, I would do the same...go to another store and buy it.

Paul, didn't you ever sell to non NJ buyers when you had the south Jersey shop? If the OP has a FL license could he pay for the rifle, get the FFL in NJ to ship it to ANOTHER FFL (in PA) and he could just go to PA and use his FL DL to complete the transfer? as long as the gun is compliant he could bring it right back over the bridge to NJ?

For NJ NICS I thought you needed a valid NJ DL or non-driver ID? The whole thing is screwed up, I've seen people from PA buy long guns in NJ with a PA DL before from a FFL so maybe try phoning a couple other FFL's and asking them?

Maybe he found the form somewhere in his stuff? Or maybe he sold it and it was used in a crime and BATFE and NJSP wasted thousands of dollars tracking down the pellet gun smuggler?

Interesting, never thought of running a setup like that. If you get it online and running keep us posted

Nice idea by offsetting the daytime usage with solar as much as possible

What a POS to do that to you, I've NEVER had a store ask me to register a long gun. Actually, when I purchased my first firearm I asked about registration and the guy told me "never register a firearm!". So now when you pass on, NJSP or the local PD will come looking for a pellet gun bought in '83...gotta love NJ.

:D

Smart man, Do you buy American to build American?