various questions from a noob (sorry in advance)

[lemur]

Hi everyone,
sorry if the following all seems very obvious to you guys,however to me... 'not so much'

ok so, I'm a member of a small group of survialist/preppers in the midlands and we have decided that should TSHTF we would need to stay in touch via handheld cb's.. we have organised a group buy of midland 75-785 handhelds (6 units).. we are aware that there are better handhelds on the market but we had to consider various matters,not least the price.everything done as group.

My first issue is that I'm the member who lives the greater distance from our HQ.. that distance is around 9miles..
this had me thinking that the communication range would no doubt fall short on that distance with just the rubber duck provided ..

so to my questions:

1)Can i simply mount a 'homebase' antenna to my property then connect that via the BNC connector on handheld?
if so suggested antenna type/size/spec?

2)If the answer to question 1 is yes, do i need to tune my antenna with a SWR meter even though its a handheld cb?

3)Will need to become mobile too, I was thinking a magnetic base whip on my ride for with the same handheld? SWR that too?
if so suggested antenna type/size/spec?

Pretty simply put,this handheld Midland 75-785 is basically my only option,I need to range just short of 10 mile at best then continue contact as that distance reduces while on the road..eventually reaching the range where the standard stubby antenna will suffice.

Thanks for taking a minute to read my first post.Any help?
Lemur

[stampman]

yes you can use a home base antenna and it will need swring the same as the one you use on the car and they should work ok seem to be am not uk fm so will not talk to the uk

[lemur]

Thanks for the reply stampman,
Everything ok except the choice of rig lol...
luckily we had been started to think (though more in depth research) they would not suit uk..
I guess its back to the drawing board.. selecting a different handheld then

Any advice on one that would suit our needs?

Thanks again
Lemur

[Offplanet]

Handhelds are not known for lasting long on their internal batteries, so use the low power setting unless you need the high power setting (1w/4w selectable by the look of it). Also keep at least one spare set of top-quality batteries to hand per radio.

A handheld is basically the same as a normal mobile radio, so indeed putting a homebase antenna up on your house is fine and will just plug into the BNC socket on your radio (you can either terminate the coax with a BNC plug or use a BNC to SO239 adaptor on the top of the radio, so you can connect to a coax with the popular PL259 plug on). SWR needs to be checked in the same way as with any CB install (same goes for your proposed mobile installation).

For a homebase antenna I'd rely on for SHTF, you can't go wrong with a Solarcon (Antron 99) http://www.thunderpole.co.uk/base-cb-an ... on-99.html - not the best performer out there, but a strong antenna that'll survive where many others wouldn't.

For a mobile antenna, perhaps a Thunderpole Orbiter http://www.thunderpole.co.uk/large-cb-a ... bitor.html - tough, reasonable range and nothing to go wrong.

Might be a plan to sort your group members out with some backup PMR446 radios too - ideal for short range comms when the group are in close proximity and they are less bulky and battery hungry than 27Mhz CB handies.

For SHTF prep, keep the set-ups simple and robust, test it all out thoroughly and keep testing it at regular intervals in order to lessen the chance of it failing just when it's really needed. You'll need to make a plan for how to keep the batteries charged up if the power is down too. Going back to PMR446, the Midland Basecamp has a built-in crank charger and can also receive AM/FM and Marine transmissions, so maybe consider having one in the group http://www.thunderpole.co.uk/2-way-radi ... p-446.html

A high ground station can really help pull a net together as they'll be hearing a lot more than anyone else and their transmission range will be greater, so perhaps worth planning on getting someone to high ground as part of your prep. Some sort of base antenna, used on a high ground location, will help range enormously too - as an example, from a hill yesterday using a standard 27Mhz CB handie and a simple wire antenna on a telescopic fibreglass pole, I was able to contact other high ground stations around 75-90 miles away (ideal if you want enough range to contact people external to your group - there's always the chance that others will turn to CB in the event of a SHTF situation).

You've probably covered most of the above in your planning anyway, but hopefully of some use to you

[stampman]

cant beat the midland 42 for performance and adaptability not the cheapest but defiantly the best engineered you may get a good price on them if you talk to colin

[lemur]

Thank you so much for the reply Offplanet!

That really was the kind of response we had hoped for,practicle,informative and also raised some issues we'd yet to consider

.. I feel we are closer to the network of communication that is key to our group, we will soon be up and running and that'll brings us forward to prepare for other situations,having a big basic problem sorted.

You are a credit to this forum dude..thanks again

Lemur

[Offplanet]

Glad to be of some help - let us know how you get on.