[Healeys] GMRS radio for cross-country caravan trips

[Al Fuller]

Healeyphiles:

A group of us were discussing cross-country driving trips and the 
subject of car-to-car communications arose... We have used CB radios in 
the past with mostly good results, and discussed whether the GMRS band 
offers sufficient advantages to make the switch. One thing that could be 
improved is receiving range, since CB is purely line-of-sight reception, 
whereas other bands can and do utilize 'repeaters' that rebroadcast 
relatively weak mobile signals from a base station. The GMRS band 
appears to offer a nice middle ground between the unregulated CB band 
and the full on amateur radio 'ham' bands.

(For context, planning the drives to next summer's Conclave for instance 
will have various of us driving between 500 - 2,200 miles each way, and 
experience tells us that reliable car-to-car radio is highly valuable.)

The question today is can we hear from folks who have made the switch 
from Citizens Band (CB) to General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS)?

As the long standing and self-appointed communications officer of the 
group, I have questions such as:

(1) Have you tried to use GMRS repeaters as you drive across country? 
What success and/or issues might you have had?
(2) Antenna type and placement - where and what type/style?
   - CB antennas on Healeys are commonly mounted to the rear bumper 
'spring bar' mount and still have much of the antenna above the body of 
the car
   - GMRS on the other hand operates in the ~460 MHz range. There are 
antennae on the market in similar lengths, have you used them? Comments?
(3) Since getting the GMRS license requires no test, I assume there are 
no stumbles there, but if so please do let us know. For reference I 
recently got another amateur radio         ("ham") license, and had no 
issues.
(4) Any recommendations for or against particular radios?

  Thanks in advance!
===========================
Al Fuller
714.335.0248 Mobile
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