Are VHF radios still used?

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by Boondox

The 7100 can do HF, VHF and UHF in all modes. So very useful for many kinds of communication. When I am as the bottom of a canyon I'll use an NVIS (near vertical incidence skywave) antenna. The squirt straight up like a fountain so it doesn't matter you are in a hole. They are quick and easy to set up.

How many antennas do you have to cover all those bands, and what type? Did you find one that covers them all?

[Boondox]

I usually have three on board. One is a Larsen 2/70 mounted to the roof for VHF/UHF. I have a WWII surplus, 23' vertical that can be put up in a heartbeat and can be loaded with a coil for 80/40 and runs great on 20. I also have a 25' telescoping fiberglass mast that I hang a dipole from. It is the most effective but I only put it up if I am staying in one place for a couple of days. I also recently picked up a Little Tarheel screwdriver antenna and will be trying that out on my new band build.

[BCam]

2m VHF is good for communicating with family and friends locally but, as you know, both operators need to be licensed. Otherwise GMRS or FRS would be more convenient. For emergencies in remote locations without cell or VHF repeater coverage, you're probably going to have to consider one of the satellite based systems:

https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/topic...locator-beacon

As a Ham, there's always HF, which would work over longer distances but it's a little more complicated to set up on a mobile basis and would only work at your rig unless you want to carry a portable HF radio with you. I suppose there may be a way to set up some sort of cross-band repeater system so your VHF handheld could contact your HF base station at your rig and then communicate via HF to the outside world. Whether this is doable or even legal is beyond me.

[Gooseberry]

Originally Posted by Boondox

The 7100 can do HF, VHF and UHF in all modes. So very useful for many kinds of communication. When I am as the bottom of a canyon I'll use an NVIS (near vertical incidence skywave) antenna. The squirt straight up like a fountain so it doesn't matter you are in a hole. They are quick and easy to set up.

I keep the super antenna setup for quick and easy along with end diepole