I'm sorry, but your crystal ball seems to be broken..

Any one dumb enough to believe what is posted on this page, has to have rocks in their head.

The range is NOT determined by the amount of power, just the antenna height, the antenna gain and the loss in the coax and the frequency - is still wrong!

Telling someone that their range is limited or not limited, by the use of a walkie talkie is correct, but not always true.

The range of even a simple hand held radio is determined by the height, gain, sensitivity and output power of the radio on the other end. Both radios has to do their job in order for one person to talk to the other.

Lets say you have a repeater in State College PA on Rattlesnake Mtn on 146.675 MHz and the tower is 150' tall and the transmitter has a 350 watt PA and its sensitivity is very good and they are using a station master antenna.

A person with a handheld radio, on top of any other mountain in the area - 50 to 65 miles away is going to hit it, regardless of if you are using the rubber duck in a clearing, or a external roof mag mount antenna on a vehicle, or a Diamond V2000 above the roof of your house.

As long as you are in a FREE SPACE - a place where nothing blocks or asorbes your signal that is being radiated..

The same is true for HF communications.

The range is determined by the height of the antenna, the gain of the antenna, the frequency being used.

300 miles is nothing on 40 meters.

3000 miles - (when the band is open), is nothing on 10 meters - even just with 5 watts SSB.

Global communications is possible with as little as 15 watts on PSK 31 or Olivia, or RTTY with 100 watts on the right frequency might get you 12,000 miles.

At the same time, HF radio really cannot do anything that UHF and VHF already does when it comes to local communications.
All Communications Is Line Of Sight!

It does not matter if it is 10 meters or 40 meters, if you cannot hear the person on the other end because there is a mountain between the transmit and receive antenna - changing frequencies is not going to help.

Using a NVIS antenna might help on 80 meters, but not VHF or UHF!

 

The range is NOT determined by the amount of power, just the antenna height, the antenna gain and the loss in the coax and the frequency - is still wrong!

Not to contradict you.. but in real world testing I have been doing since December with my GMRS (licensed) setup..

The antenna TIP is at 41' on my house chimney.. The antenna.. the $20 Tram Browning BR-450 5/8 5/8 with 5dbd gain..

With a 4w (GP350) handheld hooked to the same cheapy Tram 1170 mag mount 5/8 antenna (4.5dbd supposedly) in my car I was getting just 3 miles.. when I kicked it up to 23watts with the KW 805D installed in the car I got out to almost 7 miles..

So I think wattage does play a role in things.. just a little..

Now being I put a different (only 3dbd gain) antenna on my truck roof (which is 2 1/2 feet higher than the prior car trunk) with better coax and shorter 12' length of RFC240.. hooked to the KW 805D (23w).. yesterday I got to 11 1/2 miles with it..

 

Yesterday I was monitoring the VHF when I heard a guy talking on 146.565 Mhz - simplex.

The voice was not familiar and he was not talking like a HAM, so I asked him to identify his station.

The person replied - not to bother him right now, because he was on a hang glider 40 air miles away.

His radio was a cheap Beofeng walkie talkie and he was running 1 watt...

His perceived signal level was 20 - 30 / S9 at my station.

I came to find out that the person he was communicating with was in a mobile, chasing him around. They were trying to see how far he could fly, riding the thermals. He started out in Seven Springs PA - about 40 miles below Pittsburgh and he flew north the whole way to Templeton PA - about 40 miles north of Pittsburgh.

The problem was - the person he was talking to was not a licensed ham, hence neither person was using call signs. And, a licensed ham is not allowed to communicate with anyone that is not licensed on amateur radio frequencies.

I am 65 miles north of Pittsburgh - and I could hear everything that was going on.

It would not have mattered one iota if they had done it on GMRS simplex, or on MURS, or on FRS - their range still would have been about the same for the person on the hang glider. Just that the mobile would have only talked about 4 miles with a handheld 1 watt FRS / GMRS radio, and once the hang glider went over the horizon - he would have probably lost contact with the person in the hang glider - because the mobile's signal probably wouldn't have penetrated the canopy of the trees in the woods while driving down the road.

That was exactly what they did ( went to GMRS) once they were warned by the O&O - that what they were doing was in fact illegal.

 

The problem was - the person he was talking to was not a licensed ham, hence neither person was using call signs. And, a licensed ham is not allowed to communicate with anyone that is not licensed on amateur radio frequencies

Not always true. If someone is acting as the control operator of a station a nonlicensed person can Communicate from that station. Not that he had a control operator with him in the glider....lol

 

My repeater setup was hitting at 51 miles with 4 watts at both ends and it was full quieting. This thread is convoluted. You can't make broad radio claims like this. Propagation conditions, sunspots, LOS, and so many other factors play a huge factor in commo.

Yesterday at 2200 hours I spoke to a Mobile ham in Maine on 100w on 20m (he was 40w on a car mounted verticle) but the guy with a 1000w beam in Phoenix just 200 miles away was barely readable.

Especially comparing HF to VHF and UHF. It's like comparing bicycles and motorcycles. Just because they both have 2 wheels doesn't mean they operate the same.

Then there is the argument of practicality and usage. You wouldn't pack an HF for local Comms just like you wouldn't grab an HT to talk across the country. This needs to be broken down to categories and then analyzed based on practical uses and scenarios.

 

My repeater setup was hitting at 51 miles with 4 watts at both ends and it was full quieting.

Hi ComancheSniper,

Yes, repeaters, and especially high level repeaters, will extend the range a lot.

But how far can you usually talk on a day-to-day basis, "direct" between those 2 radios without the repeater?

 

are those ham radios really that much better than ssb cb?

should i get a ham?

Actually, yes. On both counts.

One of the reasons why a ham radio license has such extreme value over ssb cb is that, with it, you have an incredible amount of frequency variety.

We've made things such that by passing two simple (we publish all the questions and ALL the answers) tests, you get the (free) use of millions and millions of frequencies all up and down the radio spectrum.

That's important to this discussion because of what I think of as the 'reliability factor'. With SSB CB (and i have two that I loan out to newcomers) I can't reliably contact any one station, no matter the distance. Occasionally, maybe. Reliably, almost never.

With HF ham radios, if I can't get my message traffic from point A to point B on a given band, I simply connect to point B on a different frequency band, on frequencies that are pre-published and known to be in use (by point B) on a 365/24/7 basis.

Plus, by using the existing digital networks on ham HF, I can be assured that neither the media nor the nosy neighbors can determine what I'm saying.

Best 73

Luck Hurder, WA4STO
http://www.qrz.com/db/wa4sto

 

Charts and numbers are handy for initially setting up a station, but as the great man said. "No plan survives first contact with the enemy."

Crunching the numbers will only get you so far. Establishing a station to the best of your ability and then real world testing is the only reliable answer to your needs.

When TSHTF, what is happening 200 miles away, isn't going to be your major concern. If you have time to fiddle with the knobs on your you beaut ham radio, you aren't in that much trouble.
H/T's of the cheap and disposable chinese variety, will get you all the local information and contact you need in the majority of cases.

Comms, are an adjunct to a practiced plan of action for RV/bug out, not a replacement for planning and prepping.

What happens over the horizon is out of your immediate sphere of influence.
Practice the means necessary to get your people within range of your or each others H/T comms and closer to your or their ability to provide meaningful and practical aid beyond second guessing their needs 10/20/30 miles away.

When you are RV'd or back to the BOL/BIL, then you can spend some luxury time fiddling the knobs on your shiny IC-7800 for a broader picture.

 

CB radio was designed for local communications.
You don't need a license or any intelligence to use it.
Buy a radio, put up a antenna and talk.

not really true, if you just set up an antenna and talk you will probably burn your radio up pretty quick, you aren't accounting for setting up the antenna for a proper groundplane, setting swr, and proper grounding, cb is just like any other ham radio out there as far as setup, and intelligence is neither here nor there since most hams start out on cb...

 

No, if you buy a CB and a CB antenna, you are pretty much up on the air. The CB is a max (not SSB) 4 watts. It will just work if you are in the same city as 1:1 SWR. When you start to play with higher wattages, then you really have to pay attention to SWR.

A CB handheld is also 4 watts and those antennas are usually pretty far from 1:1 but they work for years.

 

AHHHH, another good radio fight....... Thanks for the post.

 

I have thought about Ham radio for some time. Many on my service route are Ham operators. I have the books and DVD to study for the Tech License test however a few things have stopped me. I want a simple radio for emergency situations. How far do I need to talk? In an emergency do I need to talk 300+ miles? Without a repeater in the area or using CW I doubt I could do that on a tech license on a reliable basis. Another thought, in an emergency I'm more interested in my 20 mile patch than I am anything else. With a CB/SSB radio and a good tuned antenna this can be a possibility. Catching someone even 10 miles away is even more probable. The antenna is key with any CB rig. Get a good one. Now, 20+ years ago I was running through Portland Oregon in the middle of the night. I stopped into a truck stop and bought a real cheap Cobra 40 channel CB with a 3 ft magnetic antenna. I knew nothing about radios back then. This type of radio setup, the Hammies will tell you, will only get 4-7 miles of range. From the Columbia river I was talking to trucks pulling out of Olympia Washington. You can do the math. Typical of all CB's? No. But with a good system the CB isn't quite as humble as some may think.
I went to the local radio hub awhile back when the Ham bug got to me and was told to go get a license first as I wouldn't be able to "understand" what they were talking about until I did... Wow, that dispelled the idea of "Friendly Elmer's" going out of their way to help a newbie. They test here locally only twice per year so I would have to drive 80+ miles one way to test on my timetable.
Another thing that has been bugging me is that we live in a day and age where the government listens and tracks our phones, they invade the internet and so on... If I get a Ham license they then KNOW I have a radio. In the event of a bad political switch what is to say these Hams/repeaters don't just get shut down? Not possible? Think again. Think WW2 and the trucks that ran around picking up and pinpointing illegal broadcasts in Europe. In more than a few countries Ham radio is illegal. The government will know right where to come pick up your radio by just getting a list from the FCC. I don't need that. I encourage everyone to buy CB's and if your not going to use them then just store them for a rainy day.
For emergencies I have a Sony AM/FM/SSB radio with external antenna. With this I can pick up broadcasts from major stations six states away or more. With a CB/SSB radio I will know what is going on in my area. I will know what roads are blocked. If one lives anywhere near a usable freeway or highway with truck traffic then there is a goldmine for news. Yeah, the CB still has it's uses. I leave the high tech stuff to those who are interested in Ham as a hobby. I've got hobbies. Don't need another one.

 

well for emergencies your better off using your cell phone , but if you are a member of a club that owns a repeater or there is a public repeater that has whats called "auto patch" it is a radio to POTS (plain old telephone system) lines ie landline, that you can access to make emergency calls, if you get your license i suggest getting with a club and see they have something like this, but a cell phone would always win over a radio in an emergency really, now in a situation where law is not there, the rules will change, radio might be your best bet, but again that is an unknown variable.

 

I love hearing from those people who shoot down HAM radio because they don't have a license.

As I type this I am on HF. Just finished a contact with South Island, New Zealand with 100w and a G5RV antenna (Google it). Then had a nice conversation about hiking and fishing with a guy in Washington state. Right now I am listening in on a conversation between a husband and friends talking to his wife who is solo sailing around the world.

Sure, this is a prep. Its a prep that doesn't get dusty. I fire it up, talk to somebody on the other side of the world and then go watch some Netflix.

It may be a prep but there is great satisfaction in talking to New Zealand from Arizona or making a "QSO" with the International Space Station (yes, most of the astronauts at any given time are HAM operators and spend time making contacts).

AS far as regional emergency commo, HF wins hands down. For Tactical, UHF, VHF. which ever, they both work. CB is great for an in between. it can get you more than UHF and VHF but can be really noisy too. Pick you poison and get good at it.

As far as HAM goes, if you aren't a HAM but are interested in radios, you are cheating yourself so badly.

 

Much of it is also a learning curve. You can't just put a transmitter on an antenna and expect it to fly if you don't understand some basics. I know what I'm doing, and I STILL fry stuff. Once you start working with kv and above output stuff, which is required for reliable long range hf comms, it's better to rtfm, and learn the basics first...

 

Today's Poll Results So Far

POLL QUESTION:
What type of 2-way radio system do you use?

ONGOING POLL RESULTS
AS OF 7 JUNE 2013

HAM HF SSB - 100W or more 21 48.84%
HAM HF SSB - Vehicle or Backpack 18 41.86%
HAM VHF or UHF FM 20W or more 26 60.47%
HAM VHF or UHF FM HT 30 69.77%
CB SSB 27MHz 13 30.23%
CB AM 27MHz 18 41.86%
MURS VHF FM HT 16 37.21%
GMRS UHF FM HT 20 46.51%
FRS UHF FM HT 19 44.19%
Other 12 27.91%


Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 43. so far.

We are starting to see the trend.

Have you voted yet? Click here.

Radio Distance Range? Ham vs CB vs FRS vs GMRS vs MURS

 

The down side to CB is when the sunspot cycle is in high gear, you can talk all over the country but because there are so many CBers out there the entire band is saturated and itis still only good for local Comms.

Ham radio has many fewer users whe tend to have a great etiquette and are respectful. This allows you'll get those really long contacts and huge distance commo.

HAM radio just has so many more legal options that allow for great and innovative expansion of your hobby.

 

The down side to CB is when the sunspot cycle is in high gear, you can talk all over the country but because there are so many CBers out there the entire band is saturated and it is still only good for local Comms.

Hi ComancheSniper,

Yes, if you are trying to only communicate locally, interference from stations coming in via ionospheric skip is a factor for all HF radios. Since the current sunspot cycle is quite a bit lower than previous solar peaks, the skip interference is not nearly so bad on CB frequencies as it once was.

But the big advantage of using CB or HAM radios (in the HF bands) for local comms is that they go further using Ground Wave. Ground Wave is only effective below about 50 MHz, and it gets better as you go lower in frequency. This makes it possible for the signal to go over hills.

Since the VHF and UHF radios above 80MHz are only Line-of-Sight, they need repeaters, directive antennas, or very high power to get a signal over the ground clutter, and don't do well in rough hilly terrain.

 

The primary driver of communications distance is the propagation mode.

For simplicity, I'll keep it to two
(1) Ionospheric reflection
(2) Line-of-sight / scatter

There are other modes, such as meteor bounce, tropospheric scatter, moon bounce, etc. But those are specialized techniques and will clutter up the discussion.

If ionospheric reflection is the propagation mode - signals "bounce" off the ionosphere at a height of 60-150 miles above the earth's surface - the potential communications distance is world wide.

Whether a particular frequency can propagate by ionospheric reflection depends on many things, including time of day and ionization state, which itself is influenced by the sunspot count and the familiar 11 year cycle.

As an extremely broad generalization, of the frequencies for which transmitting equipment is available, you can consider ionospheric propagation supportable between 2 and 30 MHz. Under extremely favorable conditions, the upper frequency supported by ionospheric propagation can exceed 50 MHz.

If you are communicating via ionospheric propagation, the antenna height above ground is less critical than one might think, as is also the case for transmitter power or receiver sensitivity.

On the other hand, if one is communicating by line-of-sight or scatter propagation, there is no upper frequency bound - but it is subject to other limitations.

a) The distance to the radio horizon - this is more or less independent of frequency but not completely, which lower frequencies (say 30 MHz) having a further horizon distance than a much higher frequency (say 300 MHz). As a really rough approximation, the distance to the radio horizon on flat earth in miles is equal to the square root of the height of the antenna in feet. 100 feet high = 10 miles to the radio horizon. If you have two 100 foot tall antenna stations communicating with each other the distance to the horizon will be 10 + 10 = 20 miles.

b) At the radio horizon distance, communications do not stop; rather the propagation path loss changes from the free space loss of 20 db/decade to a scattering loss of approximately 40 dB/decade. To put this into practical terms, as you travel further from the radio horizon, the signal drops off much faster with the same percentage distance change as it does within the radio horizon distance.

c) Within the free space zone, out to the radio horizon, transmit power and antenna gain is less important than it is once the transition is made to scattering propagation. That's not to say transmit power and antenna gain are unimportant within the radio horizon, but rather the benefits of higher gain and power are seen more beyond the horizon.

d) In non-flat terrain, in urban areas and in wooded areas, the concept of "radio horizon" becomes less useful because the direct line of sight path between a mobile station and a fixed station is subject to obstruction and the dominant propagation mode becomes scattering much sooner (in terms of distance) than in, for example, the wheat fields of Kansas.

e) For line of sight / scatter propagation, the choice of frequency is important. In open country, for example, lower frequencies 30-50 MHz are good choices all else being equal. In an urban area, 150 or 450 MHz frequencies are generally considered better for building penetration and "bouncing" off obstructions.

f) I've intentionally stayed away from providing X frequency will communicate Y miles because there are so many variables that such predictions have to either be couched with so many caveats as to make them useless or based on such detailed analysis as to be impossible to make without digital terrain and morphology data.

g) Nonetheless, as will be apparent to anyone who has used some of the available options is that the low power 450 MHz band FRS and the like have rather limited communications range, and that 150 MHz higher power equipment is likely to yield significantly better range.

--------------

In addition to being a ham radio dude for 52 years, I've also worked professionally in the field of radio propagation prediction and measurement for several decades, including writing computerized propagation prediction models.

 

Did Rambo just change his user name to get around my ignore list?

 

He didn't insult anyone by saying their HT is worthless or utter the phrase "real ham" so I don't think so. All of the knowledge without the ego :thumb:

I need to find that ignore list thing.

 

holy crap, what license do i need for a 100W SSB radio?

 

VHF or higher Technician
HF General or higher

 

IMO, ham radio is king.

 

LOL, wasn't trying to contradict you at all, only add to what you had said :

 

Great Thread - some comments

This is a great thread! I'd like to submit a few comments on what I've read here.

For those of you that think that CB is the end all - keep in mind that when the 11 year sunspot cycle goes back into a minimum again, the cb radio that would talk across the country will now barely talk across town. This will have an affect on ham radio as well, but we're licensed to operate LEGALLY at higher power and to some degree, that higher power will make up for the lack of propagation.

Most of the truckers in the country are getting ham radio licenses. They realize the benefits and flexibility that ham radio offers.

With the elimination of the morse code requirement, it's easier than ever to get your ham license.

CB radio is dying out to a large extent, while ham radio is alive and well.

In an emergency, your cell phone will likely NOT be usable. Depending on just that for communications is NOT very wise.

The concerns about the Government coming in and confiscating your radio gear is real. The wise person will stash communications gear like they will cache weapons, medicines, and food. It is about SURVIVAL is it not?? The Government would be hard pressed to shut down every repeater and radio. In the winter time, mountain top repeaters are difficult to access. Of course the military can take out a mountain top communications site easily with a missile, but that takes out everything including the infrastructure that THEY need. It will take time to take the ham radio gear off the air, in the meantime, we can already have in place contingencies for that eventuality.

In my opinion, you can't have enough communications gear! I want it all, CB, FRS/GMRS, ham, etc. etc. You use whatever works.

Soo, Get your license! Get involved in a local club and participate in emergency communications. It WON'T work to try it when the SHTF, you have to ALREADY know how!

7 3

Jeff -- KE7ACY

 

This is a great thread! I'd like to submit a few comments on what I've read here.

For those of you that think that CB is the end all - keep in mind that when the 11 year sunspot cycle goes back into a minimum again, the cb radio that would talk across the country will now barely talk across town. This will have an affect on ham radio as well, but we're licensed to operate LEGALLY at higher power and to some degree, that higher power will make up for the lack of propagation.

Most of the truckers in the country are getting ham radio licenses. They realize the benefits and flexibility that ham radio offers.

With the elimination of the morse code requirement, it's easier than ever to get your ham license.

In an emergency, your cell phone will likely NOT be usable. Depending on just that for communications is NOT very wise.

The concerns about the Government coming in and confiscating your radio gear is real.

There isn't any reason for the government to take anyone's legal amateur radio equipment.
Everything that the Federal Government does is digital and encrypted.
Most of what they do isn't even terrestrial communications - since they own most all of the satellites in orbit.
Terrestrial communications is only used - person to person, or to talk when satellite communications won't work.
Geomagnetic storms - like what we are having right now, messes up all communications - especially in the northern latitudes.
Alaska is very important because of its close proximity to the USSR.

The Government would be hard pressed to shut down every repeater and radio. In the winter time, mountain top repeaters are difficult to access. Of course the military can take out a mountain top communications site easily with a missile, but that takes out everything including the infrastructure that THEY need. It will take time to take the ham radio gear off the air.

Check the Part 97 again, along with the Communications Act of 1936.
The only way you can put a repeater on air is if you have total control of it. If it malfunctions, you are supposed to turn it off within 3 minutes.
Even the time out timer is not enough to establish control.
You either have to have it connected to a unpublished wireline telephone, or have it connected to a controller that operates on a unpublished frequency above 220 MHz. Or a physical person at the control point at all times.

Soo, Get your license! Get involved in a local club and participate in emergency communications.
It WON'T work to wait until the SHTF to use amateur radio, you have to practice using it to become proficient at it!

7 3

Jeff -- KE7ACY

Jeff - I will agree with most of what you have to say....

I'm surprised that I never talked to you on 10 meters.
When the bands are open - I have talked to Oregon many times on 10.

The bottom line is that traditionally Amateur Radio has been a stop gap measure between the loss of all communications and emergency communications in times of need.

Starting with WW 1 and going through WW II - it was the amateur radio community that supplied most of the knowledgeable wireless radio operators.
It also supplied a civilian pool of CW operators that worked as teachers for the radio tech schools.

The Korean war and Vietnam was still very much dependent upon amateur radio operators - along with MARS operators, which supplied crucial two way communications between the USA and abroad.

Today it is very important to get involved with real amateur radio clubs and with real ham radio operators.
To get involved with ARES and RACES and with FEMA government training.
You have to understand the chain of command and you have to have special skills which are necessary to perform functions beyond just talking on the radio.

The FEMA training goes the whole way up to problems associated with displaced animals and chemicals and taking care of crisis situations which normally do not happen.

Each person needs to be cross trained so that in a emergency - each person can do everyone else's job.

It's very important to own high gain antenna's, portable radio and antenna equipment and to have a GOTA bag. Things like a battery jumper pack, a generator, a battery bank, spare antenna's, coax, mast sections are crucial to being able to communicate more then just locally.

 

For all radios the key is the antenna, antenna, antenna and grounding. All HT will have a negative gain since the bod serves as the ground plain. With a general ham license, I have worked Japan and Russia on 5 watts and good antenna. CB, MURS/FRS all power limited. GMRS reguires a license with no testing just a fee. you can make separate antenna and crank it up. Only the ham radios will reliably get 100-300 miles, others 2-10. I have used all of radios so above is practical experience

 

I use an Elk Antenna on 2m/70cm. One of the best handheld antennas out there IMHO.
It collapses and gives impressive gain and rejection for its size.

http://www.elkantennas.com/

 

Need a high performance yet inexpensive directional antenna?

http://www.wa5vjb.com/yagi-pdf/cheapyagi.pdf

Scroll to page 4 for the one for the FM portion of the 70CM band.

 

the Motorola bubble pack radios that claim they can get 35 miles on FRS/GMRS without any repeater.

it happened once. woman with a broken legs lost on a mountain heard by a guy on another mountain 50 miles away.

ergo, by the rules of advertising ( mouths must be fed, mortgage payments made, trumps the need for facts ) all radios behave this way at all times in all terrains.

 

I use GMRS as I didn't get them to do any DXing my people will be close and not transmitting a long way is an advantage to me.

 

GMRS commsec?



Hi texstephen,

GMRS radios are commonplace. They are laying around in kids' toy boxes all over America.

Any commsec advantage from the limited transmit power using GMRS radios is probably negligible.

Tiny transmit power and tiny ducky antennas of an FRS or GMRS walkie talkie make it difficult to talk direct between units more than a couple miles. But it doesn't prevent someone from listening to your people's comms much further away.

A yagi beam can be used to pick up your tiny little GMRS walkie talkies from many miles away without you even knowing it. In fact, someone is probably listening to you right now:
There he is!

Better use hand signals.

-RadioMaster

Blog: RadioMaster Reports
Survivalist Communications
Prepper Communications

 

Range is inverse the distance / the distance above ground - of the transmit and receive antenna. Just because someone was in a good location and got a couple of miles or more out of a GMRS or cheap Chinese piece of crap, doesn't mean that everyone will.

There is a QST article of someone that took two bowfengs and tied them together, put them on a weather balloon, launched it, and at 100,000 feet - made a contact more then 100 miles away - full quieting. That is about as close to a mobile repeater as one is ever going to get.
At 100.000' - you can expect a range of almost 300 - 500 miles with a 5 watt radio.
The only hard thing is keeping it aloft and stationary.

 

I voted for "Other".

I could "talk" around the world with my 10w CW transceiver.

 

Yes. 10 Watts on CW is better than 100 Watts on SSB.

You would need about 200 Watts of SSB to achieve equivalent distance range of a 10 Watt CW transmitter.

Of course, this assumes a skilled CW operator receiving your morse signal. It also assumes a talented SSB operator receiving your voice signal through the noise commonly found on SSB.

Rule of Thumb: CW is about 13 dB better than SSB.


-RadioMaster