Quote Originally Posted by QuietShootr View Post
Preface: Don't jump in with comments about legality. Assume that when I'm talking about operating outside a ham band, I'm talking about emergency situations, which FCC rules clearly state is permissible (any mode, any power, any method available). This is a technical discussion, not a "OMGWTFBBQ!! The hams are going to DF your signal and come and paste pocket protectors all over your house!, and the FCC is going to burn your house down, fine you, and violate your daughter!" discussion.

I've been working on this very thing the last couple of weeks.

The Yaesu FT-897D is (imo) the best reasonably priced radio available for what we're talking about. After a simple modification, it is capable of transmitting 1.8-56mHz with no gaps, 136-173mHz no gaps, and 410-470mHz no gaps. Also, it is capable of USB/LSB, AM, FM, CW, and digital modes right out of the box. It puts out 100w of power on external 12V/23A power, and is capable of 20 watts on optional INTERNAL rechargeable LiPo battery packs. It has two very capable auto-tuners available for it, and they can be bolted right to the side of the rig.

A homemade dipole antenna rolls up on an extension cord reel nicely, and all this fits in a small ruck. On the internal batteries, you can expect at least 8 hours of continuous operation before you need to recharge (which can be done from 110 or from 12vdc.)

Couple this with a communication method known as NVIS, or Near-Vertical Incident Skywave, and things begin to get very interesting for the tactical communicator.

I differentiate the tactical communicator from the ham dork (hereafter TC and HD) because of the following:
  • The ham dork does not necessarily want to talk to a specific station. Normally, he wants to talk as far as possible with little regard for a specific contact, except for wanting to contact someone in a specific country. Oddly enough, they actually have contests to see how many random strangers they can talk to. It takes all kinds, I guess.
  • The tactical communicator wants to talk to a specific station/unit/person. This is an important distinction, because a successful comm shot to a specific station is a much more interesting problem than simply getting an antenna up and talking to somebody.


Without boring the shit out of you with technical details, just know that there are basically two methods by which radio waves propagate: skywave and groundwave....
More to follow if anyone's interested.
TAG for more info that helps me understand all this.