|
D C posted:Baofengs are surprisingly competent radios. Yeah, unless you stick to the forest service road entirely you will definitely pick up some pinstriping. My last trip on Cleghorn had some Power Wagons and they got through without too much permanent damage.
|
#
?
Feb 11, 2015 23:08
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 20, 2024 22:47 |
|
|
D C posted:after watching that video linked earlier theres no way the Lux Cruiser fits down those trails. It'll fit great the second time through.
|
|
#
?
Feb 11, 2015 23:25
|
|
|
D C posted:Also I'd love to go along on this trip but I dont want to pinstripe my truck, after watching that video linked earlier theres no way the Lux Cruiser fits down those trails. I doubt my girlfriend would go anyway. If she does, I think I can run my backseat. I'll check to be sure.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2015 00:15
|
|
|
Krakkles posted:You can ride with me! No guarantees I'll be in town at that point anyway, just a pipe dream.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2015 00:16
|
|
|
D C posted:No guarantees I'll be in town at that point anyway, just a pipe dream. Edit: DJ Commie posted:Bob "Weatherman" Steinberger has a long cancelled license for 800MHz cell infrastructure. (Last race I was at, he and some guy had this long chat - on 151.625mhz, during an active race - about ... well, nothing. Hey buddy, how's it going, oh yeah, i remember that, how're your kids, etc. I was severely tempted to start broadcasting over them.) Krakkles fucked around with this message at 00:53 on Feb 12, 2015 |
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2015 00:36
|
|
He never had a license for 151.625MHz, nor any VHF LMR frequencies. Everyone in the offroad community operates licenseless (I can't think of a single exception, despite having been a radio tech previously at PCI Race Radios for 2 years and now at Rugged Radios for 2 years), and haven't heard of a team or racer ever pursued by the FCC for any reason. You'd likely never have any trouble with a 4 watt Baofeng transmitting in the LMR band, but definitely stay out of 2m and 70cm amateur bands.
|
Krakkles posted:Well, lemme know. Still got my number? I don't. PM'd
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2015 09:06
|
|
|
Krakkles posted:You know, I assumed he did, because he's really obviously broadcasting out there, but ... I'm not really surprised. Especially given how little radio discipline he actually has. The "relay" concept used to be a lot more central to race communications before satellite phones, normal cell service and better radios became available. Combine some rose-tint to its history and you have its storied past. Its a great concept, but it never really changed from a guy with a portable radio tower on a mountaintop. In just a few hours of racing, there is such a vast speed and geographical difference between the fast classes and slow classes, there's no way to serve both. Guess who buys the $1500 Kenwood mobiles?
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2015 16:57
|
|
|
DJ Commie posted:The "relay" concept used to be a lot more central to race communications before satellite phones, normal cell service and better radios became available. Combine some rose-tint to its history and you have its storied past. Its a great concept, but it never really changed from a guy with a portable radio tower on a mountaintop. In just a few hours of racing, there is such a vast speed and geographical difference between the fast classes and slow classes, there's no way to serve both. Guess who buys the $1500 Kenwood mobiles?
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2015 17:35
|
|
|
Krakkles posted:Oddly, even the people with said Kenwoods don't seem to be able to transmit or receive very well, because no one sets their antenna up correctly. Im guilty of this on my CB. Even purchased the SWR tester but never got around to testing it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2015 17:38
|
|
|
Ok, I'm hoping someone can give me advice on handheld CBs. My searching on Google hasn't lead to anything I trust, and asking in the amateur radio thread in DIY has so far lead to a suggestion that the best handheld CB radio I can get is an FRS radio. I'm looking to pick one up to keep in my 4x4, since lots of people use them offroad. (Literally: I will only use it for trips like the one we're planning in SoCal. I have a mounted 2m which I use regularly, and yes I'd prefer to use it, but I understand not everyone can afford one / wants one / is comfortable using it unlicensed / etc, and I spend enough time wheeling that I'm willing to buy something to equip.) So far, I'm looking at: Cobra HH38WXST Cobra HH Roadtrip The DIY reply did say that rubber duck antennas don't work well, so would this antenna plus one of the above be adequate? I have a vague feeling of "Uniden is better than Cobra", so if not those, maybe a Pro401HH? The reasons I've been leaning toward Cobra are that I don't have a specific knowledge leading me to think one is better, just a feeling, and Cobra seems to have a more robust feature set. Because my primary use case would involve being able to jump out of the rig and spot someone up an obstacle, fixed mount CBs are really out of the question for me. I'd like to be able to chat over 5-10mi non-line-of-sight, obviously, but I'm not expecting that. I'd love any input!
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2015 01:20
|
|
|
Krakkles posted:I'd like to be able to chat over 5-10mi non-line-of-sight, obviously, but I'm not expecting that. I put a Uniden hardmount in the Jeep
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2015 02:59
|
|
|
The Royal Nonesuch posted:All that to say, it probably doesn't matter that much which handheld you get; pay what you want to spend and expect it to reach out a couple of miles, more if you're in the desert. For close range spotting they should all be fine. Probably the best advice out there. Thank you!
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2015 04:39
|
|
|
The moment you find out how poo poo CB really is, is when you make the best joke of your life and nobody can hear you: because CB.
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2015 09:09
|
|
|
Pretty certain it was the CB at fault.
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2015 09:10
|
|
|
Truthfully, I think what my friend said nailed it: Might as well just use smoke signals, because you'll probably be able to transmit further. I'm all about us using 2m, but CB is the common thread so far. Buy Baofengs, y'all!
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2015 09:11
|
|
|
I have a CB but might buy a 2m for this trip to test out. I don't think the group is big enough where cb will fail terribly, though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2015 09:14
|
|
|
Another SoCal AI goon checking in here. I'm in Northridge too like one of the other dudes. I've only got a Subaru Outback though so I can do a little exploring but nothing crazy. I'm down to camp and explore, and tag along as long as there's a spare seat for the rough stuff.
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2015 10:34
|
|
|
I'll have an open passenger seat and I like the rocky rough stuff  
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2015 17:31
|
|
|
Rontalvos posted:Another SoCal AI goon checking in here. I'm in Northridge too like one of the other dudes. I've only got a Subaru Outback though so I can do a little exploring but nothing crazy. I'm down to camp and explore, and tag along as long as there's a spare seat for the rough stuff. I wouldn't necessarily encourage you to do so, but Cleghorn is one of those roads that can be done by a Subaru if you dont mind rubbing front and rear bumpers into the ground. You just end up avoiding the trail offshoots and rejoining the group when they get back to the main trail. This was from a group run of Cleghorn a while back. There were two Subarus that were pretty much identical. This one didnt even have plates yet. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2015 18:41
|
|
|
Kastivich posted:I wouldn't necessarily encourage you to do so, but Cleghorn is one of those roads that can be done by a Subaru if you dont mind rubbing front and rear bumpers into the ground. You just end up avoiding the trail offshoots and rejoining the group when they get back to the main trail. This was from a group run of Cleghorn a while back. There were two Subarus that were pretty much identical. This one didnt even have plates yet.
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2015 20:13
|
|
|
I actually dont think either Subaru got stuck on that run. They had a bit of wheel spin in these off camber situations but the traction control did alright. The big issue, besides approach and departure angles, was the lack of sufficiently low gearing for controlling speed on the downhills. You end up riding the brakes a lot. I have to admit though, it was more fun watching the Subarus and the E350 van than it was watching the built rigs.
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2015 21:33
|
|
|
Krakkles posted:I'm all about us using 2m, but CB is the common thread so far. Buy Baofengs, y'all! I have 3 of them with all the standard motorola "color" frequencies and stuff in them so I can hand them out to people and use my mounted 2m in comfort  They're too cheap not to have a few around. And surprisingly adequate for the price.
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2015 23:25
|
|
|
Motronic posted:I have 3 of them with all the standard motorola "color" frequencies and stuff in them so I can hand them out to people and use my mounted 2m in comfort I have plenty of talent to repair $200 eBay Kenwood TK790Hs, but my only radio is a Baofeng F8 (8W UV5R) and a roof-mount Laird 1/4W VHF antenna.
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2015 23:49
|
|
|
So I use a vhf radio at work for road marker calls. Mostly ladd1 (154.100) and various forestry road channels. I don't have a license and Im not required to have one, but the vehicle must have a permit. Would a 2m radio offer similar performance ? Why can't I just buy a radio that can broadcast or receive any of these vhf frequencies ? Legalities aside is this something possible to do ? Ok for example can I just buy this and start yelling at people http://www.ebay.ca/itm/TYT-TH-9800-...=item43d6449be0 jonathan fucked around with this message at 04:10 on Feb 14, 2015 |
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2015 03:55
|
|
|
jonathan posted:So I use a vhf radio at work for road marker calls. Mostly ladd1 (154.100) and various forestry road channels. I don't have a license and Im not required to have one, but the vehicle must have a permit. Similar performance to what? And yes, in general most 2m commercial radios (that have to be programmed with cables and software) will do this out of the box. Most amateur radios (field programmable, frequency agile, whatever) will not until you do the particular magic they require to make them "freeband". It's typically something as simple as removing a bridge between solder pads and performing a full reset. And yes, you do require a license for work. They (or the state) hold it and you operate under it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2015 17:38
|
|
|
Went offroading again today, without any radio (legal or otherwise). Definitely need to get that 3" Kolak lift and a transmission cooler. Along with a CB since nobody here seems to want to risk pissing off the FCC with a Baofeng. Even though the majority of the trail can be run in 2HI (or as close as my NV247 gets to it) I noticed the engine temps dropped a good bit when I went to 4LO. I wasn't using more or less throttle, I think it mostly came from not relying on the torque converter so much.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2015 01:56
|
|
|
jonathan posted:So I use a vhf radio at work for road marker calls. Mostly ladd1 (154.100) and various forestry road channels. I don't have a license and Im not required to have one, but the vehicle must have a permit. I have one in the jeep. Fortunately China doesn't give a poo poo and the radio will tx on just about any vhf or uhf frequency you want out of the box. It let me retain cb rx as well. Can't ask for a better radio, for the price. The programming software is a little janky, though there third party alternatives now.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2015 02:11
|
|
|
ThinkFear posted:I have one in the jeep. Fortunately China doesn't give a poo poo and the radio will tx on just about any vhf or uhf frequency you want out of the box. It let me retain cb rx as well. Can't ask for a better radio, for the price. The programming software is a little janky, though there third party alternatives now. Which unit do you have ? The one I linked to ?
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2015 11:01
|
|
|
jonathan posted:Which unit do you have ? The one I linked to ? That's the one. As installed: 
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2015 16:16
|
|
|
Proof that a WJ is great at holding up more capable rigs while wheeling. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2015 01:49
|
|
|
IOwnCalculus posted:Proof that a WJ is great at holding up more capable rigs while wheeling. That looks like a sweet spot for exploring/camping! Glad you're pushing it a bit unlike almost all the other WJ drivers - put a bit of a lift in there with some bigger tires, get your overnight gear together and have a blast. You'll also be enjoying the quiet ride/air conditioning us junkyard XJ people pretend to not care about 
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2015 03:53
|
|
|
Okay! Back from an overnight trip I completely and utterly stole from The Royal Nonesuch. Absolutely shameless. It was a blast. Basically if you read his report, its almost the same as what I did so I'll just add some pics he didnt. The abandoned prison thing was kinda cool but we shared our time there with a few groups of ATVs and Motorcross people who had idiot teenagers smashing poo poo up everywhere. It's a neat place still. This underground area of an old workshop was pretty creepy  And like Royal Nonesuch I also found the tool shed thing, except when I was there, someone had taken a big poo poo in the middle of it. I should've taken the whole picture but it was kinda gross. (you've seen this pic before)  We found random rounds of different sizes all over the place pretty consistantly. When playing Fallout I'm usually thinking "Why are there 23 rounds here on this shelf? It's handy but so unrealistic" Nope, its pretty realistic apparently.  We left that place after snooping around for a bit, the ATV'ers were all over the place and almost crashed into us (they would've lost that fight in a bad way) and headed towards Black Mountain. This is basically what all of the roads in look like:  Long straight desert roads that I was bombing along at about 50mph. On the way out I saw a huge ditch (marked with 2 wood poles sticking out no less) way too late and hit the brakes but still hit it at about 35mph. My suspension bottomed out completely and the truss on my front axle hit my engine just above and in front of the oil pan. It left some scrapes but otherwise it seems to be undamaged. We drove on Black Canyon road for a bit and explored the local area without going into the mountain area itself. Since it was about to get dark we headed back out towards a nice campsite spot with a fire pit next to a huge tree that stood out, since there were no other trees anywhere.   We did some target shooting and shot at the firewood for later so we could find the bullets inside the logs when chopping for firewood. I now know what bullets look like when hitting trees.  It was Valentines night so all in all a nice camp evening with the girlfriend. She was taking night shots with her new camera and they came out pretty well, IMO.   Next day we continued along Black Canyon road to see the cool markings on the rocks, desert foxes etc. We saw some other random human constructions such as a well/mine thing (not entirely sure) and a few other things.  We went further to get to the petroglyphs section which is pretty famous. Of course we also took a wrong turn along the way, but knew we were in the right area. We got into a very grassy area, which is amazing to see in the middle of the desert, and followed some faint, but clearly repeatedly driven along wheel marks into the unknown. When we finally reached a dead end I noticed a bundle of firewood (no fire circle), and further in the distance..   Reads "Dave's Shovel He-He".  Thanks for the wild goose chase Dave, you cheeky beggar, you.We turned around and found the petroglyphs after taking the hard way in through some steep and fun sections. Once we were there, another Jeep showed up and an elder man and his dog came out and spoke to us. It turns out he's been studying the glyphs in Black Mountain area for about 20 years and is now essentially a philologist who has figured out a whole lot about these. Essentially the place the glyphs are, is a re-enactment of some huge wars tribes had thousands of years ago. The glyphs are at very specific parts of the area because it is shaped in an extremely similar way to mountain ridgelines the real wars were fought just miles away. A place they would honor the wars and educate their tribes about what happened, not just a group of people who scribbled "I like the sun" on a rock, the object looking like a sun would represent being cornered and the lines would indicate movement or time, etc.  I was told this glyph is a tally of sorts, indicating columns of days and skirmishes that happened in those days. There are also a lot of graffiti scratchings that can look similar, but arent. Things like the snake with its tongue sticking out, crap stick figures of animals, etc. Are by modern people defacing it. We also learned that a snake would look like a snake, diamond patterns, rattle and all, if it was drawn by them. 2 snaking lines is not a snake but a representation of troubled time for the tribe. We looked and spoke about the glyphs for a good hour before we were too hungry and had to leave to go get food and go home. Unfortunately my dashcam is dying and it lost an hour of footage (where I hit the ditch hard) and a lot of the footage has glitch lines through it unfortunately, otherwise it would've made for a few decent moments.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2015 06:43
|
|
|
tuna posted:It was Valentines night so all in all a nice camp evening with the girlfriend. She was taking night shots with her new camera and they came out pretty well, IMO. Not sure if you guys are using a camera with a focus distance window on the lens, only fancier DSLR lenses have this (then you can just turn it to ∞). However, if you have Manual focus capability, here's a trick I learned. When you have a source of light (any source, like a car headlight), lock your focus down. I'll walk away from the car, aim back at it, and once it focuses, move your lens off of autofocus. Then I kill the lights... and you're all set to photo the stars SWEET pics btw. Cannot wait to escape the east coast and be back west.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2015 16:34
|
|
|
Blaise posted:When you have a source of light (any source, like a car headlight), lock your focus down. I'll walk away from the car, aim back at it, and once it focuses, move your lens off of autofocus. Then I kill the lights... and you're all set to photo the stars Thanks! I'll let her know. I know a bunch of night photos came out blurrier than others and we weren't really sure why, but it does make sense that it had some weird autofocus setting on (of course we couldn't find out until we got home and saw them on a computer). She was using a Sony Alpha a6000, I'll look into if it can do that.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2015 19:44
|
|
|
The Royal Nonesuch posted:That looks like a sweet spot for exploring/camping! Glad you're pushing it a bit unlike almost all the other WJ drivers - put a bit of a lift in there with some bigger tires, get your overnight gear together and have a blast. You'll also be enjoying the quiet ride/air conditioning us junkyard XJ people pretend to not care about The best part is this area is pretty much as near as possible to being in my back yard. It's the first time I've done a proper run through it, and the first time I've taken it in the direction we went. It's not in the photos but the beginning part of it is basically a long sandy wash, with some really nice views. I think it might be useful for convincing the wife that she might actually like leaving paved roads now and again. Also, this has to be the first time (and perhaps only) where my WJ was not the one slowing the group down. The TJ in front of me was open/open and had to hit the hill with some momentum to keep moving when he got light on the driver's front / passenger rear at the same time. Wheelbase plus variloks got me up it the first time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbTRK-Dlb88 IOwnCalculus fucked around with this message at 03:42 on Feb 17, 2015 |
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2015 19:55
|
|
|
I'll be honest, if I could figure a way to put WJ Variloks in a DD XJ/MJ, I would. Unfortunately they require custom profile axleshaft splines and such to drive the gerotor pump.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2015 22:02
|
|
|
Anything's possible if you're willing to dump about $500k into a Haas mill.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2015 22:21
|
|
|
kastein posted:I'll be honest, if I could figure a way to put WJ Variloks in a DD XJ/MJ, I would. Unfortunately they require custom profile axleshaft splines and such to drive the gerotor pump. Just run the whole axles, instant wider track! 
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2015 23:18
|
|
|
tuna posted:Okay! Back from an overnight trip I completely and utterly stole from The Royal Nonesuch. Absolutely shameless. It was a blast. Cool! Glad you enjoyed it - quite the network of roads, eh? We drove by that tree too and wondered how the hell it was surviving right there. I figured it would have been dead from heat or bullet holes by now. I also hit that stupid marked trench, but luckily was going a bit slower and was able to mash the brakes.IIRC that well was a stagecoach stop. Very similar in construction to another well I've seen at an old coach stop in Chuckawalla valley, probably the same dudes hahah.
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2015 01:38
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 20, 2024 22:47 |
|
|
Tuna, can you post some pictures of the interference between your truss and other parts ? Also the drag link flip ? Here is a parts list I am ordering. Undecided on shocks and long arm kit. I like the simplicity of the rough country long radius arm kit, but apparently the bushings wear quickly. Jeep Lift parts list [ ] Rough Country Long Arm Upgrade kit sku# 790 [ ] rough country JEEP REAR COIL CORRECTION PLATES sku 1113 [ ] Artec JK Front Axle Armor kit jk4410 [ ] Artec JK Rear Axle Truss jk4420 [ ] Artec JK Rear Trackbar bracket jk4426 [ ] Synergy Front Track bar 8075 [ ] Synergy HD Drag Link 8001 [ ] Synergy High steer Jeep JK TRE Flip Adapter for 7/8" Hole 8001-03-01 [ ] Synergy Jeep JK Front Track Bar & Sector Shaft Brace Kit 8069 [ ] Synergy 6" lift coils front and rear
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2015 15:17
|
|