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Originally Posted by kalos72
Whats the longest ranged radio we might expect to find in a military unit?
I am trying to figure out how to stay in touch for a patrol unit over 100km away.
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Depending of the size, the purpose and the type of military unit. Keeping the things simple, if you to want establish a radio link between two points at more than about 30 Km, the way to do it is using an HF radio device. A platoon sized unit operating in normal conditions would not have this type ofdevice (and it would not need it). Most probably they would be using a VHF radio, like the prc 77 (or a modern version) described by HQ. Surely (but I suppose depending on each army), they will rely on the company or battalion level communications for and HF link.
A small infiltration group or long range patrol, regardless of its size, could have an HF radio to establish long range communication. This device can be man-portable or vehicle mounted, depending of the unit. For the man portable device, you have a lesser output power and you are limited to the batteries your group can carry, although a crank operated battery recharger is available in some types of radio. The vehicular mounted radio has not these limitations. You can have a powerful output amplifier (about 1000 W in some specialized vehicles) and your power is supplied from the vehicle or from a diesel electrical generator.
In both cases, with good trained radio operators, you can establish a radio link at hundred of kilometers, using the proper antenna. With the vehicle mounted equipment you can rely more in the "brute force" of the amplifier. In the man-portable equipment, the training and the "art" of the operator is critical factor. In both cases the worst (and easy to use) antenna is the whip antenna. And in both cases the use of the wire antenna (that could be deployed in a lot of different ways) would achieve the better results with the minimum output power. A very quick method with man-portable radio is to extend the wire antenna as an horizontal line with the help of two assistants and a compass. The operator guides the assistants, changing their orientation to position the antenna in the correct direction. Then, with the two assistants holding the antenna tightened, you can establish a quick link (the entire process can last for a few minutes).