Amateur Radio In the Backcountry? 376
bartle writes "I spend a lot of time hiking in the Colorado Rockies. Cell phone reception is very unreliable and I'm curious if carrying a small amateur radio would make any sense at all. I don't want to add too much weight to my pack; from what I gather, a radio weighing a pound would give me at most 5 to 10 watts of transmitting power. I have no idea if this is enough to be effective in a mountainous region, and I'm hoping some experienced Slashdot hams could give me a clue. I'm only interested in acquiring a radio and license if it is a lot more effective and reliable than the cell phone I already carry. Otherwise I'll just wait for Globalstar to bring back their duplex service and buy a next-generation SPOT messaging device. (I know some Slashdotters will want to suggest a modern SPOT or Personal Locator Beacon; these are suitable for the worst kinds of emergencies, but I'll point out that reliable communication can help prevent small crises from becoming big ones.) Are small amateur radios effective in the field, or are vehicle rigs really the only way to go? Or am I better off just waiting for satellite?"
Handheld + crossband repeater at the vehicle... (Score:1, Insightful)
As noted it does depend on where the repeaters are/what local frequencies are in use.... that much said - some car units are designed as cross-band repeaters and could take the 1-5 watts of a handheld and retransmit on another frequency with a bit more output power....
Try the local ham radio club (Score:5, Insightful)
You might try to find a local ham radio club and ask what their experiences in the area are, and specifically where you're going to be hiking.
Re:Don't do it! (Score:4, Insightful)
Uh, actually, one of the primary reasons that the FCC originally and still allows amateur radio the really impressive set of bands and technologies that they are allowed is that they ARE there for emergency communications.
What do you think Field Day is all about?
Re:Don't do it! (Score:3, Insightful)
There's a comma there, not a period. They are clarifying the "voluntary noncommercial" part of item A.
Item A is not any more or less important than any of the other items.
If the ARS is redefined such that emergency communications becomes our primary or main focus, then the other items can AND WILL be eliminated as extraneous.
We must not fall into this trap!
Re:Nope (Score:5, Insightful)
When building our local EmComm van I specked in a CB. The rest of the hams thought I was crazy. I said, "Who do you think will be delivering supplies, maybe a trucker?" They then thought it was a wonderful idea.
The goal isn't to insure that all communications are by ham radio, the goal is to communicate.
You are asking the wrong question (Score:5, Insightful)
They fail because of the lack of coverage, the charge in the battery or the fact that no one else will be able to figure it out (if you are the one hurt).
Some simple precautions go a long way: the buddy system, first aid kit, topo map and compass, planning your route, extra food and water, notify friends of your departure and return. These do not cost as much and will do a lot more.
I used to carry a 2 meter rig when I went backpacking with the scouts. I found there was no coverage - except near cities.
The back country is a great place. But, it is terribly unforgiving for any lack of preparedness.
Re: Grave Danger (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Colorado Repeater Map (Score:5, Insightful)
In addition to the above, there's a decent coverage map for Colorado Connection [colcon.org] here [colcon.org], but some of the repeaters (especially Durango) are missing from the map.
It's been a long time since I was there, but at the time, the Durango area (and northeast to the Vallecito Reservoir) had solid coverage in the 144 MHz (2 meter) band. There was a solar-powered repeater operated by a local club on top of a mountain, broadcasting at 100 watts.
I had an interesting discussion with one of the club members about the perils of maintenance -- the road to the site was only open in the summer. The repeater went down for some reason (lightning strike?) before the road opened one spring, and they had to hire a helicopter to fly someone to the site to repair it.
I'd still recommend a SPOT or similar system though; you never know where trouble might strike.
I'll second this. SPOT [findmespot.com] transmitter/locators are really inexpensive, and will provide a much more precise location if you need help. You can also use it to send a simple "I'm OK" status message periodically, and later use it to plot your locations from which you sent the message.
Re:You are asking the wrong question (Score:3, Insightful)
More to the point, if you are generally unprepared for whatever you're doing, and call for a rescue, your rescuers will hate you. My sister worked for several years as an EMT in an area that's popular with outdoor adventurers of all stripes, and they never begrudged someone who was well-prepared but ended up with a broken leg due to bad luck, but absolutely loathed people who had no clue what they were doing and ended up causing a risky search-and-rescue because of their own stupidity.
Re: Grave Danger (Score:3, Insightful)
In fact, "fox hunting" is a popular activity among amateur radio operators.
Not in the mountains :-) You need to listen on repeater's input, and the terrain most likely doesn't give you the line of sight. On top of that, the criminal doesn't know the frequency, and doesn't know timing of transmissions (those are given to fox hunters.)
Basically geolocation with a single, not moving station is not possible; you only get a bearing to the strongest direction of arrival. To triangulate without moving you need to have many stations (more than three, probably.) To triangulate with a single site you have to move yourself - and you have to move fast because you need to change your position so much that the LOB changes, and you have to move faster than your transmitter moves. Ideally you spiral around the transmitter. This requires a vehicle, most likely a flying vehicle (that solves the LOS problem also.) Such a setup is completely out of a common trail stalker's league. Perhaps a rescue team would be sufficiently equipped and trained to do DF, since they often use helicopters. The professional equipment [cubic.com] with Watson-Watt antennas will cost you just under $100K, ham level equipment with Doppler antennas will be much cheaper, but it will distort the audio with the switching tone.
If we set the reference risk of a hiker meeting a criminal at 100%, 99.(9)% of it will come from the criminal just lying in wait near the trail. No radio needed, and he instantly knows who is coming, how many people, are they armed or not, etc. - facts that can't be determined from a brief radio communication. Criminals are usually not very smart, and their methods are amazingly simple; that's why they so often work.
Re:VHF/UHF are mainly line of sight (Score:3, Insightful)