HAM Operators?

[dclamp]

Anyone here a HAM operator? I have been learning about HAM radio and I am considering getting my HAM License.

[baja_yu]

You all know it had to happen sooner or later.

[Shaggy Hiker]

That is a totally sweet idea! It restores my faith in the basic creativity of the human race.

I looked at HAM a long time back. My conclusion was that it was a hobby that you could sink a nearly infinite amount of time and money into.

[dclamp]

That is a totally sweet idea! It restores my faith in the basic creativity of the human race.

I looked at HAM a long time back. My conclusion was that it was a hobby that you could sink a nearly infinite amount of time and money into.

Perfect hobby for me. There people who spend all day every day doing HAM. Im more interested in just getting my foot in the water. Then i can throw a HAM radio in my car and listen when im bored Driving. Can use it in emergencies and what not.

This past weekend I went for a hike in the local mountains. As my friend and I were driving (doing 40-45 up the hill) we were rounding a turn and there was a girl on the opposite side flagging us down. As I slowed continuing around the bend I found out why she was flagging us down. Her car was overturned on my side of the road. We got out to help her. She was on the phone with someone, and i was going to call 911, however I had no cell service. USFS showed up and assisted until the fire department showed up.

Moral of that story... If i had a radio, I could have contacted someone in the area for assistance. Luckily she was uninjured and the only one in that vehicle. Had she not gotten out, I would have hit her.

[Shaggy Hiker]

You had no service, yet she was on the phone with someone? I'd say that the moral of that story is: Your service sucks!

Can you use HAM radio as mobile devices? I thought they were just shortwave systems that required pretty extensive antenna to be effective? At one point you had to have a call sign if you were going to transmit, and that could be expensive and hard to take mobile. I seem to remember hearing that that had changed. I'd want to be sure about the antenna needs, though. It would kind of defeat the purpose if you had to climb a tree every time you wanted to talk.

[baja_yu]

Sounds a bit like Chatroulette without the video

[dunfiddlin]

You had no service, yet she was on the phone with someone? I'd say that the moral of that story is: Your service sucks!

Can you use HAM radio as mobile devices? I thought they were just shortwave systems that required pretty extensive antenna to be effective? At one point you had to have a call sign if you were going to transmit, and that could be expensive and hard to take mobile. I seem to remember hearing that that had changed. I'd want to be sure about the antenna needs, though. It would kind of defeat the purpose if you had to climb a tree every time you wanted to talk.

Yeah, you need a big aerial. One of the few occasions in life that size really does matter. I think dclamp's thiking about Star Trek communicators. Hate to break it to him but they're not real!

Also, of course, you need someone to be listening on your particular wavelength at a convenient time. The thing about phones is that they tell people you're calling.

[dunfiddlin]

Had she not gotten out, I would have hit her.

That seems a little harsh. I mean she was already having a bad day and .... oh, I see what you mean!

[Shaggy Hiker]

That seems a little harsh. I mean she was already having a bad day and .... oh, I see what you mean!

That actually made me lol quite literally. I totally didn't see it coming.

[dclamp]

That seems a little harsh. I mean she was already having a bad day and .... oh, I see what you mean!

None of it would have happened if she stayed in the kitchen

[dilettante]

This topic sort of got me thinking of the common FRS, GMRS, and MURS two-ways lots of hikers and rouckhounds carry in the back country for chitchat outside cell coverage areas. I know that on one occasion a guy I know said he'd reached smebody at the Forest Service once via GMRS when he got his Jeep stuck in a small rockslide.

But those are short range radios and the odds of getting help from anyone but those in your own party is pretty slim. For that matter ham radio covers a huge spectrum (no pun intended) but most mobile radios tend to be VHF or UHF and limited to line of sight or repeaters anyway.

This was an interesting read:

National Hiking Frequency/SAR

It even suggests carrying a Personal Locator Beacon.

But basically there isn't any magic bullet. I don't think this scenario provides enough of a reason for the investment in time and money to go into ham radio.

Keeping an FRS radio with good batteries in your car isn't a poor idea. Even better, maybe bite the bullet and pay the $80 to $100 or so to apply for a GMRS license and buy a GMRS radio with a chargable battery pack.

Personally I compromise. I carry an FRS/GMRS hybrid and use it at the legal FRS power setting (1/2W ERP), keeping the high-power GMRS setting (5W ERP) in reserve for emergencies since I'm not licensed to use it. So far I haven't been tempted to break the rules casually, since out in the rocks the extra power doesn't buy you anything. The main advantage is better build quality and not relying on throwaway AA cells, and at 1/2 watt the battery pack charge lasts a while.

Of course most hiking parties use them squelched relying on a "security/privacy code" to unsquelch. So you could yell all day with 10 people within a 1/4 mile and never be heard.

[dclamp]

I have my radio currently programmed with all the FRS/GMRS frequencies. As long as someone isnt using a "privacy code" I can easily communicate with them. I could hear them, but i wouldnt be able to talk to them.

I also programmed mine with CLEMARS frequency and USCG ch 16. When I get a decent HAM HT I will have a zone for just Emergency frequencies. I attempted to program 121.5 however that is blocked by my HT.

[homer13j]

I attempted to program 121.5 however that is blocked by my HT.

Isn't 121.5 for aviation use only?

[dclamp]

Isn't 121.5 for aviation use only?

Correct. But in extreme emergencies (if I could program it) I could use it to get help. Contact a near by plane and they could contact more help.

[dilettante]

I suspect they're seriously concerned about abuse, aviation being so inherently fragile by nature.

I don't think pilots monitor 121.5 anyway, so the odds of a ground based distress call being monitored by anyone are probably quite slim due to the realities of VHF propagation.

[arunb]

but how did the car turn over ??

[dclamp]

but how did the car turn over ??

She was driving on the side opposite to the current location of the car. She was too far into the shoulder and her tire lost traction on the loose gravel. She tried to get control back and ended up driving across the road, up the hill and flipped her car back onto the street.

[Witis]

If you get your license you could always name your radio something like Francis Bacon, Jono Bacon, Buckingham, or Hamlet!!!

[Bonker Gudd]

I can tell you about HAM.