Communication Systems/Tracking Devices.

KFD - wondering if you are a Ham?

I have a SPOT and like it, but you have to make sure it has an open view to the sky. In fact, I think I am going to buy a ram mount for it this year. It is not a 2-way communication device, however, and will only communicate one way to emergency contacts of your choice.

It seems to me that the solution for the mountains is higher wattage. 2-meter Ham radios, FRS, cell phones etc. all have the same problem...getting out. They operate mostly by line of sight and if there is no repeater or receiver in sight they are pretty well worthless.

I have been considering some type of mobile higher power radio with a portable antennae to broaden the reach.

BroT

I HATE YOU, 400 ERROR. You just ate a huge reply

Here we go, again...

I am a ham, pack an FT60 with me. 5watt VHF/UHF. Low power (half-watt) is what the FRS radios throw out, I can get a few miles off that before I need to bump up. Mid is 2-watt, that goes to 10-20mi... High is 5, that's 30-50mi depending on terrain. If you can hit a repeater, the range is significantly improved. I can hit repeaters in Laramie and Cheyenne from my house in southwest denver off my truck's radio at 50 watts. Amateur licenses let you do cool stuff like autopatch (radio-to-phone), IRLP (radio-to-VoIP), satellite, huge power (1500 watts), digital packet radio, APRS (Like what the Garmin Rinos do with position, except that data can go to an internet-connected radio for a SPOT-like interface). I also pack a 2-watt commercial VHF radio or two with me, mostly for those just-in-case events where a group would have to split up and an FRS radio probably wouldn't reach.

Could also go with a GMRS license (~$70, no exam), there's a few GMRS repeaters around town but you need a radio that supports repeater shift to use them. I don't know of any consumer-level GMRS radios that do that.

SPOT is neat technology, but what I don't like about it is that it's strictly one-way communication. Press the "911" button and dispatch gets a page that there's an emergency at this location. No way of relaying additional information such as number of people involved, terrain, rescue equipment needed, what type of emergency, etc. A "911" page for a shooting and a "911" page during an avalanche would send the same page, but require drastically different responses.

I think that's most of what I had written before the damn site ate my reply...

73 de K7AIH

Check out the Garmin Rino 530 or 520. 5 watt with gps and anybody with the same shows up on your screen display with there location. but the down side is 400.00

Just picked up a Rino 130 this summer so I'll try it this winter. A couple guys I rode with last year in Revy had the Rinos, the GPS feature works great but only other Rino users come up on the screen.

FRS really only works if you're in line of sight out there.

SPOT works just like the globalstar pager works. It can send a short message (GPS location, and one of four preprogrammed messsages) to a Globalstar satellite. Those satellites are orbiting around, in low earth orbit, which means they zip buy every so often. But, there south of 52 latitude, so you need to point the SPOT at the open southern ski. It works, buy you may have to send 911 for an hour before the message actually gets out. But, it's better than being MIA. I got one, and will always carry it.

I think a SPOT, and a rino 530hcx is the way to go.

wow, yeah... i'm sure i could find someone on the other end of a radio who could help me in under an hour... probably under 5 minutes...

I Got SPOT this spring and and have used it lots with nothing but good things to say. I use it lots doing things by myself in the mts. The Ok function is a great thing for the wife. I can send a message home every night and morning to let the wife know I am well.

Just spend the money and buy this...



Dial the number and talk with someone right away.... Everything else is a waste of time in an emergency.... 1300 US. 28 per month and 1.50 per minute.

Rino 530.. should be arriving very soon. Should be fun to play with. Has some good features that allow you to see other rinos and they are 2-way radios. Can download maps ect. should work good

Fordman said:

Just spend the money and buy this...

Dial the number and talk with someone right away.... Everything else is a waste of time in an emergency.... 1300 US. 28 per month and 1.50 per minute.

Click to expand...

what is the brand name and provider
have you used it in the extrme remote
how far north is it good for

Fordman said:

Just spend the money and buy this...


Dial the number and talk with someone right away.... Everything else is a waste of time in an emergency.... 1300 US. 28 per month and 1.50 per minute.

Click to expand...

rented one last year, never worked once in 5 days of trying in the Rocky Mountains of northeastern BC. we were camping on the hill, no cell service. got it to call in every night so family wouldn't worry...had to get other sledders that were heading back to town to call for us. and yeah, it was an iridium and not globalstar. they refunded the rental money, and proceeded to tell me then that it only worked at certain times each day if you aim it correctly....wtf?

bought a SPOT this summer, and have carried a Rino 120 since '04. bought the newer Rino 130 a few years back, it has GMRS activated, and also has some kind of repeater option (on GMRS) that Mule mentioned. not sure how it works or if it's even available here in Canada. you don't have to register them here for GMRS. if you have an older Rino without GMRS in Canada, there are downloadable updates available to activate the GMRS channels on the garmin website. the Canadian model Rinos have less transmit power than the U.S. models due to CRTC regulations.