Denver area class on back country communication

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Nikkormat
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by Nikkormat »

Ok I'm planning to be there tomorrow. Do I need to register or just show up?
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ExplorerTom
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by ExplorerTom »

You should register just so they know.

Should be a good time.

Nikkormat
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by Nikkormat »

How do I do it? Couldn't find it on the site...
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REDONE
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by REDONE »

Nikkormat wrote:How do I do it? Couldn't find it on the site...
Scroll down, it's under the map for the location. "Register now, it's free!" there's little fields for your name and email.
79 J-10 (Honcho Mucho) KE0LSU
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Nikkormat
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by Nikkormat »

Hey guys, I really wanted to come but I just got home from a trail run in central city. After spending the night in a pickup trying to bash snow and take a nap I'm just to tired. Not safe to drive down.

BUT I will be there at noon to pickup parts so I might still see a few of you.

Have fun!
Gabe, "reformed" Jeep hoarder.
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shimniok
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by shimniok »

If you're in any kind of range to hit a repeater, or you can get somewhere that you can, then you're very likely to get someone's attention. Note that in an emergency you do not legally have to have a license to transmit. Also note that you don't need a class. Just go online and search for practice tests and other materials. I just read a book and did tests on the computer. Easy peasy.

I have loaner CBs which will be worth their weight in gold if it means I don't have to use FRS/GMRS :D
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Tatsadasayago
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by Tatsadasayago »

Yes, as Shimniok said, when life or property are in danger, the rule is: "Any frequency at any time".
I'll never forget the day I overhead a young boy transmit on the local trunked radio system "Blackhawk Down" after seeing a Sheriff motorcycle unit T-Bone a minivan. The cop was near death and the kid got on his radio to call for help. Obviously no charges were filed against the boy.
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REDONE
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by REDONE »

Overall I thought the class was really good. HUGE thanks to derf for putting the word out!

My takeaway from the class is that all of us should get ham radios, and those of us that wheel will get the most benefit from it. I left work early on Friday so I had to come in today and play catch up but when I get home later I'll post up the info from the class and the stuff I've found on my own, but for now the short is it takes a about $50 and a saturday morning to get up and running on ham radio (up to $15 for the test fee but some organizations do it for free, and a $30 Beofeng radio off of amazon).

The single biggest benefit I see is APRS. It's Blue Force Tracker for civilians. Look at aprs.fi (if that doesn't automatically become a link, type it in your browser just as it is "aprs.fi" without the parethesis. It should bring up a google map of your area showing everything that is on the APRS net, from internet gateways to weather stations. In the class they said they had not yet found a weatherstation that isn't also an APRS digipeater. :-bd
79 J-10 (Honcho Mucho) KE0LSU
304/Performance Fuel Injection TBI/MTA1/SP2P/Magnum rockers
T18/D20/D44s&4.10s/33" Mud Claws
Grizzly Locker Rear
4" front spring drop, 5" rear shackle flip
Chevy style HEI (ECM controlled)
Dolphin "Shark" gauges in a fancy homemade oak bezel
3/4 resto, rotting faster than I've been fixing it.

ExplorerTom
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by ExplorerTom »

Last May I was doing the Kokopelli Trail with a group from Rocky Mountain Overland. On what was the last morning, I needed to be home that evening at a certain time so I left the group and got back out to the pavement. I went around the mountain that we were on and got gas in Montrose.

This was the storm cloud parked on top of them as seen from Montrose:
Image

I drove home and kept checking the RMO website for an update that they had got off the trail. This was my first trip using my ham license and wasn't up to date on APRS. Someone else from the forum had been tracking them on APRS.fi most of the day and noticed it appeared that they were having issues- lots of backtracking. I tried to send an email to them but getting the syntax correct is very tricky and it failed. So unfortunately in this case all we could do was watch their progress. They ended up getting off the trail around 10:30 that night.

Nikkormat
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by Nikkormat »

Sorry I didn't make it. The dang IFS Chevy we took wheeling plowed its way onto a snow bank and we could not free it. I didn't get home till 8 am and I was just to tired to drive down.

And then I overslept my noon appointment. I'm not very reliable. :(

APRS sounds very handy. No more having to check in or explain to people where exactly it is I'm stuck.
Gabe, "reformed" Jeep hoarder.

ExplorerTom
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by ExplorerTom »

Nikkormat wrote:No more having to check in or explain to people where exactly it is I'm stuck.
Stop getting stuck. Or carry the right gear to get unstuck.

Nikkormat
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by Nikkormat »

I don't get stuck (in my jeep) because I have the right gear. I have gotten stuck with friends (who posses the right gear and don't carry it) and we've had to walk back to the jeep for recovery gear.

IF I got stuck and wasn't able to self recover, having GPS coordinates would be very nice. Not "Turn left at the big dead tree by bald mountain cemetery". And I wouldn't have to explain how to get to a remote camp site. I could just text out a link.
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REDONE
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by REDONE »

Alright, here's the long version:

First, the one big thing that's better with ham radio is signal strength. CB is limited to 4watts, FRS is half a watt and GMRS is 5 watts.

Most mobile ham radios I see are dual band: 70cm and 2meter. You can use 50 watts on 70cm and 1500 watts on 2m (if you can make that much). Also, there are repeaters to help push your message along. Basically, who has spent most of a day or night sitting on their stuck or broken rig because the other people in your group had to drive all the way down, into town, buy or pick up a part or tool, then drive all the way back up to your broken/stuck truck. You have no idea how far out they are, where they are when they'll be back and if you think of something else 5 minutes after they leave you, you have no way to tell them.

With ham radio you can. I think the biggest reason I haven't given it serious consideration before is that:
1) No idea how to learn what I need to know to pass the test. Now I do. https://hamstudy.org/

2) No idea where to take the test. Now I do. http://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-rad ... am-session

3)No idea what radio to buy. Everyone says get this one first because even when you outgrow it you'll still have a use for it. At $30 it's worth the risk:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss? ... ords=uv-5r
Image

So with those three things cleared up, it takes about the same $ to get into ham as it does for a 3-pack of GM/FRS radios, but it does take a little more effort.
79 J-10 (Honcho Mucho) KE0LSU
304/Performance Fuel Injection TBI/MTA1/SP2P/Magnum rockers
T18/D20/D44s&4.10s/33" Mud Claws
Grizzly Locker Rear
4" front spring drop, 5" rear shackle flip
Chevy style HEI (ECM controlled)
Dolphin "Shark" gauges in a fancy homemade oak bezel
3/4 resto, rotting faster than I've been fixing it.
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Tatsadasayago
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by Tatsadasayago »

2m trumps FRS/GMRS any day
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BRUTUS
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by BRUTUS »

Sounds like it was a good class. Looking forward to taking it. Thanks for all the info.
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bigun
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by bigun »

Your antenna has a lot to do with how well you get out also. The short stubby on your handi talkie is at best a compromise, adding a well tuned antenna to your vehicle will greatly help your signal.
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REDONE
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by REDONE »

bigun wrote:Your antenna has a lot to do with how well you get out also. The short stubby on your handi talkie is at best a compromise, adding a well tuned antenna to your vehicle will greatly help your signal.
I completely believe it since that's what everyone has told me, haha! My plan is to use the HT (handi talkie, I'm learning the lingo) to learn what I'm doing with setting channels (manually and tethered) and experimenting with repeaters. Once I figure that out I'll get a dual channel monitoring dual band with a permanent antenna for Money Badger and use the HT to figure out APRS. Since APRS seems to be a fairly constant TX thing and with every weather station being an APRS digipeater I figure the 5w output of the HT would be good for that. I bought a battery eliminator for it that can power it from the truck, and I'll put a mount for it right out my sliding window on the back of the cab. With a better antenna and above the truck, but not sharing the same ground plane as the comms radio I think it'll do it's job.

then the Dual channel dual band radio I can have a freq on low power for talking with the group and another freq on a higher power to reach a repeater or base station while out in the boonies. Of course this is all academic, right now I just have a $30 ham radio in a box on my doorstep (amazon just dinged me) and no license to use it. :P
79 J-10 (Honcho Mucho) KE0LSU
304/Performance Fuel Injection TBI/MTA1/SP2P/Magnum rockers
T18/D20/D44s&4.10s/33" Mud Claws
Grizzly Locker Rear
4" front spring drop, 5" rear shackle flip
Chevy style HEI (ECM controlled)
Dolphin "Shark" gauges in a fancy homemade oak bezel
3/4 resto, rotting faster than I've been fixing it.

bigun
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by bigun »

You can listen, I got started with an old crystal controlled scanner.
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Tatsadasayago
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by Tatsadasayago »

There's some pretty cool stuff that can be done with an HT that has the right features.
I have an older ADI AT-600 (Unlocked) that was very helpful in a search and rescue situation in Montana.
The searchers all had FRS HTs and couldn't communicate with the command post. I turned on the 2m/440 cross-band repeat feature and acted as a hilltop repeater for the foot soldiers in the canyon. The Sheriff dept operated on 154.xxx Mhz and the FRS guys were on 452.xxx and everyone could talk to each other :)

Another cool thing is Amateur TV. Connect an HT to a video camera and transmit the live video to the HQ on 440. VERY handy in wildland firefighting so the fire boss had a better 'picture' of the scene without having to get into an aircraft.
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derf
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Re: Denver area class on back country communication

Post by derf »

I'm probably going to be hitting up the exam on Saturday morning down in Parker.

http://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/parke ... 34-5222-17

Anyone else planning on making it down there?
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