[pct-l] cellphone (and ham radio link)

[AsABat]

I remember we talked about it last year but it didn't go very far. At
first glance it would seem that a list of databook waypoints with
columns for each carrier would be a start. A second look and the
complications that while coverage may not be available at a datapoint,
it may be available a short distance away, and it's not the variety of
carriers but the unlimited number of potential waypoints that make it
difficult. I'd suggest that rather than just checking where coverage
worked, the date of the report might be helpful, especially in the case
of "no coverage" reports, as cell towers are always being added. Still,
I'd be willing to _help_ with that if someone wanted to do it.

The cell phone companies do have maps of their coverage areas, although
not to a high resolution. Still, one can overlay those maps on the
guidebook pages and get a reasonable estimation of where coverage may
and may not be available. I did this last year from Truckee to Quincy,
just penciling in where coverage ended and began, and it was fairly
accurate, thankfully as I had to call for a ride out.

If long distance hikers are crazy and ham radio operators are geeks, I
have a website for crazy geeks - a ham radio repeater guide for the PCT
at http://www.qsl.net/aa6j/pct/ . It is far from complete, but there
aren't many crazy geeks to provide the data. I have some info on the
how-to as well, as well as a dialogue I had with a thruhiking ham who is
sometimes on this list.

AsABat - AA6J



> -----Original Message-----
>  
> Brian, I don't know if their is enough interest in a cell phone report
> or not. I remember a year ago AsABat suggested something like this on
> the list. I would be willing to attempt to compile something like this
> if other hikers would help out with reception reports. I am not sure
> sure the best way for such a report would deal with all the different
> cell phone companies. But you are right this is something that hikers
> keep asking about.
>