[pct-l] ham radio?

[The Incredible Bulk]

AsABat, Ned, et al,

I saw Nanuck last year at Fuller Ridge camp using a cigarette sized CW
transeiver with a dipole strung between to huge pine trees.  He said he was
not able to communicate with anyone at that time.  This was late afternoon
near the end of May, so propagation was not the best.  Fortunately, a hiker
came through who had a cell phone, and he was able to make spotty connection
with his wife and eventually me.  Cell phones do work, you just have to pick
you spots.  See Halfmile's website for his cell phone coverage table.

I intend to bring a 2 meter and 70 cm handheld with me (if knee continues to
improve) on a trip from Horsehoe Meadows to Kennedy Meadows Memorial Day
weekend.  I will determine coverage along the way.  I did map APRS sites
from the Mexican border to Yosemite, and north of Walker Pass, nodes are few
and far between.

Since I developed knee problems, I am seriously considering a SPOT for the
Memorial Day weekend trip.  I know it worked for a friend last year, so I do
not consider reliability an issue.  I also like the tracking feature.  I
wanted to use my APRS radio to record my track, but minimal node coverage
will make for an incomplete track at best.






On Tue, May 5, 2009 at 5:47 AM, AsABat <AsABat at 4jeffrey.net> wrote:

> > My question for the community is, will a HAM radio accomplish the
> same?
>
> To some extent. I carry one on most of my trips.
>
> There are two general types of ham radio for this purpose. One is a VHF
> (or UHF) handheld radio, weighing about 8 ounces. At these frequencies,
> you would use amateur repeaters located on mountain tops. In the Sierra,
> for example, these repeaters are located east and west of the ridge, for
> example, on the east side of Owens Valley or down in the Central Valley.
> Therefore, in north-south canyons coverage would be difficult. However,
> I have used them several times because of a change in plans, including
> at Lower Palisade Lakes in a high snow year.
>
> The second type is an HF radio (like shortwave). Normally this equipment
> would be larger, but low-power versions can be just as light as the
> handhelds. Antennas at this frequency are much longer, typically a
> certain length of wire strung between two trees. I haven't used these in
> the backcountry, but several (including a couple that have been on this
> list in the past) have. You have a better chance of being able to reach
> someone from almost anywhere, but no guarantee who that person will be
> or where they will be located. From home, I once made a phone call from
> a hiker in the Emigrant Wilderness - they usually don't work well for
> short distances, in this case we were about 400 miles apart.
>
> I have some information on ham radio on the PCT at
> www.qsl.net/aa6j/pct .
>
> AsABat
> AA6J
>
>
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>



-- 
Tom KI6ASP
The Incredible Bulk
pctaddict.blogspot.com