Interesting story Let me add to it: Back in May 1999 I wrote an article in World Radio mag (now defunct) entitled Backcountry adventure. Nine of us went into the bench lakes yurt into the Idaho Sawtooth wilderness. We ended up being snowed in with over three feet of snow. Every highway in Idaho was closed due to the massive snowstorm. We were thinking the wife's would be worried . I had a MFJ920 transceiver, with a 2 amp battery pack and a 20 meter dipole that I had brought in on the sled. I started calling KF7AE qrp from the Sawtooth wilderness and a Texas station responded with a clear signal. I asked him if he had a phone patch. Negative he said but he would do a collect call for me. Now this is before we had cell phones or internet and he called one of the wife's and said we were OK All of the wife's were very much worried and relieved to get a phone call saying we were OK. We had a great time on this trip including a wood fired sauna. I have the paper copy of this article and would send it to you. HF works in the deep backcountry; you just have to have the right equipment. Joe Yelda now WX7XX PIO Wood River Amateur Radio jpyelda@yahoo.com
Hey Joe! Thank you for sharing! This is what I'm talking about! They way things are out there, high in the mountains, especially in the Sawtooths, you don't need a whole lot of power, right? What a remarkable example of deep backcountry communication. I'll shoot you an email! - KI7WJP, Eric
It all depends on who I'm trying to talk to and why. If my or someone else's life is on the line. I'm reaching for my SpotX first. If for some reason circumstances that is unavailable, then I'll move to radio means. Amateur radio is a hobby to me and not a primary tool. That said, building proficiency through the hobby ensures the skills required should other tools fail and it needs to get bumped up to a first line communication tool.
Agreed. The radio does make it handy for non-emergency communication and for understanding how it all works. If there is an emergency, GPS communicators are simply going to (should) be the primary plan. I want to focus largely on keeping communication open, rather than emergency use. And yes, it is a hobby. But a darn useful one! Thanks for your thoughts. It helps build the discussion in such a positive way! - Eric
@@DARTHDANSAN Globalstar is pretty close to global coverage and certainly full CONUS coverage which is all I need. Spot gives you a dedicated phone number rather than the rotating pool that Inreach uses. I also experienced multiple reliability issues with Inreach messages not being delivered.
Awesome video and loved the scenery. I have a friend who loves hiking and back country skiing. I’ve tried to get him interested in ham radio but haven’t been able to tip the scales for him yet. Your video could do it. Thanks for the video. I would love to hear more about your success with NVIS. 73 W1UTE
David, Thank you for your kind words and glad you enjoyed it! Much of the skiing footage was from a high alpine day just last weekend. As for the topic, I really would like my backcountry buddies also ski with radios, if not ham, just FRS would be acceptable and really change how well we communicate in such a dangerous environment. That's part of the driving pillars of this channel. 73 KI7WJP, Eric ps. I'll hopefully be posting some fun videos this summer with my NVIS experiments. What a great functionality of HF!
You brought up a lot of things I had never considered before. Here in the east things are a lot easier. I just look up the repeaters in the area I am going to be in, program them into my radio, and I'm good to go. Out on the bays I just need my Marine VHF radio, as the Coast Guard stations have high towers that can pick up my signal from 100 miles away. If there isn't a station near by there is almost always a fishing boat in sight. Everyone monitors channel 16, so it's very probable that someone is going to pick it up. It's not that we don't have wilderness, because we do! It just comes in smaller chunks! The Appalachian Trail goes down the sidewalk in front of our house, so we see lots of hikers every day. Almost all of them depend on their cell phones, even though cell service even here in town can be spotty. I have never encountered anyone (other than the local Boy Scout troops) who carries a radio on the Trail. The Trail here can be tricky, with steep ridge lines, loose rocks, and washed out pathways. It seems to me that carrying a GMRS radio is prudent, especially in Winter, when you can hike the trail for days without seeing anyone else. Most of the trail is well covered with repeaters. The one I use covers almost 100 miles of trail. I carry a radio whenever I hike. The piece of mind is worth the weight.
Good morning, Clyde. I'm sure there's a lot more to think about than either of us is coming up with. So I'm grateful for everyone's responses. The Appalachian Trail is one example of how useful having a radio plan could be. At least hikers can keep the communication door open. I realize many of these people have GPS communicators these days as well. And for many that is simply enough. I think it's important for all of us to consider where we will be and what resources we have available to us. In your case, it sounds like there are many means to keep communication open. I think that's really the important part. Thanks for your thoughts! Stay well - Eric
Interesting story Let me add to it: Back in May 1999 I wrote an article in World Radio mag (now defunct) entitled Backcountry adventure. Nine of us went into the bench lakes yurt into the Idaho Sawtooth wilderness. We ended up being snowed in with over three feet of snow. Every highway in Idaho was closed due to the massive snowstorm. We were thinking the wife's would be worried . I had a MFJ920 transceiver, with a 2 amp battery pack and a 20 meter dipole that I had brought in on the sled. I started calling KF7AE qrp from the Sawtooth wilderness and a Texas station responded with a clear signal. I asked him if he had a phone patch. Negative he said but he would do a collect call for me. Now this is before we had cell phones or internet and he called one of the wife's and said we were OK All of the wife's were very much worried and relieved to get a phone call saying we were OK. We had a great time on this trip including a wood fired sauna. I have the paper copy of this article and would send it to you. HF works in the deep backcountry; you just have to have the right equipment. Joe Yelda now WX7XX PIO Wood River Amateur Radio jpyelda@yahoo.com
Hey Joe! Thank you for sharing! This is what I'm talking about! They way things are out there, high in the mountains, especially in the Sawtooths, you don't need a whole lot of power, right? What a remarkable example of deep backcountry communication. I'll shoot you an email! - KI7WJP, Eric
It all depends on who I'm trying to talk to and why. If my or someone else's life is on the line. I'm reaching for my SpotX first. If for some reason circumstances that is unavailable, then I'll move to radio means. Amateur radio is a hobby to me and not a primary tool. That said, building proficiency through the hobby ensures the skills required should other tools fail and it needs to get bumped up to a first line communication tool.
Agreed. The radio does make it handy for non-emergency communication and for understanding how it all works. If there is an emergency, GPS communicators are simply going to (should) be the primary plan. I want to focus largely on keeping communication open, rather than emergency use. And yes, it is a hobby. But a darn useful one! Thanks for your thoughts. It helps build the discussion in such a positive way! - Eric
I agree. I have a spot so that is my first go to in the event of a life threatening emergency
Trade the spot for inreach which works any where in world . But glad you have spot
@@DARTHDANSAN Globalstar is pretty close to global coverage and certainly full CONUS coverage which is all I need. Spot gives you a dedicated phone number rather than the rotating pool that Inreach uses. I also experienced multiple reliability issues with Inreach messages not being delivered.
Awesome video and loved the scenery. I have a friend who loves hiking and back country skiing. I’ve tried to get him interested in ham radio but haven’t been able to tip the scales for him yet. Your video could do it. Thanks for the video. I would love to hear more about your success with NVIS. 73 W1UTE
David, Thank you for your kind words and glad you enjoyed it! Much of the skiing footage was from a high alpine day just last weekend. As for the topic, I really would like my backcountry buddies also ski with radios, if not ham, just FRS would be acceptable and really change how well we communicate in such a dangerous environment. That's part of the driving pillars of this channel. 73 KI7WJP, Eric ps. I'll hopefully be posting some fun videos this summer with my NVIS experiments. What a great functionality of HF!
You brought up a lot of things I had never considered before. Here in the east things are a lot easier. I just look up the repeaters in the area I am going to be in, program them into my radio, and I'm good to go. Out on the bays I just need my Marine VHF radio, as the Coast Guard stations have high towers that can pick up my signal from 100 miles away. If there isn't a station near by there is almost always a fishing boat in sight. Everyone monitors channel 16, so it's very probable that someone is going to pick it up.
It's not that we don't have wilderness, because we do! It just comes in smaller chunks!
The Appalachian Trail goes down the sidewalk in front of our house, so we see lots of hikers every day. Almost all of them depend on their cell phones, even though cell service even here in town can be spotty. I have never encountered anyone (other than the local Boy Scout troops) who carries a radio on the Trail. The Trail here can be tricky, with steep ridge lines, loose rocks, and washed out pathways. It seems to me that carrying a GMRS radio is prudent, especially in Winter, when you can hike the trail for days without seeing anyone else. Most of the trail is well covered with repeaters. The one I use covers almost 100 miles of trail.
I carry a radio whenever I hike. The piece of mind is worth the weight.
Good morning, Clyde. I'm sure there's a lot more to think about than either of us is coming up with. So I'm grateful for everyone's responses. The Appalachian Trail is one example of how useful having a radio plan could be. At least hikers can keep the communication door open. I realize many of these people have GPS communicators these days as well. And for many that is simply enough.
I think it's important for all of us to consider where we will be and what resources we have available to us. In your case, it sounds like there are many means to keep communication open. I think that's really the important part. Thanks for your thoughts! Stay well - Eric