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Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

plannedemergency.com

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Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#91

Post by WrtCdEvrydy »

vitaflo wrote: post #89
AtheistOfFail wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not illegal to have but it is illegal to misuse. However, this is a post about radios for emergency use and most readings of the HAM and GMRS rules state that emergency use is allowed.

It is illegal to have. Part 95 requires GMRS radios to have pre-programmed frequencies (no keypad) and a non-removable antenna. No ham radio meets those requirements.

Incorrect, there is no such requirement under the law. Here's a GMRS capable device with a keypad and pre-programmed frequencies.

https://www.amazon.com/BAOFENG-UV-5X-Repeater-Rechargeable-H...

It is completely legal to own a Baofeng UV-5R or purchase a GMRS version of it which has a keypad. It is completely legal to program GMRS/FRS frequencies into either radio and it is legal to broadcast on either one in case of emergency due to Part 95 Subpart E (c) (3) which states:

> Any individual who holds an individual license may allow anyone to operate his or her GMRS station if necessary to communicate an emergency message.

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#92

Post by walterbell »

mabbo wrote: post #29

I woke up yesterday to: no home internet; no mobile connection. I own no broadcast tv service. (Why yes, I am a Canadian Rogers customer). I literally started searching through my junk to see if I owned a radio of any kind, just to try to hear news of what the hell was going on. Eventually I gave up and walked to the library instead, discovering 500 other people in the same situation sharing the wifi. Time to invest…

> Eventually I gave up and walked to the library instead, discovering 500 other people in the same situation sharing the wifi.

Hopefully librarians can use this incident to lobby for funding, as "community internet access of last resort".

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#93

Post by rufus_foreman »

eternityforest wrote: post #43
qbasic_forever wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Get a Garmin inReach mini: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/592606 The key feature of the Garmin is that it has two way communication (on the cheap model you can use a slow character at a time typing, or link to your smartphone with BLE for a proper keyboard). Two way communication with rescuers is an absolute game-changer in real emergencies. You can tell rescuers exactly what happened and the conditions of people, th…

I'm amazed that people willingly go on multi day hikes or sailing trips, regularly, without satellite communication. Some of them might be wearing multiple hundred dollar jackets and boots and can probably afford them without even needing to think of the cost. I can only assume they either don't know they exist or don't particularly want them? Do they enjoy the extra adrenaline of not having one?

I don't know about the adrenaline, but certainly part of the attraction of hiking in the backcountry was acceptance of that risk. Not much different than skateboarding, if there was a perfectly safe way to do it, I would have done something else.

When I hiked alone, I never told anyone where I was going, and I wasn't going to ask someone to come rescue me in a helicopter from my poorly advised climb or snowshoe hike. If I got hurt, I was in trouble.

You took the gear you thought you needed to make it back alive, meaning backups for most of that gear, and you knew how to use them. A compass and map isn't a drop in replacement for a GPS, if you're going to use a compass you need to know how to use it. And so on.

But yeah, the risk was certainly part of the fun of it.

DNR.

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#94

Post by LinuxBender »

vitaflo wrote: post #90
LinuxBender wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For an emergency I personally would disregard FCC regs. I don't think the rescuers will care either. Certainly local law enforcement won't care. Out in the wilderness it is unlikely one will be causing interference using a few extra watts. I say this as someone who used to pump out a few thousand extra watts. People generally get into trouble when they are playing around on frequencies they should not be on and causi…

You can use any freq in a legit emergency. But it requires “safety of life and protection of property”. You can’t just use it willy nilly. The reason hams are anal about this is because the FCC grants us frequencies as a privilege. If we abuse that privilege they can easily take it away.

You can’t just use it willy nilly.

Agreed, that is what I was trying to convey.

As an aside, I sat in police dispatch while two of the senior officers were playing light-sabers with their HT's on transmit to create feedback "music" for the dispatcher yes on the repeater main frequency of whom was the biggest software pirate I knew at the time. Kids will be kids.

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#95

Post by EL_Loco »

runjake wrote: post #82
EL_Loco wrote: post #53

If you hike, camp, backpack, this is from a very experienced Search and Rescue leader who I took course from: -First, have a Personal Locator Beacon. If funds allow, have one with two-way messaging (there's a monthly subscription fee). Needless to say, be mindful of battery condition. -Second, have a GPS with maps from your area, or the equivalent smartphone app. Learn basic map reading, a good Youtube video about it…

I think you meant this for point #2 but its important to clarify: you should be carrying PAPER maps —- preferably laminated if your environment calls or at least stuffed in a gallon zip lock bag. So many things can and do go wrong with gadgets. This comment posted while on a remote backpacking trip with somehow just enough coverage to load HN.

The person I mentioned actually meant just digital maps installed on the gps/smartphone. He completely agreed with you on how important it was to have paper maps, but he said most people either didn't see the point, or thought he was recommending them (paper maps and compasses) because he was old.

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#96

Post by grendelt »

user3939382 wrote: post #71
grendelt wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Scanning that article I was blown away to see it said "the transmitter..." - then I realized the author is play fast and loose with the terms transmitter and receiver (surprise! They aren't interchangeable!). It looks like a tube-based regen receiver. In Europe, Allied POWs would build "foxhole radios" which had no selectivity and you'd hear the strongest signals best - and during WW2, that was the BBC.

> which had no selectivity All of the foxhole radio designs I've seen actually do have an (albeit very crude) way to select a frequency. Maybe all the designs I've seen aren't faithful to the ww2 versions?

I mean, if you could get your hands on a variable capacitor, you're in business. That was unlikely to be an item you could scrounge up though. The guys in the article managed to find a tube and other parts, so that's quite impressive, but you can still get more minimalist.

The most basic is a length of wire wound around a coil form (toilet paper tube, plastic bottle, etc), the "detector" was a blued steel surface (DE safety razor blade), a safety pin to act as a "cats whisker" (bonus if you can use graphite pencil lead attached to it), some high impedance headphones (WW2 tanker/air crew headsets usually fit the bill), a good ground and as much wire for an aerial/antenna as you could get away with.

Using the length of the coil, and where you connected the antenna, you could kinda-sorta tune for better efficiency at different parts of the band (be it SW or AM). (Longer coil = lower freq)

I made a few of them years ago, and posted the results on my now-defunct blog. The DB is still intact with my files and findings, but my code base is hosed (need to remake it).

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#97

Post by Forge36 »

bobowzki wrote: post #32

If you really want to be prepared to use a radio in an emergency you need to know how to use it well. Being able to construct an improvised antenna and knowing the basics of RF and propagation will make all the difference. The US MCRP 8-10b.11 Antenna Handbook is a great starting point.

Thanks, found a copy and read a good chunk of it today.

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#98

Post by LBJsPNS »

EL_Loco wrote: post #95
runjake wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you meant this for point #2 but its important to clarify: you should be carrying PAPER maps —- preferably laminated if your environment calls or at least stuffed in a gallon zip lock bag. So many things can and do go wrong with gadgets. This comment posted while on a remote backpacking trip with somehow just enough coverage to load HN.

The person I mentioned actually meant just digital maps installed on the gps/smartphone. He completely agreed with you on how important it was to have paper maps, but he said most people either didn't see the point, or thought he was recommending them (paper maps and compasses) because he was old.

A map with a bullet hole in it is a map. A GPS with a bullet hole in it is a doorstop.

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#99

Post by scruple »

Zircom wrote: post #55
linsomniac wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what I got as well: ACR ResQLink -- you register it with NOAA every 2 years, I can't find anywhere listing the price, I think it's $50 or $75. It then talks to NOAA satellites to send out your distress call and location. The device itself when I got it was $250, looks like they are $350ish now. The downside is there is basically nothing other than "I need rescue" that you can do with the device. You turn it on…

Do people get charged after they get rescued? I'd imagine it's pretty expensive to send a team out into the wilderness, do they recoup the costs from the rescued?

Rescue insurance isn't hard to come by or particularly expensive for the group of people who spend a lot of time outdoors. The American Alpine club, for instance, offers rescue insurance with a membership, dollar amounts vary with membership "type."

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#100

Post by Fatnino »

EL_Loco wrote: post #95
runjake wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you meant this for point #2 but its important to clarify: you should be carrying PAPER maps —- preferably laminated if your environment calls or at least stuffed in a gallon zip lock bag. So many things can and do go wrong with gadgets. This comment posted while on a remote backpacking trip with somehow just enough coverage to load HN.

The person I mentioned actually meant just digital maps installed on the gps/smartphone. He completely agreed with you on how important it was to have paper maps, but he said most people either didn't see the point, or thought he was recommending them (paper maps and compasses) because he was old.

The hike down to the east off Mission peak in Fremont requires you to have a paper map on you.
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