Emergency Com's on HAM Frequency Selection

[madmax718]

Im new to the whole Ham radio thing- so any guidance would be appreciated.

I am trying to figure out, which frequency would someone be most likely to listen to. While I know there are repeaters, it doesn't help someone who is stranded in an area they are not familiar with.

Similar to CB radios channel 9 and 19- Is there a 2m and 70cm equivalent? I see 466.000 as one, and 146.520 as the national simplex frequency. Seems there is no law, only suggested.

 

[SARguru]

My understanding as that those two frequencies are national simplex calling freq and serve that purpose. Of note its 446 not 466.

Personally my mobile set up is of 2 ft7800, when i am driving around one is set on my favorite local wide-area repeater the orher radio scans a few favs that i have set up in a scan bank, which include the 2 ham calling freq. So i silently monitor them regularly. Similarly when hiking i carry my search and rescue chest pack which has 2 vx6, on a mission one will be set to command net and one to tactical net, while hiking i usually put one on a repeater and the other on one of the simplex freq.

Im considering mounting an old unit in the trunk or some other option to permit doing cross-band, so that on a hike i could reach a little further.

Nic
ve3rsq

 

[crawler#976]

Prior to trips into an unfamiliar area, I check to see what repeaters are along the route and print up a cheat sheet. Quickest way to find repeaters is via K5EHX Amateur Radio Repeater Map:

http://k5ehx.net/

I also have the ARRL app on the phone, and that helps too.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.arrl.repeaterdirectory&hl=en

I've tried to contact local hams here and there via the national simplex calling freq, and never got a return call.

 

[1911]

If you're in range of a repeater, you're much more likely to find somebody listening when you call. Otherwise, the Wilderness Protocol is for all operators to monitor the national simplex frequency 146.520 MHz (or 446.0, 223.5, etc.) every hour on the hour, specifically for emergency traffic. I do that when I'm out in the boonies; can't speak for anyone else.

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~davide/wilderness_protocol.html

 

[madmax718]

Oops, I meant 446. I have them programmed in as well, but 446 in NYC is just constant babbling- which I guess is good, because it means someone is on the air. I've yet to hear anyone on the road though or out in the sticks.

 

[Fireman78]

Hey do you guys know if there is a HAM class at Ov Expo?

 

[Big_Geek]

Hey do you guys know if there is a HAM class at Ov Expo?

I think there is usually VE testing, but not sure about classes.

 

[Rotorgeek]

As far as I have ever heard there is no "Emergency" channel or frequency in the Ham bands. The calling freq's are your best bet if you don't know the repeaters. Someone obviously has to be listening. Icom has a handy little chart with band info as well. http://www.icomamerica.com/en/downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?Document=331

If I'm have a real emergency I'll do whatever it takes. You can even use the aircraft ELT frequency, they are monitored by satellite and many commercial aircraft still listen to 121.5 am. That freq is being phased out by the new digital 406 mhz.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_emergency_frequency

Probably the easiest thing to do is get a PLB or something similar. If your vehicle rolls or worse :snorkel: your probably not going to have antennas left anyhow. http://www.amazon.com/ACR-PLB-375-R..._1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380472992&sr=8-1&keywords=PLB

 

[gary in ohio]

DONT confuse a calling channel with an emergency channel.... There is no emergency channel on the ham bands.

 

[craig333]

I carry the little arrl book with me. Traveling it can be little bit of trial and error. If you can find out whats used for SAR. In my home area I'd recommend the 805.

 

[Crom]

If you're in range of a repeater, you're much more likely to find somebody listening when you call. Otherwise, the Wilderness Protocol is for all operators to monitor the national simplex frequency 146.520 MHz (or 446.0, 223.5, etc.) every hour on the hour, specifically for emergency traffic. I do that when I'm out in the boonies; can't speak for anyone else.

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~davide/wilderness_protocol.html

^ This. And also perhaps familiarizing yourself with the scanning function on your radio. It's easy to do and it's one way to look for radio traffic and find active QSO's.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Oops, I meant 446. I have them programmed in as well, but 446 in NYC is just constant babbling- which I guess is good, because it means someone is on the air. I've yet to hear anyone on the road though or out in the sticks.

I also generally monitor 146.520 if there's nothing else going on. Assuming hams do that you may never actually hear any traffic on it normally but that doesn't mean no one is listening. It might mean you are talking to no one, particularly in the boonies, but it's always worth a try. You are supposed to make a call periodically but when I'm out camping I might not remember every hour to call and most of the time I don't even really start until I'm stopped.

That's why simplex is a poor choice as a primary channel if there are repeaters in range. It is much, much more likely you'll get signal to a highway or city/town/village with a repeater than simplex. It's your best first option, getting a mobile or stationary ham at home or work. You also do not have to call constantly to know you are in range, the repeater will self ID letting you know you can probably reach it.

The Wilderness Protocol assumes that you must fall back to simplex because you are not close to a repeater or other infrastructure. So when I monitor 146.520 it's usually on the secondary side with the primary side of the radio set to a known common repeater (such as the local repeater connected to the state-wide system) or scanning through the ones nearby.