Need Advice on Best setup for emergency use

[DaveInDenver]

If you chose to get a HAM radio be sure to get one that has a weather RX capability. I use this function on my HT and mobile unit constantly. Many radios can also be programed to monitor for the 1050 NOAA alert signal and automatically notify you of extreme weather alerts.

Good comment and I will add that a fair number of radios don't have NOAA WX stations pre-programmed. My FT-8800R does not. But NOAA broadcasts on VHF and just about every radio made in the last couple of decades is wide band RX enough to get it.

162.400
162.425
162.450
162.475
162.500
162.525
162.550

 

[gary in ohio]

I think most ARES/RACES groups encourage the use of 146.520, sure would make S&R easier. Wilderness Protocol does not require you to be truly in the middle of nowhere to work and it'll only work as long as everyone uses it. In reality as long as people who are in an area with minimal or no repeater coverage just monitor 146.520, it'll be better than nothing. I've once had a short QSO with another station following the W.P. on 146.520 out near Dinosaur National Monument on the way down to Echo Park. Truly a Wilderness spot if the definition ever fit.

I dont know of any ARES group that uses it. As ARES-EC for my county that would be the last frequency I would use, 52 is the calling freq. We would call up on the local repeater, repeater output or alternatively 146.55 with a fallback to 146.45.

The idea of a calling freq is a bit outdated. When people didnt have frequency agile radio's it made sense. Everyone would have at least a common freq in their radio that they could call someone. Then they could work out what freq the people talking had in common and move to that frequency. If you look at old crystal radio's you will find a 146.52 and 146.55 simplex channels as well as 146.76/16 and 147.34/94 repeater pairs. Check your local area,the 76 and 94 repeaters are in almost every area and have usually been around the longest.

While WP is great to follow, it takes people dedicated to listen to make it work. I have called may times using WP time slots on 52 and never had anyone come back when out camping. I monitor 52 all the time from home and have a dedicated receiver for 6,2 and 440 calling frequencies and seldom hear anyone.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I dont know of any ARES group that uses it. As ARES-EC for my county that would be the last frequency I would use, 52 is the calling freq. We would call up on the local repeater, repeater output or alternatively 146.55 with a fallback to 146.45.

The idea of a calling freq is a bit outdated. When people didnt have frequency agile radio's it made sense. Everyone would have at least a common freq in their radio that they could call someone. Then they could work out what freq the people talking had in common and move to that frequency. If you look at old crystal radio's you will find a 146.52 and 146.55 simplex channels as well as 146.76/16 and 147.34/94 repeater pairs. Check your local area,the 76 and 94 repeaters are in almost every area and have usually been around the longest.

While WP is great to follow, it takes people dedicated to listen to make it work. I have called may times using WP time slots on 52 and never had anyone come back when out camping. I monitor 52 all the time from home and have a dedicated receiver for 6,2 and 440 calling frequencies and seldom hear anyone.

OK, then don't use it. I don't carry the list of ARES district assigned repeaters, portable repeaters or simplex frequencies. If I was in the backcountry and needed help, I would hope that ham S&R people would monitor 146.520. I guess they don't assume anyone is ham anymore, so maybe it's just a pipe dream.

 

[gary in ohio]

OK, then don't use it. I don't carry the list of ARES district assigned repeaters, portable repeaters or simplex frequencies. If I was in the backcountry and needed help, I would hope that ham S&R people would monitor 146.520. I guess they don't assume anyone is ham anymore, so maybe it's just a pipe dream.

I think folks get confused over what ARES is. ARES isnt S&R, ARES isnt a first aid team and ARES isnt a rescue group. ARES is a communications group. yes SAR teams have hams, yes first aid teams have hams and Yes rescue groups have hams and often these are the same people that volunteer for ARES, but ARES itself is a communications group. Providing communications for a served agency.

Now I do agree that a ham SAR group should monitor for WP, but thats not an ARES role. I wouldnt however expect a SAR team to monitor 52 when they are not on an active mission.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I think folks get confused over what ARES is. ARES isnt S&R, ARES isnt a first aid team and ARES isnt a rescue group. ARES is a communications group. yes SAR teams have hams, yes first aid teams have hams and Yes rescue groups have hams and often these are the same people that volunteer for ARES, but ARES itself is a communications group. Providing communications for a served agency.

Now I do agree that a ham SAR group should monitor for WP, but thats not an ARES role. I wouldnt however expect a SAR team to monitor 52 when they are not on an active mission.

I know that ARES is volunteers providing communications for who might need it in an emergency. But my mistake on assuming what they did.

My only real experience with ARES was during my first year as a USFS volunteer MTB patroller. When the Hayman Fire first started, they were helping the sheriff and the S&R crews up west of Deckers when they were clearing the area of backpackers and campers around Stoney Pass and back near Sheep Rock Mt. They were most definitely monitoring 146.520, although they were up there so that they could use their portable repeater. That was when I decided I needed to get into this hobby as a backcountry enthusiast, since no cell phone will work back there, CB was a joke. The only reliable communication besides the USFS repeater at the fire watch on Devil's Head was their portable repeater and simplex.

Living in the west, if you smell campfire after a lightning storm you start to wonder. That was the same year we got caught out at Dead Man's Creek during a club run when the Coal Seam Fire started and we would have been overrun if the winds were not in our favor. We hustled out at first light the next morning... Our only source of information was listening to the radio, very much suboptimal. I got my ticket that winter and have used the WP up skiing, 4 wheeling, occasionally riding. People do listen and respond to calls on 146.520 once in a while. I'm not sure people back easy appreciate the remoteness of places here, so it's nice to hear another ham.

 

[gary in ohio]

I know that ARES is volunteers providing communications for who might need it in an emergency. But my mistake on assuming what they did.
.

Its a fine line between ARES and using ham radio as an emergency assitance grouip member. I am the ARES/SKYWARN coordinator for our county so If I am out with our CERT group providing communications between sites am I CERT or ARES? My ID lanyard is like a rolodex and I flip it to whatever HAT I have on or need to have on when on an exercise.


GAry

 

[rusty_tlc]

Its a fine line between ARES and using ham radio as an emergency assitance grouip member. I am the ARES/SKYWARN coordinator for our county so If I am out with our CERT group providing communications between sites am I CERT or ARES? My ID lanyard is like a rolodex and I flip it to whatever HAT I have on or need to have on when on an exercise.


GAry

What no RACES?:hehe:


After reading this thread I plan to set up a hyper memory location with the 2M and 70cm national call frequencies on my dual band radio. (BTW 446.000 is the 70cm national call freq. for those playing along at home.) We'll see how much activity there is on those freq.

It makes sense to give a CQ on them if you are passing through an area and don't have the local repeaters programed in your radio. I'll give that a try on our next road trip.

 

[1leg]

My bad on calling it National emergency Freq, I meant to say National calling Freq, I get ~80% response on my CQ on 146.520. Just this last weekend I was at 10000 foot in the Eastern sierras and I was talking to hams on the 395.

 

[5artist5]

Since I read about the WP I have been monitoring it at the specified times whenever I am in any sort of remote location.

I am going out to the woods this weekend and I will defiantly be monitoring.