G'day to you all

I have been an interested follower of your discussions on survival hardware and skills for sometime now and I am curious that communications hardware never seems to feature on your list of survival tools. I should declare an iterest at this point, I hold the position of "National Voice Communications" with the Department of Conservation (DOC) in New Zealand and I am also a member of the NZ Land Search and Rescue technical subcommitee.

Given that a radio has the ability to mitigate the consequences of ANY accident I am surprised that it is not discussed more. Weight for weight it will probably do more to save a life than a firstaid kit (the life saving features of which can be extemporised from clothing etc...).

By using HF and VHF radio DOC has created a communication system that can raise the alarm withing 15 minutes of an accident, at ANY time and ANY where within North Island and South Island of NZ (I am quite proud of this). DOC personnel also carry PLBs as a "safety net" although I am glad to say no staff member has been in such dire straits as to need to use one. For members of the public there is an organisation called the Mountain Radio Service (MRS) who hire out HF radios and man the base radio at preset "sked" times.

Are such facilities available to the general public (trampers, hunters, etc...) in the USA, Canada, and other parts of the world, and do you have opinions as to which radios and radio types are better than others?

Many thanks
Matthew

For the size and wait of a radio it is not as much of a priority as other things in a survival kit. It would make more sense to place a radio in a larger kit that had items like a gun or large first aid kit, but in something small you just want to have the essentials. But if you want one don't let me stop you. If you did get one you probably should get one that they use in air force survival kits. Those seem to be good, but I really don't know much on the subject. <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Frank

While I can only address the rescues in my area. For the general public, cell phones have been in many cases (locally at least) the primary means of contacting our Emergency Communications Center (911). I would say that close to 80% of the calls we responded to last year in a non-urban setting was initiated by someone in the party or passerby making a 911 call on a cell phone. Pete

Thanks Pete

When I'm teaching staff, I'm at pains to point out that a cellphone is an admin tool not a safety tool. Due to the propagation of UHF it ceases to be reliable after you have crossed the first ridge from civilisation. 80% of the calls received may have come from a cellphone, but what percentage of calls never connected? That said, cellphone is much better than nothing, but people need to recognise how very limited it is.

Matthew

A number of us on the forum are HAM radio operators. I carry a 2m handheld radio everyday in my Urban kit and generally take it along on backcountry trips. This is a good radio for my needs. I have phone patch capabilities and fairly wide range broadcast if I can hit a repeater system.

I am unaware of any organization that rents out radios and monitors to see if people get into trouble.

The major problem we have here in the US is that there is no one standard radio or frequency set that is available for emergency use. We, of course, as individuals have or can obtain the necessary radios, licenses and skills, but the most generally useful frequencies require Federal licenses. This certainly limits the appeal. HF, VHF and UHF bands are split into business, amateur, and military uses. It is generally not easy to cross the lines since available radios cannot transmit to outside their range without modification. While it is legal to transmit into another band in an emergency it is not easy to purchase a handheld radio with this capability, and the complexity of new radios prevents many from even attempting these modifications. It is also not legal to test your modifications should you do them so......

Probably the best system we have in the US is marine radio. One channel (16) is required to be monitored by all boats if they have a radio. The Coast Guard also constantly monitors this channel. These VHF radios also have decent range on the water, and larger boats will assist.

The other good system is the emergency beacons. But again these are beacons not two-way radios.

In the US I would say cell phones are generally taking the place of handheld radios. Coverage is very good in most places even from the backcountry around major urban areas. Their limitations are mostly overshadowed by their apparent and mostly demonstrated usefulness.

Sadly, the interest in HAM radio has been severely negatively impacted by the ease of cell phones.

There are several threads on this forum that discuss radio use in emergency kits, but loads of the threads are concerned with small personal kits which are by definition too small for such items.

I guess the major issue is whether the radio carried will have the ability to contact someone. I know my 2m radio can contact Seattle repeaters from the areas I frequent both in the city and local backcountry. Therefore it works for me. However, I used to live in Montana, and it was highly unlikely that I would be able to contact anyone via my HAM radio or cell phone (if I owned one <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ) from my normal backcountry haunts. So like all things it depends.

It sounds like New Zealand has set up a workable and comprehensive system that would make inclusion of a radio an excellent idea for all larger kits.

The major problem is that we allow anyone to buy a cellphone, but require radio operators to actually understand radio wave propagation, antennas, responsible use, legal transmission frequencies, interference issues, and for some levels of license, Morse Code........

Why then do we not have more licensed HAM's?

Lloyd,

Not sure if you saw this thread last year but it has a fairly long discussion on the use of radios for an emergency situation in a national park. This sort of outlines the difficulties faced by uncoordinated frequencies and divergent opinions on the practical use of radios here.

Commuter Prepardness that slowly migrat...resting topics

I think that even if you get a cell phone and don't get service you can still make a 911 call. So if you don't want to buy a phone for a kit you might be able to get one from someone you know who as extras that are old and have no service plan. I know I have about four cell phones laying around from when I switched from cingular to verizon. <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Frank

Schwert
Thanks, that was an interesting read. Our field staff use a small HF radio (about 750g, 2-6 MHz) for those areas that are too remote or too wrinkly for VHF repeaters to give adequate coverage in the valley bottoms. The good thing about HF is that it goes EVERYWHERE, however it is not HiFi. If I were to attempt to use this radio in the USA what regulations would need to be satisfied?
Matthew

Schwert:

This could be a whole other topic <img src="images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />. As you said, the short answer is that cell phones (and the internet) have taken a lot away from radio. The fact that manufacturers of amateur radio equipment are trying put more cell phone like goodies into their products while at the same time they make them less user serviceable.

Additionally, repeater owners and radio clubs are turning into warring factions (at least here in the northeast). More steps are being taken daily to limit access to machines by "outsiders" and less concern is being given to public service.

Chris