Gloria and I (both hams) do a lot of back country travel. I always try to keep current repeaters and simplex frequencies in all of our radios. It is a pain and takes time and effort. However it is worth the trouble. So far we have never had to use the radios for an emergency (except for our work with the Red Cross). But many times I believe it has prevented our situation from degrading into a problem.

Last week we were granted access to the Barry Goldwater Range in southern Arizona. This is a huge restricted area used by the military for ground and air combat training. With the permission of the military we and 12 others traveled into a "cold" live fire range. The two agents from the government traveling with us had to leave and they took their "company" radios with them. None of the cell phones worked. However I was able to have excellent communications on two voice repeaters and was beaconing our location into the digital tracking system which immediately posted our location and other data on the web. We also carry a long range (HF) radio but seldom deploy it

The beacon system, called Amateur Position Reporting System or APRS, is a world wide internet connected tactical messaging and locating system. At the press of a button I could have transmitted an emergency beacon with a short text message, our location and other data. This beacon is relayed world wide and is monitored by many amateurs.

This is not a simple process. Keeping the radios programmed for our nomadic lifestyle is a real pain. Learning the APRS system is difficult and time consuming. However it is a real comfort to know that we have connection to the "outside" world when we are in such remote places.

Repeaters provide a method of extending range. They come in many flavors. A simple one just receives on one frequency and transmits what it hears on another frequency, thereby extending the users range. However many repeaters are interlinked. For instance, New Mexico has a system of 38 repeaters that are all interlinked. When a user transmits to one of them, the transmission is repeated through all 38. This provides near complete coverage from NW Texas, all of New Mexico to S Colorado. The CalZona system covers most of western Arizona and much of California. There are many such wide area interlinked repeater systems.

Some repeaters are connected directly to the internet. This allows users to enter a code, like dialing a number, and connect to similarly equipped repeaters throughout the world. I frequently use this system to talk to my friends back in Maine while I am traveling throughout the southwest.

I was a Red Cross Communications Responder during Katrina. Very shortly after the hurricane winds subsided, amateur repeaters were being placed back in service. One repeater had 18 folks working on it. For a few days, amateur radio played a major part in the communications in and around New Orleans.

It should be noted that all of this is provided free. Some repeaters are locked, requiring a specific code but no amateur can charge a fee for this service. The installation, maintenance and other costs are voluntary donations and many hams have very extensive and costly systems which provide free service to the amateur community.

Buying a ham radio and getting a license will only be the first step in the process. Being proficient in using radio is a skill like many others. It takes interest, time, money and practice. Some folks get the license and a radio then pack it away for "emergencies". Hopefully it will help, but the odds are against it.

Nomad

Unimogbert, You should PM Rantor. He knows the Livermore area better then anyone else I have ever known. I would bet that he has a map (or has access to it) of the repeater towers that are up there. Now in all fairness, that is a BIG area! Just a thought.

Yep, and as you probably know, the ARRL produces a pocket-size (3.75 x 5.25 inches) printed repeater directory. I always have one in my vehicle or in my daypack (with my HT). While they publish it every year, Amateurs want to encourage communications, so very little of the existing information changes from one year to the next.

Once a club has a repeater up, it would usually only change the frequency and/or PL/CTCSS tones if they were experiencing/causing interference or there was some other type of problem. Primarily it is additions and deletions.

Buckeye

Several other sources gives the location as Wellington - much further east, behind a ridge.

Since I'm poking around in the gulleys west of Livermore radio won't help me.
Thanks for the suggestion though.

Since I know I'm out of reach I give the SO a detailed list of waypoint coordinates showing my plans and a hike plan to read to the searchers if I'm overdue.

Hell just let me know and Rantor and I will be there in under an hour if you get into too much trouble. We have stomped those mountains since we were old enough to stomp. Maybe one of these days we can get together, have a cup of coffee and tell each other lies and have a few laughs. We are in S.E. Wyoming and have lived up and down the front range for most if not all of our lives.

By the way just picked up a RCI 2970 that I am putting in the Jeep. Maybe we will be talking to each other over a cup and not even leave our current state (and not the state of confusion that I have been accused of living in!).

PM sent.