I was thinking of getting a basic tech amateur radie license and was wondering if there are any hams out there.

My goal in this is to get a short range transceiver in the 2M band to use in the hills with my climbing buddies. The little "toy" radios are great for line of sight but often we need better range.

Any advice here?????

There are several HAMs that check in on this site. I am one of them.

Getting your Tech license is relatively easy and well worth the trouble. The operating frequencies you can then use are good to great for backcountry use. If you operate where you can hit a local repeater you can do some very good distance communications on 2M, even line of site (without repeater) can give good distance communications (especially compared to FRS radios).

Once you have your license or while studying for it, check out your local HAM clubs etc to understand what gear/frequencies/etc may be best in your area.

The ARRL (Amateur Radio Relay League) site is a great place to pick up some info.

http://www.arrl.org/

Find your local exams here:

http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml

Find your local clubs here:

http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/club/clubsearch.phtml

Great sites to assist studies:

QRZ exams

http://www.qrz.com/p/testing.pl

AA9PW exams

http://www.aa9pw.com/radio/

HAM radio is a great way to both communicate for recreation and for your community during times of need. After you are set up check out your local ARES or RACES, or ACS groups. Volunteering in these emergency communication groups is valuable to the community, and puts you in service rather than in need during an emergency.

Good luck, and I am sure some of the other HAMs will chime in with more stuff.

Yep - My ID is the call sign

Thanks for the advice. That is a ton of good info. I have yet to do any footwork to make this happen but I plan to in the near future. I live in Utah and I know there are a number of clubs, in fact one here at the university I work at. I just have to make the time.

Thank for your input. If anyone has anything to add, please do so. Any experiences with ham radios in a rescue or wilderness situation are welcome.

Been a ham for a long time. Ham Radio is a very useful addition to other forms of communication. I did search and rescue in Maine when there was not much money for com gear and the ham community was a great resource.

Now I play with satellites from my truck, sending messages to friends back in Maine while we travel. (check my web site for details) Can't say enough good things about it.

It does provide us with a reliable, useful and robust method of communication when there is no commercial option. We carry ham gear when ever we step away from the truck.

However, that said, It is not going to replace your cell phone as a convenience communications method. It also takes a great deal of training and time to become proficient at those things which make it useful during times when other methods are not available.

In short, you gotta like playing with radio to fully utilize the capacity available. Sure you can buy a walkie and use it without knowing much. But don't bet your life on it.

If you like to explore technology, I can't think of a better playground than Ham Radio.

Just passed the element 2 exam yesterday! Partly due to my best friend encouraging me for years, and partly due to some reading on this forum. Should have my Tech license in the mail soon, now to learn Morse Code.

All that... and find a local group, if you can, that does community service. You'll have real practice on operating on a net, not some checkin net where all you do is listen (yes, I realize in an emergency you're supposed to listen more than talk, but if you have to talk, you need to know how).

Also, you might, if you haven't already, consider taking some first aid/first responder courses. You are not necessarily a first responder, but in an emergency you may find yourself alongside first responders. It's better to be certified and trained in something, than not to be in this wonderful litigous society. You may find yourself in the middle of an incident and suddenly becoming a first responder.

Course ideas in order of level of training (Apologize, they are for the U.S. If you're outside of the United States, you can probably find similar organizations/courses):

- Standard First Aid/ Adult-Child-Infant CPR / Automated External Defibilator (AED)
- Wilderness First Aid
- Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) - Through your local fire department or emergency management office
- First Responder Course (i.e. administring oxygen, first aid/CPR/AED, and blood borne pathogens I believe) [Note: Not considered professional because these courses are affordable and can be taken by anyone. Usually a pre-requisite to the professional level]

Professional Level (not in a real order...)
- Emergency Medical Technician
- Emergency Medical Technician - Level 2 (I've seen EMT-B and EMT-I)
- Paramedic
- Fire Fighter
- Fire Fighter - Technical Rescue
- A few more....

Hey - KC2CXH here (yes, it's a NJ call and I live in PA...never updated it when I moved...whatever...)

ANYWAY.... I've found that MURS and similar business band VHF radios are just as good as ham gear, easier to use and for point-to-point comms, and don't require licensing and all that ruckus.

Although I'm a ham operator, and like it, I'd advise anyone who wants to USE a radio to accomplish a task, rather than TINKER with one to learn about radio and radio systems, go with FRS, GMRS, MURS or even (GASP!) CB for those simple point-to-point comms situatons.

The little Motorola Spirit radios have been a fine performer ou tin the real world,, and a little further up the scale, I've recently used some really old HTX1000's tuned to low-band with great results in a rural SAR job.

One thing to consider before you totally dismiss the "toy" radios is batteries - you can get "AA" cells on every corner of the planet, you'll be hard pressed to get a NiMH or Li Ion battery for your fancy ham radio out in the midst of nowhere.

I've got a pair of Midland GMRS 3W jobbies that I got for $80 for the pair at Cabela's and we've found that while they don't get NEAR the "10 miles" they claim the radions are capable of, we DO get a solid 1 mile radius outdoors in just about any terrain. Over water, they are, of course better.

So, while I always like to see ham radio folks out there, I can speak from personal experience using Ham radio vs. other radio communications tools in routine and emergency communications situations - for MOST people, a ham radio is total overkill and a simpler radio will do just fine.

- marty

I'll reply to a bunch of posts in 1

RE AA cells and radios - one of my criteria for my main HT I use in disaster work was that it have an available AA cell pack. If I have the radio, I have the AA pack. My "Other" HT happens to be the same brand and model the local PD uses (but VHF not UHF). I figure in a real disaster, I can always beg/borrow a battery, and/or a charge

2)Emcomm, and public service event
Good idea, then again, I'm biased - worked 8 PS events last year, and have run more than a few nets. Then again, I'm the local ARES EC

3)Other kinds of radio - great Idea - I have an FRS radio, a CB, and other stuff available. Use what you need. Ham radio is fun, however

4)First aid class - Good to know. You probably want to take the FEMA IS-2 class even if you don't vol - good class, free online. If you join an ARES group or CERT Team, or both, make sure you take the ARRL CE-001 class (Intro to emergency communications) - ALL Emcomm folks should probably take this one. Right now, if your a league member, if you take this, and pass, you get your money back. The EC--2 and 003 classes are even better, and are meant as your skills go further. 002 is meant to prep you for the OES/AEC/Net Control roles. 003 is ment to prep you to be an EC. The 003 class requires some real work and thinking to get done, if you do it right

I mentioned the FEMA classes - there are lots of other good ones on line besides IS-2

Another good web site is the Virginia RACES web site (Tell Ed I sent you)

RE Red Cross classes - Lots of good stuff there. Here in NYC ARES, we have always pushed for our members to get their RC ID, which requires DAT training (In NYC, the RC is the lead VOAD). The DAT training is fairly good - if you end up working in a shelter, you'll have a clue

Sometimes it's better to just read the first post a little more carefully than the replies.... <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Amateur radio is probably overkill for you and your hiking buddies. Possibly have one amateur radio for emergencies. In an emergency, ANYONE can use the radio to call for assistance. One of you should be licensed, so you'll have a clue on which frequency to start calling for help, and what kind of radio would be suited for the job. <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> I would also recommend a Wilderness First Aid course. University of Florida for example offers a 2 day course for $75, and that's the advanced course.

All those little radio's martinforcazio mentioned, is the way to go for you. Sorry I wasn't exactly paying attention when I read the post... for some reason I skipped the second paragraph! <img src="images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />