Well, yes it tells ones location. But if you want to say anything more than that......


I played ham games here in Colo where we had guys on as many of the 14,000' mountains as possible just to exchange signal reports. Was a good excuse to climb a mountain. (although I cheated and rode my motorcycle to the top of Mt. Bross that time. I later climbed it honestly :-)

Cellphones have given the masses mobile comms so things like 2m phone patches which once were very cool - are now clunky and awkward. (but they still work)

But if you learn only a little in ham radio, understanding some things about antennas and radio pathways (propagation, barriers, reflections) may prove useful in many situations.

you employ Morse code to send often fairly involved content(or at least the military did in 1892). The system did require a lot of manpower.

That too is part of my trip plan I leave with my wife - the plan states that I can send and receive morse code. By flashlight or whistle or whatever. Many SAR volunteers are hams. But anymore they are probably no-code folk.

Last time it proved to be handy in a non-ham radio situation was on the bridge of a destroyer in position preparing to come alongside the tanker to practice underway refueling.
I was an ROTC summer cruiser on the bridge and read out the blinking light on the tanker aloud. The Commanding Officer was astounded and fortunately didn't dismiss me from the bridge. But he did wait the additional 7 minutes for the message chit to come down from the signal bridge written by the official signalmen. They agreed with me :-)

this is something i thought about doing a few years ago after using a old SW to just listen in.i got some books and watched the Youtubes but it seemed like a dead end these days.computers are the main source of international contact and the number of Hams is so low that in the evenings i was not hearing many talking back and forth.
the price of gear is sort spendy and unless your involved in some sort of emergency network club i can't see any use for a Ham radio.
fun hobby but not what it was years ago.

I think Morse Code would be a good thing to know. Ham operator or not. You would probably seldom, if ever, use it. But still good to know anyway. Could be the only way to communicate in some emergency situations. Of course you would need someone on the other end who knew it too. And staying proficient could be difficult if you never end up using it for real, only practicing with it.

• Most participants don't know Morse
• Most participants have signal mirrors, a few have heliotropes, but I'm the only one I've known to bring a full heliograph.
• Often one end of the link is "receive only"(under clouds)
• Its a lot easier to spot a flash if you know roughly where to look.

A true heliograph, such as a Commonwealth Mance Mark V or a US Marine Corps Field Heliiograph, has three components:

• 1: Means for aiming the beam to substantially better than the 0.25º beam radius. (See Mance Mark V Demo Video)
• 2: means for holding that beam steady (tripod, post, etc.), and adjusting the beam to hold it on target as the sun moves.
• 3: means for modulating the beam for Morse code without compromising (1) & (2) (Shutter, or 4-bar mirror tilt mechanism)

In progression: A true signal mirror usually approximates #1, though seldom to the accuracy of a bespoke heliograph. A heliotrope (which preceded and outlived the heliograph) has both #1 and #2. Lots of Morse has been sent with a heliotrope and a hat for a shutter, but a heliograph makes Morse a lot easier.

Having said all that, I've thought that we should encourage folks to actually build, learn to use, and field heliographs. There are quite a few sets of "make your own" heliograph plans around.



Yes - see A short history of the American Heliograph. One year at Operation On-Target, all three of our team's successful links were achieved without any radio frequency benefit, since we had radio issues, and were in a cell phone dead spot. However, ham radio is a huge facilitator.


Amen, brother ... but in me, you are preaching to the choir.

Speaking of dollars and signal mirrors, the 2"x3" glass Coghlan's "Survival Signal Mirror 9902", which Peter Kummerfeldt seems to think is the best 2"x3" signal mirror currently on the market in the US (and I agree), is less than $8.00 if you shop around, and I've seen the excellent 2"x3" polycarbonate Rescue Flash signal mirror designed by Doug Ritter (and worn under my shirt) on sale for under $7. For those wanting a bright, accurate signal mirror for less than that (or in a larger size), you can put an accurate inexpensive retroreflective aimer on pretty much any plain glass mirror using a square inch of red truck "conspicuity tape", as shown in this video:



If you are stuck with one of the made-in-Taiwan "Phony Glass Signal Mirrors", you can vastly improve it by putting the aimer above on it.

One application of 2 meter ham radios- hiking alone with a buddy.

Kind of long but it's a good outdoor adventure in Rocky Mountain National Park and might give a sense of what just one aspect of ham radio (without morse code) can do for you-

http://estes.on-line.com/rmnp/reports/HighDivide.html

Hi all, been a while since I visited. I did take my Technicians Exam this year -- and passed.

What motivated me was the low price of gear and a desire to have improved comm's with other members of my group when off-roading, as well as access to ARES/RACES nets in the event of a local disaster. There's a couple of Chinese manufacturers that are turning-out decent vhf/uhf handhelds for under $50. I figured at that price it was worth trying out.

We tested them on an expedition this summer with mixed results. Obviously, they are no substitute for a PLB, of which we had one but, thankfully, no need to use it. Operating mostly in the valleys we were blocked from any local repeaters. But we did get more than double the range using 70cm than we did with CB when talking simplex between members of our group. We got slightly better than 1 mile on 70cm and less than 1/2 mile on CB in the foliage. This was using 5W 2m/70cm handi-talkies, mine from Baofeng and the other from Yaesu, with externally mounted antennas.

I think there is some value to amateur radio. I remember periods of landline and cell phone interruption during 9/11 and Sandy. An alternate method of reaching loved ones or emergency services is not a bad idea, particularly if it only costs around $50 and a week or two worth of studying.

But I can't think of any reason to carry one on a hike.

Congrats, and well worth it. Now start studying for the next upgrade so you have access to more spectrum.

In my travels to Arizona, I see a lot of off-road vehicles with 10-meter antennas. Good for keeping in touch with buddies I suppose. Sure can't hurt in an emergency.

I carry an HT on every hike. Sometimes, if I'm at the top of a mountain, I'll make a few contacts and have others marvel at the range I'm getting. Fortunately I've had no need to use one in an emergency.