As I mentioned in a previous post, Gloria and I have been around the Superstition Wilderness area for about the last 20 days. We were very close to the guy that broke his kneecap and laid on the ground for 6 days awaiting rescue . In fact, the rescue helicopter went over us, did a sharp bank (presumably when they saw the mirror flash) and dropped behind a nearby ridge.

He did not have an amateur radio with him, but if he did, I would not have heard his calls, although I was well within radio range. The reason is, I do not normally keep my radio on, monitoring 146.52 as specified in the wilderness protocol. There is just too much chatter on that frequency. Especially when we are at 6000 ft. We can hear stations from Phoenix to Flagstaff. I feel bad about not monitoring, but when we are listening to a ranger talk about the medicinal use of a particular plant, or about the wall construction used 1000 years ago, or we just want to enjoy the peace and solitude, I just can't have a radio on with some folks doing idle chatter 70 miles away. So it gets turned off. And I don't keep track of time, so I seldom turn it on during the hourly “monitor” period.

I wonder how many other hams use the wilderness protocol? How often? If not, why not?

Perhaps it is time for a small change so we could monitor more effectively. I suggest using CTCSS tone 100 when monitoring. That way we would not hear the chatter, but anyone seeking assistance or wanting to call another ham could use the 100Hz tone to open our squelch. A quick call and back to carrier operation for the conversation. I set up two memories. One, memory 52 = 146.52 carrier squelch. The second, memory 53 = 146.52 CTCSS 100Hz. It is easy to flip back and forth between the two.

I know there are problems with this idea. It is more complex and not all rigs have CTCSS. However most made within the last 20 years do and I doubt that there are many hams carrying 20 yr old “bricks” backpacking in the wilderness.

I bring this here for discussion, because we on this forum are probably more likely to have experience with the wilderness protocol and I solicit your comment before I take the idea to other venues.

Would you be more likely to monitor 146.52 T100 than 146.52 Carrier Squelch? Would using CTCSS mode be “too complex” to warrant the potential increase in monitoring stations?

I solicit your comments, either here or via PM.

Thanks,
Ron Gregory, N1AHH. Still near the Superstition Wilderness Area in Arizona.

Noad:

WhenI am out in the boondocks I carry a VHS FM air band radio with 121.5 as the becon signal. Will hams hear me?

My opinion is that you are trying to solve the problem from the wrong direction. I do it, and everyone does it these days, trying to employ technology to solve a basic human problem.

The human problem is that people believe that since they are talking everyone else must listen, and they won't stop until they are done. If there was a formally accepted and enforceable radio protocol in the amateur radio community for emergency communications, then perhaps you wouldn't be hearing chit-chat on 146.52.

You won't be able to change it overnight. You would have to convince every amateur that using another simplex frequency might help save someone's life. That might be too much of an inconvenience for them.

Not likely. 121.5 is not an amateur frequency. Some folks, both ham and non-ham monitor 121.5, but not very many.

I knew that 146.52 is the FM "calling frequency", but never heard of a wilderness protocol. Where can I find more information on this?

Here is my take.....if there is a ton of chit chat on the wilderness calling frequency then it is very likely that a person needing assistance could potentially be heard. If the wilderness protocol frequency was quite and only used for monitoring I would guess that few if any emergency calls would be heard.

I would much rather attempt to break into chit chat than call on a frequency that had no listeners.

I have the wilderness protocol frequencies programmed into my radio and find them essentially unused around here. I have always considered this a great idea with few participants.

Please post the wilderness freq for each band. I would be much appreciative.
Robert

Hmm... perhaps I didn't think everything out. I think the radio protocol is still a problem, but yeah, if no one can use the frequency, why would they monitor it?

Nomad, is your solution the same as something proposed like 2 or more years ago? The proposal was using an attention CTCSS tone for a duration of like a few seconds. I think that has merit, but still seems too complicated for an emergency.

The military uses key-clicks sometimes to pass messages. What about keyclicks in the format of SOS? I would think someone might be able to create an add-on for a radio that plugs into the headset jack. Then you could passively monitor. No fiddling with CTCSS tone, compatible with older radios, and possibly a modification of existing technology. I've seen the CW receivers that will display CW on an LCD screen. Can those be used with human operators on the other end? If so, maybe there is already pattern recognition technology that could "understand" an SOS made out of key breaks.

The 121.5 signal is worthless unless a search has been initiated and your general location is known.

If you are carrying a radio to be rescued by, you better have a well thought out plan. If you are in the mountains, the ONLY people that will reliably hear you is the ones you know.

CAN you get to a repeater to make a call?
CAN you get to your friend when he is listening?
CAN you transmit on a gov't frequency if needed (ie. IDAHO STATE COM)

In the back country canyons of Idaho, none of these work - cell, ham, satellite phone, cb, mirrors, smoke signals or crying.

Unless you are a serious HAM with local knowledge, transmit on 27.185 around the clock. You may be heard on skip.

IF you want to be home for dinner tomorrow -

Turn on an ACR MicrOFix PLB
Register the PLB on - http://www.beaconregistration.noaa.gov/
Under the section - ADDITIONAL DATA - place the URL to a one page web site with an updated itinery of each of your trips.

Well, that's not quite true.

If you are an amateur operator with HF privileges, you can use a small portable HF rig (like the SG-2020) and a low wire antenna for NVIS propagation on 40m. You WILL be heard in every square meter of territory within (roughly) a 500km radius. Since 40m is a very active band with lots of nets going on, getting hold of someone isn't often a problem.

Yes, it even works from the bottoms of canyons. BTDT.

-=[ Grant ]=-