Ham radios

One of our future bucket list trips is the Magruder Road in northern Idaho. Hubby had thought of getting his Ham radio license in order to communicate up there if need, but there are these radios that work off the satellites and can communicate to cell phones by text for a month by month fee. One is made by Garmin. No license required and you would only need one.

As a ham myself, I can give you my experience...

If you're looking to communicate with someone else along with you, they work great, much better than FRS.

However, if you're wanting it for "emergency" communications with the outside world if you don't have cell signal, I don't think it's effective. There just isn't enough people "listening" out there. Sure, some areas are active, but the vast majority of space is pretty dead. Even on the repeaters, I find most places to be quiet.

For example, I recently made a trip out west from Dallas, TX to southern CA, AZ, and NM. Over the course of that 4 week trip, I got ZERO responses on the 2M calling frequencey. While driving, I'd call out every hour or so. Usually when I reached a campground, I'd try once.

Bottom line, I don't consider it a reliable mode of communication for a personal emergency.

I do a lot of hiking, and I'm thinking hard about getting a PLB for a true emergency.

AA5RV

if you’re looking to call for help a hand held radio...on any band (ham, marine, GMRS, business band) the range of the radio without using a repeater will be very, very short. using a properly installed externally mounted antenna along with a power amplifier will extend that range but that will be more than your $ budget.

a ham HF transceiver with a good antenna will let you talk around the country or the world. no linear needed but, again, more $ than you want to spend.

a mobile 2-meter radio with the aforementioned properly installed externally mounted antenna along with a power amplifier will give you better range but, again, more $.

everything ham, GMRS, business band requires an FCC-issued license. for true
emergency use here is no magic bullet.

A 2 meter or 70 cm handheld will get you about 3 times the distance if it is a 5 watt unit. If you have an external antenna and the other party you are talking to has as well you can do much longer range, 15 or 20 kilometers etc, especially if it is mounted mobile unit as they tend to be 40 watt ish units. Of course to do all this you need to take a course and get your ticket. Or at least write the exam if you have home studied.

I think the coolest part of having a Ham Radio License is you can talk with the Astronauts on the International Space Station. The ISS radio transmits signals at 145.80 MHz and receives signals at either 144.49 or 145.20 MHz, depending on its orbital location.

Reisender wrote:
A 2 meter or 70 cm handheld will get you about 3 times the distance if it is a 5 watt unit. If you have an external antenna and the other party you are talking to has as well you can do much longer range, 15 or 20 kilometers etc, especially if it is mounted mobile unit as they tend to be 40 watt ish units. Of course to do all this you need to take a course and get your ticket. Or at least write the exam if you have home studied.

possibly, under ideal conditions. not so much from a campsite in the forest or in a mountainous valley. in a flat LTVA or on top of a hill extended range is possible. but someone has to be listening.

I believe a quality VHF (2M) radio with good properly installed antenna will provide substantial communications capability around most of the continent. We planned on relying on 2M for our emergency communications needs on our journey up British Columbia and even through the Yukon Territory and into Alaska before COVID hit..... It would have had far Better coverage than cell phones. Another option is one of the two satellite system texting options with appropriate plan. As a bit of a Prepper, I keep a Garmin Inreach device on hand with a monthly plan.

I have been a HAM sine 1958. Got my license via a high school ham radio club.
It is a great hobby, i have enjoyed it for years.

I can not, would not, recommend it for guaranteed reliable use in an emergency.
Someone mentioned a satellite phone option. I would recommend looking into that.
It probably would be a great deal more reliable, I feel.

That said Ham radio is a great hobby and backup for emergency situations.

2 Meters though great where it works is not 100%.. If you are worried about being out in the middle of no where with a blown engine and no cell coverage that's not your best choice.. a Good multi-band HF radio (80-10 or 160-6) might be a better otpion. No the higher numbered (lower frequency) bands you may need more antenna than practical on an RV but for 40 or better 20 to six the antennas get smaller (a full Dipole is 1/2 the wavelength so a 20 meter Dipole is 10 meters or about 33.5 feet so reasonable on many RV's a Quarter wave VERTICAL is half that high

(The frame of the RV is the other half)

Range? Well some Rvers routinely work overseas contacts I routinely work about half the US voice and half the world digital when conditions are decent which right now they are not. but I can still talk to folks. Just not as many.

If all you are looking for is emergency communications, or merely to send a check in message to someone back home, this is probably the easiest and cheapest solution there is.

They are heavily used by us in the aviation community as a safety net in case we are forced down in a remote location. I have used them many many times as a check in signal when doing trips in very remote areas. They work flawlessly.

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