Ham radios
One or twice the subject has come up but the FRS and the other channels are not a great idea. When out on the road in the middle of nowhere and the cells don't work and the CBs, now rare, and you don...
Forum Discussion
Gdetrailer wrote:
Sure, you can toss 1500W on HF out with a linear and wrap your signal halfway around the globe in the early evening or late morning when most HF bands are active..
Do you really work much HF? You do realize that 40m or 80m you can work a lot closer than "halfway around the globe". 10, 12, 17 haven't been too reliable the past couple of years but 40 is usually open somewhere 24/7 and in the evening 80 has been doing OK. Even during the worst of solar storms I've been working people on 40 and 80. And with those freqs the range can be from 100 to a few hundred miles, not quite the 'halfway around the globe" as you're making it sound.
If you have been a ham for a while, done more than get a Tech ticket, and not just one of those who memorized answers to questions you may have heard of Winlink. Winlink will get you email anywhere you can send an email over the internet. I packed in to some really remote locations in NWT, Yukon, BC, and AK. Never had a problem hit a Winlink gateway and getting emails back home and was doing it with 50W max.
As I mentioned previously, ham radio is just another tool. When you're out there in real remote locations it's about backing up your backup to your backup. You have a backup for everything or you have nothing.
