So I hope to start a new job at a National park this month it is in an area that there is no cell service and I don't own a HAM yet looking into that. I could always carry my issued radio on me but that will not help in some areas as I have been told only SAT radio works. I'm not wanting to spend $1,000+ on a SAT phone that then I have to pay an a$$ load for time.

So what would you want on you to communicate if you where away from your vehicle radio/SAT radio you portable radio is out of range or just does not work in the area. I'd like to hear what you would want to have on you? I have looked at spot and other things like that and great they let people know where I'm but it is one way comm! Sure you understand why! HAM radio problem is to me two way comm also don't know if I'm talking to a guy in North Dakota when I'm in Texas and my department does not monitor HAM radio.

I know I need to get a good GPS also just looking for ideas thanks!

https://www.amazon.com/Garmin-010-01735-10-Inreach-Explorer/dp/B01MY03CZP?tag=vglnk-c102-20


Two way satellite texting.
GPS included
If you can wait, REI has 20% off one item once or twice a year.


Scroll down here to read about my experience with it last fall in Haiti:


http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_17/687770_Haiti-Hurricane-Matthew-AAR.html




Here is a link to the older version for $275:


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ol/B00I6EY01C/ref=mw_dp_olp?ie=UTF8&condition=all&tag=vglnk-c102-20


The gps is not as developed on the older one.  It works ok if you use your phone and Bluetooth them together, but not very user friendly as a stand alone.

Satellite texting. Holy hell thats cool. I'd venture to say that'd be the trick unless the bear ate all your fingers off. 

Just wanting to ask? Why doesn't the .GOV pay for you to have some type of coverage throughout the park? I get that they are not responsible for your personal Comms, but , I'm pretty sure they have to ensure you can Communicate while on duty.

I'm confused as to what OP wants.

I did see the Inreach nice to hear about someone using it. I'd have to look at the yearly cost of it again.

I'm not sure how many times a year I'll need it but would be nice to know even when off the clock I have something that works.

It's the GOV! Easy as that I went to Iraq the first time with a zip tie  as my rear pin. Second time I had a Beretta 92 that had half the front and rear sights filed down at an angle. When I worked for the last Federal agency I had to buy 90% of the gear on my duty belt when I left all I turned in was hand cuffs case and my issued weapon yes I bought my own vest because they felt one size fits all and a vest for a guy who is 6'7 350 lbs is not going to fit a guy who is 5'10 200 lbs.

I have learned that I don't trust anyone Gov or any business to spend money on things that you should  have.

I'm going to be living in this park and playing here it 1,252 square miles of harsh desert that I'm going to be hiking,biking, swimming, boating and other things.

Also part of my job is to walk trails. Sorry it would weight heavy on my mind if to find someone in need of help and they die because of how long it took to get the help that they needed because I was not given proper equipment also not going to chance my life or one of my family members lives!

yea, I want your job sorry nothing to helpful to add. However, IM inbound.

I think the cheapest plan with the inreach is $12-15 per month, which gives you 10 texts per month.  If you go over it is 50 cents per text. If you're only using it for emergencies, that's what I would do.


For $50-65 per month  you get unlimited texting. I bump up to this when I travel internationally  and then drop back down when I return. I don't think you'll find it any cheaper way to communicate anywhere in the world.

sat phone

I have used a sat phone, and actually preferred texting for most things.  The delay and dropped parts of conversation made the phone more of a pain.  Perhaps if I had been more patient and gotten used to it?

The inreach also automatically sends your gps coordinates with each text if you want it to which would be helpful if you were calling in a helicopter or rescue team.

It can also be set up to ping every few minutes and track you on a map that can be pulled up online so others can track you.  We used them in Iraq to follow vehicles to try to make sure no one was lost and getting too close to Mosul, or hopefully track at least for a while  in case someone was kidnapped.

I use the inreach as well.

Just keep in mind it's slow -- in two ways. One, if you use the built-in interface it's very tedious to type out a message, but it
can be linked to a smart phone to send messages that way.

The bigger issue is you're looking at ~ 10 minutes delivery time per message. Fine to get the word/SOS out, but a bit of a
pain to communicate anything quickly.

I did a bunch of research and concluded it was at the sweet spot of cheap + reliable. If all I cared about was 911 type
comms I'd probably go with a PLB though, slightly more expensive but no ongoing costs; however it's not an appropriate
thing to use to do something like request a 4WD tow truck to extract you from a failed offroading adventure.

I agree about the primitive texting- I use it bluetoothed to my phone which makes it the same as any other texting.

I have had some delays in sending, but not like you are describing.  Perhaps 15% of the time it takes a while to link and send- 5-10 minutes might be about right.  At other times I have texted with my wife essentially like I would using I message.  I think it is likely dependent on satellite availability, but overall my experience has been positive.

Satellite phone or InReach 2-way satcomm unit is your best choice.

Based on what you said, it will be illegal to use ham radio unless it's used for an emergency. Calling you office to discuss any business related issues is against the rules. Ham radio can't be used for any commercial or business related activities.

It's my dream job! Been trying for it since 2011! Thanks for the IM I'll check it out.

Think I'll get the Inreach need a good GPS anyway.

Found a cool idea for family use called GoTenna uses radio waves and links up to your smartphone has a 3 mile range down side is that the people you text have to have one also. Have to see since it works on Bluetooth if several people who are in range of one GoTenna can get the text or if each person needs there own GoTenna.

GoTenna uses MURS (VHF, 2W) and that range is probably optimistic in most situations. IIRC everyone needs their own unit.

I have been looking at the gotenna.

If you get one please post a review, or let us know what you think, particularly about real world range.

You really need to find out what your regular employer/gov radio system is before flying off on tangents.

If they hand you a crappy 20 year old radio with a broken antenna, I would try a decent radio first.

Their system is almost certainly going to be on VHF high band, so if you got your own radio you could also put in local/state LE mutual aid frequencies, which might get you out to another agency in an emergency. They may be using P25 or some such nonsense which would make the radio more expensive and limit your options.

How far will you be from your vehicle? Some newer radios can be used as repeaters. Set the truck up as a repeater which can hit the head office and as long as your portable can hit the truck you would be good.

Agree going to find out what is issued first but not going to sit back a wait until I find out that I need something before I research it.

Never hope for the best always look forward to cheap and covers there ass learned that in 2003 when I was sent to invade Iraq with a M-16A2 with a zip tie as it's rear pin.



How far depends I'm expected to walk some of the trails they can be 6 miles or more. I assume that vehicles can't be left on if going on a long patrol.

Last department I was at had the repeater in them for the portable radio it worked some of the time often they would let you down when you needed them the most and you just used your cellphone. I will not be so lucky at this park.

When I went down there was only three places that had service north just as you entered 26 miles away at the main center and around 6000 feet+ up in the mountains near the lodge.

A vehicle would not have to be left running to use a mobile extender. You wouldn't want to leave it for a week, but even for a day should be fine. There are low voltage disconnects to prevent running the battery completely down.  A mobile extender used wisely is probably the best thing you could do after just having a quality handheld/portable radio. Most of the time if a mobile extender gives you trouble it's because of mutual interference from multiple units, that's not going to be an issue for you.

Second, get your entry class amateur radio license. It's a multiple choice test with all questions and answers published. A little knowledge about radio communications is not a bad thing and the additional capabilities can be very useful. A land mobile radio (LMR) radio for the VHF high band (most of them anyway) can be programmed to include frequencies from the most popular amateur band (2 meters). If you're talking about the area that I think you're talking about, there is an amateur 2m repeater which covers most of the park (according to the maps). That would be a valuable backup to your regular agency dispatch.

As an aside, if it's the area I think you're talking about, some amateur folks might well be willing to help you out in exchange for some information/assistance. There is a difficult to access area at the very southern tip of the park, to which access is needed for a contest/award in amateur radio.

Lastly, there is a relatively inexpensive satellite signalling device and service which is probably what I would pick up if I was in your situation. It's called SPOT; the capabilities are somewhat limited but set up correctly I think it would make a good backup/emergency device.

If there really is no gov radio system covering this NP area, I would think this would be an employee safety issue that should be addressed with employee union or legislative representatives. Also as I mentioned before, with your own radio it would be worthwhile to reach out to state/county LE agencies and get permission to use their frequencies in case of an emergency.

Look for one of the older inreach before they were relabeled garmin.  No extra features in Garmin labeled inreach only more initial costs.  You still need a discreet GPS receiver.  The inreach maps and gps is poor.  For a gps get a garmin 64 series and get your own maps and chip.

I have looked at HAM radio and wanting to take the test for it. SPOT is good but my thought is if I need to send a two way message it will not work its only a one was I have been looking at the Inreach going to cost me but tax write off and if it saved mine or someones loved ones life it's well worth it.

Not sure of coverage yet start next Sunday and will know more but me much rather have an idea of what I need then go off and spend money on something I don't need. Sucks is that there is no discount from what Garmin told me for the Inreach system that is for there Monthly fee.



I was wanting to know if it was worth the extra $$ for the garmin ones! If I'm going to need another GPS then why not get the cheaper ones. Thanks

Did you find out what frequency and/or type of service they use?

Spend a day or two studying and get your Technician's license.  There are repeaters that cover most of the park with maybe
the exception being the south side of the Chisos.  Make sure you buy a decent antenna for your handheld radio.

Not yet and they made my date of entry not until October so have time to ask my supervisor told me I could come down and do a few ride along with him or another officer so I'll see then.

What is the National Park? What type of portable/mobile radios ex: Motorola XTS 5000, XTL 5000, APX 7000.

ETA: Frequency information as other have said, they've probably have gone to P25 as most others have in the NPS and using AES encryption.

Going to be at Big Bend National Park not sure of the radios yet.

On RadioReference they still list the channels as analog.

https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?ctid=2544

I believe the repeater antennas are on Emory Peak which should have good coverage of the park.  Obviously forget about it down in canyons, especially as you get further away from the repeaters.

You could play with a program called SPLAT! to calculate coverage.  It has a steep learning curve and requires quite a bit of Unix-type system knowledge.  I had it on a system that I no longer use or I would take a shot at figuring out the coverage.

I am not sure about how much P25 has really been deployed to the parks.  I visit Rocky Mountain National Park annually and they had one P25 channel that wasn't encrypted.  Maybe that has changed, but RadioReference still lists them as nearly all analog with just the one P25 channel.

I hadn't thought to look on Radio Reference. Note that several of the Sheriff's dept frequencies have notes with "National Park Service channel nn" - so apparently NPS has their frequencies in their typical programming.

So far since I'm not with the NPS they have been keeping the radio hush hush to me!! Why I don't know I do know I'll be in a home that only land line will work! If I get Wifi I'll get to use my cell at home but other then that it will be worthless!

One of the cell boosters might be able to get you signal, just depends.

Have had one in my vehicle and it did sometimes work. I did contact one company about maybe getting something like this set up but they where talking about $2,000+setup and I would not know how well or even if it will work.

Vehicle cell booster installations are generally crap. A booster can only boost as much as the signal isolation between the input and output antennas will allow, in a vehicle that's not much. Installed in a dwelling with a high gain antenna up on a tower or rooftop mount, and an intelligently located inside antenna, significantly more gain is possible.

As an aside, the amateur radio thing I alluded to in a previous post, need to find a spot that's reasonably accessible, with reasonable view toward the horizon, and south of 29 degrees latitude.

He can also look into a mobile radio for his car that has cross band repeat, use his handheld to reach the car and use the car's better radio power and antenna to reach the repeater that he can't with this handheld.

True I will HAVE to have a landline I was told that but my problem is out on the job I know about radios and how well they don't work in hill county.

Really I'd hate for someone to die because how long it takes to get them proper Medical help! I'd also hate to see my family in the same situation!

So I'm told we are issued Rhino GPS's our radios suck but they "Are getting better and better then they where 10 years ago!??. There are many parts that the radios don't work!

I'm told even more since I will be doing river patrols that there is no com out on the river and a few places you can get cell. So I still feel the Delores will be a cheap insurance.

So the agency your working for uses Garmin Rino's for comm?  Of course they would suck they use FRS/GMRS service which is limited in power...  They are fine for hunting and personal use but if your working for some type of enforcement or patrol agency they should have regular 5W handhelds with some type of tower and or repeater system in place.  The information your providing doesn't make any sense.  Given your knowledge base on said topic I would just go through their training and let them tell you what and how to use.  If you want something else for personal comms that's one thing, but even sat devices aren't fool proof.

With that said I highly recommend the Garmin Rino series, they work great when hunting with a group, the peer to peer locating/ updating is really neat feature.  They would not be my first choice for what is utilized during my regular work week however.

The Rinos do have repeater capability through GMRS. They also use a healthy 5 watts in that frequency. None of that is worth anything if you don't have repeaters in the first place! My thought is that there should be some effort made to get some solar powered repeaters in place in that area, if it's possible?

why not this?

FedGov doesn't like towers in national parks, regardless of the public or employee safety implications.

Correct.  Only 5 watts depending on which model.  I have a 610 it only does a max of 1 watt.  I think my 120 does 1/4 watt?    I still have a soft spot for my old 120.  Even grabbed a refurbished one from Garmin while they were still around.  Heck it wasn't to long ago I was able to refurbish one myself with a NOS case sourced from ebay!  Anyways the power is not an issue for me because I always carry my UV-5R with plenty of frequencies and local repeaters.  I also carry an AT&T + Verizon cell when in the backcountry.  Covers me for both GSM and CDMA towers.

With that said I have never heard of any .gov GMRS repeaters used by enforcement or patrol agencies, at least none here on the east side, but I have been known to be wrong before...  

why wouldn't that eprib work for those emergencies?
 

The Rino is just the GPS we use the two way on that is because a lot of hikers have two ways.

We are given motorola portable radios don't remember the model maybe APX 7000 the same type I was issued before not the best have to have your repeater on your  vehicle on and only goes so far.

Only one way communication with that the Delores allows two way communication. Your able to send text messages to any cellphone or email with your location and a personal message, weather updates and also allows you to do the same SOS and tracking as the eprib for the same price $250.