Taking my Technician test remotely on Thursday and have been having a lot of fun listening in on my Baofeng UV82 the past few weeks on 2m and 70cm. I am looking for suggestions for purchasing a new HT that has features I might find useful for backpacking/desert when out of cell service.

1) One primary thing comes to mind, the ability to send a text message via APRS/DMR(?) directly to my fiancees cell phone to check in that I've arrived safely or on the way home. Is there a mode of communication where I can directly send her a freeform text message or a pre-configured text message (ex: im safe, im on the way home, emergency)

2) I usually carry my garmin gps with me, but am open to GPS tracking features

3) Are there any other considerations I should make for backpacking/out of service features before getting my next HT? I'd love to buy once cry once

4) What frequencies does the forest service/rangers use when they patrol the wilderness? I've run across a few volunteer rangers a few times using radios and at the time never thought to ask/had an interest in HAM

For your application, a Garmin inreach will serve you much better than an HT.


However, based on your text messaging requirement, the answer is APRS.  So an APRS capable handheld, such as Yaesu FT3Dr, Kenwood TH-72 or TH-74.  Etc.  Keep in mind these won't do you any good if you can't hit a repeater / iGate (APRS gateway) with them from your remote location.

This is something I've been wondering, in regard to getting a signal out while backpacking, especially well off the beaten path. Anybody have success with pulling a J-pole antenna up into a tall tree or something? I was thinking if you could hike up to some high ground and then using a string over a branch get another 20' or so with a J-pole and enough coax that would help tremendously. Then from there it all depends on whether there are repeaters close enough.

Just keep in mind, it's a radio ............. not magic.

Not only do you need a speaker in range, it has to have an Igate, and be connected to send and receive if you want to text.  And be close enough to where you want to reach.  I probably used the wrong words but you get my meaning.  I do a lot of backpacking and just leave my 2dr or VX7r at home and pack a baofeng.  Seriously.  It is cheap enough that if it breaks im not out much, works perfectly fine for voice, has FM broadcast receive so I can listen to college football at night in the fall, battery last a long time...and if it really came down to it, it has a flashlight.  You laugh..I had it out last fall around the fire one night.  A guy saw it and got his Tech ticket just because he could listen to games and communicate when camping.  If I'm going REAL lightweight I take my VX3r.

If I had APRS coverage where I go I would try my 3dr.  I just go way out when I backpack.

Yeah, APRS and DMR are going to depend on whether you can hit a repeater/igate...unlikely with an HT if you're in a truly remote location. So, pretty much what Him said, unfortunately.

You need to determine if you will have the amateur radio coverage you desire in your area of operations. The first time I was in the back country without VHF coverage it surprised me, and it shouldn't have. Shame on me. The next time I had a PLB.

Some wilderness areas have excellent coverage. Others have none. Act, and equip, accordingly. I can't be bothered to hoof 5 or 10lbs of HF shit with me. The PLB (or inReach/SPOT) weighs mere ounces.

I brought my FT3dr backpacking in the wilderness near Lake Tahoe as an experiment to see about getting APRS SMS out and then in.

I used a long telescopic whip antenna to get any chance of my signal out.  Though I was in high country, there still were mountains between me and the repeaters and coverage was spotty.  The rubber ducky didn't work at camp.  The radio combo with rubber ducky did have some success in sending location data while hiking out that I could then later track at aprs.fi.

My test worked while at camp I could send and receive SMS, but it was not very reliable.   I could only utilize such a technique in the event all other comms options had failed.

When back home, I reviewed my arps data and saw that the repeater I could hit was about 20 miles away on some nearby mountain.  That would not be a normal type of closeness in most backcountry places in the Sierra.

For emcomm I would rely on the inReach for 2way comms or a PLB for pure emergencies.

In the end, the APRS SMS was a toy in the backcountry with limited reliable utility.  Having an HT was nice to be able to play FM radio music stations.

When backpacking, I carry a Yaesu FT1XDR HT with APRS.  I use a N9TAX slimjim (roll up antenna) that I toss about 15 feet up over a tree branch.  This is a big help over a rubber duck but you still need to be on high ground in the mountains to get a signal out.  Even then it's often difficult. APRS really can't be relied on in remote mountainous terrain.

Thanks for the info gents, I wanted to ask and I've heard of the InReach I just dont want to pay for the service its more of a nice to have for me usually. Learning about APRS I was curious if it could fit the bill. My one spot in the desert is about 20 miles from an APRS repeater according to aprs.fi. However I do think I will be partially blocked by a 3k mountain.

Also a few other questions:
1) Does the www.aprs.fi  map show all repeaters or only APRS compatible repeaters?

2) Looking to upgrade my baofeng uv82 before i get my license because it has spurious transmissions. As most of you are more experienced users, what are some fun/must-have features for a vhf/uhf HT that I should consider (Ex: APRS)? I don't want to buy a nice HT UHF/VHF now and then in 6-12 months realize its missing X feature.

3) If Im in the desert with a friend who is also a technician, and we both have vhf/uhf HT's and want to simplex to each other, is it as simple as setting our frequencies to 146.520MHz or 446.000MHz and doing a radio check to make sure no one else is on the frequency? If someone is on the frequency and we dont want to bother them, can we drift slightly off the frequency to not bug anyone listening in on the main simplex frequency?

Yes to this one. There is an ARRL band plan and you'll have your regional band plan, but if you're in BFE it doesn't really matter. Just use good etiquitte and ask if the frequency is in use and then use it for simplex until you need to change frequenecies (if ever).

1. Maybe. Digipeaters and Igates are part of the APRS system. Sometimes our Digipeaters show the location of a repeater if it's been programed into the system.

2.  The Yeasus are great as is the Kenwood if you want APRS.  BUT, you need to know up front that once you get rolling in the hobby a high priced HT may sit on the shelf far more than you'd imagine!  You're OK with the 82 to start with.

2b. Investigate Mobilinkd

3. See above post

4. Give all of theses at least 2 listens, it'll help!

As others have said, it all depends on if you can hit a repeater or not. And your antenna is a big factor, too. And ability to recharge or carry extra batteries.

I took an Icom W32 on a trip to the top of Telescope Peak in Death Valley and was hitting a repeater almost 100 miles away to Frazier Park to a linked repeater.

When some friends and I did a 6 day trip in the Eastern Sierra Nevadas, I brought an HT but only in case we needed a rescue. I gave our families our itinerary with the frequency that I would monitor on the hour and half hour. At the time, I brought a SPOT Connect Satellite Tracker that could send out texts but not receive. If I did it again, I would take an Inreach.

At our hunting property the only way I get aprs is if I set the mobile in the truck to vhf vhf repeat and I park it on a hill. Otherwise the HT can't hit the igate 30mi away. My 878 only tx's aprs so using my mobile to rebroadcast works fine. If I do that I move the power for the mobile to a small deep cycle so I don't kill the trucks batteries.

If you go to your AO and listen on 144.390, if you hear stuff  good aprs will likely work. If you don't hear anything I wouldn't invest much in aprs.

Telcom companies have invested billions in towers, fed by fiber optics, coming from central office wire centers/MTSO’s, to huge global networks to provide service so we can fuck off on arfcom at work

ham club repeaters are typically setup by volunteers using surplus equipment and very limited budgets

something to think about

.

FYI - Kenwood APRS capable mobile and handheld radios have true APRS 'fill in' digipeater capability.  Configured properly they will act as a standard digipeater.

I wish I had the D710g instead of a V71a, eventually I'm going to trade it to my father and upgrade.