Posted: 1/25/2016 9:32:34 PM EDT
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Non-ham friend of mine asked for some help with a setup for his family's cabin. He said that if I can come up with a solution, he and his whole family are willing to get licensed. So, I'm turning to the collective for a few ideas.
Situation: friend's family has a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Their parcel is one of several all connected to a gated dirt road. The gate is about 1 1/2 miles from the cabin itself and needs to remain locked. Only place to get cell reception is about five miles farther out from the gate, close to the nearest town. The terrain is pretty wooded and very hilly. They've tried cell boosters, but can't get a signal at the cabin. Supposedly, the gate is also too far away for CB and some Motorola Talkabouts they have. Goal: some way for guests on their way up to the cabin to let him know that they're x-number of minutes or miles away, so that he can head down and unlock the gate. So, at minimum, a way to get a message from a cellphone (SMS text or email) out to the cabin. FWIW, it looks like the nearest repeater is ~27miles away (2m/Echolink) - no clue how reachable it is, given the terrain. Thoughts? Suggestions? This one is a bit outside of my area of expertise, so any help would be appreciated. Thanks! |
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I went back through some pics I took last year when I was there and it's definitely in the valley category (centered between four large hills). USGS topo map looks like one of the hills is directly in line with the closest repeater, too.
He didn't give me a budget, so do what you can to balance functionality vs. price. I could see him dropping maybe $2k-ish, if it's the right setup. |
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Ok, another question. Is this "system" going to be used by family only (which are willing to get a ham license) or other non-ham friends?
If everyone using it is a ham, then I'd try to get a signal out of the valley to the repeater. Radio is by no means strictly line of sight. RF likes to bounce and bend especially in rocky, mountainous areas. Forest tends to dampen signals but you may be able to hit the repeater with a 50 watt "base" and Yagi antenna pointed towards the repeater. All you can do is try it out as there is no magic formula for all situations. |
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I wonder if one of the Dakota Alert driveway alarm systems would work?
Range under the conditions described would likely be at or near the limits of the system, but no license required. |
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Quoted:
I wonder if one of the Dakota Alert driveway alarm systems would work? Range under the conditions described would likely be at or near the limits of the system, but no license required. came here to post that. MURS allows external antennae with a height up to 60' (IIRC) So in theory, a MURS Call-Box could be placed at the gate, with a Solar Power Supply and an External/Elevated (directional) antenna and the same at the base camp and more than likely make the shot. No tickets required for anyone to boot ETA: some expensive add ons http://www.intercomsonline.com/MURS-Radios-s/27.htm |
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The shack at the cabin will be for licensees only and his family members are on board with getting whatever level of license needed. That said, I think what he's looking for is a setup that lets non-licensees send emails or texts to the cabin when they're on their way. Two way communications would be great, but I think he'd be happy with something that just lets him receive emails or text.
After doing some digging, I'm thinking maybe a Winlink HF setup? I've never dabbled in anything text-based, so I'm definitely open to suggestions. |
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For the gate a Dakota Alert and/or MURS HT in a box with solar and the right antenna will work great and is probably the best solution.
For early warning commo with unlicensed and unequiped op's the only viable solution is an Iridium pager at the cabin. Unless maybe they can dig up terrestrial commercial pager service with coverage (unlikely these days). Winlink won't cut it because it's not push type commo. It is also unreliable by definition (HF). I used to run a Winlink RMS station so that is not Winlink or HF bashing, just reality. I use Dakota Alert and MURS around my place. It works fine. But all of my guests are not arriving with MURS, or GMRS or whatever in their vehicles. But they do have cell phones. So if they can send a text to his pager while still in coverage that will work. |
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IMHO, the text thing may be more work than needed (or less if you consider the choice below). It also makes me think that the over use of the texting technology has spoiled folks. Understand, I'm not knocking your friend in any fashion-just stating an observation. If they are indeed hooked on the idea of messaging, why not install a Hughes-net dish at the cabin to receive email on a laptop then friends can text/email on their way in.
T-Mobile allows Phone over Wifi Calls and Text which could be done with a Satellite Internet solution too (inside the cabin)... YMMV/FWIW |
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2m mobile at 50w would work like a charm to a mobile in the cabin.
A good 2m comet antenna on the house would pickup any signal within the described scenario. I would say 700$ would cover two ft-2900s one comet antenna like a cx-333. a mobile 2m mag mount antenna with coax for both applications, with one 12v power supply (or battery)for the cabin. This would be the cadillac setup imo and could be done on the cheap at a greatly decreased amount if you do some craigslist digging. The hard work would be the time required for the technician license for all parties. Depending on the height of the locayion you may get some good coverage.. For guests not licensed your SOL unless the town nearby has a friendly ham willing to make contact for them. prosise |
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How about adding a combination lock to the gate, in series with the lock there, and give the combination to the folks headed up? When they get there, they get there. Remove the lock when not needed. Changeable combination locks are $20 or so.
For cell phones - they will need an antenna and a tower. And maybe a friendly local tech to tell them how likely it is to work. This will be the best overall solution if they can get it to work, as no one else requires any infrastructure. Put a buzzer or call box at the gate and string field telephone wire the 1.5 miles. Cost for the wire from Ebay is less than $100 |
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Put a buzzer or call box at the gate and string field telephone wire the 1.5 miles. Cost for the wire from Ebay is less than $100 $100 of wire and $100 worth of WWII tech. |
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I'll third the recommendation for field phones and wire - if he's willing to spend $2,000 he should absolutely take $300 of that and run a field phone system.
Other options: Itinerant Part 90 License, Simple VHF repeater with notch-type, wide-split (i.e 3-5 MHz) duplexor, duxplex-rated coax and a nice antenna on a tower at the cabin, Surplus LMR handhelds with AA battery "Clamshells" shipped to all relevant family members. You could easily do this for the remaining $1,700 and probably still have some left for a mobile or two. Or a "Callbox" at the gate with a solar/battery powered radio inside. (Edit to add: If the cabin has stable, fast 24/7 internet, consider adding network extender (micro cell tower, looks like a wifi router but makes a cell signal) at the cabin in addition to the above.) |
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Sounds like a fun project!...but the devil's advocate in me says: Joe: I'll be waiting at the gate at 10AM John: Sounds good, I'll be there Joe: Hey hon, I just saved us a couple thousand dollars Joe's Wife: Great! Now you can go buy yourself a new rifle! The extra combo lock is probably the next best solution. That's how my Shooting Club manages access with for various parties, The land is used by the Club, power company, and a natural gas well. The front gate has about 6 different combo locks on the chain for all the different people. For a true wireless option I would build a xBee mesh network with little self supporting solar powered modules - but I don't think there's a simple off the shelf solution for that.
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MURS or field telephone.
Done. Some things don't need to be complicated. Buuuuut, if you want them to be complicated: Solar array on a 10ft pole, charging an arduino with cellular connection to the internet. Push button tells the arduino to check the schedule of people who are supposed to be arriving, and prompts them for their PIN. Person enters their pin, arduino checks it against the database, and if it matches, it lets them in. Same process on the exit. |
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So I'm gonna build on two suggestions.
If a good location for a repeater is available (that can get cell service or a land line)...phone patch over a Part 90 Itenerant VHF license. Seen this done for "phone" service in Alaska to remote homesteads along the rail road. Add in that the MURS call box y'all speak of also comes in a Part 90 version and it solves every need. It's under $300 for a handful of itenerant VHF frequencies right now... Or if paging is desired, one can build a VHF POCSAG transmitter off a Tecnet (Maxon) 5W data radio (~$300), a Swissphone POCSAG (modern) pager runs $300. |
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Quoted:
The extra combo lock is probably the next best solution. That's how my Shooting Club manages access with for various parties, The land is used by the Club, power company, and a natural gas well. The front gate has about 6 different combo locks on the chain for all the different people. If you do this make sure the chain itself is too short for someone to break the padlock chain and lock everybody else out. Believe me there are a lot of Special Olympics rejects out there that do not understand things like this. 
WHen I saw the OP the first thing that came to mind were field phones. $200-250 and problem solved. |