[ale] [OT] Deep in the woods communications to home?

[Bryan L. Gay]

They do have an ELT for hikers. This would be similar to how the Civil Air
Patrol finds lost aircraft (or those that had hard landings and forgot to
disable their ELT that activated).

The ELT wouldn't let you talk to anyone, but you could activate it and the
signal would be picked up and relayed, but the relay stations are only in
areas like National Parks that support them.
Iridium isn't 100% reliable, but works nearly anywhere with a view of the
sky. There's a company in Miami that sells kits, but they are bulky. They
come in a durable waterproof box meant for boats and aircraft.

Ham Radio is your best bet, and getting a license is easy. Handheld radios
on VHF/UHF are very inexpensive. If you're really going to be far away from
civilization, you'd want to get a portable HF radio which would be more
expensive.

If you're always going to be near a buddy (you should NEVER hike alone),
FRS radios are the way to go to stay in touch with your buddies. You might
even find people around you using them, whom you could ask for help.
Depending on terrain, these can have a 1 to 5 mile range.

On Wed, Aug 2, 2017 at 12:35 PM, leam hall <leamhall at gmail.com> wrote:

> I have a ham license but never used it. My wife may not want to spend the
> time to get one. The goal is emergency comms like "help, broken leg" sort
> of stuff. Terrain is most of the US eastern seaboard into W Va and across
> to Texas. She does photography as she travels. The ideal would be to
> communicate with me but the reality may just be emergency services.
>
> On Wed, Aug 2, 2017 at 12:32 PM, Bryan L. Gay <ale at bryangay.com> wrote:
>
>> CB is the worst choice.
>>
>> The question depends on who you want to communicate with, what is the
>> terrain like, how far away are you needing to communicate, and what
>> information are you wanting to communicate.
>>
>> There are a few options, and don't rule out Ham Radio.
>>
>> 73's de KR4MM
>>
>> On Aug 2, 2017, at 12:27, Pete Hardie <pete.hardie at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Would CB radio work?
>>
>> On Aug 2, 2017 12:05, "leam hall" <leamhall at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> My photographer wife does a lot of nature photography where cell phones
>>> don't always go. Without requiring a HAM license and carrying a huge pack,
>>> are there good emergency comm options?
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>>
>>> Leam
>>>
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