The Convergence Of The Cell Phone And Satellite Messengers/ GPS Continues

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ChrisB said:
Just curious: What band works best for you in the Whites? 2M or 440?

I've only run 2M up there.
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2M by far. 440 is very very limited. There was a or still is a 440 machine on Mount Washington but I haven’t chimed it out in quite awhile to see if it is working. 2M repeater coverage in turn is really good. Streaked Mt. in S. Paris Maine which is linked to other repeaters covers the entire state of Maine and NE New Hampshire. The Rock pile of course. Cannon Mt., Mount Cranmore, Ossipee, and Belknap Mt. covers The Whites and then some. There are a few others around that I can’t recall off the top of my head but again 2m repeater coverage is quite good. Also quite a bit of action on simplex among The SOTA crowd. 440 simplex vs. 2 meter simplex potentially might be better in some of the valleys due to the higher take off angle of the wave. Although I confess I have never done any head to head testing.
 
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Android now joins the party with Sat Phone Rugged Cat S75 and Motorola Defy 2: Android smartphones with two-way satellite connectivity

The Apple products are of little interest to me as they do not have the level of durability I need in a cell phone. As an example, I have a mil spec cell phone that resides in an otter box. This mil spec phone looks to be a far better fit but it expect it will be few years before the current phone gets too far out of date. When Iwas working, my mill spec Androids have gone swimming a few times and also done a bit of unintended skydiving with no issues. My coworkers wioth Apples had far less luck but to many of them it was just an excuse to go get the latest and greatest model.
 
skiguy said:
... Ham Radio is technical but not incomprehensible. It is widely misunderstood by many. But one of the main pillars of Ham Radio is that it does not operate on 120 Volt home current. it operates on 13.8 volts DC. Which means that a Ham Radio will operate on a well charged Car Battery. So thence another good reason to be an operator is not just for Hiking and being outdoors, but it is very handy when the lights go out at home. The same radio you would take on a hike could not only save your arse in the woods but it might do the same thing in your own backyard. For instance, the major snowstorm we had a few weeks ago not only knock out power for multiple days, but cell towers were down too not to mention the internet. The only point to point effective communication was via Ham Radio.

Be aware the above video displays the upper crust of Ham Radio operators. To effectively accomplish what I have described above one does not need to take it to the level these guys have. The correct handheld for field use with maybe a simple booster antenna for home-based operation is all that is needed. One can easily set them selves up for easily less than half the cost of a the latest greatest cell phone. ...
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I didn't know HAM worked on DC not AC; but that helps a lot to understand its importance. Last year I met a guy in a parking lot on the AT in Mass, with a big antenna on his box van and a HAM radio inside. He was there to test things in the field.

I followed that video link, and YouTube recommended this video by WMUR from January of this year, about a rescue in Pittsburg from Dec 4 2022.

Their car went off of Magalloway Road, and one of the two was injured. They had no cell service, but did have a handheld HAM radio. (Presumably lacked a satellite communicator). Their call for help was picked up by the Mount Washington repeater, and another operator in Vermont heard it and helped to launch a rescue, saving their lives.

The signal was very weak, making voice transmissions garbled, so they used the talk button to make a click sound to indicate "yes" in response to questions.



I see this rescue was discussed here in the thread "Ham Radio assisted Rescue" from mid-Dec 2022, but I didn't see this video there (probably as it came out later).
 
Ear Drum said:
I didn't know HAM worked on DC not AC; but that helps a lot to understand its importance. Last year I met a guy in a parking lot on the AT in Mass, with a big antenna on his box van and a HAM radio inside. He was there to test things in the field.

I followed that video link, and YouTube recommended this video by WMUR from January of this year, about a rescue in Pittsburg from Dec 4 2022.

Their car went off of Magalloway Road, and one of the two was injured. They had no cell service, but did have a handheld HAM radio. (Presumably lacked a satellite communicator). Their call for help was picked up by the Mount Washington repeater, and another operator in Vermont heard it and helped to launch a rescue, saving their lives.

The signal was very weak, making voice transmissions garbled, so they used the talk button to make a click sound to indicate "yes" in response to questions.



I see this rescue was discussed here in the thread "Ham Radio assisted Rescue" from mid-Dec 2022, but I didn't see this video there (probably as it came out later).
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting. Great link on the video! I know Roger as he is local to the area. A great guy of many talents.
 
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