Electronic paraphernalia have become an integral part of the outdoor experience for many folks this century.
Now, most outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen feel naked
and afraid without their beloved devices.
Hardcore hikers need their GPS systems (which have
become the modern compass) while outdoors enthusiasts of any type lug around
their smartphone (which now serves as topographic map, camera, field guide,
journal and more).
I traipse around field and forest with neither of
those items. But, I always have a ham radio clipped to my belt when I’m in the
outdoors.
You might want to do the same as we’ll discuss…
What’s amateur
radio?
Amateur radio – or ham radio -- is a licensed radio
service for well, amateurs. It’s not a professional service through which you’d
broadcast radio or news.
Instead, it is a two-pronged pursuit: hobby and
public service.
For hobbyists, it gives people of all ages the
chance to learn about, work with, and develop radio technology that will allow
them to communicate (by voice, Morse code, or computer) with fellow ham radio
operators around the corner or around the world.
From a public service standpoint, amateur radio
operators provide communications when storms and other natural disasters wipe
out phone networks, cable, and electricity. They also provide support for
large-scale activities, such as the Ride for Roswell for example.
The name “ham radio” was gradually adopted as
amateur radio’s common name back in the 1920s. No one is really sure of where
that name came from, but many believe that it came about as a pejorative term
used by professional landline telegraph operators when radio first came to be
and they viewed radio operators as unskilled.
For the uninitiated, ham radio might be compared to
CB radio. Ham radio is sort of like CB…only better.
Remember the citizens band radio craze of the 1970s
and 1980s when a majority of cars and many homes had a CB in them and people
developed “handles” (radio names) and CB-related songs like “Convoy” filled the
FM airwaves? It was fun to talk to people from all walks of life in your town or
half-way around the world.
But, CB was and still is a free-for-all. Without a
licensing policy, CB devolved to the lowest common denominator, as anonymity
allowed people to swear, cause trouble and jam frequencies.
Ham radio is different. All amateur radio operators
need to get a license and a call sign from the federal government (mine is
KC2ZZW). Horrible decorum is frowned upon and fined heavily. Their equipment is
far superior, as they can work multiple bands and channels (CB has only its 40
channels in the 11-meter band) in multiple modes with a variety of equipment.
There’s something for everyone in ham radio.
You might be familiar with its presence in pop
culture.
The 1980s TV show “Alf” began when the alien
creature crash landed in the Tanner family’s garage after picking up father
Willie Tanner’s radio transmissions.
The movie “Frequency” starring Jim Caviezel and
Dennis Quaid had a plot based on a geomagnetic storm that allowed a ham radio
operator to talk to his deceased father decades earlier, which then allowed
them to change the course of history.
Tim Allen’s character on “Last Man Standing” is an
amateur radio enthusiast and his hobby has played a part in quite a few
episodes of the show.
A connection
to the civilized world
People have grown so accustomed to having cell
phone reception almost anywhere in the civilized world that when they venture
from mankind into the wilds they feel incredibly nervous in the event they
needed a lifeline.
Here in Western New York, there are vast stretches
of southern Allegany and Cattaraugus Counties that have little to no cell
coverage. That silence can create anxiety for those frequenting their Southern
Tier hunting camps or camping at Allegany State Park. Similarly, most of the
Adirondack Park on the other side of the state does not have cell coverage.
Ham radio can give those folks the connections they
need in the event of an emergency.
A simple VHF two-way radio (like the one I carry)
could, in the Southern Tier, easily connect to repeaters which bring in VHF
signals and rebroadcast them to larger audiences, allowing low-power radios to
be heard dozens of miles away.
Powerful repeaters like those on Alma Hill in NY or
in Coudersport, PA or Smethport, PA can allow hikers, hunters, and canoeists to
communicate with those who could send help their direction.
Likewise, in the Adirondacks, the repeater in Old
Forge can provide great coverage from Otter Lake to Raquette Lake to Big Moose.
Also, under the Wilderness Protocol, hams are
encouraged to listen to the national simplex (non-repeater) calling frequency
to be aware of anyone in trouble in the forest or on the water.
These two-way radios are relatively inexpensive.
There are two versions that I use.
Chinese-made Baofeng radios like the model UV-5RA
come in at under $40 and they are easy to program with a computer, and their
accessories (like extra battery packs and antennas) can be had for cheap
online.
Then there’s always the beefier and more powerful Icom
IC-V80 (around $90 retail) that uses AA batteries, so you don’t have to worry
about charging battery packs in the middle of nowhere. That one can be easily
programmed through the radio (no computer needed) which might give you more
confidence when using it.
Both radios can also pick up National Weather
Service broadcasts while the Baofeng can also pick-up FM radio and, if you
program it right, local fire and EMS dispatch channels. The Baofeng can also
talk on UHF frequencies.
You can also put a mobile VHF radio with decent
power in your vehicle. So, if you are travelling to and camping in places
really off the beaten path like, say, the 100-square-mile Moose River Plains
Wild Forest in the Adirondacks, you can radio for help if you get a flat or
someone gets hurt or lost.
Activating
mountains and islands
We can’t overlook the hobby aspects of ham radio
when out in the wilderness.
Many ham radio operators like to for lack of a
better word, collect mountains and islands. That is, they like to log their
conversations with folks stationed at those locales and accumulate as many
contacts as possible with far-flung places.
By taking a VHF radio with you on a mountaintop
hike, you can reach hams many miles away without a repeater, just using
line-of-sight communications.
Or, if you are a kayaker or canoeist you can
“activate” an island by transmitting from it and talking to people in the area
or around the world. Some island activations become special events with their
own QSL cards (which verify a contact and feature a photo of the location) and
the intrepid souls create pile-ups of interested hams just waiting to talk to them.
Talking
around the world while in the wilds
A lot of ham radio users invest in small, low power
HF radios (around $600 new) and develop portable antennas which allows them to
set-up a full-fledged station in the wilds that operates on lower frequencies
which use the ionosphere to bounce radio waves and, in turn, make contacts
around the world. They might do this from one of the aforementioned islands or
peaks, or they might do so from their campsite. Their fellow hams love to talk
to people out in the field and there is even an annual Field Day during which
radio hobbyists set-up such stations and try to work as many of those as
possible on the air.
Getting
licensed
Getting a radio license is easy. You need only
study for and pass a test provided by accredited ham radio operators. Studying
is a breeze – the American Radio Relay League provides study manuals for around
$20 that look at the various subjects and even provide the entire pool of
questions and answers that the FCC uses in its testing.
The first level of ham radio is the Technician
Class, which grants you permission to transmit voice on VHF and UHF frequencies
as well as the ten-meter HF band. The Technician license is very easy to earn –
radio theory is limited, and most of the test is about laws, commons sense
issues, and operating procedures. Most anyone with a little studying can earn
it.
The next levels (like General Class) are much more
difficult and require a thorough understanding of radio theory, including some
basic engineering principles. But, once you get the Technician license and
spend a couple of years on the air, the content of the General exam will become
old hat.
But, many people are content with the Technician
license. It will allow you to use the aforementioned VHF handheld radios and do
some around-the-world HF work on ten-meters.
If you want to get licensed, numerous amateur radio
clubs give tests. The schedule for these tests can be found on the ARRL’s
website at http://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/search
Give ham radio a try. It will nicely compliment your
explorations of New York’s wilderness areas and you might find a hobby that
will also enjoy from the comfort of your home.
From the 09
August 2018 All WNY News
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