General Question/Newbie Alert

Guys, Here's what I'd like to do: We have a hunting camp near a large refuge. There is no cell phone service in this area. In order to have some sort of outside connection in case of emergency, I'd like some suggestions about what I could use. I know back in the day (prior to cell phones) farmers used CB type radios with a home base and large antennae to communicate with other radios. I figured you guys would be up on the latest technology. Distance estimates would be in the under 10 miles (the majority of the time under 5 miles) but through trees (flat ground). I do have a giant antennae at the house (left by previous owner) that I'm guessing he used for television reception. Any input will be appreciated!

Thanks,

In case of emergency, as in life or limb type emergency, your best tool is a PLB. A PLB, Personal Locator Beacon is similar to the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon used on aircraft and ships. The PLB's are smaller, easy enough to carry one in your pocket.
A PLB, when triggered by the user, will send your GPS location to a satellite, which in turn, sends it down to a "Rescue Coordination Center". The ID of your PLB will indicate who it belongs to, along with some basic contact information. That data, with the location, is used to send rescuers direct to you.

A basic PLB will run you just over $200 bucks and will work just about anywhere on the planet. Cheap insurance and gets the right people on their way. It doesn't rely on cellular towers. There is no charge for the service, you only pay for the device and battery replacements every 5 years (must be done by a shop).

Another option is the Spot! type units. Basically they are similar to a PLB, but it's a subscription based service. It'll notify them that you are in trouble and need help. They also have a "check in" function that will allow you to send an "I'm OK" type message to a list of e-mail addresses you control.
Cost is a bit over $100, but you'll pay monthly or annual fees for the service.

A higher end solution is a satellite phone. Expensive, more than $1000 for a new one, plus figure on $50-$60 a month for service with no minutes. Each minute of air time is around $1.40. You cannot call 911 from these, so you'll need to know the 10 digit number for the Public Safety Answering Point (911 center) that covers the area you are in.

There are some other solutions, but these are the most common. They work well, require no licensing and can be used by anyone.

Two way radios can certainly be used, but relying on a stranger to answer when you need help is a big "if". CB, Amateur Radio, GMRS, etc. are all going to have this issue. There's no guarantee someone will answer.

And I would certainly not rely on a portable CB radio to reach out 10 miles. Atmospheric conditions, topography, etc. can all impact coverage.

If you are looking for emergency response, the PLB's or Satellite Phone are the only real answers.

I'll add that as a family, we camp/ATV ride in some remote areas. I have an amateur license, have been working in the two way radio industry for 20 years, and have access to nice radios. I would NEVER put my families safety in the hands of a random guy on the other end of a radio, be it CB, GMRS, Amateur, or anything else. We carry a McMurdo PLB with us whenever we go riding.

In rough terrain, making reliable two way radio contact is dependent on too many variables for the average person. the PLB or Sat phone is the way to go.

Great information! Thanks for your input. I've seen the "Spot" locators and its something i need to get. However, I was also thinking about something that if my son was having boat trouble or something and was not back at the camp at a reasonable time, he could call me back at the camp and let me know where he was (not life threatening necessarily). Also, if we were done hunting in the morning, we could call the wife at the camp and tell her to get breakfast started!!! LOLOLOL!!

Arkiman said:

Great information! Thanks for your input. I've seen the "Spot" locators and its something i need to get. However, I was also thinking about something that if my son was having boat trouble or something and was not back at the camp at a reasonable time, he could call me back at the camp and let me know where he was (not life threatening necessarily). Also, if we were done hunting in the morning, we could call the wife at the camp and tell her to get breakfast started!!! LOLOLOL!!

Click to expand...

For non-emergency use, you *might* be able to use VHF MURS radios as an inexpensive option. They do not require a license, put out 2 Watts and the VHF frequencies they use *tend* to work better through foliage. You can also use an external antenna mounted up to 20 feet above the house for better distance coverage.
More information about MURS portable radios:

MURS-V1 Review - Miklor
https://www.amazon.com/BTECH-MURS-V1-Manufacturing-Personal-Business/dp/B075VBP9YG?ref=ast_p_ep

GMRS is another good choice with more power and antenna height options. A GMRS license is required but it will cover all of your immediate family. This option tends to be more expensive.

CB's are also an option but the range on portable units with the inefficient antennas they typicality have will be a limiting factor.

Yeah, I agree.

Without knowing exactly where you are, it's hard to make more precise recommendations.

The issue is VHF (MURS and Marine VHF) as well as UHF (FRS, GMRS, etc) all tend to be line of sight. Any hills, mountains, etc. in your way will block communications. Lower frequencies will sometimes work better, but that pretty much leaves CB, and the handheld radios, as Steve suggested, suffer from poor performance due to antenna and ground plane limitations.

For GMRS, you can do a repeater, but those can be quite expensive, and they still have to have a clear view of all areas you need to communicate from/to.

This is really one of those situations where you need someone with some radios you can borrow to try out to see what works. Trying to do this via the internet will be a real crap-shoot.

Do be aware and Marine VHF is not legal for use on land without some very specialized licensing that you likely won't qualify for. It would be legal to use on the boat, but that likely won't do you any good. Even with 25 watt boat mounted radios, it's still a question based on topology. Just wanted to make sure you were aware, as stores like Cabela's and Bass Pro Shop will sell camouflaged marine VHF hand held radios with no mention of the legality issues of using them on land here in the USA.

Thanks for the input! The topography of the refuge is relatively flat. No mountains for sure. The limiting factor would be tree cover.

With the 2 watt MURS radio, would/could I use the large antenna at the house to improve reception? Would there be a "base type" unit that I could keep at the house and then have a couple of radios to carry hunting/fishing?

As far as I know the only MURS base radios are made by Dakota Alert and Ritron.
Two Way Radios | Base Stations | Call Boxes | Walkie Talkies | Ritron
http://www.dakotaalert.com/store/murs-alert-products
You could always make a "base" from a hand held with external antenna and maybe an external mic, speaker and power supply.

Arkiman said:

Thanks for the input! The topography of the refuge is relatively flat. No mountains for sure. The limiting factor would be tree cover.

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That will really work in your favor. Often the limiting factor with VHF and UHF communications is line of sight. Getting the antennas up high will help things a lot. You might find that CB will cover this quite nicely if you focus on the antennas.

Arkiman said:

With the 2 watt MURS radio, would/could I use the large antenna at the house to improve reception? Would there be a "base type" unit that I could keep at the house and then have a couple of radios to carry hunting/fishing?

Click to expand...

Antennas make all the difference. Often they get overlooked and are an after thought. If you approached this as an antenna project with a radio attached, rather than the other way around, you might have good results.
Getting a good VHF base antenna outside your house and up as high as you safely can will probably solve most of your coverage concerns.
The limitation of 2 watts on MURS just means you have to make the most of that two watts. That means really good coaxial cable (not the stuff you'll find at a retail outlet), and an antenna with some gain.

As for the base radio…
Used to be that Radio Shack sold a MURS compatible "mobile" radio. Obviously no longer around, they are on the used market. Using one of those with a 12 volt power supply at your home would work well.
Dakota Alert is an option, but they tend to be kind of low tier radios. Ritron might be a better choice:
Two Way Radio Base Station | Wireless Intercom | Ritron JBS Series
PBS Series, Ritron Desk-Top Base Station 2-Way Radio

As for the far end…
Again, antenna is key. While hand held radios are nice, their limitation is often with the antenna. You can upgrade antennas on some of the MURS radios to something a bit more efficient. Ideally, though, you'd want to get something a little better. Putting up a mast at your camp with an antenna on top connected to your radio will improve range.

As for Portable radios…
Ritron makes some nice stuff…
The PT-150M is a nice radio. My brother in law is using these at work, and I'm impressed with them:
Commercial Grade Two Way Radios | Handheld 2 Way | Ritron Walkie Talkie

Again, antennas are key to range and performance.

Thanks so much for all the input/suggestions. I now think I need to find a local dealer that will help me pull this together. I now know enough to now that I need help!!! LOL!!

Again thanks for all the suggestions!

T