HAM radio for emergencies

[KB2GOM]

for situations like you describe, if you have a communications plan set with those you want to contact, it can work. my father used ham radio when he drove the Canning Stock Route through outback western australia, back in the early 80s. his elmer had a radio on every afternoon waiting for his check in, and they had plans in place if he missed a set number of check ins.

I think it is a great idea to have a plan for the family of what you will do in case of disaster . . . how you will get in touch . . . what you will do if the first method of communication doesn't work, etc. . . . where and how you will rendezvous.

And it can happen in the simplest of situations. A couple of years ago, my wife dropped me off for an appointment. No parking spots were available. She said she would find a spot, and I should call her on the cell phone . . . except when I was done, there was a glitch in the cell phone service, and I couldn't reach her. Now what?

Fortunately, it got sorted out (prayer helps). But the question remains: in the case of a much larger event, in which cell phone circuits may be overwhelmed . . . now what?

 

[PreferredCustomer]

Hi, I'm new to the forum, and am looking into HAM radio.

I've had a landline telephone (copper wire) for decades. We no longer answer incoming calls, not ever, because of the volume of spam. We use our cell phones instead. The reason we've kept the landline was the idea that in a catastrophic event (like earthquake, I'm in California) with power and cell towers unavailable, we'd have a shot at using the landline for communication. For various reasons, maintaining the landline may not be possible, so I've looked into other methods available to communicate if one doesn't have access to cell or Internet. It seems that a satellite phone and HAM radio are the options. So finally, if you're still with me, here's my questions and the reason for posting this message.

1. Is it realistic to think that with a Tech license I could have a functional communication channel in an emergency?

2. Other than the idea of HAM radio as a hobby, would I need more than a Tech level license for the purpose I've mentioned?

Thanks for any feedback.

If you want to be able to reach family members with ham radio, it would require a lot of dedication of the people you want to contact. They would have to be licensed, you would have to have a plan for which frequencies they are going to monitor, (no HF frequency can be relied on to work 100% of the time, due to propagation conditions), they would have to dedicate time to maintaining antennas and equipment.

Antennas can take a beating from the weather and require at least annual maintenance/preventative maintenance. Equipment and coax also needs to be maintained. If you have family members "into" ham radio, it could work, but most people won't follow through and keep up.

For family members farther away than 30 to 40 miles, you would need at least a General license to make use of some of the HF frequencies.

 

[MUTNAV]

Here's a wild idea that I adopted awhile ago. What if NOTHING bad happens, and everything just turns out ok. Would you be happy with your new hobbies? This doesn't just go for Ham radio, but also gardening some people do in case of food shortages, firearms for hunting. etc...

It's just something to think about, hobbies are great if they are actually a hobby, not something forced for possible disasters that just add undesired stress.

Just an idea.
Thanks
Joel

 

[kc8jwt]

Utilizing ham radio for an individual emergency has been rather disappointing in my experience. I had an instance once when I was out of cellular range, but was able to hit a local repeater. The issue became when I called out on the repeater for assistance, I was met with no response, and this was in the mid to late 90's.

As for volunteering, I was a member of RACES when I first became a ham. We did lots of training with EMA, EMS, and fire units. When there was an emergency, the EMA director would activate us, assign someone to cover the radio at the EOC and then start assigning hams to meet units or other taskings. We knew our place. We came on scene, introduced ourselves to the incident commander, told him why we were there and tried to make ourselves available to them, but out of their road. Most of the time, they were wary of us, but then when the dispatch channels were busy, we would explain that we could relay any requests that they might have for equipment, manpower, or other need. One instance was a fire department needed more manpower, but the dispatch channel was just literally clogged with other comms and they couldn't get through. I spoke up and asked the chief what he needed and then proceeded to radio it into the EOC. Within five minutes, another station was toned out and en-route to the location.

The hams that step into a situation like that with no training or blessing of the locals will find themselves sent packing very quickly.

 

[mmckenna]

Utilizing ham radio for an individual emergency has been rather disappointing in my experience. I had an instance once when I was out of cellular range, but was able to hit a local repeater. The issue became when I called out on the repeater for assistance, I was met with no response, and this was in the mid to late 90's.

My experience is the same, and more than once.
-Before cell phones, attempted to report a drunk driver. Got hold of another ham, he asked a bunch of questions like he was going to report it, but then just kept on talking. He never did call it in.

-Was on a logging road deep in the mountains, my truck slid off the road. I had no cell phone coverage, but I was able to reach a repeater on another mountain range. Asked for help. Talked to a ham, he asked a bunch of questions, then announced he didn't want to be involved and stopped answering. I ended up hiking to a hill top and used my cell phone.

Amateur radio is not an emergency radio service. I know some will claim it is, but the hams I've dealt with have proven otherwise. Don't expect professional help from an amateur.

 

[AK9R]

If you want to be able to reach family members with ham radio, it would require a lot of dedication of the people you want to contact. They would have to be licensed, you would have to have a plan for which frequencies they are going to monitor, (no HF frequency can be relied on to work 100% of the time, due to propagation conditions), they would have to dedicate time to maintaining antennas and equipment.

Not necessarily. The National Traffic System still exists and passes messages everyday. Yes, Radiograms are a bit archaic compared to Facetiming with the latest smart phone. But, if someone needs to get a "I'm OK. Will call when I can." message to someone across the country, it can be done, even if the recipient is not an amateur radio operator.

 

[PreferredCustomer]

Not necessarily. The National Traffic System still exists and passes messages everyday. Yes, Radiograms are a bit archaic compared to Facetiming with the latest smart phone. But, if someone needs to get a "I'm OK. Will call when I can." message to someone across the country, it can be done, even if the recipient is not an amateur radio operator.

Please explain how one would do this. How would you get the message out? Who do you contact? I have been a ham op (Extra class) for over 30 years, and would have no idea where to start.

 

[PreferredCustomer]

-Was on a logging road deep in the mountains, my truck slid off the road. I had no cell phone coverage, but I was able to reach a repeater on another mountain range. Asked for help. Talked to a ham, he asked a bunch of questions, then announced he didn't want to be involved and stopped answering. I ended up hiking to a hill top and used my cell phone.

Wow! Not even the decency to make a couple phone calls for you.

 

[nd5y]

Please explain how one would do this. How would you get the message out? Who do you contact? I have been a ham op (Extra class) for over 30 years, and would have no idea where to start.

NTS

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the national association for amateur radio, connecting hams around the U.S. with news, information and resources.

www.arrl.org

 

[AK9R]

Please explain how one would do this. How would you get the message out? Who do you contact?

As you live in Wisconsin, I'll direct you to the ARRL Wisconsin Section website, particularly the page for the traffic nets (Traffic Section – ARRL Wisconsin Section). According to the information there, the Wisconsin Side Band Net meets every day at 1700 local time on 3985 or 3982.5 kHz. There are also CW nets listed.

In the section of that page labeled Traffic Handling Resources, you'll find lots of information about traffic handling. Expand the subsection labeled Handling NTS Traffic and dive into the information.

I suggest you listen to the net for a week or so to gain an understanding of how the net works and how traffic is being passed.

 

[KB2GOM]

I realize that our situation is not typical, but here in the Capital District of New York State, we have the Commuter Assistance Network, which runs from 6 am to 8:15 am workday mornings. If you follow this link -- Commuter Assistance Net -- you'll find three articles about the net. I am now in my 28th year of running the net. We have 15-25 checkins on a typical day and handle an average of 1-2 calls a day which are reported to the local authorities for handling. Generally the calls are about disabled vehicles or non-life-threatening crashes, but occasionally things get really hairy . . . like the day an ice storm resulted in the Adirondack Northway (I87) being closed.

McKenna made a really important point a couple of years ago: that the training has to take place before the emergency happens. It's very unhelpful for an untrained person to show up in the middle of an emergency. But skilled, trained folks can be very helpful indeed.

I should emphasize that on the Commuter Assistance Net, we're not trying to be "pretend" cops or emergency responders . . . we're simply trying to detect problems on the roadways are report them to the proper authorities.

 

[KG4CNA]

-Was on a logging road deep in the mountains, my truck slid off the road. I had no cell phone coverage, but I was able to reach a repeater on another mountain range. Asked for help. Talked to a ham, he asked a bunch of questions, then announced he didn't want to be involved and stopped answering. I ended up hiking to a hill top and used my cell phone.

Amateur radio is not an emergency radio service. I know some will claim it is, but the hams I've dealt with have proven otherwise. Don't expect professional help from an amateur.

Very surprised he wouldn't make quick phone call for you. As a current police dispatcher (former 9-1-1 dispatcher) and extra class ham, I would've done all I could to assist. My local radio group is very helpful and most of our members would go out of their way to help. There's almost always someone around on our repeaters if someone needed assistance. I can't imagine someone NOT helping when someone calls out for assistance. I keep my HT with my at the PD in case someone passing through needs some help.

 

[mmckenna]

Very surprised he wouldn't make quick phone call for you.

I was surprised, too. I have no idea why the guy wouldn't help after me passing all the pertinent information to him.

But I don't take my chances anymore and won't rely on amateur radio as an emergency radio service. I now carry a Garmin InReach with me if I am going to be in an area where I expect to not have cellular coverage. I've only needed it once, but it didn't fail me.

 

[a727469]

I have never been a great supporter of the emergency work that Hams have done although maybe I should be since I used to be iinvolved in such a group doing local emergency management work, but I left because the group became very political and spent most of the time fighting. HOWEVER, even members of that group and myself would have dropped everything to help that person mentioned above. It is an unwritten rule to help in any way possible in this type of situation since that is one of the reasons the ham license exists. While I know it will do no good it would be interesting to have the ham’s call sign and ask why he did not help.

 

[mmckenna]

It is an unwritten rule to help in any way possible in this type of situation since that is one of the reasons the ham license exists.

It should be.
However, hams are just you and I. There's zero requirements that you or I monitor the radio at any time. There's zero requirements that you or I respond. We'd like to think we would.

That's why I prefer tools where there are people who's job it is to be listening and respond. If my or my family's life is going to depend on it, I don't want to leave it to chance. That's why I'd never, ever call amateur radio an "emergency radio service", and I'd never tell anyone else to get an amateur radio license as any sort of emergency communications means.

While I know it will do no good it would be interesting to have the ham’s call sign and ask why he did not help.

This was probably back in the 1990's, so long time ago. Would have loved to have know why also.

 

[vagrant]

I go camping from time to time with fellow amateurs from my local club. We’ll sometimes go for hikes away from the main camp. I’m not sure if anyone brings a radio as I do bring my Garmin InReach SE+. I ask before we depart if everyone knows how to use it and easily show those that do not. Those that think their radio will suffice are told to bring it. I have them test it along the way and they eventually ask about the cost of the Garmin, or like device and costs of subscription. I explain the pros/cons of the devices and options.

The iPhone is now part of that conversation. From the SOS feature on other cellular networks using my iPhone 11 to satellite on iPhone 14 and up. Additionally, we will see if this affects the InReach subscription cost as well as if Apple eventually charges a fee.

What I do not know is the ERP of the iPhone and Garmin. Still, a clear view of the sky is key.

 

[a727469]

Yes, maybe we should start a thread somewhere else to discuss all the alternatives available these days. I, too am awaiting further info on my iphone 14 and up … satellite emergency usage.

 

[majoco]

As New Zealand is a trampers/hikers paradise, we set up almost exactly what you need in the US, see.......

Land Search & Rescue New Zealand

Welcome to Land Search & Rescue (LandSAR) New Zealand. Donate; and read about our volunteering positions and training courses on this official site.

www.landsar.org.nz

and watch the video on the first page.

 

[a727469]

Very interesting info on New Zealand! Thanks. While I am not familiar with anything national with this purpose in the USA(correct me if I am wrong) , I do know that a few major cities have excellent search and rescue teams associated with their FDs (FDNY,Miami Dade) that respond around the country if needed to larger incidents, but obviously not for single individual situations…more for search and rescue in fires, collapses etc. As to the topic of this post, Hams do pride themselves on helping in certain emergency situations, but search and rescue is not really one of them.