Why don't you just call or text each other?

[6079smithw]

I’m still trying to explain to friends and co workers what the magic of radio is and still get why not just use your cel phone. Some just don’t get it...

They begin to when they wind up with a flat tire in the Middle 'O Nowhere (lots of that in the Western states) without a spare and without a cellphone signal. Been more than a few times over the years I've come across these folks and have been able to summon assistance via ham/GMRS etc. (What I don't get is why the Hell anybody would buy/rent/drive a vehicle in the outback with no spare tire to begin with, but I'm a old guy and I think funny...)

 

[fxdscon]

I wonder what our kid's reply would be when they ask to borrow our cars so they can go see their friends.... and we just said, "why don't you just call or text them?

 

[Lauri-CoyoteFrostbite]

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"What I don't get is why the Hell anybody would buy/rent/drive a vehicle in the outback with no spare....."


Uh oh...... I have to raise my hand.


It was on a work project, out in the desert-ty mountains of Western Nevada.... a weekend's break between activites, and my friend and co-worker decided to take a drive up US 95 in one our agency's rental cars. Anyone familiar with this part of Nevada ?.... 95 is a beautiful drive, but 267 (between Beatty and Goldfield) --that turns off towards California is even more scenic....

Then a
..........Pot hole, followed by a " _____________ ! ! ! (fill in the blank.)"

Okay, get out the spare tire

"It sure is isolated out here-- we haven't seen another car since the main highway" -- an observation made to no one in particular.

Oh well, we can certainly change a tire, can't we?
........ and of course we did check to see that the spare was good before we took this rental off the lot.

"Uh, Lauri, where is the lug wrench ?!!"

"_______________(more fill in the blanks) !!!!!!!"


*
*
*

We had some food, plenty(!) of water and other things (see below@)... to drink- it was a cool autumn and we were in no dangers- but royally p##z'd off. We had along one of our 800 meg trunked agency handhelds- about as useless as a boat anchor in the hills of that part of the mountains.

"How about the 'cel phone?"

Zip... no'bars'

"I'm going try it up on that hill side" said my friend, and off she went, stumbling thru the sagebrush.

"This is a fine mess, Lauri" I was thinking to myself, sitting in the half shade beside the car.

267 slopes beautifully up and westward from 95- the view east is for miles! ... and no other vehicle visible along it, anywhere. We had been there over an hour and the shadows were beginning to lengthen.

My friend came back----
"I think I got thru to the guys, but I'm not sure... you know how people say texts can make it thru when voice won't- well, it MIGHT have worked.. but my battery died before I could confirm it"

"Have a beer@, Girlfriend and enjoy the view"
*
*
*
The shadows were really long when from the west came a dusty, batter'd little Jeep. Finally! , Someone !
And luck would have it; he had a lug wrench that fit out bloody rental car.
We gave him the remainder of our beer, and with our tails between our legs, drove back down towards civilisation.
____________________________________________________

Epilogue ?
Yes, our 'cel text had semi got thru- So what they say about texting in emergencies sort'a works. But the message was too garbol'd to make any sense.
......... Our guys would not be coming out to rescue us.
______________________________________________________

Today I never take a rental car without checking Everything- especially for the lug wrench.

Lauri

 

[6079smithw]

95 is a beautiful drive, but 267 (between Beatty and Goldfield) --that turns off towards California is even more scenic....

Ah, yes... NV 267, aka Scotty's Castle Road thru the megalopolis of Bonnie Claire , and it's partner to the north, 266 over Lida Summit... ran an overweight trailer or two on that one back in the day. Even the jackrabbits don't travel those parts without first packing a lunch!
On a somber note, more than a few souls wished they had heeded the "Winter Travel Not Advised" warning signs...

 

[Lauri-CoyoteFrostbite]

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Hey 6079... big smiles. !


I know and love that highway (267) -- one of the fading, truly American roads still left in the Lower 48.

(An aside: tho I am more than sure you are aware of it---- the downward side of that Pass.... one of my aunts tells a merry account of loss'ing her brakes on the western side...
.................. said her friend riding along... and surviving it !..."Marsha, why in (the H) didn't you shift to a lower gear ?!?"

(She fortunately glided down to the valley at ++Velocity, but unhurt-- her friend, and two year old daughter. )

Heehee.... Stuff of family legends, No ?

______________________________________________________________

Okay guys, and I am sorry Hertz for straying off topic.... but there is a Coyote message here-- and its to tell of the importance of stories about Ham Radio. Nothing sells this stuff better than first hand, personal experiences.

Don't get caught up in lofty things like 'public service' or other such trite-- tell them all about how exciting it was to establish a regular rapport with some geophysicist in South America- a missonary in the South Pacific, ....a school teacher in Austria.... maybe even a physicist in Washngton DC (lol) -

........... That's what sells this hobby.

Goodness Gracious !- capture their imaginations, Guys ! -- like Thor Heyerdahl did mine--- then, maybe --just maybe, --- if they are really imaginative, --- and you are a good story teller (!)-- they will see what a neat hobby Ham radio is.



Lauri
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[AK_SAR]

Ah, yes... NV 267, aka Scotty's Castle Road thru the megalopolis of Bonnie Claire , ......

FYI, when I was in Death Valley a year and half ago, the road was closed into Grapevine Canyon due to flood damage. NPS webpage indicates it is still closed. See
Alerts & Conditions - Death Valley National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

 

[ladn]

Epilogue ?
Yes, our 'cel text had semi got thru- So what they say about texting in emergencies sort'a works. But the message was too garbol'd to make any sense.
......... Our guys would not be coming out to rescue us.

And perhaps Barbi had a few select French invectives to share with the fleet manager?

 

[Lauri-CoyoteFrostbite]

Smiles

The day and the fun with that rental car didn't stop with the flat and that missing lug wrench.

It was late afternoon when we made it back to 95... and no sooner than we did, a highway patrolman passed us in the opposite direction.
We gave it no thought until in the mirrors we saw him do a U-Turn and, turning on his lights, sped up behind us.

"What NOW?" -- almost simultaneously.



We pulled over and my friend (driving) and I know the drill.... keep your hands visible and don't do anything weird.

"Ma'm, is that a Silver Bullet* you're drinking ?' indicating a soda can now sitting on the console.

"Ahhhh, No officier, ...its just a Diet Pepsi"

".......................Oh...." he said, and then walking around the front of our car, stopped and....
"Where is your front plate ?"

I got out and looked too- Hmmm, where WAS our front license plate ?? (Nevada has them.)

We then proceed to tell him about about the pothole, the lug wrench, no 'cel coverage, a friendly Desert Rat- and other trials and tribulation of the rental car, -- all in three part harmony.... --- until he stopped us, and looking over the rental agreement he said
".....It figures, These guys are sloppy about stuff like that- maybe you never had one" (I figured the license plate came loose with the pothole, but I was not going to say anything.)

"It all Ok...." he said handing back the papers. Then noticing our vehicle pass for the Nevada Test Site in the windshield...

"Are you two out of Mercury ?"

The demeanor changed 180 degrees, and for the next half hour we shared our soda's and potato chips with him beside the highway. He even show'd us the radios in his car- quite impressive !

In the end we figured he was bored and just wanted to get out of his patrol car and chat.
He gave us a warning ticket to give to the rental company.

"....And get another car-- if they give you any lip, give them that ticket, and here's my 'cel number in case they won't."

But the rental company didn't give us any problems, especially after my friend explained how delighted (!) she was when we found no lug wrench.


Lauri


____________________________________________________________


* A Coor Lite beer can looks remarkably like a Diet Pepsi-- or at least then they did...
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[VK3RX]

Love ya stories, Lauri - keep 'em coming

 

[N4GIX]

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Goodness Gracious !- capture their imaginations, Guys ! -- like Thor Heyerdahl did mine--- then, maybe --just maybe, --- if they are really imaginative, --- and you are a good story teller (!)-- they will see what a neat hobby Ham radio is.
.

Whenever I discuss ham radio and someone inevitably asks why I didn't just call 'em on the phone, I'd show them this and ask just how likely it would have been to get this guy on the phone?

Sorry about the crappy photo, but this is just too precious for me to unmount for a photograph! For those who cannot make out the text, this is the QSL card from King Hussein of Jordan, JY1, whom I was fortunate to work during a rare band opening on 20m back in 1992. Sadly, JY1 went SK back in 1999. Here is a better copy of the photo used on his QSL card:

There are still many, many famous celebrities out there waiting for someone to chat with!

 

[nanZor]

For the same reason I rarely listen to a streaming International broadcast. There is something about picking up Radio New Zealand and others with a wire strung up and receiving signals from thousands of miles away.

Exactly right - a streaming radio broadcast is a total misnomer. There's nothing "radio" about it.

Which in a weird way brings it back to the original question with a twist: "Why don't you just stream it?"

Because it ISN'T radio. It isn't really a broadcast, unless one thinks of un-ack'ed udp packets as a broadcast. Underneath, it is really a TWO-WAY computer connection - your computer may not be acknowledging the upd packets, but it is certainly sending back data to the originating source, or one of it's 3rd-party data aggregation / analyzing services to keep an eye on you and your habits. Even if they proclaim that it is anonymous.

That's why I crack up over the use of "streaming radio apps and services". There's not an ounce of radio in it.

Thus we go back to doing something totally different. A radio that listens to content that doesn't reply.

But like the question at the turn of the last century when music and voice started to be heard in reasonable quality, the first thing on the minds of many is "how the heck do you monetize a broadcast that anyone can pick up?" How do you control it and force subscriptions to our new content?

Heh, so yeah, the point here is not to make a newcomer turn off his phone or computer, but just introduce them to an interesting "new" way to do things with no strings attached! It's called RADIO.

 

[quad_track]

On the other hand, if it wasn't for the internet, I would have never heard of W4RNL. His message at the bottom of his pages was:
"To learn, to teach, to serve."
The man is gone. The website may not be found anymore on the internet. His callsign might get recycled.
The message is here to stay.

By the way. Underneath the IP layer, there's the physical layer. That layer has some good hard limits in place. I wouldn't worry *too* much about what gets sent where, for this reason.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Whenever I discuss ham radio and someone inevitably asks why I didn't just call 'em on the phone, I'd show them this and ask just how likely it would have been to get this guy on the phone?

Sorry about the crappy photo, but this is just too precious for me to unmount for a photograph! For those who cannot make out the text, this is the QSL card from King Hussein of Jordan, JY1, whom I was fortunate to work during a rare band opening on 20m back in 1992. Sadly, JY1 went SK back in 1999. Here is a better copy of the photo used on his QSL card:

There are still many, many famous celebrities out there waiting for someone to chat with!

That's some good stuff!

Way back in about 69 or 70, I was listening to the skip blasting in ( I lived in Chicago) on the CB when I heard a very familiar voice calling out as,

"This is the mountain man from the hills of Jamaica".

Years later I learned that Johnny Cash indeed had a villa in Jamaica on the north shore. And more recently I learned he was a radio operator in the Army.



Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

 

[zz0468]

I know and love that highway (267) -- one of the fading, truly American roads still left in the Lower 48.

I've spent a LOT of time wandering the desert in both California and Nevada, both for work and pleasure. I don't go there without 40 meter - 70 cm radio capability. It's comforting to be rolling along on 267, or 95, or stumbling down Titus Canyon Road to Leadfield while listening to the 20 meter Maritime Mobile Service Net coming in loud and clear... help there if you need it.

In both the POV and the company car, I carry about 3 days worth of food, and a week's worth of water just to drive across town.

There's a LOT of ham repeater coverage out that way, if you know the right people.

 

[VK3RX]

Interesting you folk in the U.S. don't have the land mobile HF networks we have here.

We do have a lot of middle-of-nowhere here, but so do you.

VKS-737 The Australian National 4WD Radio Network
Australian HF Radio Network – HF Radio Club

 

[Lauri-CoyoteFrostbite]

I hope I didn't leave the impression we are a rodeo of Cowboys (and Girls) running about the deserts like a bunch of City Slickers .

When I did field projects, we drove about the mountains and valley's in our government Ute's... with their trunk'd radios, low, high band, UHF and SSB radios.... No one was ever lacking for a way to call for help. And as the project chief, I insisted that every vehicle carry enuff water and other supplies just in case of surprises. The deserts of Arizona, Utah and Nevada can be very unforgiving, especially in the summer.

Ah !, but that rental car tale.

We had those cars for running errands and use during non-project hours. I made sure that on the way out of towne that we stopped at a grocery store and fill up the trunk with gallons of "Spring Water," soda (and some beer), chips and cans of goodies like stuff'd grape leaves, smoked oysters, crackers and (my favorite)- kipper'd herring.

But our biggest safety item was the admonition that these cars never be driven off a paved highway. Plus we used a signout board where each time a car was taken we had an *idea* where the driver went. Tho my friend and I sat out the better part of the afternoon beside the road, sometime within the next week (sarcasm ) some one would have come looking for us- hopefully before all the oysters and beer were gone.
_____________________________________________________

Damien, I think the use of domestic HF in the US has disappeared simply because there is no longer a need for it- at least in 99% of the lower 48 States. There is practically no areas where some sort of V/UHF radio coverage is not going to be had, or possible- especially 'cel phones.

Oh, I know there are plenty of exceptions, just not plenty of users willing to go the HF SSB route. Electric powerline companies, petroleum, mineral exploration and extraction-- users like that can get licenses-- but offhand I know of very few that use HF.
We once programmed in 4637.5 KHz to co-ordinate activities with a gas line company, but I never used the frequency. I think it is one of the few still available without special licensing by the FCC for non-government stations.

Lauri
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[k3hal]

L-C...
ive eaten so many kipper'd herring this curmudgeon has grown gills! now thats funny!
harry

I hope I didn't leave the impression we are a rodeo of Cowboys (and Girls) running about the deserts like a bunch of City Slickers .

When I did field projects, we drove about the mountains and valley's in our government Ute's... with their trunk'd radios, low, high band, UHF and SSB radios.... No one was ever lacking for a way to call for help. And as the project chief, I insisted that every vehicle carry enuff water and other supplies just in case of surprises. The deserts of Arizona, Utah and Nevada can be very unforgiving, especially in the summer.

Ah !, but that rental car tale.

We had those cars for running errands and use during non-project hours. I made sure that on the way out of towne that we stopped at a grocery store and fill up the trunk with gallons of "Spring Water," soda (and some beer), chips and cans of goodies like stuff'd grape leaves, smoked oysters, crackers and (my favorite)- kipper'd herring.

But our biggest safety item was the admonition that these cars never be driven off a paved highway. Plus we used a signout board where each time a car was taken we had an *idea* where the driver went. Tho my friend and I sat out the better part of the afternoon beside the road, sometime within the next week (sarcasm ) some one would have come looking for us- hopefully before all the oysters and beer were gone.
_____________________________________________________

Damien, I think the use of domestic HF in the US has disappeared simply because there is no longer a need for it- at least in 99% of the lower 48 States. There is practically no areas where some sort of V/UHF radio coverage is not going to be had, or possible- especially 'cel phones.

Oh, I know there are plenty of exceptions, just not plenty of users willing to go the HF SSB route. Electric powerline companies, petroleum, mineral exploration and extraction-- users like that can get licenses-- but offhand I know of very few that use HF.
We once programmed in 4637.5 KHz to co-ordinate activities with a gas line company, but I never used the frequency. I think it is one of the few still available without special licensing by the FCC for non-government stations.

Lauri
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.

ive had so many kipper'd herring this old curmudgeon has grown gills...lolol
-harry

 

[VK3RX]

Damien, I think the use of domestic HF in the US has disappeared simply because there is no longer a need for it- at least in 99% of the lower 48 States. There is practically no areas where some sort of V/UHF radio coverage is not going to be had, or possible- especially 'cel phones.

I guess that's due to you folk having a population of over 300 million vs ours of 24 million in an area of comparable size i.e. Australia vs continental U.S.