Newbie Programming Question

[KE8CHY]

Hi All,

I am planning a trip to Isle Royal next month and would like to program one of my hand held radios for emergency use. We'll be out hiking for five days and want the security of having a radio ready to use if needed.

Using the table found on this website I can't figure out what the $ means in the RX/TX Tone columns.

I am also not sure I have the National Park Service repeaters setup correctly in Chirp. Can anyone help me with this? I have no way to test if I have the NPS repeaters programmed correctly but would feel better if they were setup correctly.

Thank you!

 

[WA0CBW]

Are you a member of the National Park service? Are you authorized to use these frequencies? Is your radio FCC Certified for the radio service you are trying to program? Coming up on those repeaters will get you some VERY unwanted attention.
BB

 

[pb_lonny]

You can't just program your radio to use their frequencies without permission...

 

[KE8CHY]

Thank You for Your Feedback

I’ll only use the radio for emergencies. If I use those frequencies I’ll WANT them to find me.

Is there anyone else on the forum that can provide a useful answer?

 

[Nasby]

Catfish post. This guy can't be serious.

 

[wtp]

since you are a ham

program in the local repeaters, and hope for the best.
a couple that i would program are
146.52 , 223.5 and 446.00
just remember to repeat the information slowly, also someone might hear you and not be able to transmit.

 

[jonwienke]

Hi All,

I am planning a trip to Isle Royal next month and would like to program one of my hand held radios for emergency use. We'll be out hiking for five days and want the security of having a radio ready to use if needed.

Using the table found on this website I can't figure out what the $ means in the RX/TX Tone columns.

It means it's a P25 NAC, which no radio programmable with CHIRP can transmit or receive. And even if you could, keying up on a public safety repeater is a good way to get hefty fines and jail time. Also, you'd have serious difficulty persuading anyone that you weren't a hoaxter. There are other frequencies you can use for SAR, hacking a repeater is the worst possible way to call for help in an emergency.

 

[KE8CHY]

WTP Thank you for the idea of programming other repeaters. I guess i’ll give it a shot.
Jonweinke. Thank you for explaining the meaning of the $ symbol in the TX/RX Code. I whole heartedly disagree with you about a worst possible way to call for help in an emergency. In an emergency when life and limb are in peril ANY way is acceptable.

The rest of the posters I don’t know why you even bothered to post. You offered NO help at all and frankly made me feel entirely unwelcome. That’s not the HAM way. I’ll seek help elsewhere from now on.

 

[pb_lonny]

The rest of the posters I don’t know why you even bothered to post. You offered NO help at all and frankly made me feel entirely unwelcome. That’s not the HAM way. I’ll seek help elsewhere from now on.

Programming a non-approved radio for frequencies you are not licensed to use has NOTHING to do with HAM radio at all. Stick to what you have a license for and you will be fine.

 

[krokus]

. The rest of the posters I don’t know why you even bothered to post. You offered NO help at all and frankly made me feel entirely unwelcome. That’s not the HAM way. I’ll seek help elsewhere from now on.

Trying to keep you from causing problems, and you getting into legal trouble in the process, is being helpful.

Many of the people on here have professional radio ties, many are hams, and a significant number of us have both. So we have a vested interest in keeping things above board.

Sent using Tapatalk

 

[K4EET]

<snip>In an emergency when life and limb are in peril ANY way is acceptable.<snip>

William,

That is an inaccurate statement and you could lose your Amateur Radio license if you were to come up on an unauthorized frequency.

I might also guess that you have a Chinese handheld like a Baofeng or equivalent. They are notorious for having spurs and/or harmonics far above FCC limitations. Since you will be at the U.S. Canadian border, you could potentially interfere with a U.S. or Canadian radio system on another band. That would not be a good thing.

What I would suggest is to program your radio with the following ham repeaters:

Thunder Bay, Canada

Grand Portage, MN

Those two repeater locations should definitely be within range of Isle Royal.

We really are trying to help you. Radio Reference is a great forum of knowledgeable folks that are both friendly and helpful. And I want to say, welcome to Radio Reference! I do hope that you will stay because, like I said, there is a wealth of information here that can help you when needed. You probably have something that you could share with us. I hope to see you posting again...

Cheers and 73, Dave K4EET

 

[Movieman990]

WTP Thank you for the idea of programming other repeaters. I guess i&#8217;ll give it a shot.
Jonweinke. Thank you for explaining the meaning of the $ symbol in the TX/RX Code. I whole heartedly disagree with you about a worst possible way to call for help in an emergency. In an emergency when life and limb are in peril ANY way is acceptable.

The rest of the posters I don&#8217;t know why you even bothered to post. You offered NO help at all and frankly made me feel entirely unwelcome. That&#8217;s not the HAM way. I&#8217;ll seek help elsewhere from now on.

I am a new ham and can only speak for myself, but here's my opinion about some of the non-helpful or cricitcal posts responding to this inquiry.

In every endeavor whether it be spelunking, quilting, cooking, ham radio, whatever, there are going to be persons who just jump in and make comments shooting from the hip and others who take a more "thought out" approach to answering. It's just human nature.

Regarding the legal aspects of making a call on an unauthorized or non-compliant radio unit, I look at this way. If the event is truly life threatening I can't see how anyone (other than someone who just wants to make a fuss) getting overly concerned about the legality of such a call for help.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I and my wife have been hikers for over 50 years (age 74 now) and have seen cougars, bears and a few questionable hikers during that time. If I shot a threat (animal or otherwise) who were a threat to our lives I think only the most disgruntled of park rangers would question whether the pistol I used was on my belt in plain sight or pulled from a hidden quick access point on my person.

If such a "conflict of interest" situation arose I would gladly pay any penalty (loss of weapon, fine, etc) knowing I had saved my life or the life of someone in my group. "Misusing" an electronic device to get help hardly seems like a deal breaker when a real emergency is the deciding factor.

Just my two cents, and thanks also to the responders here who took the most useful approach to answering the original poster's queries.

KM6UMU

 

[jonwienke]

WTP Thank you for the idea of programming other repeaters. I guess i’ll give it a shot.
Jonweinke. Thank you for explaining the meaning of the $ symbol in the TX/RX Code. I whole heartedly disagree with you about a worst possible way to call for help in an emergency.

If you start talking on any public safety repeater without authorization, you're going to be treated as a jammer/hoaxter until proven otherwise. So yes, it's the worst possible thing you could do to summon help in an emergency. You can try it if you insist, but you'll go to prison as soon as you are released from the hospital, if you actually survive.

 

[jonwienke]

If I shot a threat (animal or otherwise) who were a threat to our lives I think only the most disgruntled of park rangers would question whether the pistol I used was on my belt in plain sight or pulled from a hidden quick access point on my person.

That's hilarious, coming from a California resident. Given that guns aren't allowed in state parks and concealed carry permits are nearly impossible to get unless you have connections, you're going to get arrested regardless of whether the shooting is deemed justified or not. And you'll have to prove it was justified in court.

 

[Movieman990]

You'll go to prison ?

If you start talking on any public safety repeater without authorization, you're going to be treated as a jammer/hoaxter until proven otherwise. So yes, it's the worst possible thing you could do to summon help in an emergency. You can try it if you insist, but you'll go to prison as soon as you are released from the hospital, if you actually survive.

Incredible. "Go to prison" for unauthorized use of a radio in an emergency situation? Would a citizen using a police officer's radio (on his shoulder or in his car) "go to prison" for calling for help if the officer in question was injured to the point of being unable to call for help himself?

Get real...things are not as black and white as that...there are gray areas...and then there are deeper, darker black areas like this "go to prison" post.

 

[mikewazowski]

I would suggest that if the OP is truly interested in emergency communications, he should rely less on a cheap radio transmitting on frequencies he's not authorised for and get a proper emergency locator device such as a SPOT unit.

Since the OP has said he's going to look elsewhere for help, no point in continuing this discussion.