I’ve been spending a lot of time lately outside of cell phone coverage, and with the shutdown of the AMPS and TDMA networks, it looks like it will be getting worse.
At the same time, I’ve grown more aware of the possibility of becoming injured or stranded on the trail. The concept of falling and being injured (and not being found for hours or days) was kind of driven home last fall for me.
Does anyone know of a good system for communication that doesn’t depend on the cell phone network? Preferably something that can be easily pocketed.
I was almost ready to get a Sat Phone, but I was told that it would be useless in the woods, as it would not be able to get a signal through the trees. (I live in OH, so most of my travels are in OH/ WV, so “natural” areas are typically second-generation hardwood forests.)
A 406 MHz distress beacon sounds promising, but I’m afraid that it will have the same limitation. Also, it only offers one setting - "OMG! LIFE THREATENING EMERGENCY! SEND S&R NOW!” It’s worth it if you need to send that message, but it would be nice to have a more general solution.
This is not going to be the most popular answer, but I strongly suggest getting your amateur radio license and procuring a small pocket-size 144MHz radio.
There is a protocol in the mountains where people listen for distress calls on a certain ham frequency from the top of the hour until 5 minutes after the hour.
Information about getting your license can be found at http://www.arrl.org and with the recent restructuring, no Morse Code is required, just a test about basic electronics and general operating knowledge. There is no charge for the license, but the volunteer examiners who give the exams charge a small amount to cover their costs.
I’ve been an amateur operator for 20 years (currently General Class) and love the hobby, and see the advantage in having the emergency operation mode available. After the 1994 Northridge Earthquake in Los Angeles, I lived 1/2 mile from the epicenter and was the only communication in our neighborhood for over 8 hours.
A pair of FRS “walkie-talkies” is pretty cheap - maybe $100 - by Motorola and many others. They work very well, but only 1-5 miles, so it would be iffy. But the Sat phones will work in smaller openings and they have spiffy antennas for them. Don’t count them out. The distress beacons are another option.
FRS and Costco-esque bubble pack radios are an absolutely terrible solution for this application. Especially if personal safety is the primary motivation for your purchase! Power output is extremely low (no more than 500 milliwatts), and the antennas exhibit exceptionally poor RF propagation. Citizen’s Band (I call it Children’s Band) may or may not be viable, depending on who actively uses it in your area. CB is down on HF (sub-30MHz) though, so use in the woods may not be feasible. On the other hand, amateur and commercial (Part 90) radios put out 4 or 5 watts, 5-10 times more power than the aforementioned toys. (CBs put out up to 4 watts)
However, because of their popularity, FRS channels are heavily populated, and it may be easier to make contact with someone. There is no point in transmitting a distress call if there is no one to hear it and respond!
The suggestion to use amateur radio is probably the best overall solution, especially if there is a club with a repeater on a mountaintop around the area you’ll be in. Some amateur radio clubs have a phone patch installed at their sites so access to a phone line is only a few key punches away. However, some clubs tend to be more snobbish than the others, if one even exists in your area, so your mileage may vary.
I service and sell two way radios for a living, and have held my ham ticket since I was 14, fwiw
Is that a pretty good one? I go off roading every once in a while and wouldn’t mind getting some better communication devices. I suppose I could plug it into a car based antenna also, right?
Other than the already suggested, I can think of one thing usefull if they are looking for you. One of the canned air boat horns, would be heard pretty well in wilderness.
Some other thoughts:
[ul]
[li]arranging for check-in calls to someone, from points where you know you’ll have got a signal?[/li][li]packing a flare gun?[/li][li]taking up yodeling? (an online course).[/li][/ul]
tschild mentioned yodelling; don’t dismiss it out of hand. I had a neighbor call for help (not really yodelling, but …) from a half mile away once.
Three gun shots in quick succession is still recognized as a call for help in a lot of places.
I’ve had some success using an external antenna to extend the range of a GSM cell phone. There are several amplifiers that boost the output of a hand held GSM phone up to 3 watts using an external antenna. I’ve considered an elevated directional antenna to improve it even more, but I would give up a little mobility with this. The ads say that the 3 watt amp and a better antenna can boost the range up to 50 miles. I would take that with a grain of salt.
I read in a column by the late Jeff Cooper that the signal is three shots, with exactly one minute between each shot. Is that right, and if so how well-recognized is it? It seems like it wouldn’t necessarily work to me. You hear one shot, that’s normal. You hear a second and you think it might be a signal, so you start reaching for your watch. You only have one more shot to time and to figure the direction of.
Three loud signals in a row is the sign; whistle, shouts, bangs, whatever. If you hear this triple signal more then once, you know someone is seeking help. I haven’t heard the 1 minute rule, and would think that would actually be counterproductive, it’s too long a time span.
You say that when out in the bush you are out of your cell phone coverage area.
That is such problem today. There may be a tower for another system a short distance away, and you may as well be on the MOON!
Another thing, If you are a long distance from your normal home area and try to use the phone it may take up to 10 minuets for the system to recognize you and get you into the area system(i know there is technical terms for this but…).
How do I know::
When hunting in Colorado i tried my phone and got the no service message and thought i was in an inaccessible area. I put the phone away and thought it was off, and about 10 min latter it was vibbing with voice mail.
Then every day when i powered it up all i had to do was give it some time.
So the message here is to hang in there for 15 min before going APE!
Thanks for all the responses. I’m definitely going to check out the ham radio idea; it seems like it’s probably a good bet… I may also rent a sat phone to see how well it works.
I off road a lot, so I have a CB in my Jeep for that. I know from experience that in a lot of the terrain, we have troubles getting a signal from one end of a line of Jeeps to the other…
Is it possible that you’re misremembering? Because I seem to remember it’s three shots about a second apart, then a one minute interval, then three more shots. The second round of shots serves to confirm to the listener that you weren’t just shooting at something three times.
I agree with you. I’m likely to think this was someone target praticing and not even look at my watch. It would take two hours before a pattern was obvious.
The rule here is,
Some SOS signal, three bangs, whistle basts, etc.
The volley of three should be done just a few seconds apart just so there is a gap noticeable at max range, then the same three signals should be again repeated about a minuet after the , etc etc.
BUT
take gun fire, you have to weigh the need for immediate help with when will someone be looking for you. Meaning if you can wait, don’t pop off all your ammo too soon, That mistake is made by hunters that are lost only to have nothing left when the crew starts to miss you.
Remember your # ! survival tool is the brain, don’t loose it to panic.