Two-Way (CB?) Radio, Emergency Setup?

[larrie]

Two way radios are great for group communication on the trail. We have HAM, GMRS,FRS, and CB radios. We also carry a Garmin InReach for two way satellite text communications. Nothing beats it if something happens when we are in the middle of nowhere and need to get help getting more gas from a buddy at home, law enforcement, emergency services, or just letting you family know that you will a few days late getting home.

[jeff00seattle]

Originally Posted by Kibo

I also carry a satellite communicator (Garmin inReach Mini) on our adventures. I figure that if SHTF, I'm much more likely to be able to reach someone or send an SOS with this than a radio.

What plan do you have to operate your satellite communicator?
Assuming you are using it for emergency purposes only.
Thank you

[Darkstar]

I think for what you want for short distances 2 to 5 miles on basically flat terrain that is what those bubble.pack Walmart Midland or the like radios are good for. They are referred to as FRS or Family Radio...thats always an option. However a GMRS radio will allow you to communicate both with that FRS radio as well as other GMRS radios. The GMRS application with the fcc is 35 bucks and covers your whole family. What that will also allow for you to do is use a repeater. Repeaters are larger antennae that usually exist at a higher altitude that will allow you the ability for you to transmit over a longer distance than line of sight which is usually the limit for distance. Ie..you transmit to the repeater on top of the hill and it repeats your transmission to the other side. There's a ton of great GMRS stuff at buy2wayradios.com.. what you may want to determine is if the radio also offers UHF or VHF. The NOAA stuff is on UHF bands so if you want that sort of option that's good to have. If you really want to learn a lot in a brief period of time about what may be right for you. Go check out a guy named NotaRubicon on YouTube he's got a lot of great I basic info on the GMRS world. You may be able to get a couple cheapo Baofang Uv5R on Amazon amd start there. This way the 35 bucks you spend isn't a killer if it's not what you want. I got Wouxun KGS88G but it can't access the VHF weather band stuff because it's UHF. Good luck

[bitburger]

Originally Posted by jeff00seattle

What plan do you have to operate your satellite communicator?
Assuming you are using it for emergency purposes only.
Thank you

Jeff,
Regarding the Garmin InReach specifically, if you don't think you are going to use it often and you don't want to use tracking, just get the Safety plan. This is the best plan if you truely only use it in an emergency.
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/837461

If you want your friends and family to track your location, but don't expect to send many text messages, get the recreation. This is the one I use most frequently.

Remember you can change your plan on a monthly basis to best fit your trip requirements.

[Glenn P.]

In both my van and pickup I have the Midland MXT-500 mounted with a magnetic mount antenna on the roof. I use the GMRS frequencies exclusively, as the MXT-500 only supports those. I also have a collection of about 4 different FRS/GMRS handheld units, all of the smaller type and all capable of 5 watts TX power AND utilize DCS (digital code squelch) so that you can set the radios to ONLY listen to transmissions on your channel that also have the same DCS code set. This eliminates lots of interference and listening to little kids debate who's better, Superman or Batman when travelling down the highway. I hand out the handhelds to my friends who don't have any radios. I am usually the off-road wagon master so even if I can't hear them, they can hear me at 50 watts to know what danger to look out for or where to turn.

For my Boy Scout troop we got a pair of the MXT-275 kits to move from vehicle to vehicle. I set them up on the same channel and DCS codes and then locked the controls so they could only turn the unit off or on or change the volume. Those were nice for people in a caravan that didn't need a permanent vehicle mount unit. Note to mag mount antenna users, a LOT of vehicles use aluminum roofs and hoods these days and your mag mount wont stick! Check your location with a magnet before you make an assumption. We kept 2 way tape handy for those instances.

I do have my amateur radio license, I just found so few people do in my off-roading circles that GMRS was the way to go. As for CB, no thanks.

I also agree that for real emergencies you are best off with a SPOT or other satellite based emergency beacon. They MUST respond to those emergency alerts. Kind of funny, I carry parachute flares and signalling smoke too but that would only be effective if a plane was already looking for me and really close by. I've fired off hundreds of flares and launched at least 40 parachute flares for fun and not once had anybody come sniffing around to see what was going on. You'd better hope if you need real help you've got a spot or can get a call to someone and give them exact coordinates to your location.

[BroncoHauler]

For the record Glenn, the answer is Batman.


Herb

[arctictraveller]

The days of CB being popular are pretty much over. For emergency communication I'd say they are useless, unless someone is listening on your channel and very nearby. If traveling in a group thats using them they might work, but hardly anyone has them any more. For remote off road travel, I'm often alone and depend on a PLB (personal locator beacon) for true emergency's. The advantage to them is they have no monthly or yearly fees, once you own it you only have to register it every two years (for free). When activated, it sends a coded distress message to orbiting satellites. The down side is it only sends an identifying code that tells the rescue center who sent it and where they are, but you cant include any info about the type of distress, but the center will call your listed contacts to hopefully learn what info they can. SPOT type beacons allow far more detailed info the be sent out but that comes at a price ($$) For daily communication, FRS radios are cheap but have very limited range (as little as a couple hundred yards in the woods) They are limited by low power and little antennas that you can't remove. GMRS radios on the other hand allow you to use an external high gain antenna and can run much higher power. I also run a high power UHF / VHF ham radio, but again, unless someone is listening on the same frequency your transmitting on, it won't help. There are specific frequency's used for the wilderness protocol that hopefully might have someone listening, but a recent situation I got my self into proved that that's rarely the case. So, I recommend going with a GMRS radio for daily use and some type of satellite beacon for true life threatening emergency's

[BrianW]

Originally Posted by arctictraveller

There are specific frequency's used for the wilderness protocol that hopefully might have someone listening, but a recent situation I got my self into proved that that's rarely the case.

You're going to tease us and not tell the story? ;-)

[jeff00seattle]

GOAL: In a serious jam or injury which we have never had, expect signal obstruction from tall trees and high terrain. The primary goal is emergency and the secondary occasional "Where the heck are you?" to a handheld.

Open to solidly reliable & simple MobileBase units under $300 and other than Midland.

CONSIDERING: Midland MXT400 GMRS MobileBase, only for its 40-watts, and costs $274.99.

When choosing a Two-Way GMRS MobileBases, how important are these options?:

+ NOAA Weather Scan - This would be helpful, a more expensive $400 50-watt unit or a cheaper 15-watt unit.
+ Repeater channels
+ Narrow and wide band capable
+ Programmable change of the direct channels to wide band
+ Privacy codes
+ Mounted antenna

Thank you

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by BrianW

You're going to tease us and not tell the story? ;-)

Not much to tell, but while solo on the Wa back country discovery route I ran into snow at about 4000ft. I came across a long snow bank that was slightly off camber, but with deep tracks already going through it. It looked passable, so I drove into it, but quickly ground to a halt, so I backed up and hit it again going way faster. I made it about another 10 feet before becoming high centered. At that point, I couldn't go forward or backward, so I pulled out all my recovery gear, including a come along, straps, traction boards, shovels, lowered my air pressure etc. I have a winch on front, but couldn't go forward due to more snow as far as I could see. Nothing I did would move the van, and the shovels were useless because it was mostly solid ice and I couldn't get to the middle where I was high centered. After several hours of working to get out, I decided to try and find some help, so I tried to key up several different repeaters with no luck, nor was I able to raise anyone on the designated wilderness frequencies. I also have a scanner that covers a large section of the spectrum but never heard one transmission on any frequency. Anyway, I was in no real danger since I had a weeks worth of food and plenty of heat. I finally gave up and decided to try again in the morning, when about dark a jeep appeared and yanked me out. Had I been in a dangerous situation, I might have set off the PLB, but it would have to be a real life threatening emergency. Needless to say, I turned around and bypassed that section