Hi,

I'm thinking about buying a handheld to take along on my offroad
motorcycle travels. I will be between Wendover, NV and Delta, UT. It
is about 120 miles of very barren territory, sand dunes, salt flats
and rocky mountains. My wife is concerned - and probably rightfully
so - that mechanical failure or a crash will leave me in the middle of
nowhere. I plan on following a known route (GPS), so if I go missing
too long folks will know where to look for me.

I have 20 years of desert riding experience, but never in an area I
couldn't walk out of (perhaps 7 miles to nearest road). So I'm
thinking she has a good point. Attempting to walk that far with
limited water might lead to a tragic situation.

I am a electrical engineer and have ordered a book off amazon, and
either way plan on taking the FCC test. Would a 5 watt handheld have
a chance of getting out a signal in this area? It is fairly close to
an Air Force proving grounds, so perhaps? My enduro motorcycle does
have 12 VDC and I could mount a smaller unit with an external antenna
but wonder if it is worth it? On this trip I would use it only for
life-threatening conditions, so perhaps a handheld can use law
enforcement repeaters???

Any thoughts on the subject from those with experience would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Eric

In article ,
wrote:
Hi,

I'm thinking about buying a handheld to take along on my offroad
motorcycle travels. I will be between Wendover, NV and Delta, UT. It
is about 120 miles of very barren territory, sand dunes, salt flats
and rocky mountains. My wife is concerned - and probably rightfully
so - that mechanical failure or a crash will leave me in the middle of
nowhere. I plan on following a known route (GPS), so if I go missing
too long folks will know where to look for me.

If you want RELIABLE communications from "very barren territory", forget
amateur radio.

Get a satelite phone.

--
Rich Greenberg N Ft Myers, FL, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 239 543 1353
Eastern time. N6LRT I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67
Canines:Val, Red, Shasta & Casey (RIP), Red & Zero, Siberians Owner:Chinook-L
Retired at the beach Asst Owner:Sibernet-L

In article
,
wrote:

Hi,

I'm thinking about buying a handheld to take along on my offroad
motorcycle travels. I will be between Wendover, NV and Delta, UT. It
is about 120 miles of very barren territory, sand dunes, salt flats
and rocky mountains. My wife is concerned - and probably rightfully
so - that mechanical failure or a crash will leave me in the middle of
nowhere. I plan on following a known route (GPS), so if I go missing
too long folks will know where to look for me.

I have 20 years of desert riding experience, but never in an area I
couldn't walk out of (perhaps 7 miles to nearest road). So I'm
thinking she has a good point. Attempting to walk that far with
limited water might lead to a tragic situation.

I am a electrical engineer and have ordered a book off amazon, and
either way plan on taking the FCC test. Would a 5 watt handheld have
a chance of getting out a signal in this area? It is fairly close to
an Air Force proving grounds, so perhaps? My enduro motorcycle does
have 12 VDC and I could mount a smaller unit with an external antenna
but wonder if it is worth it? On this trip I would use it only for
life-threatening conditions, so perhaps a handheld can use law
enforcement repeaters???

Any thoughts on the subject from those with experience would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Eric

A "Personal Locator Beacon" would seem to fit the "Emergency Panic
Button" requirement for your trip. If you are looking for "Direct Comms",
the Ham Radio, MAY, be able to do the job, depending on the location
and elevation of the local Repeaters in the area of you transit. You
can expect 20 miles from a VHF 5 Watt Radio, which gets you to a bit
farther than the horizon, and if there is a HighSite Local Repeater,
then 75 miles would be about the limit. You will need to research,
what coverage is in the area, and don't forget HighSite Cellphone
coverage, as there maybe some of that out in that area as well.
For 100% Voice Comms, SAT based service is the only for sure option.

--
Bruce in alaska
add path after fast to reply

"Bruce in alaska" wrote

the Ham Radio, MAY, be able to do the job, depending on the location
and elevation of the local Repeaters in the area of you transit. You
can expect 20 miles from a VHF 5 Watt Radio, which gets you to a bit
farther than the horizon, and if there is a HighSite Local Repeater,
then 75 miles would be about the limit.

From a mile-high site near Mt. Rainier, WA, I got into a Vancouver, BC
repeater with my 2-watt HT -- a distance of 150 miles. The VE7 I talked with
was on a bicycle in Vancouver.... We talked for at least several minutes.

As for being able to use a [modified] 2-way amateur radio to access law
enforcement repeaters... absolutely not. There was a big flap about that
several years ago where someone did just that -- life-threatening and all. I
don't know what the eventual outcome was, but the reported intermediary
events were not pretty.

Howard N7SO

wrote:
Hi,

I'm thinking about buying a handheld to take along on my offroad
motorcycle travels. I will be between Wendover, NV and Delta, UT. It
is about 120 miles of very barren territory, sand dunes, salt flats
and rocky mountains. My wife is concerned - and probably rightfully
so - that mechanical failure or a crash will leave me in the middle of
nowhere. I plan on following a known route (GPS), so if I go missing
too long folks will know where to look for me.

I have 20 years of desert riding experience, but never in an area I
couldn't walk out of (perhaps 7 miles to nearest road). So I'm
thinking she has a good point. Attempting to walk that far with
limited water might lead to a tragic situation.

I am a electrical engineer and have ordered a book off amazon, and
either way plan on taking the FCC test. Would a 5 watt handheld have
a chance of getting out a signal in this area? It is fairly close to
an Air Force proving grounds, so perhaps? My enduro motorcycle does
have 12 VDC and I could mount a smaller unit with an external antenna
but wonder if it is worth it? On this trip I would use it only for
life-threatening conditions, so perhaps a handheld can use law
enforcement repeaters???

Any thoughts on the subject from those with experience would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Eric


Eric;

Have fun on your trip. For emergency communications the other responders
have all provided good information.

My addition to this thread is to suggest you also pack a FRS radio. Tune
to channel one tone off for emergency communications. If it is necessary
to call in airborne search and rescue assets the Civil Air Patrol most
likely will be one of the agencies. One of the tools we use is the FRS
radio tuned to channel 1 for communications with lost individuals and
parties. Make sure that your trip plan specifically mentions FRS channel
one.

You can rent sat phones and personal locater beacons for your trip. The
cost is cheap insurance. Then use the FRS for close in communications.

Dave Nagel, Major CAP
WD9BDZ

Have fun on your trip. For emergency communications the other responders
have all provided good information.

Thank you all for the helpful advice. I cured my wife's worryies by
inviting her along. Now she's excited to go. I thought the area
would be just rabbit trails through open desert. Turns out the
largest part of my journey will take place on the historic "Pony
Express" trail. I didn't realize the Pony Express went through this
area of Utah! Essentially it is a 135 mile long dirt road, with
perhaps 1 or 2 ranching trucks passing through per day. Hopefully
we'll see the wild horses that are claimed to live out there.

I did find a very well done video describing the history of the area
and monuments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwOZT...eature=related

Here's a simple HTML page with a few pictures from the BLM:
http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/salt_...ess_trail.html

Thanks again, Eric.

In article ip,
"Howard Lester" wrote:

"Bruce in alaska" wrote

the Ham Radio, MAY, be able to do the job, depending on the location
and elevation of the local Repeaters in the area of you transit. You
can expect 20 miles from a VHF 5 Watt Radio, which gets you to a bit
farther than the horizon, and if there is a HighSite Local Repeater,
then 75 miles would be about the limit.

From a mile-high site near Mt. Rainier, WA, I got into a Vancouver, BC
repeater with my 2-watt HT -- a distance of 150 miles. The VE7 I talked with
was on a bicycle in Vancouver.... We talked for at least several minutes.

As for being able to use a [modified] 2-way amateur radio to access law
enforcement repeaters... absolutely not. There was a big flap about that
several years ago where someone did just that -- life-threatening and all. I
don't know what the eventual outcome was, but the reported intermediary
events were not pretty.

Howard N7SO

Just a note here, Mt Rainier to Vancouver BC is a KNOW Inversion Path
that has been worked for many years.

--
Bruce in alaska
add path after fast to reply

On Sun, 3 Aug 2008 10:29:37 EDT, (Rich Greenberg)
wrote:

I'm thinking about buying a handheld to take along on my offroad
motorcycle travels. I will be between Wendover, NV and Delta, UT. It
is about 120 miles of very barren territory, sand dunes, salt flats
and rocky mountains. My wife is concerned - and probably rightfully
so - that mechanical failure or a crash will leave me in the middle of
nowhere. I plan on following a known route (GPS), so if I go missing
too long folks will know where to look for me.

If you want RELIABLE communications from "very barren territory", forget
amateur radio. Get a satelite phone.

If you want to avoid a lengthy legal hassle with the law enforcement
agencies and the FCC arrayed against you, forget about using a
hand-held radio on law enforcement frequencies ANYWHERE unless you
have (1) advance agreement from them and (2) use a radio that is type
certified for such use. Amateur hand-helds are not.

--

73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane
ARRL Volunteer Counsel

email: k2asp [at] arrl [dot] net