Primer on overland communications

[Haris]

Hi folks, newbie here to over landing / this forum in general. does anyone have a link to a post / article that talks about why radios are useful for over landing, how to get started, what to use them for etc?

Thanks

Haris

 

[axlesandantennas]

Without sending you to a direct post, I can answer that like this;

1) Useful so you can talk to your buddies! I almost always have my camping buddy with me in his truck. If we did not have comms, we would not know when I need to pull over to pp again. Which honestly, is like every 10 minutes...


2) Getting started can be kind of mind blowing. The FCC has allocated us a few types of Radio Services that we can choose from: CB, amateur radio/ham radio. MURS. GMRS, and FRS. The real trick is trying to figure out which one you want and which one most of your buddies are going to be on. Cost is another consideration. Same for desire of a license.
- Ham radio needs a license and is the most expensive overall, but allows the most flexibility.
- CB does not need a license, is fairly cheap, but has lots of limitations in terms of communication range.
- FRS does not need a license, and the radios are inexpensive as well, but the "sound" is very clear!
- GMRS is kind of like FRS, but you need a license you pay for ($75 i think), but allows much more power and has the potential for 10s of miles of range. I think GMRS could be fairly described as a cross between UHF ham radio and FRS.
- MURS is another potential, but you are limited to just 5 descrete channels, and the radios are not as plentiful. I don't know anyone who uses MURS yet.


3) We normally, and I would suspect most others, use them just to talk to each other. In the past, an "emergency" was always another reason, but I think with the adoption of things like SPOT and inReach, a radio to call for help is getting left in the rear view mirror.

I have been into communications since the early 90s and currently do radio installs for local guys in East Tennessee. I've seen lots of stuff over the years and can help you (or anyone) out if you have more specific questions.

 

[Prerunner1982]

Here are a couple of threads I hope you will find useful.
US Comms - An Introduction to your Communication Options | OVERLAND BOUND COMMUNITY
How to get your Amateur (ham) radio license. | OVERLAND BOUND COMMUNITY

 

[Alanymarce]

Two more comments:

1) building on prior posts, having radio comms with others in two or more vehicles is handy, although not essential. We carried, and used, a pair of hand held UHF radios for years, although we travel on our own most of the time, so that we can use them on the occasions we do travel with others - for example crossing the Eduardo Avaroa desert in SW Bolivia. It's a lot easier than flashing lights and stopping. They're also handy for comms when guiding someone through a challenging section. The range is fairly limited, depending on the power of the units you have. These are really only for "in convoy" comms.

2) In some places they're a requirement; for example crossing the Simpson Desert requires that you have a UHF radio and use it to warn others of your presence/approach. In some places you are required to advise of your entering a section of road to avoid problems with two vehicles heading in opposing directions on a track where only one is permitted - e.g., the track down the escarpment to Eyre Bird Observatory (off the Nullarbor).

 

[M Rose]

..In the past, an "emergency" was always another reason, but I think with the adoption of things like SPOT and inReach, a radio to call for help is getting left in the rear view mirror.

These new devices still don’t have the capabilities of ham. Yes you can send a SMS message via GPS, but at a huge hit to your wallet, and a limit on amount of words allowed to be sent. But you can send a full unlimited email via HF very reliably. I know of several instances within the last month where people have had to rely on Winlink over their GPS devise plans for this very reason.
Also look at the ARRL news. You will see at least one story a month of some amateur radio operator assisting local rescue missions. So ya, not a valuable emergency tool, I think not.

To the OP, @Prerunner1982 gave some great articles to read. If those don’t answer your questions then please ask away.

 

[axlesandantennas]

These new devices still don’t have the capabilities of ham. Yes you can send a SMS message via GPS, but at a huge hit to your wallet, and a limit on amount of words allowed to be sent. But you can send a full unlimited email via HF very reliably. I know of several instances within the last month where people have had to rely on Winlink over their GPS devise plans for this very reason.
Also look at the ARRL news. You will see at least one story a month of some amateur radio operator assisting local rescue missions. So ya, not a valuable emergency tool, I think not.

To the OP, @Prerunner1982 gave some great articles to read. If those don’t answer your questions then please ask away.

I honestly don't see how you came to the conclusion that satellite communication devices don't have the capabilities of amateur radio. If what I am wanting to do is send a message to my wife or someone else, I bang out a 160 character message add my coords to it and hit send. No need to dial a freq or get into an argument with some lid who does not want to leave elbow room to talk. Not to mention, at least in regards to HF, satellite is nowhere near as susceptible to atmospheric conditions and solar activity as HF.

I have tried over the years to make Winlink a reliable option for my trips. I even had a write up for it. But in the end, especially for HF, Winlink was too unreliable. It seems that there is a rather large group of bored hams who love nothing more than to monitor the freqs that Winlink uses and interfere with exchange. I had this happen countless times. Winlink in the VHF part of the spectrum was better, but range was obviously limited.

I've no doubt that hams want to help, but I need a direct line of instant comms. Like I said, ham radio used to be the go to tool. I've been there and done for almost 30 years. Now? I'm using SpotX or inReach if I'm jammed up.

Also, don't misunderstand me about amateur radio. I've had radios in my vehicles for since I was first able to drive and I still do. I've helped lots of folks get their license. Heck, half my business is based on Amateur Radio. But for an emergency? I'm reaching for my SPOTX or inReach.

 

[M Rose]

I honestly don't see how you came to the conclusion that satellite communication devices don't have the capabilities of amateur radio. If what I am wanting to do is send a message to my wife or someone else, I bang out a 160 character message add my coords to it and hit send. No need to dial a freq or get into an argument with some lid who does not want to leave elbow room to talk.

160 characters vs 120000 bytes is a huge difference. The ability to also include pictures is priceless... I never said anything about using the radio on Voice... I specifically said digitally. I had a Spot before I got my radio license... since getting my license, I don’t see the need... I have been in plenty of places the spot didn’t work... I have never been able to a place I can’t get out on HF.

Last week I was involved with a rescue where the guy blew up his engine in his company truck about 45 miles down a two track and about 150 miles from the nearest cell tower. His spot he was able to let his boss know he was broken down, but wasn’t able to send enough details to get the truck out of the mountains. However he had winlink and was able to hit our emergency WinLink Gateway 400 miles away. By using our counties equipment he was able to get a service truck and crew up there to replace the engine on the trail.

Now tell me you can do that with spot.

 

[axlesandantennas]

160 characters vs 120000 bytes is a huge difference. The ability to also include pictures is priceless... I never said anything about using the radio on Voice... I specifically said digitally. I had a Spot before I got my radio license... since getting my license, I don’t see the need... I have been in plenty of places the spot didn’t work... I have never been able to a place I can’t get out on HF.

Last week I was involved with a rescue where the guy blew up his engine in his company truck about 45 miles down a two track and about 150 miles from the nearest cell tower. His spot he was able to let his boss know he was broken down, but wasn’t able to send enough details to get the truck out of the mountains. However he had winlink and was able to hit our emergency WinLink Gateway 400 miles away. By using our counties equipment he was able to get a service truck and crew up there to replace the engine on the trail.

Now tell me you can do that with spot.

I have a Spot X. It's the one that looks like a orange blackberry. Full qwerty key pad. I can send and receive 160 char. messages and this includes lat/long and elevation. The device is $199 and I pay about $200 a year for service, and that includes emergency vehicle insurance in case I have a break down in the middle of nowhere.

That's cool that you can operate your gateway like that. I, however, after MANY years of trying, found it to be too unreliable. And this included using a Icom 7200 with a the Icom AT-4 tuner and about 35 feet of wire plus the laptop. VHF was hit or miss as well.


And as a side note, you are not sending a message via GPS. With spot, the satellite service you are using is Globalstar. InReach uses Iridium. These are completely separate from the NAVSTAR, or any other GPS, constellation.