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Let's get the discussion going on emergency communications. We've discussed it quite a bit on the Panamint Valley Days thread.
First of all, I'm willing to hold a class in emergency communications here in the Victor Valley area. Maybe SARJeeper would be willing to do the same for the SFV folks. How about other members in other areas would be willing to to the same?
Okay What works best for emergency communications?
Nothing works best. Every form of communications has it's pluses & minusus.
CB - it's only good for very short range and not very many people monitor channel 9 anymore. Channel 9 is the FCC desiganted emergency channel in the CB band. CB is also subject to interference form "skip" depending on the sun spot activity and can be utterly useless when the ionosphere is charged up and radio signals are bouncing all over the place. It works great for communications between parties traveling in a group.
GMRS/FRS I put them in the same class. They have just about the same characteristics as CB, but with a little better range depending on the terrain you are in and are not subject to sun spot activity. Again unless someone is listening with capabilities to contact 911, you can not depend on this radio service either.
Ham radio: This is a huge topic. let me give the short answer now: in Southern California, there are hundreds of mountain top repeaters serving all the vhf & uhf ham bands. This is a great medium of communications because there are many regular, older, or disabled hams that continuously monitor and ready to relay emergency information. Be advised though that there are areas with little or no coverage such as large areas of Death Valley, Panamint, Valley and the surrounding mountains in the steep walled canyons.
Cell Phone: Excellent if you are in the coverage of a cell site. There are many areas that Cell phones will not work.
Sat phones: Excellent also. But they may not work in a steep walled canyon depending on the position of the receiving satellite.
The ideal trip would have members with various capibilites.
In an emergency situation, organization is the key:
1. One person in chagre until professional help arrives. He/she assigns tasks to those capable of performing them.
2. One communication person. all emergency radio traffic should go through one person.
More later. what's your thoughts??
First of all, I'm willing to hold a class in emergency communications here in the Victor Valley area. Maybe SARJeeper would be willing to do the same for the SFV folks. How about other members in other areas would be willing to to the same?
Okay What works best for emergency communications?
Nothing works best. Every form of communications has it's pluses & minusus.
CB - it's only good for very short range and not very many people monitor channel 9 anymore. Channel 9 is the FCC desiganted emergency channel in the CB band. CB is also subject to interference form "skip" depending on the sun spot activity and can be utterly useless when the ionosphere is charged up and radio signals are bouncing all over the place. It works great for communications between parties traveling in a group.
GMRS/FRS I put them in the same class. They have just about the same characteristics as CB, but with a little better range depending on the terrain you are in and are not subject to sun spot activity. Again unless someone is listening with capabilities to contact 911, you can not depend on this radio service either.
Ham radio: This is a huge topic. let me give the short answer now: in Southern California, there are hundreds of mountain top repeaters serving all the vhf & uhf ham bands. This is a great medium of communications because there are many regular, older, or disabled hams that continuously monitor and ready to relay emergency information. Be advised though that there are areas with little or no coverage such as large areas of Death Valley, Panamint, Valley and the surrounding mountains in the steep walled canyons.
Cell Phone: Excellent if you are in the coverage of a cell site. There are many areas that Cell phones will not work.
Sat phones: Excellent also. But they may not work in a steep walled canyon depending on the position of the receiving satellite.
The ideal trip would have members with various capibilites.
In an emergency situation, organization is the key:
1. One person in chagre until professional help arrives. He/she assigns tasks to those capable of performing them.
2. One communication person. all emergency radio traffic should go through one person.
More later. what's your thoughts??
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