FJ Summit 2008 Radio Communications Thread

[frogeye]

MountainMan previously said:

thanks for your help Shane, this is great

frogeye, we should hit a trail together

But of course. =)

1leglance previously said:

way cool...
you know the summit could apply for a event call sign if there was enough interest, I doubt we have enough hams around but just in case
Otherwise it would be great to pick a person who has all types of comm and would be willing to be comm control. They would be responsible for keeping track of the freq/type of comm for each group in case of emerg on the trail. Each Trail leader/sweep would be given the cell number of this person and they could text/call the Comm Control before the group leaves staging with the type/channel/freq being used on the run.
Example:
Alpine Loop 0800 cb 12
Black Bear 0745 cb 14 ham 146.480
It sound complicated but all Comm Control would need is a cell phone, and a log book...of course this person would be a radio head by nature and more than likely have 1 of each type of radio
In the event of a group not returning or concern then comm control can try to reach out to them or if we hit the trail in search we would know what type/channel/freq to reach out on.
Just my thoughts and I would be happy to help if needed.

Excellent suggestions Lance

shane4x4 previously said:

Here's the short list i've been able to come up with:
OUTPUT LOCATION SPONSOR ACCESS
146.670 Durango DARC 100
146.700 Durango DARC 100
147.345 Durango Colo Conn 123
448.625 Durango KC5EVE 100
448.700 Durango KC5EVE 100
449.850 Durango K0EP
147.270 Silverton KB5ITT 127.3
147.375 Silverton SilvConn 156.7
447.525 Silverton SilvConn
147.210 Montrose K0GJ
146.910 Montrose KJOG
147.150 Montrose NX0Q

Once I get the lat/lon for these, I'll get working on a google map

Nice! Can't wait to see that coverage map.

I'll be available to assist with coms. FJ-Ollie also has an impressive HAM radio (s) in his rig. It would be ideal to have one ham on each run going out but I don't think we have that many hams. Let me know if I can assist in the Communications side of this event.

Chris

[GW193]

Considering putting one in my rig, can anyone make a recommendation for a specific setup($200-$300) If I do this I will be available for comms also.
TIA,
GW

[Mikey D.]

Once you select a repeater you may want to contact the 'repeater owner' and touch base with him/her to let 'em know your plans. Owners usually appreciate a heads-up especially when their repeaters might be tied up for an extended period of time - I know I would!

An extra set of ears on the repeater won't hurt either!

73, DE

Mike

[MountainMan]

GW193 previously said:

Considering putting one in my rig, can anyone make a recommendation for a specific setup($200-$300) If I do this I will be available for comms also.
TIA,
GW

my setup is pretty basic, i have a handheld (a.k.a. HT) Yaseu VX-7R (about 300$) that i ran a coax line ($30) under the floorboards to an external antenna ($40) that i have on my Bandi mount ($50) works great.

you can get cheaper handhelds than that which will work just fine.

[Bostonian1976]

thanks for doing this guys

[1leglance]

I also ran a VX6 with an external antenna for a while and now that is for hiking and my rig has the yaesu 7800 and I love it...
I might upgrade to the ICON 706 before the summit and if so I will update my info.
Check in your area if more folks are on 2m or 70cm but I would really get a dual band no matter what since you will travel.

[shane4x4]

Ok, so as far as I can tell - the Silverton repeaters will be the only ones with semi-reliable coverage.

I've searched & can't seem to find a decent actual location of the repeaters:
147.270 Silverton
147.375 Silverton
447.525 Silverton

I did find this site:
Hardrock 100 Endurance Run Hardrock 100 Volunteers Background about HRH Communications Support By Greg Hine - WTØM

That talks about HAM support of the Hardrock 100 foot race. It speaks of 3 permanent repeater sites, but i'm not sure if they are the same ones. I'll try to track down those folks, but the comm website listed at the end of the file doesn't seem to work.

For now, I'll work on coverage maps for the 3 sites listed, then we can go from there. Looks like there is a repeater at the top of Engineer Mountain. This would be the IDEAL site to use.

We'll definitely need to contact the operators of the repeaters before we begin using them. It would be awesome to have a portable repeater setup, but I'm not sure how to go about finding one. Any suggestions?

[MountainMan]

OK, so i reached out to other members of the ARES orginization in the Ouray area to find out more about the repeaters and any other tips they might have. Here is the most recent info I have from Ron, who is the Pres. of the Montrose Amateur Radio Club.

Taft;

Your event is the weekend after the Hard Rock Run this year, so the area repeaters should be charged back up and ready to go for you. Here are the area repeaters and the areas they cover.

147.270 + 123.0 PL Engineer Mt. located SE of Ouray. This machine sets at over 13K feet, so it covers a large area of the San Juan's. It is linked to Buffalo Mt.

147.375 + 156.7 PL Kendal Mt. located just SE of Silverton (you can see the repeater from downtown Silverton) covers areas S. and E. of Silverton. It is linked on South to Durango and into N. New Mexico, and to Buffalo Mt.

145.250 - 127.3 PL Buffalo Mt. NE of Silverton, the hub repeater between Engineer and Kendal

Talk on any of these machines and you talk on them all. Coverage is most of the San Juan range. Of course in these rugged mountains there will be dead spots but for the most part they work pretty well. This system is funded by the Hard Rock Run folks.

Not knowing how your event is organized, but would assume that you have a base of operations in one of the towns. Good place for a base station accessible to the race boss and their staff. Then make sure you have a Ham equipped mobile or two with each touring group as "Safety Cars". Here you will need good mobile units, handy talkies are pretty much useless in these mountains.

The weekend of your event a lot of our folks who have been involved in the Hard Rock Run will be in Utah for an event there that we help with every year. But the repeaters should serve you well. All of our repeaters are solar powered, so we replace the batteries every year just before the race, thus the system should be in great shape for your event.

Please keep me informed and I will try to be of any help that I can.

Have fun in the "Switzerland of America".

73, Ron KC0GKZ

[frogeye]

Well that's excellent news about the repeaters.

[JoeUser]

Ham Question: Didn't the FCC lower the qualifications for 10 meter? Will there be any support for those frequencies (unless the repeaters listed above cover 10 meter; pardon my Ham ignorance)?