Recovery knowledge

[MassiveAttack]

Cool! What I will do then is talk to some of the people in some of the ham radio clubs I belong to and see what we would need to do to set up a class/testing session. There are four hams I know (including myself) in TMN. I believe the FCC only requires three VE hams with at least one class higher license. I know there are outlets that will take care of the testing fees as well, but if not, they\'re only like $14.

The ham thing would be nice but not as important as NIMS. As of 2008, anyone wanting to be a volunteer for any governmental or NGO (non government organization) must at least have the basic NIMS. Don\'t worry though, it\'s free and you can do it online in a few hours. Being NIMS qualified will also help if this organization ever wanted to request money.

While it\'s not critical, having a ham radio license would be helpful because both Monroe and Ontario (where I\'m a member) have extensive and well established ham radio club with the specific purpose of providing volunteer emergency communications. Having a license and even a basic $50 rig in addition to your phone would help in effectively communicating with dispatchers in the central EMO. Phones are nice, but remember that big snow storm that hit Buffalo in Oct. of 2006. Cellular phones were \"out\" all over the place.
As a bonus, a ham rig on the trail would be way better than a CB for both range and sound quality.

here\'s some links to help better understand some of this:

http://www.ares.org/
http://www.races.org/
http://www.siarc.us/

[Doppleganger]

Ah, good, we\'re getting some interest in a little more \"professional\" communications.

All it takes is 3 General Class operators, and myself, Sabrina, and Gene (Extra class) are already there, who want to become certified VE\'s, to conduct Technican Class testing.

The Technican test is not very difficult.  A little electronics knowledge, some knowledge of a small part of the FCC part 95 rules, and some common sense will get you a tech class license.  I\'ll have to see what it will take for us to become VE\'s (Sam, get yer General!  :) and how we can start submitting tests to a VEC to get them sent to the FCC.

Other than that, SIARC (Squaw Island Amateur Radio Club) in Canandaiuga, does testing every month.  I\'m not sure if theirs is free, or if it\'s $14, but either way, you can test there, or thru RARA (Rochester Amateur Radio Assoc\'n) a few times a year at RIT.

Most hamfests have testing sessions, too.

But, minimal equipment for using repeaters (With repeaters, you transmit on one frequency, and receive on another.  The repeater retransmits your signal on the receive frequency, at the same time you\'re transmitting on the transmit frequency.) and simplex operation... (Simplex is what you\'re all used to, with CB and FRS radios, one frequency (aka channel) that everyone uses to both transmit and receive on.) would be...

1. A 2 meter (144-148MHz) transceiver.  You can get a Yaesu FT-2800 for about $120-130.  It\'s max power output is 65 Watts.  That\'s right, not 4, not 10, but 65 watts.  It has no fan, and a large heatsink.  There are pleanty of 2 meter radios to choose from.  Dual band (which also includes 70cm, 430-450MHz) radios will also be nice, but they\'re about twice the price, and the higher frequency (which is also the approx. band that FRS/GMRS radios are on) is not as good outdoors.

2. A 2 meter antenna.  The good news is that these antennas are much shorter than CB (11 meter) antennas.  You can get small magnet mount antennas for under $30 which are just over a foot tall.  Or, if you want greater range, you can get a 3 foot whip, or a fiberglass \"ham stick\", which mounts just like a cb antenna, with the 3/8x24 mount you\'re probably familiar with.  An NMO Mount (google it) is preferable for thru-hole installations.  It makes changing antennas easy, and water-tight.  Very clean install that only sticks up about 1/2\" above the surface when you remove the antenna, and you can put a weather cap on it.  This is the type I have on the roof of my WJ, and will have on the Bronco, and SRT-4.  There are more choices for amateur gear than CB gear, and generally, the quality is better.  The antennas will generally have a better SWR than CB antennas.  And, considering you\'ll be covering 4MHz of bandwidth with a 2 meter rig, as compared with 0.450MHz of bandwidth with a CB, that\'s pretty good.

3. Amateur Radio License.

Everyone will have a callsign, which you\'ll have to ID yourself with every 10 minutes, but during the trail ride, event, etc, we can use \"tactical\" call signs, or our names, or whatever.

Sam mentioned repeaters before.  We can even setup our own repeater for special events.  Hang an antenna from a tree, run it off a couple car batteries (or A/C power if it\'s available), and we can provide reliable radio communication for a large area.  The big part of this, is getting the antenna up as high as possible.

Oh, and no more interference from signals propagating (aka skip), better voice clarity, smaller antennas, small radios, and lets not forget about the 5 watt handheld radios that we can use while out of the vehicle.

Well, enough about that.  If the group is serious about being able to contribute in emergency situations, then some type of collaboration or participation with ARES or a local Ham radio club would probably be best.  Those NIMS courses are open-book tests, and you get a PDF certificate to prove you\'ve gone thru it.

Could be an interesting prospect.  Sabrina and I are taking the EmComm (emergency communications) 1 course now.  That really covers a lot more in-depth info than what most people here would want to do, though.

Heh, digital modes.  That\'s another can of worms that doesn\'t need to be opened right now... :D

Anyhoo, stepping off soapbox.

73, Jay - KC2TCM

[MrMindless]

the last thing I need is another hobby, but if you guys are able to do a quick course/test I\'d like to get my license to support my other hobbies (wheeling, rally support, and nice for emergency prep and ability to assist in my 4x4) so keep me in mind.  I just plain don\'t have the interest to really go out of my way for it however - and I think many of us are in that boat.

[MassiveAttack]

Sure, I think your not alone in saying so and that\'s cool. We\'re into amateur radio as a hobby as well as being licensed to help support some of our other hobbies. My idea here is intended for exactly your crowd. To get your technician level license you\'d only need to know the basic rules for radio and principals of electronics. Anyone who knows how to use a multi-meter would have no problem passing the exam. Equipment would be an upfront investment, but there is a lot of decently priced equipment out there that would last you for a long time.
Here\'s a good suggestion of a \"rig\" that would fit nicely into your truck and do everything that you would want to do off-roading, STPR, or anything else you might do that needs 2 meters.

You could get into ham and not even have to have the dorky hat!

[CoraC143]

what\'s a multi-meter?

[MrMindless]

I think that puts you into the category of needing to learn a few things first :)

it\'s the tool that you\'ve probably used to find wiring faults/shorts

[bear555]

Ok Cora I promise to not roll my eyes when people ask basic electronic questions if you promise not to laugh when I ask really dumb questions about welding. :)

Multi-meter:
http://us.fluke.com/usen/products/Fluke+117.htm

[fedrusion]

I think I would be interested in getting involved in something like this. At least I might try to get into HAM a little since its got alot more range than a CB.