Radios...

[manual63]

We need better and more radios. I hope we requested a budget that will allow us to get some radios. Can we research relays or something too? One thing I feel we lack in bike patrol is good communication devices.

[Danimal]

We've been working on that for years. Each year it gets thrown to the back of the pile. I requested 2k and every year we come up short. We'll see what happens this year. Hold your breath. Better yet, ask your wife to approve the 2k :)

[soupboy]

$2k - is that for a sat-phone? What about cell phones and/or tried and walkie-talkies? How many patrollers are out at any one time that need coordinate with one another?

[manual63]

$2k - is that for a sat-phone? What about cell phones and/or tried and walkie-talkies? How many patrollers are out at any one time that need coordinate with one another?

Cell phones rarely work in most of the places we patrol. Afton is a good example. Spirit mountain is also tough to get a phone signal.

We have walkie-talkies. The problem is that they don't have much range and they stop working in hilly areas. A repeater would be nice to have, and longer range radios.

Patrol not only needs to communicate with each other, we also need to be able to call in to base, whatever that may be at the time, and get ambulance service or other help.

The last two years I have had to sprint at least 3 times to a location to get a radio signal so I could call for help. 2 of them was when someone was seriously hurt. This means less attention on the injured person.

We usually have about 4 patrollers or more at each event. Sometimes less, but not often.

[Brick]

800 mhz capability would also give you the ability to (theoretically) patch into first responder radio nets while working large events like TCM, and take advantage of their repeaters and infrastructure (with permission of course....;))


.....just a thought.....

[fafnir]

Some HAM radio clubs have been wiling in the past to provide communications support. I have my HAM radio license, I am not sure about repeater coverage in the area, but a 50 watt radio that supports duplexing is pretty easy to set up on a hillside somewhere to use as a repeater.

[Alden]

Communications has been an issue for as many years as I have been around. Cell phones are simply not an option because of the unreliability in the areas we patrol. Radios so far seem to be the most viable option. Through IMBA the patrol gets a discount from Icom on radios. Each 5w radio including a battery, speaker mic, and programming is around $200. I've also looked into a repeater and a good portable car mounted repeater would be around $1200. It's similar in size to a CB radio. Because we are part of the National Mountain Bike Patrol we are licensed to use certain frequencies. The upside is that we don't have to license our own. The downside is that they're VHF which doesn't have as good a range and penetrability as UHF. Sometimes cheaper radios can be found for UHF as well.

I don't know too much about 800Mhz but if all it means is being able to patch into EMS systems for large events then that's not of great concern because we typically don't use our own radios for those events anyway. Large events such as TCM, Minnesota Ironman, and Fat Tire Festival have already set up their own communications. Our licensed VHF frequency is also monitored by 911 operators so if we're in range we can contact EMS directly from the radio.

The patrol currently has 4 VHF radios and no repeater. We need a fair amount of money just for radios if we're to catch up/keep up with the growth of the patrol membership. Ideally it'd be nice to have 10 radios and at least one repeater.

If anyone is radio savy and has other ideas that might be better and/or cheaper options I'd be anxious to hear them.

Alden

[TrailPatrol]

$2k - is that for a sat-phone? What about cell phones and/or tried and walkie-talkies? How many patrollers are out at any one time that need coordinate with one another?

2K is for multiple radios. You can spend anything from a few bucks for FRS to a few grand for a SatPhone. As Alden and Shad said, different locations require different solutions. Chequamegon N.F./Rock Lake, one area we (Backcountry) patrol, cell service just doesn't exist. The Chippewa N.F. is more interesting because there is cell service on the north Cutfoot Sioux trail, but not 2-3 miles south at Simpson Creek. Same sort of thing at Trout Lake Trails. It's getting better, though. Sometimes we use USFS radios, but there has to be somebody on the other end to answer.

I would try and get ahold of Rex or Brian from CFTF and see what they might suggest. They do this radio thing for a living.

Stay warm,
:banana:
Hans

[fafnir]

I could probably check with some of the HAM radio guys that are more "in the know" then I am about portable repeaters, that price seems a bit high to me for a 50 watt setup and I can't imagine needing anything more then 50 watts.

Also there really is not much of a difference between VHF and UHF. I have been using VHF and UHF for HAM radio communications for a number of years and at least what I have found is that I have better success over distance using VHF but not a whole lot better.

It may be possible to add a hand held beam antenna to some of your handheld radios to improve your distance. Or even a 5/8th wave vertical antenna, most handhelds come with only a 1/4 wave, adding a few inches on to the antenna can make a huge difference.

It would be helpful to know exactly what VHF/UHF frequencies we are talking about and what capabilities your current equipment has.

Let me know how I can help.

[Buck]

Has anyone looked at getting a sponsor for the radios? Is that even a possibility?

weRd
Buck

[kabbie_cache]

I have my HAM radio license, .

I got mine this fall too.

[fafnir]

I got mine this fall too.

Great, I monitor the 721 repeater mostly, NØZCB

[Danimal]

Has anyone looked at getting a sponsor for the radios? Is that even a possibility?

weRd
Buck

Working on it.