N1AHH

Gloria and I are modern day nomads. We live in a small RV and have no fixed home. As such, communications has become a very important component of our daily lives. We are frequently in places without cell service and even if the cell service works, it is kinda expensive for our retired budget.

We use prepaid cell which is invaluable when you need it, but expensive for routine use. Therefore, much of the time we rely on amateur (ham) radio. Of course this is not the only method. We also have friends that understand that we may call to leave a message for the other person. We have phone cards, individual e-mail addresses, cell phones, voice mail and many other methods of communications. This series will be just about how we use our ham radios . There are lots of amateur radio services that deal with emergency services. RACES (Radio Amateur Emergency Services) and ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) are the two biggies, but we won't be talking much about them. This is more about our personal methods.

Simply put, we have 4 uses for Ham Radio

1. To keep us connected with each other.

2. To get information about a local area.

3. To monitor non-ham communications.

4. To summon assistance in an emergency.

Gloria is not interested in Ham Radio other than as a communications tool. Although she has enough skills to operate the very complex Red Cross Emergency Communications Response Vehicle (ECRV) we use, she does not “enjoy” playing with radio and she hates to carry anything.. Therefore her personal radio is very small, lightweight and simple to operate. I like to play with ham radio, so my radio is very complex, has lots of options, more power and a very steep learning curve. We also have powerful and sophisticated mobile radios in our truck and trailer (a small 5^th wheel type camper). All of theses radios are computer programmable which makes updating their memories much easier. We will talk in depth about these 4 radios later. We also have long range (called HF for High Frequency) radios which we do not commonly use for personal communication, so they will not be discussed here.

In the following blogs, we will discuss the hardware, techniques and attitude we have found useful when using Ham Radio as an Emergency Communications System. It is not simple, but over the years we have sort of worked out a method and a hardware system that works for us. Gloria's part is that of a user. Most of the technical challenges are mine, but I enjoy the process and am willing to share my experiences with others that may be considering such a project.

# posted by Ron @ 4:55 PM