Anyone into ham / GMRS?

[jnojr]

I'm KK7NLQ & WRXR374 I'm mostly on te SWCRS Pinal Peak repeater, or when I'm up on the mountain Porter Mtn and Greens Peak

For those who don't know, GMRS is a low barrier to entry ($35 for ten years, no tests) way to start learning about radios and have alternate means of communication.

I'm far from an expert but am happy to help answer any questions!

 

[Abbey]

yeah, but haven't played radio for awhile due to being busy with other things. I'm mostly into data protocols & SDR and never enjoyed the local repeaters much. TBH, I'd rather chat with people on forums like this one or on Reddit than talk on the local nets. I'm tempted to get into microwave bands and/or license my own frequency so I can play with encrypted protocols.

I do have a GMRS license for emergency use. I consider it a much more useful band than amateur radio UHF/VHF. In an actual emergency you'll reach a lot more people on GMRS.

 

[jnojr]

Just keep in mind that probably means in an emergency, GMRS could be flooded and lose a lot of utility.

 

[Abbey]

Understood. Just saying a lot of the ham-tuber community talks about using amateur radio bands for "EMCOMM" but in a real emergency I doubt they'll be able to actually reach anyone they need to. Especially if Winlink or igates go down.

 

[blasternaz]

From a friend...
Sir,

My thoughts are pretty simple on this....the answer is yes I can reach anyone in the valley from my house. I can send and receive to your house if you have only a cheap hand-held. While communication when mobile can indeed be hit or miss from vehicle to vehicle, there are repeaters throughout the valley. The repeaters are usually kept up by the various clubs and have backup power supplies and I will say that emergency communication is the priority of these stations. When running simplex, I can hit the repeater in Tucson from my house. I can hit Globe.... Wickenburg.... Prescott... All from the comfort of the house.

No communication plan is perfect. I have sat phones....but even they are vulnerable to attack (anti satellite weapons). Also, every hospital has a ham radio just in case and a vast array of antennas on their roof for emergency comms. Cell phones are all on UHF freqs and the HAM band took a loss in those frequencies when the govt took a good portion of the UHF band when cell companies needed them.

The key is height. The taller you are the better. I once heard a guy in a plane with a small 5 watt hand held. He sounded like a 100000 watt radio station.

Hope this was understandable.

 

[Abbey]

I think you're misunderstanding my point. I like radio tech. Anyone in my circle thinks I'm a total radio nerd. I'm limited to compromise antennas, but have contacted many of the repeaters you list (can't get line of sight to Wickenburg from my house but can from my Prescott place). I've hit the ISS with a handheld (just APRS, not "talking"). While all of that was a fun way to spend my time while learning about the functions & limitations of technology, it was just that - a fun hobby. But the time I spent on the repeaters was more sitting around waiting to hear if someone else was online. For me, reaching a repeater was very different than reaching a specific person at a specific time to relay critical information. So in an emergency, it makes me wary to over-rely on it for my needs. That's all I'm saying. But I'm a "defense in depth" type and personally have UHF/HF/Sat backup options.

For me personally, I have a lot more fun with data protocols and thought the VarAC stuff was interesting when they came out with that protocol but I've been too busy with work the last couple years to follow that project.