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OB Approved Overland Bound Comms Frequency Guide

BigH2OChief

BigH2OChief

Rank V
Member

Enthusiast III

Snowwalker said:
Don't just get your tech and stop. It is well worth it to get your General License. As you move up in License class more things open up for you.

I would love to see more use of NVIS among Overland travelers. A base, an 8 foot post/mast, four short wires, a tuner and you can cover hundreds if not thousands of square miles. You can communicate even if there are multiple mountain ridges between you and the other party.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice. I have a few options for Tech coming up. To be honest, I haven't even looked to deep into the prep for General. As much as I have kicked that can down the road, I do consider an absolutely MUST do.
 
Snowwalker

Snowwalker

Rank III

Enthusiast III

BigH2OChief said:
Snowwalker said:
Don't just get your tech and stop. It is well worth it to get your General License. As you move up in License class more things open up for you.

I would love to see more use of NVIS among Overland travelers. A base, an 8 foot post/mast, four short wires, a tuner and you can cover hundreds if not thousands of square miles. You can communicate even if there are multiple mountain ridges between you and the other party.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice. I have a few options for Tech coming up. To be honest, I haven't even looked to deep into the prep for General. As much as I have kicked that can down the road, I do consider an absolutely MUST do.
Click to expand...
Well you can order the books on line. JUST make sure the books are current. It should be valid for the question bank from Date a to Date x.
Now think of this... The study manual for an "ENTRY" level license in Canada is about equal to your Tech, General, and a little of the Extra class ( Just a seasoning ) study guides.
Every want to ham, studies and writes the same exam, and then get privileges based on how far above the minimum passing grade they score.
There are two license classes, BASIC( which is divided into BASIC and BASIC +[ W/ Honors] ) and Advanced. To have HF privileges you have to score 80% or above on the Exam for the Basic, the minimal pass mark is 70%.
 
Tuck1562

Tuck1562

Rank IV
Launch Member

Enthusiast III

Appreciate all the info.. have had GMRS for a while and was recently able to take Ham Tech license test on line... KC3RQG.
Be safe all!
 
M Rose

M Rose

Local Expert
Mod Team
Member

Advocate III

Snowwalker said:
Don't just get your tech and stop. It is well worth it to get your General License. As you move up in License class more things open up for you.

I would love to see more use of NVIS among Overland travelers. A base, an 8 foot post/mast, four short wires, a tuner and you can cover hundreds if not thousands of square miles. You can communicate even if there are multiple mountain ridges between you and the other party.
Click to expand...
I agree 100%. A tree and 100+ feet of wire will get you a contact on HF...
 
M Rose

M Rose

Local Expert
Mod Team
Member

Advocate III

Snowwalker said:
Well you can order the books on line. JUST make sure the books are current. It should be valid for the question bank from Date a to Date x.
Now think of this... The study manual for an "ENTRY" level license in Canada is about equal to your Tech, General, and a little of the Extra class ( Just a seasoning ) study guides.
Every want to ham, studies and writes the same exam, and then get privileges based on how far above the minimum passing grade they score.
There are two license classes, BASIC( which is divided into BASIC and BASIC +[ W/ Honors] ) and Advanced. To have HF privileges you have to score 80% or above on the Exam for the Basic, the minimal pass mark is 70%.
Click to expand...
This is only for Canada by the way... in the states we have different licensing rules.
 
Snowwalker

Snowwalker

Rank III

Enthusiast III

For anyone interested in the NVIS( Near Vertical Incidence Skyway) mode here is a link.

hamradioschool.com

Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS)

Near vertical incidence skywave, or NVIS, can provide HF communications within a radius of a few hundred miles. Learn how.
hamradioschool.com hamradioschool.com

Although they talk about a Dipole, there is a better Antenna sysyem for it. Developed in the 30's.

I would provide a link or two but I don't want to copy and paste a complete PDF file..
 
GrahamHolmes

GrahamHolmes

Rank II
Member

Enthusiast I

I recently got my HAM license and would love to connect with someone who could help me to learn how to use my radio.
 
M Rose

M Rose

Local Expert
Mod Team
Member

Advocate III

GrahamHolmes said:
I have a basic handheld. A Baofeng UV5-R. I am really just looking to communicate out on the trail and for emergencies.
Click to expand...
Program 146.520 (national calling frequency) and 146.460 (Official OB frequency) to VFO A and program the FRS frequencies in VFO B. Chirp makes this easy, and you can use chirp to automatically download repeaters in the area you are traversing through.

Although I would classify the UV5R as my last resort radio after all else has failed... to include smoke signals. Yes they are cheap, yes they work for close proximity, but when you are actually out in the woods the 5 watts really limits its distance without getting a good mobile antenna.

I would look into getting a decent radio from one of the big 3 (Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood) if you are wanting to rely on it for emergency use...I found that in some spots 25 watts wasn’t enough to get an SOS out so I have a 110w radio set on Northwest ARES frequencies as well as APRS and have a directional antenna that I can use in case I’m ever in that situation again.
 
GrahamHolmes

GrahamHolmes

Rank II
Member

Enthusiast I

M Rose said:
Program 146.520 (national calling frequency) and 146.460 (Official OB frequency) to VFO A and program the FRS frequencies in VFO B. Chirp makes this easy, and you can use chirp to automatically download repeaters in the area you are traversing through.

Although I would classify the UV5R as my last resort radio after all else has failed... to include smoke signals. Yes they are cheap, yes they work for close proximity, but when you are actually out in the woods the 5 watts really limits its distance without getting a good mobile antenna.

I would look into getting a decent radio from one of the big 3 (Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood) if you are wanting to rely on it for emergency use...I found that in some spots 25 watts wasn’t enough to get an SOS out so I have a 110w radio set on Northwest ARES frequencies as well as APRS and have a directional antenna that I can use in case I’m ever in that situation again.
Click to expand...
Thank you Mike
 
Ursa Major

Ursa Major

Rank VI

Influencer I

M Rose said:
Program 146.520 (national calling frequency) and 146.460 (Official OB frequency) to VFO A and program the FRS frequencies in VFO B. Chirp makes this easy, and you can use chirp to automatically download repeaters in the area you are traversing through.

Although I would classify the UV5R as my last resort radio after all else has failed... to include smoke signals. Yes they are cheap, yes they work for close proximity, but when you are actually out in the woods the 5 watts really limits its distance without getting a good mobile antenna.

I would look into getting a decent radio from one of the big 3 (Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood) if you are wanting to rely on it for emergency use...I found that in some spots 25 watts wasn’t enough to get an SOS out so I have a 110w radio set on Northwest ARES frequencies as well as APRS and have a directional antenna that I can use in case I’m ever in that situation again.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info Mike! I've been studying to get me license by the beginning of the year. This a good chance for me to save this post for later lol
 
Frdmskr

Frdmskr

Rank III

Enthusiast III

M Rose said:
Ahoward2k said:
Is there an OB HF frequency?
Click to expand...
No, for several reasons; 1) Technicians have very limited HF privileges. 2) Setting up a mobile HF station can become quite complex. 3) Not all bands are desirable for NVIS operations.
Click to expand...
May be worth flagging at least 10m SSB as Techs have that.

I also think 10FM and maybe 40/60m SSB May be worth having something flagged. For those out west you can get help outside of Repeater range.
 
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