Radios for highland stalking

Amberdog

Well-Known Member
Hi guys
I am looking for info on what type of radios i would need to keep in touch with other stalkers who would be on the same ground stalking independent the ground is west coast ground steep n rugged
this is for a safety point of veiwalso has any one used a SPOT gps tracker

Amberdog
 
Hi guys
I am looking for info on what type of radios i would need to keep in touch with other stalkers who would be on the same ground stalking independent the ground is west coast ground steep n rugged
this is for a safety point of veiwalso has any one used a SPOT gps tracker

Amberdog

Commercially available can do the job, but all VHF/UHF have their limitations. They are "line of sight", typically, with a decent power transmit, they will give you a 3 mile ...ish... range... any further than that and the cost is going to be increasing.
Motorola all the way in my opinion though, don't think they can be beaten for rugged, decent range work
 
Steep and rugged...UHF is really only good for just beyond line of sight...VHF will push it a bit more but probably not more than one fair ridge (and not valley or glen to another)...HF might work!!!
What distances? Ever used "business radios" ? 5 watts in UHF and/or VHF?
 
Hi guys
I am looking for info on what type of radios i would need to keep in touch with other stalkers who would be on the same ground stalking independent the ground is west coast ground steep n rugged
this is for a safety point of veiwalso has any one used a SPOT gps tracker

Amberdog

I am sure you need to apply for a licence to use long range radio's the authority would allow you a frequency to use, i am going back ten years ago when at the time i was secretary of a fishing club and it was paramount that our bailff team could comunicate with each other.
ajr
 
There are a few options, but it really depends on where you're stalking in the country, and the topography that surrounds you.

As you're talking about none commercial activity, you could explore Amateur Radio, which has a UK Network of Repeater Stations on voice in UHF, VHF, and HF bands. There's also the message sending APRS network, which may or may not be useful.

In terms of an Amateur Licence, the actual Licence is free, and renewable online every five years, the initial Foundation Course can be completed on a couple of evenings or a weekend if preferred, and that includes the examination, so you'd be able to apply for the free licence and be given your unique M6xxx callsign within a few days.

Being a licensed Radio Amateur or HAM as they say in the US, on a foundation licence, allows you to use up to 10 Watts of power on all frequencies available to Amateurs, and include the following useful bands on HF 1.81-2.0MHz (160m), 3.5-3.8MHz (80m), and 7.0-7.2MHz (40m), plus access to the 28.0-29.7MHz (10m) band to access fixed UK HF Repeaters. At VHF you'd have 50.0-52.0MHz (6m), 70.0-70.5MHz (4m), and 144-146MHz (2m), at UHF you'd have the 430-440MHz (70cm) band.

There are fixed UK Repeater Networks on 6m, 2m, and 70cm.

Take a Look here ukrepeaters HOME PAGE

The reason I mentioned 160m, 80m, and 40m, is because these are all bands used for Near Vertical Incident Skywave (NVIS), which allows communications up to 200 miles in deep forest, or between mountain valleys, anywhere with no line of sight communications. However, antennas can consist of long wires for fixed stations, and loops or angled whips on vehicles. Antennas on foot might be a challenge, but certainly angled whips or small tuned loops could be fitted to an Argocat six wheel vehicle with some thought.

You can read some useful information on NVIS propagation here

Propagation | WWW.RAYNET-HF.NET

Basically, you use the option that works for you in the circumstances.

They don't call me wireless for nothing...
 
I use Icom and they are suppliers to RNLI so figure they must be pretty waterproof.
Biggest difficulty in the terrain you describe is the "line of sight" range. We used them in the Bowland Fells and even with a repeater base station and maximum legal wattage there were difficulties reaching the next valley or beyond a ridge.
Useful but with limitations.
 
Nothing stopping anyone wrapping their radio in cling film or a plastic bag to make it waterproof, although there's some interesting chemical fuming solutions to repel water these days from any equipment used outdoors, after treatment the kit will even work underwater.

Currently, for Scotland, the best bet for a Repeater is on the 2 metre band, or using NVIS HF.

Other than that I can only suggest a Satellite Telephone for each stalking party, at a rental of £5 a day, plus call charges.

Satellite Phone Rental | Sat Phone Hire
 
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Fleabay "Radio-Tone Simplex Repeater Controller for Midland PMR" type of device could be a cheap option - It would need to be strategically sited between two users who would need to be roughly in line of sight though. It should double the normal PMR radio range also. I don't know if the authorities would like it too much or if you'd come within their permission licensing parameters. But maybe Wireless could tell us.

Ian

 
There are a few options, but it really depends on where you're stalking in the country, and the topography that surrounds you.

As you're talking about none commercial activity, you could explore Amateur Radio, which has a UK Network of Repeater Stations on voice in UHF, VHF, and HF bands. There's also the message sending APRS network, which may or may not be useful.

In terms of an Amateur Licence, the actual Licence is free, and renewable online every five years, the initial Foundation Course can be completed on a couple of evenings or a weekend if preferred, and that includes the examination, so you'd be able to apply for the free licence and be given your unique M6xxx callsign within a few days.

Being a licensed Radio Amateur or HAM as they say in the US, on a foundation licence, allows you to use up to 10 Watts of power on all frequencies available to Amateurs, and include the following useful bands on HF 1.81-2.0MHz (160m), 3.5-3.8MHz (80m), and 7.0-7.2MHz (40m), plus access to the 28.0-29.7MHz (10m) band to access fixed UK HF Repeaters. At VHF you'd have 50.0-52.0MHz (6m), 70.0-70.5MHz (4m), and 144-146MHz (2m), at UHF you'd have the 430-440MHz (70cm) band.

There are fixed UK Repeater Networks on 6m, 2m, and 70cm.

Take a Look here ukrepeaters HOME PAGE

The reason I mentioned 160m, 80m, and 40m, is because these are all bands used for Near Vertical Incident Skywave (NVIS), which allows communications up to 200 miles in deep forest, or between mountain valleys, anywhere with no line of sight communications. However, antennas can consist of long wires for fixed stations, and loops or angled whips on vehicles. Antennas on foot might be a challenge, but certainly angled whips or small tuned loops could be fitted to an Argocat six wheel vehicle with some thought.

You can read some useful information on NVIS propagation here

Propagation | WWW.RAYNET-HF.NET

Basically, you use the option that works for you in the circumstances.

They don't call me wireless for nothing...
Beat me to it ;)

73 de 2E0HKC

Pete
 
Fleabay "Radio-Tone Simplex Repeater Controller for Midland PMR" type of device could be a cheap option - It would need to be strategically sited between two users who would need to be roughly in line of sight though. It should double the normal PMR radio range also. I don't know if the authorities would like it too much or if you'd come within their permission licensing parameters. But maybe Wireless could tell us.

I believe you can purchase your own Private Business Radio Repeater Licence from Ofcom, not sure how much it is, but I would strongly suggest it will be for a fixed repeater, rather than a mobile repeater.

You can as a Radio Amateur, in some circumstances, purchase an in band or dual band mobile repeater, and use it within a vehicle and operate through it using a handheld (handhelds are tiny these days), the handheld would probably be 0.5 Watt or less, and the Mobile Repeater possibly running at 5 Watts. Depends where you park your vehicle to remain line-of-sight/almost line-of-sight, but its possible to extend your range. Not sure Ofcom would be happy if this was abused as the facility is designed for a vehicle operator to leave his vehicle and remain in radio contact with another station.

Lets be aware that with PMR Business Radios on VHF and about 5 Watts (large handhelds) require a licence for a 'group', you pay a fixed fee for a number of years, plus either rent or buy the equipment, the Licence covers all operators. PMR VHF Base Stations are usually 25 Watts.

Amateur Radio requires everyone intending to operate holds a free licence and has been issued a unique call sign, after attending a short course and passing a simple examination, there's a lot of older cheap Amateur Radio kit available, the older you buy the bigger the kit.

A Satellite Phone from Iridium can be rented at £5 a day, and as long as you connect to another Iridium Satellite Phone the call charges are 75p a minute, 60p a text, call someone else's brand of Satellite Phone and its about £8 a minute. I don't work for Iridium, just mentioning these companies operate like this. Plus all Iridium Satellite Phones also connect to the Terrestrial Mobile Networks when a service exists.

Visit the Ofcom Website for more licensing information on PMR VHF Business Radios, NOT to be confused with PMR446, which is the completely free service without any licences, which of course you could try, but don't pay more than £5 a handheld for this, as they are all the same in terms of performance, don't let anyone kid you that the £50 model is any better, they all put out 500mW.

Ofcom | Business Radio
 
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Are you wanting to buy your radio or hire it, what would be more cost effective for you?

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Strikes me that the best solution to your problem may be a pair of marine band VHF hand-helds. These have fixed channels are very rugged and waterproof and the bands can easily be picked up by emergency services ..... if you ever need that. I suggest you definately don't want anything that is in the least bit suspect durability wise.

But as others have said pretty much line of sight and restricted in power to 6W (I understood it was 5W when I did my SRC but now see many manufacturers selling 6W?) - the best names are ICOM and Standard Horizon. I am just about to buy a pair of new ICOM's for the boat. You will need to pay in the region of 130 per unit.

Strictly speaking you do require a (free) license, which I do have, but to be honest among those who use marine band VHF this appears a bit of a joke - I don't know anyone else with a license!
 
Hi Wireless, Tramp never come across any other licensed folk in stalking. Think for none licensed / none commercial comms the only option is CB or PMR446. 446 being good in the hills for a for a good 1 to 2km.

Cris

M0KKA
 
The Garmin Rino gps units with built in 5watt uhf are gaining popularity down this way. They have been proved out to 35 km LOS in clearish farmland. Also have the ability to actually see the position of your mate on the unit`s map, and send text messages.
 
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