Wilderness Emergency Communications Protocol

[@aldenjoneskc1jwr138]

As a hiker that had to use ham radio to get rescued I think more people should follow the wilderness protocol

[@TheTechPrepper]

Sounds like an interesting story. Glad to hear ham radio saved the day. If you care to share your story I’d be interested to help put your experience out there. I’m on QRZ. 73, KT1RUN

[@aldenjoneskc1jwr138]

@@TheTechPrepper I will message you thank you

[@genemcphee8053]

Truly a great way to test your radios simplex range.

[@TangoOscarMikeN3WS]

I try to monitor 146.52 as often as possible. I have the "Listening o 146.52" on my truck and when I'm out hiking I always have one channel tuned to it.

[@TheTechPrepper]

Nice. I do the same in Jeep, but these days I rarely leave the house. I have APRS one band and 146.52 on the other.

[@dw.7655]

Hi , just to let you know, passed my General upgrade, only missed one. Darn!! Good luck and stay safe. Dave

[@TheTechPrepper]

Congratulations, Dave! Thanks for the update and have fun on the air. You’re going to enjoy your new privileges. 73, KT1RUN

[@dougdaniels]

I always bring two 2m HTs on SOTA activations, one specifically for Wilderness Protocol.

[@TheTechPrepper]

That's not a bad plan. I do the same.

[@StaffAction]

Thanks for posting. My family also spends a lot of time in Tonto

[@TheTechPrepper]

Very good. It's a great national forest with very little foot traffic.

[@anthonymarino4260]

thanks for the info

[@owlcricker-k7ulm]

Great info for being portable. TNX

[@owlcricker-k7ulm]

Gaston, as a fairly new ham op, your aggressive, no holds barred, thorough approach to learning the hobby is very encouraging. I have several buddies studying for their Tech license and I point them to your series to let them see what is available to them. Keep up the great job.

[@backcountryamateurradio]

I’m going to have to go back and read this QST article online. I only recently signed up with Arrl again. I did not know about the long press “0”. Thanks for the post!

[@TheTechPrepper]

No problem. Pass the info along. Personally, I’m going to start monitoring at the top hour whenever I’m in the backcountry. Take it easy, Bud.

[@rumsin300]

Good video! Good to know! Thank you,

[@TheTechPrepper]

Thank you. It's a good habit to practice. You'll never when you or someone else may need help. 73

[@rumsin300]

@@TheTechPrepper for sure! I just got my tech license a month ago and I spend lots of time in the Arizona outdoors for hunting, hiking, backpacking. I do have a garmin 2 way satellite communicator that I take with me whenever I'm in God's country but I always like to have a backup device. Glad I got my license and a dual band HT. It is also a great hobby.

[@TheTechPrepper]

@@rumsin300 Congrats on your Tech license. You may enjoy connecting your HT to the Mobilinkd TNC and trying out APRS. It's great for sending emails, text messages and position beacons with your radio. Here's a very old video I did on the subject if you're interested. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqvHmmycia5koac

[@davidsradioroom9678]

Thanks for putting this out. I am also interested in EmComm and can use all the information I can get!

[@TheTechPrepper]

No problem. These outings are a really fun way to practice and train. Check out OH8STN and KM4ACK on KZbin. They’re my favorite in terms of EmComm content.

[@davidsradioroom9678]

@@TheTechPrepper I subscribe to both

[@KK6USYHamRadioAdventures]

Thats great info, haven't had a chance to read the new QST will make a card also for my aging memory bank!

[@TheTechPrepper]

Thanks, Chuck. By the way, it was nice to "partially" catch you on SSB yesterday. Thanks for letting me break in.

[@KK6USYHamRadioAdventures]

@@TheTechPrepper Yea I could hear you just not make out what you were saying , I had foreign broadcast covering you.

[@1177Pointman]

In my opinion LiTZ should be in every repeater. I didnt know about it until i read that article the other day. Hopefully more repeater owners become aware of this.

[@TheTechPrepper]

Ditto. It was pretty interesting to see what this feature can do. Our repeater has autopatch, so it would be nice to get the user instructions when LiTZ is invoked.

[@K5YVY]

Nice 👍

[@TheTechPrepper]

Thanks! I love making quick, ad hoc videos like this. I hope it was helpful. 73

[@K5YVY]

@@TheTechPrepper I’ve learned sometimes the more impromptu and “Just dive in” recording makes the better videos. It was a good video and insightful for me Good job.

[@paaao]

Why are you not talking into your radio's mic port?

[@Jb-qf8nx]

just subbed, strong work, short and sweet, right to the point

[@TheTechPrepper]

Thanks for the sub! Wasn’t planning on making a video, but thought I’d pass along the info in a short video. Take it easy!

[@Jb-qf8nx]

@@TheTechPrepper anytime, enjoyed the content

[@roadie6153]

Great info thx!

[@TheTechPrepper]

No problem. Just relaying something that was new to me and potentially a lifesaver for someone.

[@DARTHDANSAN]

Kool

[@neubert500]

Another good video! Keep Going!

[@TheTechPrepper]

Thanks. This hobby is a never ending treasure trove.

[@robertchambers5821]

After our Wednesday evening net, there's a Simplex net that gets well attended. The Philosophy is when all else fails, say after a major hurricane with our repeaters taken out, all the hams get familiar with passing traffic while noting the areas of poor reception. The idea that if you need to contact old Joe, reach out to the member who can reach him, and pass messages that way. Simple but effective. Stay safe. 8P6RC

[@TheTechPrepper]

What a fantastic tip, and great practice. Our emergency net does this every once in awhile. It would be good for us to follow your net’s approach. 73

[@toml.8210]

This sounds like a modified 3-3-3 emergency protocol. But this is only to get help from professionals. If there was SHTF, what would you do different? In an SHTF scenario, you'll need some Intel first, to know if it's safe to move towards a town, or to call for extraction.

[@TheTechPrepper]

Good point and timing on this post. My solution to this are digital transmissions over FM on VHF using some specialized software that I have written. It provides real-time location tracking and messaging to other parties in my group. I don't want to re-invent the wheel, so I'm also experimenting with existing solutions like ATAK. I may make a video on ATAK next year.

[@daveN2MXX]

Great video! What does the "Li" stand for? Long? To me, "litz" is a type of flexible thin stranded wire....

[@TheTechPrepper]

Good question. Does anyone know? All the pages I found online refer to the LiTZ system as Long Tone Zero. Why not call it LTZ?

[@daveN2MXX]

@@TheTechPrepper lol I agree with you!

[@nativetexan9776]

Always get to a highest point with an HT

[@TheTechPrepper]

Thanks, Larry!

[@JohnTarbox]

I hadn't gotten to that article in QST yet but I will definitely read it after watching your video! Thanks. DE WA1KLI

[@TheTechPrepper]

It’s a nice, easy quick read. Hopefully, it’s in the mail soon. 73

[@paulplack490]

The first couple transmissions, when the other station was having trouble hearing you, you were lapsing into smartphone position, with the mic port against your cheek. Talking at 90º across the face of the handheld is good form, but make sure the little hole stays forward of your mouth. 73! - AE4KR

[@TheTechPrepper]

Thanks for catching the issue and for the tip. In that position, the HT and antenna would be parallel to the ground. Would that cause a problem in terms of the RF radiation pattern? 73

[@paulplack490]

@@TheTechPrepper Still keep it vertical, just forward a couple inches. Just look where the mic port is, and keep it in the clear.

[@kingdarkang]

What repeater did you use. Just wondering. Would love to try this on sun city repeater

[@TheTechPrepper]

This is the Daisy Mountain repeater. It’s part of the W7ARA linked repeater system. Let me know if your repeater supports LiTZ. I’m in your area occasionally.

[@kingdarkang]

@@TheTechPrepper will do

[@Shoey00124]

If repeaters are part of your wilderness safety plan, you're not going out in the wilderness far enough. If you can hit a repeater, you can use a cell phone.

[@TheTechPrepper]

Actually, in my area this is not correct. I can’t get cell coverage anywhere in the wilderness and is extremely hit and miss even on a hill top. However, I can get into my repeater 15 to 30 miles while in the backcountry in the Tonto National Forest. On a simplex, when at a decent elevation,I’m making contacts 75 miles on 5 watts routinely. It all depends on your area and conditions. Thanks!

[@roadie6153]

@@TheTechPrepper same in my area. There are multiple locations where there is no cell coverage but I can hit anywhere from 1 to 5 repeaters. Also carrying a sat messager with you is good practice as well.

[@spencersteffins4646]

@MikeShoesmith…. I am from PNW and there are many of areas close to my home that are around 30 minutes to an hour and a half out from help or cell service but I can hit several repeaters and even use the local SAR repeaters in an emergency

[@mikemcdonald5147]

no editing yet he shows video that has obviously been edited LOL :)

[@TheTechPrepper]

I should have said minimal editing compared to my other videos. 10 minutes instead of 4 hours.