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1-10 of 44 messages
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Advice Wanted
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by TEDAMENTA on November 28, 2003
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I have read the reviews of the VX-7R on eham.net and it certainly does seem to be a love it or hate it product. I have not found any other sites with product reviews like eham.net, does anyone here know of any.
My primary motivation for getting a HT is for my own safety when mountain biking in the back country which is something I do alone quite a bit. In many areas that I ride, my cell phone does not work.
My secondary motivation for getting a HT is that I am a volunteer on the Water Rescue Team in Summit County Colorado. I have a pager which receives a signal and tells me where to go when there is an emergency. But I can not hear what is being said on other frequencies between dispatch and who ever is on scene. This is important because often the call initially goes into dispatch as being a water related emergency, I get paged (sometimes in the middle of the night), I start driving toward the scene, in the mean time a police officer or other emergency personnel on scene determines that Water Rescue is not needed, dispatch passes this information along to the Water Rescue duty officer but in the heat of the situation dispatch sometimes forgets to send out a stand down page.
Another member of the team, who knows something about radios (I don’t), is looking into the VX-7R for the same reasons I am and has told me that it can receive all of the frequencies we need to hear on the team, can be modified to transmit them as well despite the fact that it would be illegal to do so, and will meet our needs in the back country. If I understand correctly, despite the fact that the VX-7R is not licensed to transmit on the county emergency operations channels I would be covered under the team license and would probably not be in any risk of trouble for transmitting something brief like “DR-7 enroute to scene from Breckenridge” which is something everyone involved wants to know. One of the biggest problems with the pager system from the Incident Command point of view is that nobody ever knows who will show up or when until they get there.
I thank you in advance for your thoughts on my situation!
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RE: Advice Wanted
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by KG4RUL on November 30, 2003
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If it ain't type accepted IT IS ILLEGAL! Ain't no amount of BS gonna change that fact.
Dennis - KG4RUL
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RE: Advice Wanted
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by N3ZKP on November 30, 2003
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I am always amazed at the rationale people give for committing illegal acts just to save a few bucks.
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RE: Advice Wanted
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by TEDAMENTA on November 30, 2003
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KG4RUL & N3ZKP, thank you both for your constructive and helpful comments. I see that I came to the right place looking for advice. Did either of you happen to read what my primary motivation for buying a HT is? Did either of you happen to read what my secondary motivation for buying a HT is? Or did you simply skip to the fourth paragraph of my post which clearly states “If I understand correctly…”?
I know almost nothing about radios or the rules and guidelines governing their use. It was in an attempt to learn that I made my initial post. Fortunately, I have found other forums with people who are willing to help.
By the way, how quickly would your high and mighty attitudes change if you or one of your loved ones were in the process of drowning?
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RE: Advice Wanted
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by KC0MDC on November 30, 2003
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I think you'll find that the reason for the 'sour grapes' answer is that many many people are looking into doing just this. Not defending it, just giving you some insight. The bottom line is that it truly is illegal to use this radio, or any other amateur equipment to transmit on public safety frequencies. That is the answer to part of your question. It may be of great use for receiving the communications between dispatch and incident command, but a scanner, handheld or otherwise would probably be a cheaper alternative. As for using it in the backcountry while mountain biking....I use an HT when I go cross country skiing, but I am less than ten miles to the nearest repeater where I usually go. An HT like this will work line of sight on simplex or to the repeater, so DEEP in the backcountry it would probably not be all that beneficial unless there is someone NEARby or a repeater within eyeshot. Truth be told, there are better or more legal alternatives out there for your situations. Good luck!
Tim -- KCŘMDC
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RE: Advice Wanted
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by N3ZKP on November 30, 2003
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<< By the way, how quickly would your high and mighty attitudes change if you or one of your loved ones were in the process of drowning? >>
With all due respect, what does one have to do with the other? This attitude on your part strikes me as just another rationalization.
Professionals in any field use the proper tools for their trade; those who don't are just playing at being "professional". I have more than a little experience (over 30 years) in the disaster and emergency services field to back up this feeling.
Lon
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RE: Advice Wanted
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by N3ZKP on November 30, 2003
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To answer your other question ...
<< My primary motivation for getting a HT is for my own safety when mountain biking in the back country which is something I do alone quite a bit. In many areas that I ride, my cell phone does not work. >>
Unless there are repeaters in the areas you are mountain biking, an HT will be as useless as a cell phone with no cell sites. Same principle; different implementation.
Over open terrain a 5w HT will have apporoximately a five mile range without a repeater. In the mountains the range could be measured in yards if you are on one side of a ridge and the rest of the world is on the other.
Before spending any money, you need to talk to the hams in the area you want to bike and find out if there is repeater coverage. If so, have at it and be safe.
Lon
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RE: Advice Wanted
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by TEDAMENTA on November 30, 2003
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KC0MDC & N3ZKP, Thank you both for you insights as to the limitations of HTs. I am piecing together information from multiple sources and thought that the Yaesu VX-7R had capabilities which apparently it does not. Most notably, I thought that since it could received HF, it could sent HF also and would have a greater range. I have emailed the President of the local Amateur Radio Club to ask for his advice as to taking this product onto the bike trails around here.
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RE: Advice Wanted
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by TEDAMENTA on November 30, 2003
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EVERYONE: Before I catch any more sh*t for misusing a radio that I have not even bought and have never used, let me rephrase my previous post. I would like to find a radio that:
1) Can be used in the event of an emergency in the backcountry.
2) I can use within my role of a volunteer on the water rescue team. The frequencies used within the county are posted at: http://www.gmra.org/n0nhp/summit.htm
3) Will allow me to learn about and participate in the Amateur Radio community.
If such a product exists, I would appreciate hearing about it.
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RE: Advice Wanted
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by KC0MDC on November 30, 2003
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After a bumpy start, we're on the right track here. I do alot of weather spotting and emergency communications type stuff. When I was in Kansas, we could have worn a county pager, or simply monitored the pager frequencies for activation during severe weather. I chose to monitor the pager frequencies a couple of different ways. I used a scanner or a handheld HT in my office. No, I couldn't communicate with dispatch, but a call on my cell phone would've been feasible had I needed to. I was also able to communicate with the Emergency Manager via ham radio. I actually learned alot about amateur radio and got involved because of my start with a scanner and monitoring hams and other public safety bands. Great way to learn about radio without the pressures:) The e-mail to the Ham Club President is a great way to start to answer your questions about radio and facilitating your interests in amateur radio. Feel free to hit me with any other questions you may have. If you don't want to face the scrutiny that you sometimes run into on here, feel free to e-mail me. tstoecklein@yahoo.com
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