[pct-l] Re: Ham Radio

[Scott Elliott <SCOTEL01@noa.nintendo.com>]

>Date: Sat, 3 Apr 1999 17:41:41 -0800
>From: Read Miller <ReadM@sprynet.com>
>Subject: [pct-l] Trail Conditions
...
>I will be crossing the dessert in the next few weeks before
>there are many on the trail. I just received a license for a
>small 5 watt Ham radio for emergency contact. Does
>anyone have experience in using one on the trail? How can
>I get the frequencies for the repeaters? 


Read,
I've found no problem hitting repeaters from the crest.  You
should be able to hit them both east and west.  From the
summit of South Sister I've been able to hit repeaters in
Portland, Baker and Medford.  The short answer is that you
should have an easy 100 mile radius with 5 Watts when you
are on the true crest.  I'll assume that you have a 2 meter
unit.  You should be able to set you radio to the lowest (1/2
Watt?) setting to save power and still hit the repeaters.  The
simplest way to find the freq. is to just scan during the
commuter rush hour.  You will need to the set your offset to
plus or minus (that is transmit 600 kHz + or - of the freq. that
you are listening on for 2m).  You may also need to
broadcast a sub carrier tone (labeled CTCSS or PL on your
radio) to get the repeater to respond (common values are
88.5, 103.5 and 107.2).  In an emergency just press the "0"
key for five seconds to get most repeaters to respond.  Any
of the hams you talk to should be able to help you find more
repeaters along your way.
Here are some repeaters for the next phase of your trip.
(listed as location, freq. offset, CTCSS if used)
***Mono County***
Casa Diablo Pk        146.610 -
Conway Summit       146.970 -
Mammoth Mountain  146.730 - 100
***LA County***
Palmdale                  145.380 -,  145.790 - 103.5
Lancaster                 146.670 -,  147.915 -
Hauser Peak             146.730 - 100
Mt. Wilson                147.360 +, 147.015 +
***Inyo County***
Silver Peak               146.910 -, 146.940 -, 147.060 + 103.5
Mazourka Peak         146.760 -
***Kern County***
Bird Spring Pass         146.085 + 107.2
El Passo Peak          147.000 +, 147.060 + 107.2
Ridgecrest                146.640 -
Tehachapi                 147.060
***Riverside County***
Anza                         145.340 - 107.2, 146.085 + 107.2
Moreno Valley            146.655 - 103.5
Palm Springs             145.480 - 107.2, 146.940 - 107.2
Hemet                       145.420 - 88.5, 146.805 -
***San Bernardino County***
Big Bear   145.180 - 100.0, 145.260 - 103.5, 147.330 +
Barstow    146.355 + 123.0, 146.970 -, 147.030 +
Onyx Springs 146.820 -

There is also the Wilderness Protocol:
Monitor these freq. every 3 
hours starting at 7 AM for 5 minutes
(e.g., 7:00 to 7:05, 10:00 to 10:05 AM, etc)
146.52, 223.5, 446.0

Best of luck,

Scott Elliott
KB0ZOE

"May your legs be as strong as your will"
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