Re: [Paddlewise] Laser flares - cell phones, lessons learned

PeterO wrote:
> 
> Margot wrote:
> >Perhaps VHF would have been a good solution here.
> 
> G'Day Margot,
> 
> Its not at all certain VHF would have been any better. I routinely carry VHF
> to communicate with coastguards, they are quite useful in that role  but are
> limited to line of sight unless there are repeater stations nearby. I'm
> frequently unable to communicate with other boats by VHF.
> 
> Its always puzzled me why hand held shortwave transceivers aren't sold. They
> would surely represent the most reliable hand held communication in remote
> areas.
> 

I could write a book on this but will stick to a short post.

There are two major factors in reliable communications.
First you need a radio link and second you need someone on the other
end.

Marine VHF is good in many places because it works well over line of
sight paths 
and the Coast Guard and other boaters are on the other end. The problem
is
that there are lots of places where the paddler is not in a position to
be within line of sight of a coast guard unit or other boater.

If by shortwave you mean radios in the high frequency (HF) section of
the radio
spectrum then there are several drawbacks. First, the antennas must be
large
or they are very inefficient. Second, you need frequencies to use. The
marine HF
frequencies are useless as there are no radios approved for use on them
that
are useful for a kayaker. There are frequencies for Ham Radio but you
must have
the proper license. Even then, because of low demand there are very few
(none really)
handheld radios for Ham HF.

Is there a solution?
Several but they all require a considerable investment of time and
effort.
There are lots of simple, low power (QRP in Ham terminology) radios that
are
small and light. Usually they are CW (continuous wave, morse code) only,
so
you need to know or learn morse code. It is not hard to learn and is fun
to
use. Then you need to build or buy a radio and come up with an antenna
system.

Choice of frequency and antenna system are dependent on your goals. For
reliable
communications over a range of a few hundred miles the best way to go is
called
Near Vertical Incidence Skywave, NVIS. To do this we use a fairly low
frequency and
a low antenna that radiates most of the power straight up. The signal
bounces 
straight back down and covers a radius of a few hundred miles. This is
extremely
reliable and I used it to communicate with field parties in Antarctica
when I
was there some years ago.

The problem here is that HF NVIS is something that you probably won't do
afloat
in a kayak but it will work great in camp.

Of course, if you have LOTS of money a satellite phone will work great.

michael N6CHV
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