Re: [Paddlewise] HF Internet

Well learning morse and carrying a small QRP (very low power xmtr) 4-band
transceiver will certainly come in handy. A satphone is more reliable of
course, but there are any number of hams who would be eager to monitor
frequencies at sceduled times in order to get your position and relay
weather data. A surprising amount of information can be conveyed using CW.

As for expense, there are QRP xcvr kits for under $100 but in general 5-watt
CW QRP rigs cost around $300. Batteries are not that big of a problem for a
5-watt unit but you might want to consider gel-cells and a solar panel
(roll-up sort - 30-watt would be good, too).

I have, personally (while cruising on our yacht) coordinated the rescue of
several yachts using morse to talk to the yacht in trouble and SSB to
contact rescue vessels. There used to be a group of tuna boats in the
Pacific monitoring a 15-meter ham net and they were instrumental in getting
folks off their boats safely.

Elecraft is one kit manufacturer that comes highly recommended but there are
even less expensive rigs out there. One is the "rockless QRP" rig for which
parts are available for under $100 and fits in a sardine tin. :)

In BC (Canada) almost the entire inside passage is covered by VHF amateur
repeaters which can be linked together to talk all the way down to Seattle.
Very handy for paddlers using only a 144Mhz handheld. My wife is also a ham
and in the old days (BC... before cells) we used VHF ham radios for our
communications and often even phone calls. I even used 2-meters to link my
Z-181 with my home computer and collect my email via a unix-like operating
system from a base camp on San Juan Island. I am not at all certain you
could do that today.


Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
www.nwkayaking.net



On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 11:32 PM, PeterO <rebyl_kayak_at_energysustained.com>wrote:

>  Craig wrote
> >There seems to be plenty of software for PCs on the web amateur radio
> sites
>
> G'Day Craig,
>
> Thanks for that I'm making progress. No need for a ham license though its
> sort of good and sort of sad to see that morse is no longer used much or
> required - but morse was always my weak point.
>
> After considering your first email I'm aiming at not using a transmitter
> and restricting myself to scheduled broadcasts on non paddling days or days
> when I'm up early (4:15am). The signal takes 15 to 30 minutes to download so
> it can't be automated because of the almost inevitable need to shift
> frequencies during the transmission and the problem of selecting the right
> frequency in the first place. I'm not using a very versatile receiver here,
> just a Sony ICF-SW7600GR synchronous dual conversion SSB - albeit the
> technology is wonderfully sensitive and compact.
>
> If I were to use an HF transmitter it would be a lot of fun but also a lot
> of weight and batteries and significantly increased signal propagation
> issues as you also mentioned. It would then be much more practical to use a
> satphone and hang the cost!
>
> All the best, PeterO
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