Communication in the Wilderness

[Rick]

Some of us have to have our cell phones and GPS units. Here's a nice write up for gear heads that just have to stay in touch.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/00206.html

And if you are really a gear head, this thing has a lot of potential and the cost is pretty reasonable, especially if you spend a lot of time in the bush where cell phones just won't work. Their web site is listed at the bottom of this post:

http://www.newsobserver.com/1595/story/873980.html

Here's spot's web site (from the article above):

http://www.findmespot.com/

[Sarge47]

And then there's 2 cans and a string; areally loooong string!

[Elkchsr]

Yelling down wind and smoke signals are other forms also... :D

[trax]

If I have a burning need to stay in touch with other people I'll stay in town.

[wildWoman]

Cell phone owners should check if they even work in the area they're headed to for their outdoor pursuits, if they want to use them as a major safety back up. People coming up here from the south tend to assume that they'll work but I think they only work within the city limits of Whitehorse (where peole even these days still get sidelong glances for muttering into their palms, staring straight ahead as they stride down the sidewalk. Us locals, we mutter too but not into our hands).

[Elkchsr]

If I have a burning need to stay in touch with other people I'll stay in town

"DITTO" :D:D:D

[Tony uk]

Bring a megaphone :D

[Rick]

You die hard guys miss the point.

When your femurs broke.
Or you nearly choke.
Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters. Oh, no. Wait. That's not right. I mean it's a safety device.

Wildwoman. That's why I thought the findmespot might be something worthwhile. My cell phone didn't work anywhere up there.

[trax]

Bring a megaphone :D

Start using a megaphone any place I'm at in the bush and you're gonna be wearing it home. You won't like where you're wearing it...:eek:

[nell67]

OUCH! Thats gonna hurt Tony,I'd leave it at home if I were you LMAO!

[Tony uk]

Start using a megaphone any place I'm at in the bush and you're gonna be wearing it home. You won't like where you're wearing it...:eek:

Yep, when you come after me and i rambo you, i will take your skull as a prize and glue the megaphone on it and use it as a hat

And it will be lovely

[wildWoman]

Renting a satellite phone would be a good option, in my opinion. That way you can make a choice in an emergency what course of action to take. With an emergency locator, they'll "just" come and rescue you. But with a sat phone there's also the option of letting people know you're just delayed, or what sort of assistance you need. It would also be a cheaper option than a locator.

[Elkchsr]

There isn't a lot of cell coverage in the Rockies (to many hills to block signals)

So, carring one is like bringing a gun for self protection

(the guns nick name is an iron 'Teddy Bear'

When I know I'm going to be high, I do like to pack one just to see if it'll work up there :)

[Rick]

Wow man, like, if you know you're going to be high, you should, like, call your friends so we can party. And leave Teddy Bear some place safe, man.

[Elkchsr]

Uh OH... !!!

Ricks getting board and following me around... :p

[Smok]

I do not know what it is called , but a friend has a radio that can talk to air traffic . He used it in Alaska he said most times there is a plane in the air he could reach . But this is to be used only in emergence .

[Rick]

Actually, the emergency locater listed does more than just contact 911. That's one of the things I liked about it. It wasn't very expensive either. I don't know compared to a satellite phone because I've never owned one.

[Sarge47]

Actually, the emergency locater listed does more than just contact 911. That's one of the things I liked about it. It wasn't very expensive either. I don't know compared to a satellite phone because I've never owned one.

Satellite phone? How do you get to it if it's in orbit?:confused::rolleyes:

[Tony uk]

Satellite phone? How do you get to it if it's in orbit?:confused::rolleyes:

Stinger Missile Sarge, Thought You Would Know That One :D

[trax]

Satellite phone? How do you get to it if it's in orbit?:confused::rolleyes:

Ya could launch it with my doomsday device Sarge, ya saw what a nasty puppy that is....

[Nativedude]

Shortwave radio. I have one for emergencies. ;)

[Riverrat]

A sat phone also has dead spots, same as cell phones. Not as many, but they sometimes do not work. In my area I am also a member of the local FD, I have a portable that I carry when in the woods alone. This works good, but is only good where it can hit a repeater. Have also used a hand held walkie talkie, work good in some areas also.

[Kemperor]

What if there was to be a large scale EMP blast of some sort that rendered satellite phones and GPS useless? I know it's a small chance that it would happen, but what would you do then?

[Rick]

Smoke signal.

[canid]

in such a situation, with everybody needing to communicate, anybody with shielded electronics would be at no shortage of friends. anybody keep their handheld or sat phone in a safe?

[Nativedude]

What if there was to be a large scale EMP blast of some sort that rendered satellite phones and GPS useless? I know it's a small chance that it would happen, but what would you do then?

Unless the blast reached clear into outer space, SAT phones would still work.

[Rick]

High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) can interrupt sat to sat, sat to plane and sat to ground communications over very large distances. Power grids and ground to ground radio would also be at risk. Interestingly, there has been work on a device to create a High Power EMP (HPEM) and even Non-Nuclear EMP (NNEMP) weapons.

Your question, Kemperor, is a good one. Sun spot activity is responsible for a whole host of communication and power grid problems and is a relatively common occurrence. The sun is on a (more or less) 11 year cycle of sun spot activity. 2006 was the solar minimum when sun spot activity was at its lowest point. The solar maximum is when the sun spot activity is at its highest point and that's when things really go awry here on earth. The next solar maximum is thought to have started this month and will reach its peak in 2012. It is also predicted to be the most intense in 50 years and because of the wide range of electronics we have (and I'm sure will invent between now and then) we will notice this one.

You folks up north will see unprecedented northern lights that many of us in lower latitudes will enjoy and all of us may experience some interruptions in power and communications.

Here is a NASA article on the current solar maximum known as Cycle 24:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/10jan_solarcycle24.htm

Incidently, the sun is monitored by the NOAA for just this kind of reason.