Communications/Radios/RadioCheck
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< Communications | Radios
Monthly Radio Check
Bootstrapping BCEC's Radio communications requires that we
- become familiar with our radios
- know how and where they work in our Canyon
To that end we have a radio check on the first Saturday of each month, at 9am. Often a reminder email is sent out by Wendy or Catherine.
- May 5 2018
- April 7 2018
- May 5 2018 Catherine, Greg, Wendy, Ken, Jerry, Gate Don. Ken was using his new BF radio with a stock antennae from his house. Casey was using a BaoFang with a large GRMS/MURS antenna on a post in the water tower. Everyone else was using whatever it is they use ( ;). Test went fine, with weak communications from Ken to Don's house near the gate. This was rather intermittent, and it's not clear if Catherine was in on those communications. Interestingly enough Casey with a higher gain antennae couldn't reach Don from his location near the water towers in the cathedral. No doubt his radio waves were being absorbed by the tanks and the trees. Transmissions from Ken's house seem to bounce around the corner and into the main areas pretty well. Wendy's house is clearly in a great position for a repeater of some sort. We need to test at the emergency hut in that same role. Later that morning Jerry, Ken and Casey tested a 900Mhz radio used in tricky situations. However the Canyon foliage defeated those radios.
- June 2 2018 Catherine, Greg, Wendy, Casey, Mark. (Mitchell was around but not answering until later. see below ) Pretty straightforward check, this time with Casey and a GRMS/MURS antennae over by the big gate. Gate to Mark and Greg went ok, a bit faint with Greg's setup. (Greg, next time go outside or away from computer monitors / LCD displays? I'm thinking ( Casey here ) that there was some 'digital hash' in the signal. Afterwords checked another location for the PVC GRMS/MURS setup; the big tree just over Spruce bridge where Catherine had a wireless relay for a few years.
- June 4 2018 HAM uplink test Catherine and Casey participated in the La Honda ( SC4 http://www.sc4arc.org/ weekly radio check ) with about 25 folks from all over the ridge and hollers aboust us. Casey tested a stock BaoFang radio and the default antennae ( rubber ducky as it's called by the Hams ) to see if and how we can reach the rest of the world from the emergency hut / pool area. The Hams were very helpful as we went through an exercise with different antennas as well. TL;DR - The BaoFangs with the stock anteanne work. Reception is spotty, often cutting off at the end of Ham transmissions if one is walking around. Coverage was OK for entire perimiter of pool and parking lot areas with the BaoFang. This is pretty good news. The people who suggested these radios were right, they will work the Ham repeater OOTB, and will work better with longer antennas. Casey has programmed a few of the BaoFangs with a channel labeled BU UP for contact with the repeater in a dire emergency.