FRS/GMRS Family Radio Service and General Mobile Radio Service; These services are for close range communications within a few miles only (line of site). Typically only for immediate area.

HAM Radio; We utilize amateur (Ham) radios for reliable long range VHF and UHF communications. Licenses are required for users. Ask us about getting your Ham radio license. We're more than glad to help.

CB or Citizen Band Radio Services; Generally CB radios are not used on expeditions mainly due to their limited range. However, CB radios are still brought along to stay in touch with vehicles that do not have any other form of communication.

Frequency Range: 462.5625-467.7125 MHz.

These little radios typically seen at retail stores do not perform as advertised unless you are on the ocean with a full set of batteries. In the deserts and mountains there are many obstacles that reduce the range of these radios. We carry them primarily for close communication around the camp, vehicle to vehicle (close) intercom, and just plain fun for the younger ones.

SIMPLEX
The licensed Ham radio operators in our group will usually communicate using a technique called "simplex" which is one of the simplest forms of radio communication. Simplex is simply transmitting and receiving signals on a single frequency. Simply put, we talk directly, radio to radio. The range and quality of simplex communication depends on many factors, including power, distance between radios, terrain, frequency, weather, the type of antenna being used and where the antenna is located.

The best results are line of sight. However, radio waves do bounce off mountain faces and rocks and by doing so make their way around hills and obstacles, Since mountains faces and terrain are usually not flat, the radio wave reflection will produce different levels of strength throughout the area it is bouncing through. There can even be dead spots as well as hot spots. This explains why you can be receiving a very good signal and drive a few feet and hear a significant drop of nothing at all. Getting the antenna in the path of the radio waves is the key. Since you can't see radio waves understanding of how they behave will give you a better chance of receiving them. In addition, all radio waves are not equal. Different frequencies have different wave lengths and different wave lengths behave differently through the atmosphere and terrain.

REPEATER
On occasion, when simplex is not getting the job done or extended range is needed we may use what is known as a repeater. This is special type of radio system that has been set up for the specific purpose of receiving and automatically retransmitting or repeating radio signals usually with more power and from a higher position than the source. Repeaters are usually located on mountain tops or high buildings to get the best line of sight coverage. Repeaters are typically set to receive on one frequency and transmit on another. The difference between the receive frequency and the transmit frequency is known as an "off set".

Since one repeater can only service one receive frequency and one transmit frequency it is very common to see many antennas on towers in the mountains. Each one being operated by different entities for different purposes, some private and some public. The two photographs at the lower right show two different mountain tops with various antennas for different uses. At least one antenna in each photo is for a repeater operated the Win System which stands for Western Intertie Network.

REPEATER NETWORKS
If you think repeaters are cool they are, but that's just the beginning of cool. What if you could position multiple repeaters so that they could essentially hear each other and repeat your signal over an even larger area covered by two, three of four repeaters? This is known as a repeater network. Its all handled in a matter of seconds. You transmit into one repeater and that repeater sends your radio transmission to the next one and the next one and so on. Now you're able to talk to someone from very far away. Further than simplex and further than a single repeater could cover.

THE WIN SYSTEM
If you think repeaters networks are cool they are, way cool, but that's just a fraction of cool. There are repeater networks and then there is the grand daddy of all repeater networks; the Win System. With nearly 80 repeaters networked together you can talk state to state and across the country. You can even talk to others countries. Ask one of our Ham operating members to give you a live demonstration of the Win System on their radio. It is quite the communication network. Check out the Win System online for more information.

Many repeaters are also connected to the Internet and it is common to hear international communication with amazing clarity (as if they were just down the street.)