aeromarine
NES Member
I'm enjoying a great vacation on the Outer Banks of North Carolina this week. Having come here many times over the years I know hurricanes are a fact of life and when they blow up communications by land line and cell phone can go down quickly. Although that wouldn't be a problem this year I still used CHIRPS to load one of my Baofengs with 10-12 repeater frequencies to cover the geographic range between Virginia Beach and Okracoke. Then in another radio I uploaded the full range of VHF Marine channels.
Over the past two days my wife and I did some extensive touring in the vast wildlife refuge areas along the Alligator River and Albermarle Sound. Most of the time we were deep in the swamps and well out of range for cell phone coverage. But during the entire time I always had contact with a minimum of two repeaters. And there was occasional chatter on the marine channels suggesting they would have been in range, too, for my little 4 watt radio. I also had an ancient Garmin GPS V that I picked up on ebay for $40. But it works reliably enabling me to provide a precise position fix and return to a previously marked location.
Anyway, it brought me great peace of mind to remain connected to the outside world and have the ability to summon help should it be needed when way out in the boonies. Our two days were uneventful. But it made me realize how foolish it would be to venture very far from civilization and not have a means to communicate should something go wrong. In many cases our little HT can provide that capability. It just takes a little time and preparation to load your radios with the right frequencies.
Over the past two days my wife and I did some extensive touring in the vast wildlife refuge areas along the Alligator River and Albermarle Sound. Most of the time we were deep in the swamps and well out of range for cell phone coverage. But during the entire time I always had contact with a minimum of two repeaters. And there was occasional chatter on the marine channels suggesting they would have been in range, too, for my little 4 watt radio. I also had an ancient Garmin GPS V that I picked up on ebay for $40. But it works reliably enabling me to provide a precise position fix and return to a previously marked location.
Anyway, it brought me great peace of mind to remain connected to the outside world and have the ability to summon help should it be needed when way out in the boonies. Our two days were uneventful. But it made me realize how foolish it would be to venture very far from civilization and not have a means to communicate should something go wrong. In many cases our little HT can provide that capability. It just takes a little time and preparation to load your radios with the right frequencies.
