dr350jja previously posted:
"Tom, have you been using the ham radio out on trail runs? If so, is it on 'simplex?'"
Yes I use it on the trail. Mine mobile is a quad band. 2, 6, 10 meter plus 70 cm. I only use 2 meter and 70 cm on the trail due to my quad band antenna height. I can monitor two bands at the same time. I have one band scanning all my programmed 2 and 70 cm repeaters. I use the 2 meter national calling frequency(simplex) for rig to rig comms on the other band.
Also on occasion have sota comms while on the trail. SOTA is a ham activity and stands for summits on the air. For instance I spoke with someone on the summit of Longs peak a few weeks ago while on the trail. Those typically are 2 meter simplex.
Also have spoken several times while on the trail with a guy 70 miles east of dia.
Last year I had comms via a repeater on squaw pass while I was on the ridge above Bonanza SW of Salida. That with a $30 Baofeng.
Mobile radio is a Yaesu 8900R. Does up to 50 watts transmission. Have only ever needed 5 watts though.
If you are interested I can share how you can get into ham legally for only the cost of the Baofeng or other radio. There are free training and exam sessions available and free apps for your phone or tablet with all the actual exam questions.
For my tecnicians license I just used one of the free apps for apprx an hour a day for three weeks and aced the exam.