Gps And Ham

[IamFennec 0]

so whats the connection between GPS and HAM radio? why are they related?

[+GeckoGeek 0]

so whats the connection between GPS and HAM radio? why are they related?

• Geeks and their toys.
  
• APRS
  

[JohnnyVegas 1]

My girl freind and I are both Hams, sometimes whe does not feel like hiking on some real steep terrain, We use them to keep in touch while I am out of her sight.

Then there are times while on a long hike I can chat with another ham through a repeater, and lets not forget the safety issue, there are places where Cell phones do not work, FRS radios and GMRS radios are very limited in there range. You just can not beat a ham radio for emergancy use.

[+kschu 0]

One of the special things about ham radio operators is their ability to contribute to emergency efforts. I've been a ham for 14 years now. I spend many of those years as a volunteer with the DuPage County Office of Emergency Management. I started as a volunteer radio operator and was one of very few Hams in the organization. We worked closely with SkyWarn and whenever we responded to some emergency, the Hams were always there when we asked for help. I worked my way up to Assistance Chief of Operations, which put me in a position of management over the entire radio unit.

 

Field Day, which was just a few weekends back, has always been one of Ham Radio's largest emergency preparedness excercises. So here is a group of volunteer minded people with technical skills to start with, and then have them practice skills with a GPS unit while Geocacheing. You have just created a huge pool of very valuable people who can be so very helpful when responding to any sort of emergency.

 

In our country that now has a branch of government specifically charged with Homeland Security, I see the joining of Ham Radio and Geocacheing as a wonderful combination.

 

More later,

Ken S. -- N9KJU -- Western Suburbs of Chicago, IL