General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) Emergency Channel

[WRUE951]

any channel will suffice for an emergency Ch..  For example, i was traveling north on 395 last week... This lady came on Ch 18 where i was monitoring and hollered out, "is anyone out there, i need help"  I replied, yea,, what's up..  She yelled back, i just passed Sand Canyon Road going north and i need to know where the next gas station is,, i said, are you running out of gas, she said no, i'm about ready to $hit my pants    Now this is a true story,,  i told her about a mile up you'll find a place called Pearsons..    I guess that suffices for an emergency..  She must of made it, i didn't hear her again. 

[Davichko5650]

46 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

 

Alaska is much larger but according to RepeaterBook has 6 GMRS repeaters and 114 amateur repeaters. I don’t know how accurate that is but obviously neither state has sufficient coverage for emergency purposes.

 

Alaska also has the dedicated Emergency Frequency of 5167 kHz on HF.  Have seen that being used here and there on TV shows, but never looked to see if any YooToob videos exist about it.

[SteveShannon]

1 minute ago, Davichko5650 said:

Alaska also has the dedicated Emergency Frequency of 5167 kHz on HF.  Have seen that being used here and there on TV shows, but never looked to see if any YooToob videos exist about it.

And that makes sense. It’s mentioned on my license also, iirc.

[Davichko5650]

1 minute ago, SteveShannon said:

And that makes sense. It’s mentioned on my license also, iirc.

Pretty sure most modern Transceivers have it, both my FT-450D and the new FT-710 have a setting for it in the menus.  Can monitor it any time, but not much I could really do for any callers...

 

[SteveShannon]

Here’s a pretty good video on fairly established HF emergency frequencies. Unfortunately I didn’t hear him mention 5167 kHz.

 

[WSEZ864]

20 hours ago, SteveShannon said:

I think it depends on population. We have lots of mountainous areas in Montana (fourth largest in area, with only a million people) with no cellular service. I suspect Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, and even parts of eastern California, once you get away from the interstates and population centers, have significant areas with limited access. 

We have 158 amateur repeaters in Montana and only 8 GMRS repeaters.

Alaska is much larger but according to RepeaterBook has 6 GMRS repeaters and 114 amateur repeaters. I don’t know how accurate that is but obviously neither state has sufficient coverage for emergency purposes.

I don’t believe repeaterbook is as complete for GMRS repeaters as MyGMRS.com.

I agree that it IS population-driven - why invest in infrastructure to service a handful of people?

Even here in relatively densely populated Maryland, we have surprisingly large areas with no cell service. The "Eastern Shore" (the peninsula east of the Chesapeake Bay) is still a lot of farmland and timber plus vast areas of marshland, and there are areas I routinely visit there with little or no cell service. A lot of the marsh is being abandoned and stuff like the roads and telephone lines are just deteriorating, with no plans to improve things or add stuff like cable TV or cell towers. I can still reach ham repeaters from most of these places due to how flat the terrain is.  Our western panhandle is mountainous and there are large areas in our two westernmost counties where cell service is unavailable, not counting the local pockets like deep ravines and hollows. Out there, my ham radio has limited service for some of the same reasons cell service doesn't penetrate: no line-of-sight to towers.

[WSEZ864]

Double tap...

Edited 3 hours ago by WSEZ864
Double post deleted

[WRTC928]

22 hours ago, SteveShannon said:

Alaska is much larger but according to RepeaterBook has 6 GMRS repeaters and 114 amateur repeaters. I don’t know how accurate that is but obviously neither state has sufficient coverage for emergency purposes.

Oklahoma has about twice as many repeaters as Alaska but with five times the population. There certainly aren't enough repeaters in Alaska to serve the entire state, but until very recently, most of the villages in the north and interior didn't have cell phone coverage and it's still pretty spotty in a lot of them. Radio was (maybe still is) used as a way to stay in touch if you were outside the village hunting, fishing, or whatever. They were pretty casual about whether you had a license. I wouldn't be surprised if there are unlicensed "pirate" repeaters in some villages that don't appear in any database. When you're 300 miles from the next village, who's going to hear? They also use marine radio a lot -- much more than GMRS or ham. In some villages, almost everyone has one. They're obviously not on the water, but again, who's going to hear?

There are a lot more than 6 GMRS repeaters in Alaska, because I've personally used at least 8. Owners and users are pretty cagey about where they are, and you have to know somebody to get access to them. I suspect a lot of them are unlicensed. With the advent of radios that scan for frequencies and codes, it's probably easier now to find one, but only if you happen to be listening wen it's in use. I didn't do amateur radio back then, so I have no idea how many ham repeaters there are. Probably more than you'll find listed, though. Alaska is a very different place than the rest of the country, and Alaskans kind have an attitude of, "You don't understand our situation, so you don't get to make rules for us."

[SteveShannon]

12 minutes ago, WRTC928 said:

Oklahoma has about twice as many repeaters as Alaska but with five times the population. There certainly aren't enough repeaters in Alaska to serve the entire state, but until very recently, most of the villages in the north and interior didn't have cell phone coverage and it's still pretty spotty in a lot of them. Radio was (maybe still is) used as a way to stay in touch if you were outside the village hunting, fishing, or whatever. They were pretty casual about whether you had a license. I wouldn't be surprised if there are unlicensed "pirate" repeaters in some villages that don't appear in any database. When you're 300 miles from the next village, who's going to hear? They also use marine radio a lot -- much more than GMRS or ham. In some villages, almost everyone has one. They're obviously not on the water, but again, who's going to hear?

There are a lot more than 6 GMRS repeaters in Alaska, because I've personally used at least 8. Owners and users are pretty cagey about where they are, and you have to know somebody to get access to them. I suspect a lot of them are unlicensed. With the advent of radios that scan for frequencies and codes, it's probably easier now to find one, but only if you happen to be listening when it's in use. I didn't do amateur radio back then, so I have no idea how many ham repeaters there are. Probably more than you'll find listed, though. Alaska is a very different place than the rest of the country, and Alaskans kind have an attitude of, "You don't understand our situation, so you don't get to make rules for us."

 I agree with everything you’ve stated.

MyGMRS lists 14 repeaters for Alaska and I bet that is still much lower than reality.

[WRTC928]

You know...if you think about it...Alaskans are using radio for its original intended purpose. Radio at its core is just a way for people to communicate at a distance. Historical accounts suggest that in the early 20th century, radio was seen as a tool to make everyday activities easier and safer. In most of the country, there are other ways to do that now, so for most of us, it's just a hobby or a tool to make another hobby easier and safer. I think Marconi would be proud if he saw people using radios to call for someone to come help transport the moose that's going to feed the family over the winter.