-
JULY 2025 CLUB MEETING
Hi Guest: The next RS meeting will be Wednesday, July 2, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
LOCATION: The meeting will be held at Cruisers and Company. Click here for details and directions.
⦿ If you are eligible for club membership, please fill out an application in advance of the meeting and bring it with you.
July overlanding trip route planning advice request
- Thread starter KCJAZ
- Start date
Getting close now. Just finished some truck maintenance things and a few repairs from Cruise Moab. I think I have a pretty good route/plan with a little extra time and some flexibility baked in to call audibles in route based on the great info from y’all.
I have a general comms question, I have a ham radio and I’m licensed however I really only use my ham radio for trail comms in groups. I’m not a ham geek (“geek” meant the most positive way possible) or all that proficient to be honest. I’d like to be able to use the ham radio to get a hold of Park Rangers or potentially even police or highway patrol if necessary. I’m just not sure how to figure out what frequencies those folks would be monitoring. Are there a set of standard frequencies rangers and police use? All I’ve been able to find our general range of frequencies which makes sense. But if I wanna get a hold of a park, Ranger near the sand dunes, for example How do I do that? Do I just need to call the Park offices at the places I’ll be going through and ask them?
I have InReach in my Garmin Nav and sat texting via iphone so my wife can track me and I can reach out if I’m having trouble.
I have a general comms question, I have a ham radio and I’m licensed however I really only use my ham radio for trail comms in groups. I’m not a ham geek (“geek” meant the most positive way possible) or all that proficient to be honest. I’d like to be able to use the ham radio to get a hold of Park Rangers or potentially even police or highway patrol if necessary. I’m just not sure how to figure out what frequencies those folks would be monitoring. Are there a set of standard frequencies rangers and police use? All I’ve been able to find our general range of frequencies which makes sense. But if I wanna get a hold of a park, Ranger near the sand dunes, for example How do I do that? Do I just need to call the Park offices at the places I’ll be going through and ask them?
I have InReach in my Garmin Nav and sat texting via iphone so my wife can track me and I can reach out if I’m having trouble.
fyffer
Rising Sun Member
I asked that specific question at the Dunes, if I could reach them via Ham or if they monitored and the answer was no. They use a specific frequency same as the Police (unless they are Ham licensed and have one). I do believe repeaters are being monitored for emergencies and could locate you in an emergency via directional antenna. The InReach is your best option.
Otherwise there are plenty Traffic on Medano to relay problems and the Rangers would come to aide.
Otherwise there are plenty Traffic on Medano to relay problems and the Rangers would come to aide.
thanks. I can also use APRS on my ham as an additional means of tracking/finding me, though that can be pretty laggy. I think its when you lose the signal which happens in valleys and gulches. You can even text with APRS but its cumbersome and for something that you do twice a year, its too hard to remember how to do it. Last year, I tried that and my wife could see my location on the website but then thought I was stuck as I appeared not to move for several hours. Used InReach at CM this year and that was much better. The iPhone sat texting is also pretty good.
rover67
Rising Sun Member
I think your best bet if you wanted to utilize HAM for a emergency would be to use to colorado connection to contact somebody to ask for help if 911 were not available.
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
Contacting rangers, police or fire is not only difficult to impossible due to technical reasons on their two-way systems it's also illegal to even try without authorization.
Supposing you even had a radio like they use (which is not illegal to own and use their P25 radios as a ham for ham stuff) you have to know some details on the system trunking configuration, have your radio authorized (it's kind of like a cell phone IMEI) and they might use encryption that they will never share that key with you. AFAIK Colorado NPS rangers are dispatched using our state-wide municipal system, same system as Colorado State Patrol, police, fire, CDOT, etc.
You are licensed as an amateur radio operator and you can only use amateur radio. Or CB or GMRS if you have that. Some emergency services may monitor ham bands, like up in Alaska they have a 60 meter frequency they use for backcountry emergencies that you can use as a ham. The only time ham would really cross over to a cop or sheriff would be if a local emergency communication plan uses them and a local jurisdiction stands up their EOC (Emergency Operation Center). This happens sometimes during natural disasters or SAR activation. But as normal course they aren't active.
Here in Colorado we have the Colorado Connection that covers most of the state. That's a linked repeater system so you get into one station and it re-transmits you over all of them. Someone's usually listening and ColCon supports our state ham emergency reporting and ARES groups so there are also volunteer hams who monitor when they can. What we hams will do if you contact us via repeater or simplex would be to make phone calls for you, acting like a relay station.
But it's not 24/7/365 so in a true emergency plan to use 911 or hit the panic button on your SPOT or InReach.
Supposing you even had a radio like they use (which is not illegal to own and use their P25 radios as a ham for ham stuff) you have to know some details on the system trunking configuration, have your radio authorized (it's kind of like a cell phone IMEI) and they might use encryption that they will never share that key with you. AFAIK Colorado NPS rangers are dispatched using our state-wide municipal system, same system as Colorado State Patrol, police, fire, CDOT, etc.
State of Colorado DTRS Trunking System, Statewide, Multi-State
State of Colorado DTRS Trunking System Profile
www.radioreference.com
You are licensed as an amateur radio operator and you can only use amateur radio. Or CB or GMRS if you have that. Some emergency services may monitor ham bands, like up in Alaska they have a 60 meter frequency they use for backcountry emergencies that you can use as a ham. The only time ham would really cross over to a cop or sheriff would be if a local emergency communication plan uses them and a local jurisdiction stands up their EOC (Emergency Operation Center). This happens sometimes during natural disasters or SAR activation. But as normal course they aren't active.
Here in Colorado we have the Colorado Connection that covers most of the state. That's a linked repeater system so you get into one station and it re-transmits you over all of them. Someone's usually listening and ColCon supports our state ham emergency reporting and ARES groups so there are also volunteer hams who monitor when they can. What we hams will do if you contact us via repeater or simplex would be to make phone calls for you, acting like a relay station.
But it's not 24/7/365 so in a true emergency plan to use 911 or hit the panic button on your SPOT or InReach.
Colorado Connection | Colorado's first statewide linked radio system.
Colorado's first statewide linked radio system.
colcon.org
Last edited:
Thanks. Didn’t know about ColCon. Useful info. I agree that for true emergency my sat comms will be the thing to use. The few times I’ve tried calling CQ on 146.520 I’ve never got a reply. That’s a Hail Mary.Contacting rangers, police or fire is not only difficult to impossible due to technical reasons on their two-way systems it's also illegal to even try without authorization.
Supposing you even had a radio like they use (which is not illegal to own and use their P25 radios as a ham for ham stuff) you have to know some details on the system trunking configuration, have your radio authorized (it's kind of like a cell phone IMEI) and they might use encryption that they will never share that key with you. AFAIK Colorado NPS rangers are dispatched using our state-wide municipal system, same system as Colorado State Patrol, police, fire, CDOT, etc.
State of Colorado DTRS Trunking System, Statewide, Multi-State
State of Colorado DTRS Trunking System Profilewww.radioreference.com
You are licensed as an amateur radio operator and you can only use amateur radio. Or CB or GMRS if you have that. Some emergency services may monitor ham bands, like up in Alaska they have a 60 meter frequency they use for backcountry emergencies that you can use as a ham. The only time ham would really cross over to a cop or sheriff would be if a local emergency communication plan uses them and a local jurisdiction stands up their EOC (Emergency Operation Center). This happens sometimes during natural disasters or SAR activation. But as normal course they aren't active.
Here in Colorado we have the Colorado Connection that covers most of the state. That's a linked repeater system so you get into one station and it re-transmits you over all of them. Someone's usually listening and ColCon supports our state ham emergency reporting and ARES groups so there are also volunteer hams who monitor when they can. What we hams will do if you contact us via repeater or simplex would be to make phone calls for you, acting like a relay station.
But it's not 24/7/365 so in a true emergency plan to use 911 or hit the panic button on your SPOT or InReach.
Colorado Connection | Colorado's first statewide linked radio system.
Colorado's first statewide linked radio system.colcon.org
Different, but related question: has anyone built a list of vehicle recovery type companies who have capability to recover or repair a vehicle on a trail? I want to compile a list of companies by area within Colorado and other places I go. That way I could txt someone (via satellite) a contact and they could call the company if I didn’t have service.
Edit:
Did some googling and compiled this:
Didn't know about Colorado 4x4 Rescue & Recovery. Seems like that would be the best first call.
Last edited:
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
@KCJAZ put Co4x4RnR in a special category. They're a full blown official, volunteer search and rescue organization, so they may be able to help you with regular stucks or break downs but their specialty is bad situations like roll overs and injuries. They'll help other SAR or first responders, too. So if you punch SOS they might get called anyway by the sheriff who is notified. Don't assume they will mobilize if you're just stuck.
Add Rene at Rene's Garage in Lake City 970-944-3000 He has a 4WD flat bed and can do basic 4WD recovery, not super technical. Really nice guy, too.
BTW, not sure if you're familiar but get a Colorado Outdoor Recreation Search and Rescue Card, we call them COSAR cards. It's $5 for a one-year, $12 for a 5-year. It's not insurance but a state-wide fund that reimburses local SAR when they are called out. Most of them perform their service for free but not all counties and sheriffs have the budget to do it for free, so they will occasionally charge for it. This fund helps avoid you paying personally.
You will still be personally responsible for helicopters and medical usually, SAR and COSAR don't help with those.
Add Rene at Rene's Garage in Lake City 970-944-3000 He has a 4WD flat bed and can do basic 4WD recovery, not super technical. Really nice guy, too.
BTW, not sure if you're familiar but get a Colorado Outdoor Recreation Search and Rescue Card, we call them COSAR cards. It's $5 for a one-year, $12 for a 5-year. It's not insurance but a state-wide fund that reimburses local SAR when they are called out. Most of them perform their service for free but not all counties and sheriffs have the budget to do it for free, so they will occasionally charge for it. This fund helps avoid you paying personally.
You will still be personally responsible for helicopters and medical usually, SAR and COSAR don't help with those.
Last edited:
Thanks. I already have Corsar and a similar card for Utah.
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
If we're talking up here then Dan's in Grand Junction can do mildly technical 4wd recoveries. They've got a couple of 4x4 wreckers, one is a big medium duty International and the other a F350. Nothing like Trail Mater will try but they're not cowboys and you won't end up in a Youtube video either.
Dan's Towing of Grand Junction, CO | Because Being Stuck, Sucks!
Dan's Towing of Grand Junction, CO is the #1 towing and hauling service in Western Colorado and Eastern Utah. Be sure to give us a call if you are in need of towing, hauling, or recovery. 970.242.1516
danstowinggj.com
970-241-1516
Last edited: