Emergency communication and/or plan

[stinky]

Last time I was out with my 8 year old son we got separated just enough that we lost communication (helmet intercoms). I was looking for ideas as a "backup plan" for this situation. I'm considering FRS handheld radios. Any other/better ideas out there? Ideally I would put somebody behind him, but it's normally just him and I so that's not an option.

Edited April 14, 2019 by stinky

[mikeexplorer]

Some handheld radios have over a 2 mile range which is probably far more then what the intercoms have and they are not that expensive.

Mike

 

[davefrombc]

Your best bet would  likely be FRS/GMRS radios or  maybe  handheld CB sets. Uninden  makes some 40 channel ones that  are  very reasonably priced and need no license.

Depending on your and your son's interests   you might consider getting your HAM licenses. It's a bit of work to  get your basic licenses but it opens up  a whole new world of communication to  you.

[Gunny]

Some times the problem with hand held radio's are they are kind of "line of sight" accessories, meaning, if you ride in any mountainous terrain with gulleys, valleys, etc, you might not get reception to the other users radio. But if the terrain you ride in is relatively flat or rolling with not to much terrain to "hide" behind, or you can get on a rise or ridge top (and your son understand this as well), then the radio's work great.

A couple more options you might consider, although they aren't cheap either, is the Garmin Rino 700 series GPS/Handheld Radio ... if both you & your son had one of these mounted on your ATV, you would be able to know exactly where he is (and he would know where you are) & you would be able to communicate with him.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/576031

 

Or maybe the Garmin InReach Hiking GPS/Satellite communicator (This is what I have) ... you can't talk on them, but you could text each other, you can text the wife if you're going to be late, & you can send an SOS if needed for help. (Might be a little to much for an 8 yr old thou)

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/561286

 

Or maybe the Garmin InReach Mini ... again, it might be to much for an 8 yr old. But it is an option.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/592606

 

Anyway, these are some other options for you to ponder.

 

 

...

Edited April 14, 2019 by Gunny

[Frank Angerano]

Buy a dog collar tracking device and strap it to the bike! 

[stinky]

1 hour ago, davefrombc said:

Your best bet would  likely be FRS/GMRS radios or  maybe  handheld CB sets. Uninden  makes some 40 channel ones that  are  very reasonably priced and need no license.

Depending on your and your son's interests   you might consider getting your HAM licenses. It's a bit of work to  get your basic licenses but it opens up  a whole new world of communication to  you.

I am a licensed HAM... or at least I used to be. I lost interest and let it expire 10 or 20 years ago. I hadn't thought about whether or not my son might have any interest in it. He's in Scouts so it would go along well with that... at least when he gets a little older anyway.

[stinky]

1 hour ago, Gunny said:

Some times the problem with hand held radio's are they are kind of "line of sight" accessories, meaning, if you ride in any mountainous terrain with gulleys, valleys, etc, you might not get reception to the other users radio. But if the terrain you ride in is relatively flat or rolling with not to much terrain to "hide" behind, or you can get on a rise or ridge top (and your son understand this as well), then the radio's work great.

A couple more options you might consider, although they aren't cheap either, is the Garmin Rino 700 series GPS/Handheld Radio ... if both you & your son had one of these mounted on your ATV, you would be able to know exactly where he is (and he would know where you are) & you would be able to communicate with him.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/576031

 

Or maybe the Garmin InReach Hiking GPS/Satellite communicator (This is what I have) ... you can't talk on them, but you could text each other, you can text the wife if you're going to be late, & you can send an SOS if needed for help. (Might be a little to much for an 8 yr old thou)

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/561286

 

Or maybe the Garmin InReach Mini ... again, it might be to much for an 8 yr old. But it is an option.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/592606

 

Anyway, these are some other options for you to ponder.

 

 

...

These GPS radios are sweet. Probably overkill for us but something I will consider. We just ride in the Oregon sand dunes which is a pretty small area relatively speaking, and far from being remote.

[davefrombc]

3 hours ago, stinky said:

I am a licensed HAM... or at least I used to be. I lost interest and let it expire 10 or 20 years ago. I hadn't thought about whether or not my son might have any interest in it. He's in Scouts so it would go along well with that... at least when he gets a little older anyway.

I am also a licensed HAM that has been inactive  for about 20  years.  Fortunately  for us, our  licenses don't expire. Our certificate  is our  license. I'd sure  hate to  have to  write  our equivalent  of your  Extra  license  and Morse  code again...  LOL..  All   our feds require  is we  notify them when  we change addresses ..  Got back  interested in  HAM when  I  got my  quad and joined a 4 WD  association  here . . Lots of the members have their basic licenses. now it is super easy to  get compared to  20  years ago. I have both  handheld VHF/UHf gear  as well  as HF and multi-band mobile antennas.  I just have to  get my  butt in  gear  and do some transceiver  and antenna  mounting.  I haven't set  up  my  base gear  since I'm  hoping to  make a move soon.  Things  sure have changed  since I was last active. More  modes are available , gear  is far  more compact and capable.   Here  is a link to the CB sets I failed to  post with my first recommendation.  https://www.amazon.com/Uniden-PRO401HH-Professional-Handheld-Cancellation/dp/B00N43KM5S

If  you  get  back into  HAM there are some very  inexpensive  Chinese made  2 meter/ 70Cm band  handhelds  (144mhz / 440mhz) available as well  as some mobile  units.

FRS units are very  low  powered. The GMRS aren't  much more powerful and  are expensive to  license from  what I've been told so unless  you're planning on staying  very  close range even the  handheld CBs should outperform them. 

The  Garmin  GPS radios   work  on the GMRS  frequencies.   

 

[Steven E]

I'm a licensed Ham radio operator.

Yes getting a tech license is a little hard but well worth it. I have access to many frequencies and different modes.

I carry a dual mode handheld Motorola radio, I can go digital or I can access local repeaters. One of the nice things is have 5 watts of power to get out. I use the same ear piece and remote mic that the police use. Talk while riding.

I also have a GMRS license $50.00 dollars for 5 years. It opens up options less than having a ham license but no test.

Feel free to contact me with more questions

 

[stinky]

9 hours ago, Frank Angerano said:

Buy a dog collar tracking device and strap it to the bike! 

I believe these collars require a data plan/connection which I think would work just fine where we go, but if I were going to have a "connected" device I might as well just give him a cell phone with tracking set up... which isn't a bad idea at all actually.