handsets suitable for skiing?

Apologies if this has been covered before here; I did some searches, but
couldn't find anything.

I'm considering getting a pair of handsets for those times when, by
choice or by accident, the group doesn't stick together. What I'd like
is something that can be used without removing gloves and that transmits
as clearly as possible.

What are the good choices for this? What are the pitfalls?

Is it the case that, no matter how good the set, if I go down the front
side and he goes down the back, we're lost to each other?

--
monique

Monique Y. Herman wrote:

Apologies if this has been covered before here; I did some searches, but
couldn't find anything.

I'm considering getting a pair of handsets for those times when, by
choice or by accident, the group doesn't stick together. What I'd like
is something that can be used without removing gloves and that transmits
as clearly as possible.

What are the good choices for this? What are the pitfalls?

Is it the case that, no matter how good the set, if I go down the front
side and he goes down the back, we're lost to each other?


Mikey has been known to carry some sort of FRS radio on the mountain at
Breck, and stay in contact with his wife in the condo in town. I think
I heard her on mine as well, which was in my jacket. Mine is a
Motorola, I think Mikey's is too. We use the kind that gives you the
sub-channel's, because on a busy day the number of groups sharing
channel's can get unwieldy.
----------------------
Chester,
Give a man a fish, he owes you one fish.
Teach a man to fish, you give up your monopoly on fisheries.

On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 16:44:59 CST, Chester Bullock
wrote:

Monique Y. Herman wrote:

Apologies if this has been covered before here; I did some searches, but
couldn't find anything.

I'm considering getting a pair of handsets for those times when, by
choice or by accident, the group doesn't stick together. What I'd like
is something that can be used without removing gloves and that transmits
as clearly as possible.

Mikey has been known to carry some sort of FRS radio on the mountain at
Breck, and stay in contact with his wife in the condo in town. I think
I heard her on mine as well, which was in my jacket. Mine is a
Motorola, I think Mikey's is too. We use the kind that gives you the
sub-channel's, because on a busy day the number of groups sharing
channel's can get unwieldy.

The FRS radios are the popular choice. I strongly agree about getting
the subchannels for any area with many people.

FRS radios are in the UHF range, which means more or less
line-of-sight only. They advertise UP TO 2 miles, but you should think
more like 1/2 to 1 mile unless blocked by terrain or architecture.

Many of these have various headsets available for easy use without
removing gloves. The VOX feature means voice activated so you needn't
be holding any buttons.

These are the least expensive, most available option.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

In article ,
"Gary S." Idontwantspam@net writes:
FRS radios are in the UHF range, which means more or less
line-of-sight only. They advertise UP TO 2 miles, but you should think
more like 1/2 to 1 mile unless blocked by terrain or architecture.

That's a good rule of thumb, but sometimes you get pleasant surprises.
I have a Motorola talkabout (forgot which model, but it is your
basic model with subchannels) On a good day I can reach my condo in
the town of Winter Park from the summit of the ski area.
That has to be more than 5 miles away...

bruno.

"Monique Y. Herman" wrote

Is it the case that, no matter how good the set, if I go down the front
side and he goes down the back, we're lost to each other?

--
monique

FRS handsets operate on a fairly high frequency/short wavelength which is
very "line of sight". As a result, yes, you will be lost to each other if
one of you goes down the back side and the other goes down the front.
--
mark

I'm pretty sure any GMRS radio is line-of-sight: if you are on one side of
the hill, and your friends are on the other, atmospheric conditions
determine whether you can talk to one another.
I've used Motorolas and Garmins (the GPS/GMRS combination), and some days
the signal goes around corners (over ridges, for example), and some days it
doesn't.
The Motorolas are easy enough to use with gloves on, once you've set the
channel and options. The on/off/volume knob is large, and the transmit
button is easy to work with gloves.

Please don't use it on the chairlift next to me...

"Where are you?"
"I'm here, where are you?"
"I'm riding up the chairlift. How's the weather?"
"It's fine. I had trouble buckling my boots."
"Are you skiing down HotDog? I think I see you!"
"I just stopped -- I'll wave to you..."
"I see you! I see you!"

Is it the case that, no matter how good the set, if I go down the front
side and he goes down the back, we're lost to each other?

On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 20:37:54 CST, wrote:

In article ,
"Gary S." Idontwantspam@net writes:
FRS radios are in the UHF range, which means more or less
line-of-sight only. They advertise UP TO 2 miles, but you should think
more like 1/2 to 1 mile unless blocked by terrain or architecture.

That's a good rule of thumb, but sometimes you get pleasant surprises.
I have a Motorola talkabout (forgot which model, but it is your
basic model with subchannels) On a good day I can reach my condo in
the town of Winter Park from the summit of the ski area.
That has to be more than 5 miles away...

With VHF, and especially UHF, antenna height is your best friend for
range, so this makes perfect sense for a long distance line-of-sight
transmission.

I know it is possible to get better, I meant what you could count on
in general use.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

Chester Bullock wrote in news:bsqap1$79kf$2@ID-
174744.news.uni-berlin.de:

Monique Y. Herman wrote:

snip
Is it the case that, no matter how good the set, if I go down the front
side and he goes down the back, we're lost to each other?


Mikey has been known to carry some sort of FRS radio on the mountain at
Breck, and stay in contact with his wife in the condo in town. I think
I heard her on mine as well, which was in my jacket.

And they work over some pretty impressive distances. One day my buddy Jack
& I summitted Torreys via Kelso ridge in mid-December and raised Mikey on
the radio from the summit. Dunno how far as the crow flies, but it's gotta
be 10 miles or more.

-T.O.M.-

"Monique Y. Herman" wrote in message .. .

I'm considering getting a pair of handsets....

What are the good choices for this? What are the pitfalls?

There's a Usenet group for this, alt.radio.family, which, inevitably,
is full of bickering.

Several different radio services will work, such as CB, MURS, and
amateur radio, but FRS is a good place to start. You can find them at
Circuit City, Best Buy, Fry's, Wal*Mart, and all the other usual big
box stores. Try to get one with AA cells instead of AAA cells as, all
other things being equal, AA cells will last longer than AAA cells.
Full power with FRS is 500 milliwatts, or a half watt. As someone else
has already said, don't believe the claims made for range. Any
reception past a mile is wishful thinking. Yes, I know the world
record is much more than that. FRS requires no license. GMRS does
require a license.

In Europe, they use something called PM446. Like FRS, it does not
require a license. PM446 radios are not to be used in the US, as PM446
uses different frequencies than FRS. Here's an example of a PM446
radio:
http://www.castellsatcomradio.com/mo...ola_t6222.html

You have no expectation of privacy on any radio service I have
mentioned.

Here's a good site for FRS:
http://familyradioservice.fateback.com/

Here's a GMRS site:
http://www.gmrsweb.com/gmrs.html

A lot of kids around here got FRSes for Christmas. They're fun to
listen to on the scanner.

Best wishes.

"Gary S." Idontwantspam@net wrote in message . ..
On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 16:44:59 CST, Chester Bullock
wrote:

Monique Y. Herman wrote:

Apologies if this has been covered before here; I did some searches, but
couldn't find anything.

I'm considering getting a pair of handsets for those times when, by
choice or by accident, the group doesn't stick together. What I'd like
is something that can be used without removing gloves and that transmits
as clearly as possible.

Mikey has been known to carry some sort of FRS radio on the mountain at
Breck, and stay in contact with his wife in the condo in town. I think
I heard her on mine as well, which was in my jacket. Mine is a
Motorola, I think Mikey's is too. We use the kind that gives you the
sub-channel's, because on a busy day the number of groups sharing
channel's can get unwieldy.

The FRS radios are the popular choice. I strongly agree about getting
the subchannels for any area with many people.

FRS radios are in the UHF range, which means more or less
line-of-sight only. They advertise UP TO 2 miles, but you should think
more like 1/2 to 1 mile unless blocked by terrain or architecture.

Many of these have various headsets available for easy use without
removing gloves. The VOX feature means voice activated so you needn't
be holding any buttons.

These are the least expensive, most available option.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom


Definitely a good idea to spend the extra money and get the more
powerful units with subchannels. (We use Motorolas.) Your range will
be much better. Even then you can still get out of range by getting on
the opposite side of the mountain.

Also note that some frequencies are incompatible for use in Canada. I
was told by Whistler/Blackcomb ski patrol that I was interferring with
their assigned frequencies. I guess if I needed help that would be a
good thing though.

Fred