Why is having a HAM Radio license important?

What happens if you break down on the trail?

My husband(family) left and has not returned home yet?

The Rubicon Trail Foundation fields many questions about the Rubicon Trail each day especially during the summer & winter months.  This year we have noticed many more coming in with people from all over heading to the Rubicon as a lot of vacation venues are closed or cancelled due to the pandemic.

There is little to NO Cell Service on the Rubicon Trail.  HAM Radios are great because you can communicate with people all over the world if licensed and get help if needed in an emergency situation.  It is very important to pack appropriately (food and clothes/blankets) and always tell people where you are going and when you will return.

Recently RTF bought a new Daniels UHF transmitter and receiver for the ham repeater.  This $5000 commercial quality repeater will make the ham repeater very reliable for years into the future.  Frequent users of the system are aware that the radio team (Frank Yost, Ray Pledger, and John Arenz) work on the system consistently through the season.  This new repeater will be super sensitive with great audio, and will not need the constant tweaking and repair the current system does.  Best of all, it will continue to be reliable when no one is around to fix it!

How to get a HAM Radio License:

You will need a License to Operate A Ham Radio, you can contact any local amateur radio club for more info, or take Advantage of the classes that RTF sponsors. This Class is designed to take you from zero to HAM radio operator in no time at all. Its typically held in the Sacramento Valley area, in El Dorado Hills.  Due to COVID, we aren’t anticipating a class until 2021. [email protected]    or http://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-class

If you already have a Ham Radio License here the frequencies used on the Rubicon-

146.805 -.600 PL123.0
The KA6GWY repeater, covers the west slope of El Dorado County and the Sacramento area.

145.350 (repeater transmitter), odd split to 146.205 (repeater receiver), PL123.0 
The Tahoe Basin KA6GWY repeater, linked 24/7 to the 805 ELD repeater, coverage in the Tahoe Basin.

146.805 simplex, no PL
This is the repeater output frequency of the KA6GWY repeater. Nice to have so that you can talk to
your friends right in front of you, still listen to the repeater, but not tie it up when simplex will work just fine.

444.9875 +5.00 PL156.7 
The Rubicon repeater located near Spider Lake, coverage on all of the Rubicon Trail except east of Barker
Meadows OHV trail.

444.9875 +5.00 PL 107.2
Same as RUBI except that when using this PL it links to 805ELD and 805 TAH.

444.9875 simplex, PL107.2 
This is the repeater output frequency of the Spider repeater. Nice to have so that you can talk to your
friends right in front of you, still listen to the repeater, but not tie it up when simplex will work just fine.
Note, PL is used because some users decode PL on their handheld radios.

By Chris Cowan Education Trail News