Ruedi Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 Yes. 406 mhz satellite Epirbs send a message that gives your GPS coordinates to a central place. They know where you are, who you are and any message of a couple of lines like I'm climbing here and such. Very expensive however. I carry a portable Ham radio and there are lots of repeaters all over the area so you are always in contact. You can be hundreds of miles in the bush and still hit a repeater with a hand held Yagi antennae. The whold thing ways a couple of pounds and it's a great peace of mine. I climbe and hike with elderly and you kids and it's a long way to the hosptical if my father in law has a heart attack or someone slips and gets hurt. There is a lot more important news coming on this Forum so I'm out. Best to Carolyn James and may god be with the families at this point. I think we are going to know in the next couple of hours the outcome. Chears to everyone and keep praying. Glenn Sliva
gslater Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 Does an EPIRB have any advantages over an MLU? Maybe the MLU's just work at Mt. Hood, whereas the EPIRB's work worldwide? MLUs are a local, Mt. Hood-only thing. Completely different from EPIRBs or any of the other "standard" personal locating beacon thingies. Activating one does NOT initiate any kind of a rescue. If someone activates an MLU, it won't do any good until one of the local rescue agencies is onsite on the mountain with the receiving equipment. It's really not all that different from what you see with biologists tracking animals on Animal Planet. The rescuers use the receiving system to try to locate the MLU. It doesn't broadcast any kind of position information.
Ace Deuce Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 Points of information, please. How many ascents of Mt. Hood in winter are there in a typical season? How experienced were these mountaineers? Is it the judgment here that they were up to a winter storm on Hood?
mrd Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 please start a new thread to discuss gear and technology, this thread is about three guys figting for survival. Thank you for rephrasing my suggestion made yesterday. Any info about: "Snow cave and gear found near the summit. Rescuers headed up via helicopter to investigate."
Ruedi Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 Fox says that the Chinook is dropping them on the summit and then they will work their way down from the summit to the site.
jfmctlaw Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 Ruedi makes a good point about ham radios. I am a ham and 2meter handhelds are just like a walkie talkie but much more powerful and useful. I don't want to stray far off topic here, but find yourself a local ham radio operator and discuss the subject with him. It varies location to location.
RogerBurleigh Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 I returned earlier this week from a similar epic on Antarctica's Vinson Massif; it was surreal to return to this story, particularly since I have met Kelly and Brian (they are friends of my climbing partner). They are both strong, able climbers, and I'm praying for a positive outcome.
Ruedi Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 The video shows lousy zero degree F weather with wind. I would be in the Snow Cave until someone knocked on the door. It looks that bad on the summit. I hope all three are in there having a beer!
Hoping4Today Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 Fox reporting SAR hoping to reach location of suspected snow cave 1 - 2 hours.
LHwildcats76 Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 Why is this thread being used to discuss radios they don't have with them? It's irrelevant at this point.
JayB Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 Agreed. Please be mindful of this thread's primary purposes and it's audience when posting.
Hoping4Today Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 Also reporting that SAR believe wishbone shape/sign was intended as a communication.
mrd Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 ...it was surreal to return to this story, particularly since I have met Kelly and Brian (they are friends of my climbing partner)... Thank you. I am glade to meet (even virtually) someone who has a mountaineering relation with these guys.
Hoping4Today Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 Oregon Natl Gd has seen the snow cave. Fresh tracks to summit and back down to cave. News conference in 5 minutes.
finger of fate Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 Zeta Male - yes, there are many many very small portable HAM radios, and have been for the past almost 15 years. I personally never go on an extended climb, run, or ride without my Yaesu VX-7R triple band submersible transceiver. They are mostly all milspec now too. I can't tell you how many times it has outperformed other pieces of commo gear. In my mind it is a basic necessity. Better than any radio people have with them. But then, being "out there" is a regular part of my work and play life, so I'm a bit more anal about my communications.
finger of fate Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 Yep, you're right, wrong place to discuss radios, sorry.
gslater Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 JayB - With all due respect, where does one find a formal declaration of "this thread's primary purposes"? I don't think Cluck started it as a support group. I'm keenly aware of the sensitivities involved here, and I'm all for keeping the real spray out, but there has been some technical discussion here that has apparently been appreciated by non-climbers looking for understanding of the issues involved. As long as it stays on the non-spray side, it seems like it would still be welcomed by some of our recent first-time visitors.
JayB Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 If anyone's watching the coverage that can log-in and summarize the disclosures at the news conference for the the people who may not be able to tune in themselves, I'm sure that there are quite a few folks viewing the thread who would appreciate it.
lizs Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 I'm a backpacker and hiker following this tale of these 3 mountaineers and praying for the best. A question: Am watching the CNN video. I see a lot of snow being kicked up. Wondering how much is weather-related? How much is from the helicopters? Hmmm... just heard a guy saying there was no wind. Press conference NOW!
finger of fate Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 JayB, You might be right, however this discussion is providing timely info on a particular subject - "3 Lost on Mount Hood," and other conversation distracts from it. Plus there are other boards here which directly address gear topics. If it's not separated, then it's almost impossible to stay up on the different topics. Does that make sense? This is a typical problem or scenario which develops, but not a big deal if people stay on topic.
Hoping4Today Posted December 17, 2006 Posted December 17, 2006 News conference: Captain Mike Braibish, Oregon Natl Gd: Using information to shrink circle and refine search. Info from yesterday shrank it, today's findings shrunk it again. Focusing on area where equipment found - relatively close to cell phone signal. Found what we believe is a snow cave - searchers on their way. Do not know if we have found the climbers, what we have is a target. We are confident it is a snow cave.
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