By David Book, KD7YIM, Board Member

Several members have asked for additional information on amateur radio (Ham Radio) in the Black Rock and the status of the repeater station that Friends of the Black Rock is working on.

First of all, amateur radio is very different from the Citizen's Band radio that truckers use. CB radio is restricted by law to 5 watts and has a range of around 3 to five miles. If you've ever listened to CB radio, you've probably noticed that it's often unusable because of the rude behavior of many of the users. Amateur radio users have a reputation for being polite and helpful. Most car-mounted amateur radios are between 50 and 100 watts and have a car-to-car range of about 25 miles. Handheld radios are usually 5 watts and have about a 5 to 10 mile range.

Morse code used to be required for an amateur radio license and this was a major roadblock for a lot of people. Morse code is no longer required for any of the 3 grades of license. The first license requires a 35 question test with 26 (74%) answered correctly. People as young as 6 years old have passed the test. Many say it's an easier test than the test to get a driver's license. In most major metropolitan areas, tests are given weekly or bi-weekly.

A good website to visit for amateur radio information is www.arrl.org There you can search by ZIP code or state for test dates and locations, and search for amateur radio clubs in your area. These clubs often have classes to help you prepare for the test. There are also several self-study programs available. One free study guide is available at www.hamclass.org , where you can print their 40-page "Tech Study Guide." There is also an excellent book by Gordon West, "Technician Class 2006 - 2010" for $18.95 from www.w5yi.org . They ship fast! Many ham clubs give "Ham Cram" classes that are a one-day review of all the questions followed by immediate testing-- but they expect you to study on your own first! Testing is $14 or $15 and the license is good for 10 years.

Handheld, 5 watt radios are usually about half the size of a paperback book. Single band radios sell for about $100 - $150 but radios with additional bands and features can cost up to around $400. Mobile radios for your car start at around $150 plus another $50 or so for the antenna. Installation can be tricky but can usually be done by a commercial radio shop.

Repeaters

About 25 years ago, improvements in technology made low cost repeaters possible for amateur radio use. Repeaters are relay stations, usually on a high point such as a hilltop, mountain peak, or tall building, that receive and then retransmit a radio signal at higher power for a much longer distance. For example, there's a repeater with a BIG antenna on a mountain top about 5 miles west of Nixon. It's about 25 miles from my house in Reno. I can reach that repeater with a handheld radio (I told you it had a BIG antenna!) and the repeater then re-transmits the signal all the way to Black Rock Hot Springs, about 100 miles from my house. That same repeater reaches east past Lovelock and south to about Yerington. There are about 2 dozen repeaters around Reno and northern Nevada that are free for public use. Average repeater coverage is about 50 miles.

These repeaters cover many parts of northern Nevada, but there's really no good coverage in the Gerlach/Black Rock area. The first amateur "technician class" license is limited to frequencies that are generally "line of sight" plus about 20 percent, so elevation is really the key. Line of sight to the horizon from an 8000-foot mountain is quite a distance. The worldwide frequencies start with the middle "general class" license, another 35 question test. However, with that license, I recently talked with a guy in Poland using only 100 watts! Reach out and touch someone!

The Friends of the Black Rock is working on a repeater on the ridge north of Gerlach along Highway 34. When it's completed, we expect coverage over most of the Black Rock NCA, north along the Jackson Mountains, and up toward Soldier Meadows and Summit Lake. The Granite Mountains will probably block coverage to the southwest, but coverage to the south will likely reach to about Nixon. We hope to provide some monitoring with a radio in the Friends office in Gerlach, and we will encourage ham licensing and use by Gerlach and Empire residents so they can also monitor the frequency.

We already have the right-of-way for the site, and a repeater expert to do the wiring, programming, and related work. One of the Friends Board Members lives in the Gerlach area and has packhorses to help get the gear up to the top of the ridge. We hope that somebody out there, probably another ham radio enthusiast, has a garage full of radio gear that would make everything work! Are you that person or do you know them? We can provide a tax deductible receipt and arrange for pick-up. Here's what we need:

A repeater controller
A 2 meter Duplexer
A second solar panel or small wind generator
Deep cycle batteries
A Low Voltage Charge Controller

We look forward to providing expanded services to all amateur radio enthusiasts, and hope that the result will be a safer and more enjoyable Black Rock experience for everyone.