We go camping a fair amount where I live. But, you get about 5 miles off the freeway and there is zero cell phone service.
However, we do have some 2m Ham Radio repeaters on the largest peaks around. That means for most of the state, you can actually get a Radio signal out if you needed help. But, it’s also difficult to tell someone exactly where you are.
The tracker I built allows me to plug into the radio for 15 minutes and send a bunch of location packets out. These will be picked up and rebroadcast by the Aprs repeater. Then, I can call into the audio repeater and ask for help.
Additionally, it lets my wife see where we are when she’s still at home.
The project is fairly simple from a hardware perspective. Essentially it’s wire a display, a GPS, an Arduino, and a micromodem together and broadcast from your handheld 2m radio.
You’ll need a Amateur Radio Technician license to broadcast legally.
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