Notes for Amateur Radio Operators who hike in the San Pedro Martir Before leaving on this trip, I called the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco regarding use of a 2 meter handitalkie in the San Pedro Martir. After grappling with a rather well-designed series of voice mail menus, I left my name and phone number in the "All Other Questions" section of that menu. About two hours later a consulate official returned my call. I asked him what was required to legally operate an amateur radio handitalkie in Mexico. He told me that I would have to fill out some papers when I crossed the boarder, and agree to operate on only two channels. I replied that I wished to take care of the paperwork in advance at his consulate, to avoid delays at the boarder. He hesitated a bit, then asked "Where in Mexico do you plan to go?" I replied "The Sierra San Pedro Martir Plateau in Baja." He responded "Oh! Baja! Don't worry about anything. Just take your radio there and use it. They are very relaxed there about that sort of thing." A few calls to San Diego Mountain rescue netted me the information that the main repeater to use on the plateau is at 146.97 MHz, standard minus 600 KHz shift, no PL tone required. This 697 machine is physically located at the international observatory. Aida Meling confirmed that this was THE machine to use in the region, and that it was quite all right for a visiting hiker to make occasional, polite, and courteous use of it. I was able to bring that machine up without difficulty from most parts of the plateau using an Alinco DJ-160T at 3 watts output into a Larsen 2 meter half wave telescoping antenna, tho because of a language barrier (I speak very little Spanish and no one who was monitoring that machine this spring spoke English) I did not do much chatting. From the eastern escarpment just north of Blue Bottle I was able to contact (with difficulty) a repeater in the Yuma area about 200 miles away. I was able to RECEIVE it full quieting at S9, but could not "hold" the repeater when transmitting, so that only my first few words of each transmission got thru. Once I realized this, I was able to carry on a short QSO with a ham in Yuma, who (after being assured there was no emergency and that I just wished to chat for a moment) expressed considerable surprise that there would be snow in Baja!

Added Notes regarding Weather Radio:

While on the plateau, I daily attempted to get NOA weather radio forecasts. I found that I could often, but not always, get an acceptable signal on 162.550MHz (weather for Yuma, broadcast from Black Mountain). This signal was weak (S1 or 2) at most of our camps on the plateau, but was quite strong (S9) when we were on the edge of the escarpment. I could NOT receive San Diego NOA weather radio (162.400 MHz) EXCEPT when I was right on the eastern escarpment of the Martir plateau, and even then the signal was very weak. I was using my Alinco DJ-160T radio (which has wide band receive capability) and a Larsen 2 meter half wave telescoping antenna. The Yuma-based forecasts did provide useful (in our case reassuring) information.

MARTY GOODMAN -- San Pablo

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