HAM Radios in Rural Honduras scenario

[mcpuddin]

Hello HAM radio amateur experts!

I am traveling down to Honduras in 2 weeks with the Engineers Without Borders organization and we are providing a rural educational system advice and design for our a computer network that spans 7 satellite locations over a 4 mile radius. Another thing they want is a way for a school bus to communicate to the different satellite locations. Standard walmart walky-talkies can't get passed the mountains and cell phones are just too expensive down there. However they do have an antenna that spans the entire rural area over the mountains that they are currently using as a WAP. I heard HAM Radios and Repeaters could help in this situation, but I am not confident in this material at all.

Can anyone provide any advice or direction?

Thanks!
James

[K7KBN]

For that sort of application, you'd need to have the support of and authorization from the Honduran equivalent of the FCC.

Check this page: http://www.qsl.net/oh2mcn/hr.htm.

This may help you get in touch with Honduran hams (and also the government agency) who might be more able to help. Repeaters require electrical power, which may be a problem in the areas you'll be working. And repeaters aren't exactly inexpensive.

Good luck.

[m0bov]

Ham Radio is a hobby rather than a forum of communication in its self. It might be worth looking at a commerical form of HF comms, maybe like they use in Oz on bands below 5Mhz.

[K7KBN]

Good point, James.

Below 5 MHz (or even below 30 MHz), however, propagation through a jungle environment such as I'm seeing in my mind's eye can be really problematic with much of the signal being absorbed by the trees and foliage. Possibly the worst environment there is. A tower would have to hold the antenna WELL above the treetops, not just clear for LOS. Treetop height effectively becomes ground level.

Don't think they have too much of that problem in Oz. Some, but not a lot.

Interesting problem.

[m0bov]

Your not wrong there!! ha! Well, what about NVIS? I think the army used that for jungle comms, but I dont know much about it.

[K7KBN]

NVIS might be a viable alternative, but that still requires the antenna to be above ground, even if it's just a small fraction of a wavelength. I envision this group in Honduras effectively buried UNDER the RF ground.