VE6AB Mobile Ops
APRS Lays The Path
Early morning just after sunrise finds me in the area of Sibbald Flats, part of Kananaskis Country located along the eastern slope of the Alberta Rockies.
I was in the area moving one of my trail cameras from one location in K Country to this new location.
This new location is seen on the map where my Kenwood D72 beacon waypoints can be seen ending in heavy cover near a stream where I positioned my trail camera on a good sized pine tree overlooking a a clearing that includes part of the creek with several large trees that had fallen over and were lying across the creek.
After looking the area over, there appears to be the possibility that a cougar has been using these fallen trees as a bridgework, allowing him to cross over the creek without getting his feet wet,
Once I had my trail camera set up and ready to capture images, I recorded the lat/long coordinates supplied by my D72 that I had set up to manually beacon as VE6AB-7 and was being heard and digipeated by my APRS weather station VE6AB-8 mounted in the cargo bay of my mobile parked on a forestry road a kilometer or so away.
That way when I return in a month I can find the location of my trail camera, as it is easy to forget how to find the location if you don't take the time to record the lat/long coordinates, making sure you can find the particular tree you mounted the camera on.
Give it a month and everything looks the same in heavy cover, although the creek would probably allow me to find the location of my trail camera without to much difficulty.
I also shot several photos of the area in the vicinity of my trail camera with my cell phone, allowing me to check these photos upon returning.
Upon returning to the area in March to where I parked my mobile initially, and by entering the lat/long coordinates into my Garmin Montana, I will be able to easily hike in to the location of my trail camera, as the Montana will lead me directly to the location.
Just so you know, once I have finished swapping out the memory card and installing fresh batteries in my trail camera, I won't have any problem finding my truck again, as its as easy as using the saved waypoints on the Montana to run the course in reverse when returning to my mobile.
Just so you know, its important to always carry a topo map and compass in your pack if your not real familiar with any area, as you do not want to bet your life on a device like a GPS receiver that runs on batteries.
Carrying spare batteries in your pack for your devices is a good idea as well.
While out in about in the back-country whether it is fly-fishing a mountain stream, or visiting one of my trail cameras, or just out for a hike, there is always the possibility of encounters with wild animals, and therefore I always carry bear spray, as it works equally well on fending off bears, cougars, or even wolves.
Click on the photo for a closer look....
Read a more detailed post with included photos on my blog......
http://ve6ab.blogspot.ca/2016/02/ham-radio-in-back-country.html
