Interviews with the 3 youngest of 7 kids we raised in the wilderness...
A very special part of Mountain Wind Family. bob, Jane and 7 children living in the harsh wilderness of NE Washington Mountains without phone, power, TV, water nor electricity. Part of a long series. continue to look under 'Mountain Wind Family'..From my book available free online;
COMMUNICATIONS
No telephone. Nearest line is 2 miles and 3500 dollars away.
I like the idea of not being bothered. After four years of no ringing.. it adds to the quiet. There are many times though that I would like to make an easy call rather than trek down 1800 feet to the pay phone.
Sometimes in the winter at -10 or so, the pay phone decides to
give up. Telephone repair is about 60 miles away, unless we include the local man who washes booth windows and polishes the buttons.
I've seen ads for radio telephones (not cellular) but they are
half duplex, $2000 plus (for a good one) and your conversations end up getting confused in saying "over". Only two groups have radio telephones up here at 49 north. One is Mt. Izla; two Catholic Monks who live at 6000 feet, far from anything and decided to build a for real post graduate college. They not only have a phone. They have an answering machine, a Macintosh, a Laser printer, 6 fancy buildings, funny robes (black), a half dozen stu dents from all over the world and communicate regularly with the Pope?!
Our family uses good old fashioned CB radio with a small 300 watt linear amplifier. Linears are illegal according to the FCC because they interfere with "All My Children" and "Murphy Brown". As a pro will tell you, linear amps are considered "dirty", which means that harmonics bleed all over television and FM, causing noise, no color, no picture and sometimes, if your not using side band, the folks can hear all you say. They tend to get real irate about missing TV, so I do not recommend linears.... I justify mine because we do not live close enough to anyone with TV. The local repeater (translator) is only 6 miles away, but is a highly refined piece of electronics that rejects my spurious emissions. Anyway, without a linear, a CB around these parts will only travel to the middle of the next mountain and stop dead.
Another alternative to CB or no talk is 2 meters. This area of
the ham band requires a test but no morse code. Here you can purchase
relatively inexpensive handy talkies and converse with other locals who usually have telephones. Or better yet, you might be close to a ham 2 meter repeater with a phone patch! These work good. As a matter of fact, Mendocino is hooked via 2 meter repeaters all the way south to San Diego and north to Portland and beyond.
The real trick of living here is to attempt finding changes and
alternatives. After four years I have found alternatives to calling
and socializing on phones. If it is real important, you'll make the
car trip. If not then you'll adapt!
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