Radio Amateur Helps Rescuers to Locate Lost Hiker 04/19/2021
The keen and practiced eye of ARRL member Ben Kuo, AI6YR, helped to guide rescuers to a hiker stranded on a mountainside on April 12. Hiker Rene Compean, 45, had spent the night in a remote region of the Angeles National Forest after getting in a tough spot. After a concerned friend reported Compean missing on Monday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department dispatched search-and-rescue (SAR) teams. Although amateur radio played no direct role in the rescue, Kuo cited his enthusiasm for technology and ham radio satellites and for Summits on the Air (
By David Smith
Apr 16, 2021 A guy near L.A. went hiking this week and got stranded overnight. He d texted a photo to a friend of his legs dangling off a rock overlooking a canyon. Then later, he said he was lost and that his phone was dying. So rescuers started searching, and posted the photo in case anyone knew the area. And a random guy named Ben Kuo saved the day.
By David Smith
Apr 16, 2021 A guy near L.A. went hiking this week and got stranded overnight. He d texted a photo to a friend of his legs dangling off a rock overlooking a canyon. Then later, he said he was lost and that his phone was dying. So rescuers started searching, and posted the photo in case anyone knew the area. And a random guy named Ben Kuo saved the day.
Ben Kuo scanned through satellite photos of the San Gabriel Mountains on Tuesday trying to match the terrain to a grainy image released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff s Department.
Authorities had asked for the public s help in their search for a lost hiker, who was reported missing Monday. The Sheriff s Office posted on Facebook and Twitter, attaching a photo the hiker had sent to a friend. The photo showed his legs dangled off a cliff high above patches of green brush.
Kuo thought he could figure out where the photo was taken, or at least get pretty close.
The ham radio operator, who teaches courses in wilderness first aid and radio communications at CSU Channel Islands, had searched through satellite images before. Most of the time, however, he was tracking the spread of wildfires.