I got the Midland crank radio. It has weather and is an FRS/GMRS transceiver which makes it a serviceable base unit. Works really well.
Posted on 03/20/2014 5:45:11 PM PDT by Kartographer
Buy Three Months Of Food Stock Buy A Water Filter Buy A Small Solar Kit Store A Fuel Source Find Alternative Shelter Buy One Semi-Automatic Rifle Buy 1,000 Rounds Of Ammunition Approach One Friend Or Neighbor Learn One Barter Skill Grow A Garden Prepare Your Mind For Calamity
(Excerpt) Read more at shtfplan.com ...
I got the Midland crank radio. It has weather and is an FRS/GMRS transceiver which makes it a serviceable base unit. Works really well.
I started preparing in 1998, realizing loss of power meant trucks would stop and there would be no food. I calculated what I needed and set about to get it. So, I don’t know “when” it will happen or what it will be, I’m ready for it. I grew up in a time when families had gardens and women canned food. We always had plenty of canned food to last a very long time. That was the way people lived in those days. I have also learned how to grow food and have that going right now. Call that going back to olden times to grow your own food.
Getting a Federal License for a Radio is the same to me as getting a Federal License for a gun.
No thanks. I'll do without both.
Buying a radio system is rife with myriad models none of which seem to be optimum. The same applies to PTT handsets for local use. The 35 miler sets are really only 1-2 miles, unless you live on the Utah salt flats.
Less than a mile with typical obstructions like trees and houses. Some require a license, too. Also not legal to attach an external antenna or increase output power. Usually, those 35 mile radios are a little better than 'line of sight'.
Agreed, and now I see there are 50-milers out there. That must be the bait.
I don't play the whacker game with ARES and RACES and the like, the yellow vests and dime store badges, car stickers and whatnot are not for me. With all of the money the government takes from me at gunpoint they can buy their own radios and hire their own operators as far as I'm concerned.
BUT I can see the benefit (personally and to my family and neighbors) in being an experienced operator in certain circumstances which may arise and I defend having the license as it is the only way one is going to get the experience to know the ins and outs of the diverse range of equipment, infrastructure, spectrum, external factors and so forth which form the knowledge and skills of a competent radio operator. In short, you are not going to get the time of day from other hams if you are not legit, and without them you will not learn those skills.
Also store some electronics, spare ham radio, spare amfm radio, in a faraday cage. I built mine using old shoeboxes and strong aluminum foil and sealed with aluminum tape. I also keep my daily electronic gizmos in an non operational micro wave. My daughter calls me anal retentive. But They all know where to show up when the shtf. Taught the grandsons how to shoot rifles and hand guns.
A nice theory maybe in your neck of the woods. Around here, not so much...
Most of the people I know who are knowledgeable are grey men... However I do not engage in any of it, I am an aspiring author and its all just research to me.
The frequencies and PL tones I can get easily enough and have programmed them into my Wouxun. Seems easy enough to contact a repeater with no formal training or license. I won't actually do that except in a dire emergency or societal breakdown but I certainly know how. I do use it to monitor the repeaters up here in the Cascades from time to time. Have an outdoor 2M antenna but don't seem to need it.
The shortwave stuff I receive on the Degen 1103 and one or two backups.
I’m a new General Class and have great respect for those who earned their license before they dropped the CW requirement. My goal is to learn CW before the end of the year. I feel lucky that I have a local club with active members and usually 40-50 show up for the monthly meetings. The area I live in took three direct hits from hurricanes in 2004. Charley, Francis and Jeanne left me without power for six weeks. That was a wake up call and I’ll never be without coms again. As a noob, I just purchased my first HF rig, a ts-930s with built in tuner. I picked up a g5rv dipole and should be up and running early next week. (Have to trim some trees first).
73
bkmk
Any site or tutorial to get someone started that knows nothing about radios?
Bookmark
Bought the Judge but have not fired it yet...
I should add that if you use a smartphone, there is a free app from the ARRL for repeaters. Go to your Play Store and search on ARRL Repeater Directory. Be advised that you can listen but it is a federal offense to transmit or interfere on ameteur frequencies without a license. Hams are self regulating and will find you and prosecute you. We actually train to locate hidden transmitters. We call it a foxhunt.
I live in the same area those storms hit. Not that long without power though.
I am ready to be self sufficient for a long time, but other than regular radios I have not planned a need for communication...maybe I will be sorry, but expect to just shelter in place for a long time.
If you were lucky, the power grid you were on had a hospital, police or fire station. That was the power company priorities when restoring lines and transformers. It is frustrating when homes and businesses within sight are running their a/c while you swelter in tropical heat by candle light for weeks.
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