Main concern from a civil defense standpoint is always gonna be basic infrastructure - water, dams, bridges, powerlines, telephones - failing from natural or man made causes, and there has been an interesting line the last few days about Russian and Chinese surveillance of major US power grid control systems (Occam's razor tells me they are trying to “borrow” the technology for their own use, ‘cause they could sure use it and I'm fairly sure it's export controlled & they can't just buy it - and they have nothing to gain from sabotaging it), but I digress.
A major reason for my renewed interest IS the combination of circumstances under which we live, and I just want to have more of my own totally independent resources of any kind that can aid survival, mine & close family, and in general. Radio communication is a tool that can serve in a wide variety of ways. It's inexpensive to set up a station that's transportable yet will deliver predictable results. Being practiced and knowledgeable, and maintianing a good number of close personal contacts over time is part of the package, so being licensed (not so much to keep the government from coming after you ‘cause it's a medium that's virtually impossible to police really, but the simple fact is the vast majority of guys & gals on the bands won't give you the time of day if you're not legit) and operating regularly is important.
I have been away from it a long time so I practically need to start over. There are a few guys I know that we would give one-another the shirt off our backs or more, but time passes and without steady contact they slip away, some die or leave for parts unknown and for me I have seen enough that I know it's time to get back into the old haunts and also explore some new ones. Use it or lose it is a a major informal slogan of the fraternity and it applies to one and all, so for the good of one and all I am back.
At the test session tonight I was encouraged, because there was a large number of folks in attendance, probably half coming for their first license, and almost nobody walked out the door without what they came for. I was more fortunate being the only one who actually got more than I came for but even the couple folks who failed must have learned more what to expect, and it's not a cause for shame because nobody outside the room need ever know.
The fading popularity of Ham Radio over the last 20 years or so has been a concern for all. Unlike the firearms community Hams don't have several major lobby groups going after them but there are one or two and at some low point simple economics would give them a win by default. We do have ARRL (our counterpart to the NRA), and unlike BATF, our regulating body (FCC) is on our side and has repeatedly gone above and beyond to keep the service alive, but the economic argument remains a threat.
The examiners tonight noted the steady increase in new licensees over the past few months. Don't know if there are parallels to be drawn but either way it's encouraging.
With the chicom bugs placed in our power infrastructure yesterday, I think any ‘backup’ communication systems are a good idea.
I think as long as there are airwaves to surf there will be HAMS