How do you plan to get news or communicate?
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1,829 Posts
Ham is the way to go, when all else fails, ham will be there, you cannot change radio waves. More specifically, cw. Start learning amateur radio while you can, get licensed with it. Its not only great for a teotwawki situation, but is a great hobby.
73s
73s
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21,643 Posts
For awhile Radio AM /Fm band Satellite feeds. over time that will be less and less as power is no longer available. Will listen in on HAM but not transmit. We have a couple Radios that are hand crank we will see how long they last.
Not to push one brand here is a link to look at many
Crank Radio Review 2013 | Best Wind up Radios | Emergency Hand Crank Radio - TopTenREVIEWS
Not to push one brand here is a link to look at many
Crank Radio Review 2013 | Best Wind up Radios | Emergency Hand Crank Radio - TopTenREVIEWS
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9,222 Posts
I have commercial amateur equipment, from two meter down through hf.
Also have military hf transceivers that cover from 200 kc to 30mc continuous.
They operate all modes, usb, lsb, rtty, cw up to 2 kw pep.
2 meter ht's 6mtr ht's, bases with packet.
Everything is either emp proof or shielded when not in use.
If the shtf will operate outside the standard bands.
Field ops will be with encrypted motorola saber's.
Local comm with op's, lp's and ff's will be with ta312 wire line with a sb22.
Also have military hf transceivers that cover from 200 kc to 30mc continuous.
They operate all modes, usb, lsb, rtty, cw up to 2 kw pep.
2 meter ht's 6mtr ht's, bases with packet.
Everything is either emp proof or shielded when not in use.
If the shtf will operate outside the standard bands.
Field ops will be with encrypted motorola saber's.
Local comm with op's, lp's and ff's will be with ta312 wire line with a sb22.
Same here. Been looking at HAM lately and will be getting certified soon. The emergency radio I have is the Kaito Voyager. I posted a few pics and a real brief review of it on this thread (post #12) http://www.prepperforums.net/forum/...ions/108-eton-emergency-radios.html#post15983
As long as NOAA is still up they will brodcast any emergency information so whatever radio you go with make sure it has the weather band.
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21,643 Posts
I want to avoid any transmitting if it gets to that point of a lock down I want us to fade away not draw attention to us . Even use of small very short range communication devices will be very limited
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2,074 Posts
Radio comms will be great, but transmitting always carries the of risk giving away your position-
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MORE: http://www.prepperforums.net/forum/general-talk/2035-where-prep-post-about-communications.html
MORE: http://www.prepperforums.net/forum/general-talk/2035-where-prep-post-about-communications.html
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1,005 Posts
There are VHF/UHF hand-helds that cover those Ham bands as well as FRS/GMRS, MURS, Public Service, Marine, NOAA Weather, FM Broadcast, etc. that will fit in a shirt pocket and cost less than 60 bucks.
...oh.. and welcome to the forum
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2,074 Posts
I've got this ordinary battery radio to listen to news broadcasts (if there are any) at the end of the world so i can figger out my next move, for example I wouldn't want to miss one that said "Government food convoys will be coming into your city so sit tight"
After taking that pic I EMP-proofed it (below) by removing the batteries and wrapping it in a plastic bag and kitchen foil, and it now sits on a cupboard shelf. (the plastic bag keeps the foil from touching the radio). Hey noobs, EMP stands for Electromagnetic Pulse from a nuke bomb or solar flare, both capable of blowing out radio electronics unless proofed.
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1,829 Posts
Welcome to the forum. While is great you are thinking about weight and every pound to ounce to gram does make a difference, subsitute a pack of playing cards for a radio. There are some that are less in weight than what I have.
Here are the weight specs for my ft-60r
Weight: 13.05oz (370g)
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481 Posts
I think this is the radio recommended by SoutherPrepper - Wouxun KG-UV2D
Wouxun KG-UV2D+Original Speaker MIC+USB Cable+CD 136-174/420-520 Ham 2-way Radio on eBay!
Wouxun KG-UV2D+Original Speaker MIC+USB Cable+CD 136-174/420-520 Ham 2-way Radio on eBay!
Hmm seen a lot of contradictory statements here according to what I know.
My HAM is a cool little device, no doubt. I was able to find a local repeater and key it in, it probably will reach up to 25 miles- covering my whole area. It will also let me listen in on police channels and other radio comms like weather band and FM. But since I got my ticket and call sign I have found that people who operate HAM radios are ASSHOLES! You should have heard this one guy me and Hank heard while testing our rigs...he started telling us he 'owned' that frequency and we better get off the air of he would get out his 'directional finding equipment' and come to our houses and have us arrested. We started laughing. He then starts cussing at us and called Hank a '******* without a license' (Hank is extra class) and I cut him off and reamed him fashionably. Hank is a guy so gentle and nice his honeybees will let him pick them up without trying to sting him. I'll be damned if someone talks like that my my best friend in front of me.
So after picking this bozo-nerd apart and telling him exactly what he was going to do to us, he gives up (having his bluff called out and laid flat) and goes 'you'll always be scum!' and goes silent. I mean to say that I have NEVER seen so many elitist snide asshats on one hobby. I have been scanning the repeaters and going around the channels, checking with local radio clubs and damn if every other one isn't an asshole. First of all, HAM is boring. Every second operator is some pocket protector oddball trying to be the airwave police, or some argumentative drunk who thinks it's a national debate outlet. All the former wants to do is call in "w4tgr, checking in" and vanish after the other confirms. NO talking seems to be the rule with most HAM operators. If the objective of HAM is just to briefly make contact and go onto the next station, that is plenty lame. Why would you buy 1200 dollars of HAM equipment to barely even use it? The price of almost all HAM equipment is beyond insane these days. It's hard to use, hard to manage and hard to find other signals. Hard to stand some of the people who run them, too. Now, I have had a couple good conversations while randomly scanning, such as a pair from Lockheed Martin who talked with me for about half an hour and they too agreed HAM radio is usually lame. I was telling them about the guy I mentioned and they assured me it was all too common to see that crap. It is. These people I guess have some elitism issues because they bought a 25 dollar license that is pathetically easy to get. It doesn't mean anything, it's too easy to think you're special. I HAVE a license and I'll be the first to tell you that it means absolutely nothing. If a ten year old can have a HAM lic. then it means nothing in all reality. It's all about the gov't getting money.
I saw a post above from our pal that made me laugh about getting arrested. Here's how this works.
The FCC will not, absolutely will not (proven fact) bust anyone. They can't. They have no legal authority over you but their very vaguely worded federal code. They CAN impose hefty fines to people they have in their hand with mounds of evidence and eyewitnesses (or ear witnesses) which rarely happens, or they send you a piece of paper saying to stop and just how angry they will get with you. It's useless for other HAM operators to track down your station with directional antennas (which is a long drawn out process) and only works when the offending operator is actively broadcasting for long periods of time. Even then, all the people who tracked it can do is tattle with the FCC and hope they send a piece of paper saying to please stop or they will get mad. The piece of paper is the worst that will happen. It's a joke.
Now, if you are running like 1000watts on ten meter band and splashing over onto nearby TV sets and car radios for long hours on end or disrupting police comms with your rig, yeah. They might come down and arrest your ass. And it would be the COPS, not the FCC because you were braking real laws. the FCC has had nothing to do with the last five people busted for doing something like that, and had no hand in anything including the tracking. If a large number of citizens complains to the FCC yes, they may find you and fine you if you are stupid like those 5 people nationwide over a ten year period (see what I'm getting at?) If a large number of other HAM operators complains to the FCC nothing will occur. It's the paper. The most recent person busted had an extremely powerful station and was jamming CA police and fire radio, threatening to bomb people, threatening the police captains and telling people she would blow them up while disguising her voice with a tone shifter and broadcasting 24/7. Wasn't long before the cops kicked her door in and had all the evidence they needed to convict. Rarely does that happen, and I mean rarely.
It is anarchy over these airwaves otherwise. HAM is just not what it used to be or was intended to be. the FCC takes tax money and sits lazily aside. It's snake oil is what they are. They HAVE no real function. As for THEM tracking you, won't happen. Other HAM operators will be the ones to find you and then it will still take some doing. And if they wind up trespassing they can get shot like any other man. What they will need to do is prove someone is in possession of, and actively using a HAM setup WITH facial identification AND other corroborating eyewitnesses or...when it gets to court (any court civil or criminal) the case gets thrown out for lack of prosecution evidence. Any fool cheap lawyer could run rings around what a few HAM operators and a soccer mom can bring to the stand. Without a giant antenna in the back yard or them being in the room and identifying you while doing it, the best evidence they have is circumstantial at best and this is precisely why the FCC will do nothing about it. Not to mention the moment you stop transmitting you are a ghost. If you are mobile like I am they cannot track you realistically. Triangulation doesn't work that way. And the people using directional antennas still have to find what area, what street, what house ect ect...the second you go quiet and stay quiet for awhile they lose the trail. I have seen guys on youtube running home made repeaters out in the woods and masking their facility's locations and the HAM clubbers have been looking for the last 2 years and have not been able to find them yet. The cops and FCC refuse to investigate.
The reality of HAM is that is has potential to be of great use to preppers, but it's really expensive and boring and the main part of HAM operators will not even let you talk over the airwaves. You'll deal with a lot of elitism, a lot of old dorks who are jerks and nitpicky people who absolutely know you don't have a license if you don't say your callsign after everything you say. Or you will deal with channel after channel of utter silence. My opinion? (which I respect)
Go shoot yourself in the foot with a 22. It's cheaper and less painful.
My HAM is a cool little device, no doubt. I was able to find a local repeater and key it in, it probably will reach up to 25 miles- covering my whole area. It will also let me listen in on police channels and other radio comms like weather band and FM. But since I got my ticket and call sign I have found that people who operate HAM radios are ASSHOLES! You should have heard this one guy me and Hank heard while testing our rigs...he started telling us he 'owned' that frequency and we better get off the air of he would get out his 'directional finding equipment' and come to our houses and have us arrested. We started laughing. He then starts cussing at us and called Hank a '******* without a license' (Hank is extra class) and I cut him off and reamed him fashionably. Hank is a guy so gentle and nice his honeybees will let him pick them up without trying to sting him. I'll be damned if someone talks like that my my best friend in front of me.
So after picking this bozo-nerd apart and telling him exactly what he was going to do to us, he gives up (having his bluff called out and laid flat) and goes 'you'll always be scum!' and goes silent. I mean to say that I have NEVER seen so many elitist snide asshats on one hobby. I have been scanning the repeaters and going around the channels, checking with local radio clubs and damn if every other one isn't an asshole. First of all, HAM is boring. Every second operator is some pocket protector oddball trying to be the airwave police, or some argumentative drunk who thinks it's a national debate outlet. All the former wants to do is call in "w4tgr, checking in" and vanish after the other confirms. NO talking seems to be the rule with most HAM operators. If the objective of HAM is just to briefly make contact and go onto the next station, that is plenty lame. Why would you buy 1200 dollars of HAM equipment to barely even use it? The price of almost all HAM equipment is beyond insane these days. It's hard to use, hard to manage and hard to find other signals. Hard to stand some of the people who run them, too. Now, I have had a couple good conversations while randomly scanning, such as a pair from Lockheed Martin who talked with me for about half an hour and they too agreed HAM radio is usually lame. I was telling them about the guy I mentioned and they assured me it was all too common to see that crap. It is. These people I guess have some elitism issues because they bought a 25 dollar license that is pathetically easy to get. It doesn't mean anything, it's too easy to think you're special. I HAVE a license and I'll be the first to tell you that it means absolutely nothing. If a ten year old can have a HAM lic. then it means nothing in all reality. It's all about the gov't getting money.
I saw a post above from our pal that made me laugh about getting arrested. Here's how this works.
The FCC will not, absolutely will not (proven fact) bust anyone. They can't. They have no legal authority over you but their very vaguely worded federal code. They CAN impose hefty fines to people they have in their hand with mounds of evidence and eyewitnesses (or ear witnesses) which rarely happens, or they send you a piece of paper saying to stop and just how angry they will get with you. It's useless for other HAM operators to track down your station with directional antennas (which is a long drawn out process) and only works when the offending operator is actively broadcasting for long periods of time. Even then, all the people who tracked it can do is tattle with the FCC and hope they send a piece of paper saying to please stop or they will get mad. The piece of paper is the worst that will happen. It's a joke.
Now, if you are running like 1000watts on ten meter band and splashing over onto nearby TV sets and car radios for long hours on end or disrupting police comms with your rig, yeah. They might come down and arrest your ass. And it would be the COPS, not the FCC because you were braking real laws. the FCC has had nothing to do with the last five people busted for doing something like that, and had no hand in anything including the tracking. If a large number of citizens complains to the FCC yes, they may find you and fine you if you are stupid like those 5 people nationwide over a ten year period (see what I'm getting at?) If a large number of other HAM operators complains to the FCC nothing will occur. It's the paper. The most recent person busted had an extremely powerful station and was jamming CA police and fire radio, threatening to bomb people, threatening the police captains and telling people she would blow them up while disguising her voice with a tone shifter and broadcasting 24/7. Wasn't long before the cops kicked her door in and had all the evidence they needed to convict. Rarely does that happen, and I mean rarely.
It is anarchy over these airwaves otherwise. HAM is just not what it used to be or was intended to be. the FCC takes tax money and sits lazily aside. It's snake oil is what they are. They HAVE no real function. As for THEM tracking you, won't happen. Other HAM operators will be the ones to find you and then it will still take some doing. And if they wind up trespassing they can get shot like any other man. What they will need to do is prove someone is in possession of, and actively using a HAM setup WITH facial identification AND other corroborating eyewitnesses or...when it gets to court (any court civil or criminal) the case gets thrown out for lack of prosecution evidence. Any fool cheap lawyer could run rings around what a few HAM operators and a soccer mom can bring to the stand. Without a giant antenna in the back yard or them being in the room and identifying you while doing it, the best evidence they have is circumstantial at best and this is precisely why the FCC will do nothing about it. Not to mention the moment you stop transmitting you are a ghost. If you are mobile like I am they cannot track you realistically. Triangulation doesn't work that way. And the people using directional antennas still have to find what area, what street, what house ect ect...the second you go quiet and stay quiet for awhile they lose the trail. I have seen guys on youtube running home made repeaters out in the woods and masking their facility's locations and the HAM clubbers have been looking for the last 2 years and have not been able to find them yet. The cops and FCC refuse to investigate.
The reality of HAM is that is has potential to be of great use to preppers, but it's really expensive and boring and the main part of HAM operators will not even let you talk over the airwaves. You'll deal with a lot of elitism, a lot of old dorks who are jerks and nitpicky people who absolutely know you don't have a license if you don't say your callsign after everything you say. Or you will deal with channel after channel of utter silence. My opinion? (which I respect)
Go shoot yourself in the foot with a 22. It's cheaper and less painful.
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10,284 Posts
I have been a ham for over 20 yrs. Most of the people I deal with are not like that. geeks yes, a**holes not so much. Am I a geek, maybe a little but not has much as my friends. They have much more electronics and computer training than I do. Being partially color blind will do that to you. I guess I am a semi-geek. I can operate and diagnose many but not all radio/computer problems. Am I a dork? Guess it depends on who you talk to. Am I an a**hole? Sometimes if the situation calls for it. I am adaptable. Could I stand up toe to toe and duke it out with you? Not anymore, too old for that shit. Have I met hams with cranial/rectal inversion? Yup, but then again you can find those people in most walks of life.
Most of the hams I know will go out of their way to help you. Every Saturday a group of hams meet at a What-a-Burger here and you can ask all the questions you want and get answers. I have seen a newbie come in and a group of experienced hams have helped them install gear in their cars. Antenna issues, electronic issue and even computer issue will most likely be solved there. You don't have to be a member of any club or hang out with certain people. They will welcome you, much the same as I have found here.
The only real function for hams is emergency communications. Other than that, it's only practice. Like firearms you are only as good as your training. Ham radio is like everything else, you have the good and not so much good. I'm sorry you had a problem with these people but not all hams are like them.
Most of the hams I know will go out of their way to help you. Every Saturday a group of hams meet at a What-a-Burger here and you can ask all the questions you want and get answers. I have seen a newbie come in and a group of experienced hams have helped them install gear in their cars. Antenna issues, electronic issue and even computer issue will most likely be solved there. You don't have to be a member of any club or hang out with certain people. They will welcome you, much the same as I have found here.
The only real function for hams is emergency communications. Other than that, it's only practice. Like firearms you are only as good as your training. Ham radio is like everything else, you have the good and not so much good. I'm sorry you had a problem with these people but not all hams are like them.
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1,005 Posts
We've got 3 of the KG-UVD1P's (in addition to various Icom and Vertex handhelds)... the Wouxun's are actually pretty good radios and stand up well under (ab)use.
The UVD1P's and the UV2D's, however, do not have the 2.5KHz frequency step required to correctly tune many public service frequencies newly assigned during the VHF Narrow-banding mandate that takes effect next month.
This is not critical, but it's a nice feature if you want to include updated police, fire, ems, ema, etc. in your list. A couple of UV6D variations do include 2.5KHz stepping.
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10,284 Posts
My buddy and I got the UV-5R partly because of the cost, dirt cheap on ebay, and partly because it was the least expensive radio available that we liked with the 2.5KHz increments. As far as durability, time will tell. I am not the most graceful person around. My Kenwood TH-D7a once went flying off the hood of my car at 35mph. I didn't destroy it like I thought I had. Yeah, I can abuse some equipment, lol.
Another buddy is in a nursing home and I bought him a UVD1P so he could have access to his local repeater. That's not a bad radio either. I got that about a year ago and he is still using it.
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1,005 Posts
Hey Leon,
Sorry to hear that your ham radio experience has been so disappointing... I can assure you that it's not like that everywhere. I've been licensed for more than 30 years and Mrs. Whoppo has her ticket as well. While we do have a few locals who are kind of a disappointment, the majority of hams in this area are good operators, extremely helpful and generally nice folks. We've got repeaters on 10 meters, 6 meters, 2 meters, 220MHZ, 440MHz and 1.2GHz with coverage areas from a few miles to over 150 miles, so anything from a quick hello to a "old buzzard" rag chew is never too far away.
At home I've got some vintage AM gear dating from the late 30's through the early 60's that I use on 160 and 80 meters mostly and more modern gear for SSB and digital modes. We've got HF/VHF/UHF gear in both daily driver vehicles and in the motor home... from my pickup truck I've worked 175 countries and have regular conversations with friends all over the place. It's hard to imagine being without ham radio, despite the occasional douchebag.
I hope your future ham radio experiences improve.
Sorry to hear that your ham radio experience has been so disappointing... I can assure you that it's not like that everywhere. I've been licensed for more than 30 years and Mrs. Whoppo has her ticket as well. While we do have a few locals who are kind of a disappointment, the majority of hams in this area are good operators, extremely helpful and generally nice folks. We've got repeaters on 10 meters, 6 meters, 2 meters, 220MHZ, 440MHz and 1.2GHz with coverage areas from a few miles to over 150 miles, so anything from a quick hello to a "old buzzard" rag chew is never too far away.
At home I've got some vintage AM gear dating from the late 30's through the early 60's that I use on 160 and 80 meters mostly and more modern gear for SSB and digital modes. We've got HF/VHF/UHF gear in both daily driver vehicles and in the motor home... from my pickup truck I've worked 175 countries and have regular conversations with friends all over the place. It's hard to imagine being without ham radio, despite the occasional douchebag.
I hope your future ham radio experiences improve.
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