Radio Communications from a prepping for disaster standpoint?

Question

I am not someone that goes crazy prepping and spending lots of money. I have a more simple, inexpensive approach. I only store things that I will use. I am thinking a lot about radio communications. I feel that it will be important for me to have the capability to listen to radio, listen to emergency communications, and be able to communicate when needed.

I have already bought a hand crank AM/FM radio.
I am also thinking about getting a 2 way radio which would include a scanner and either walkie talkie feature or ham radio.

It is just my husband and I and I would think that we would mostly be together, unless one of us had to go somewhere for a necessity or something. I also do not plan on getting a ham license, because I will not use the ham portion of it unless it is a dire emergency or to protect my property (I read somewhere that it's okay to use in those instances).
The Baofeng reviews make it sound a little complicated. Should I get one, knowing that I wont be practicing ham, or could it get me into trouble if I inadvertently transmitted or something?
Should I just get the one with the walkie-talkie?
Please help me figure this out!

Answer 1

Fritz was a bit harsh, but he is correct in that Ham radio is not something you just pick up and do and it would be very easy to screw up ongoing emergency communications even if just listening and spread false information. . Unless you know where to listen, the ham could be useless. For just you and your husband, FRS, GMRS and CB radio would be the way to go. They are limited range but useful. Except for GMRS through repeaters, do not depend on the infrastructure being in place. You should worry more about power to charge the batteries in these radios. Get some form of solar cells, or a generator. Without power, any radio makes a good paperweight and not much else. The Baofeng radios are good if you know what you are doing, but they are complex, and would not be useful in bands that do not require a license. Again, Power is an issue and infrastructure since if the repeaters go down, they are no more useful than the FRS radios. A ham license, technician level, is not that hard to get and can be fun and useful in other times. The Weather radio is only good if the infrastructure is there, and same for the scanner. The hand cranked broadcast radio is your best bet for information. An Emergency Alert Sytstem Receiver would not be a bad idea.

Answer 2

Originally I set up with CB radios but that requires a big antenna, at least 2 feet and higher is better, but my wife doesn't like big antennas on her car so I got a GMRS license, $65 it's good for the whole family and I got some GMRS mobile radios and some handheld, not the cheap little things but good ones. The cheap things can only talk about 1/2 mile, the big ones can talk 3 to 5 miles. Mobile, if you buy that cheap Midland one you can talk about 5 miles, with the bigger radios you can talk 10, 20, 50 miles or farther, depends on the area you live in.



GMRS antennas on the car are only 6 inches tall. CB you need at least 2 feet. If you do choose GMRS you have to make sure the radios you buy are part 95 accepted, some people seem to think you can use part 90 and the rules clearly say it must be part 95 accepted.



So basically you can talk the same distance GMRS or CB but the antenna is the different part and also with GMRS you can choose a private tone so you don't hear anyone else, but still people can hear you, but at least you and your husband can talk without anyone else wanting to cut in, but of course there could be someone else on the channel you choose and you would have to share, but with hundreds of channels, probably you can have a channel all to yourself.

Answer 3

Congratulations in your interest in Ham Radio (Amateur Radio). It is an amazing radio service and hobby that requires a license in most any country in the world. And has a very deep technologies to communicate across town or around the world with both analog and digital modes.



Radios start under $50 on Amazon or ebay.



Here is a link to explore and learn more...

http://www.arrl.org/getting-licensed



Here is a video that shows a radio club setting up and operating a yearly contest called Field Day.



http://youtu.be/DsM-WnBoLts

Answer 4

If you want to use the ham frequencies then both you and your husband should get Tech. licenses. Cost is about $15, good for 10 years, and you can study all the questions and answers, free on-line.

Answer 5

Get a long range walkie-talkie - CB / FRS / GMRS. Unless you have a license, know what to listen to, which frequencies to monitor, you'll be wasting your time with HAM radio. You can pick some small hand-held units with ranges of 30-50 miles and battery life of 5-12 hours, if your volume is not excessive and you're mostly listening. Common life of batteries is 4-6 hours, or 2 hours if you're regularly talking. If you plan to use a base station, with longer range, better antenna, etc., plan for alternate power source for your home, and use the power sparingly.



Like Bill mentioned, batteries will be in short supply, so have a means of recharging them, and means for cooking, etc.



Most canned or dried food, spices, healthy oils, etc. have a year or shorter shelf life. Make sure you rotate your "stores" with your normal food, so you don't get surprised. Water (1-5 gal/day per person) will not be safe - well water won't pump, unless you have a manual pump. You'll still need to filter it for impurities, especially parasite bugs. The last thing you need is to get sick, when everything gets hard to find, very expensive, or simply not available. Expect the grid to be out, so solar, hand power, wind, water or wood/burn/steam may be your only sources, so use them wisely. Hydroponics for growing veggies may be useful.



Be aware, some cities and states have outlawed retaining rain water, others have even outlawed livestock, home gardening. You may need to watch your local ordinances and stay on top of legal changes as they come about.

Answer 6

We hams are very protective of our parts of the frequency spectrum. If you illegally transmit, we tend to track you down quickly -- after all, who else has the equipment and knowledge and motivation to do that? -- and turn you over to the authorities.



And in an emergency, the real, trained hams are using the spectrum to provide emergency communications. The last thing anybody needs is for some drunk redneck "prepper" who has no fcuking clue what he's doing to fire up a transmitter and interefere with legitimate emergency communications. You could cost lives that way. You want to be a ham, get a license and learn how to do emergency communications right. Otherwise, shut up.