Radio for when Cell Phones won't work

[CulpeperMM]

does anyone have any suggestions good portable radios? will the GMRS style radios work if power is out on the whole grid? What's with the FCC licenses?

There is more to the radio stuff than i imagined. any advise on what radio to get for "survival mode", requirements being 2-way communications within 10 miles and weather/news/emergency scanner.

any informed/experienced discussion on radio communication would be appreciated. i have 0 (zero) knowledge on the subject. Thank you in advance.

 

[Bubbajms]

Well, to start -

FRS/GMRS radios will work independently of any power outside. They have batteries, they work, much like the old days of the CB radio.

GMRS radios use quite a bit more power than FRS radios, and the FCC requires a license to use this much power. I don't know how often they enforce their own rule, but I'm pretty certain that not many folks are using them under license..

The good FRS/GMRS radio sets out there will have weather bands on them, but if the whole grid is down there might not be much to them. Keep in mind that wihout fancy repeaters and things, both FRS and GMRS will be very much "line of sight", so if you think you're going to talk from city to city, you will more likely than not be very much mistaken..

Of course, this is only my opinion - where I live there isn't any cell phone service, so we just remember what we need to talk about and discuss it later

In the event of OMGWTFSHTFBBQ, I want those who are important to me in my field of vision anyhow

 

[Richard]

I use .5/1 watt FRS/GMRS Motorola T5530 handsets, along with 40 channel CB radios & two weather radios (Eaton crank powered AM/FM/TV/Weather w/cell phone recharger & LED area light, emergency flashers & siren, etc)

As far as the GMRS license, you'll need to fill out FCC forms 159 and 605 it's $85 for 5 years.

 

[CulpeperMM]

i guess some sort of hub and spoke system is needed... where ham radios would be the hubs... local events could be relayed to the ham and the ham could communicate with other hams who could then use the more local portable hand-held radio to disseminate info in their area.

clearly hams need generators or non-grid power...

make sense? (i'm thinking aloud)

i'm thinking the interweb is not always going to be available.

 

[cosermann]

The approx./general rule of thumb for calculating distance to the horizon is 3.83 km X the square root of the observer's height in meters. The result is in km. If both antennas are at 6 feet (I know, I'm switching units here), then the line-of-sight distance is 6 miles (3 miles to the horizon for each antenna). Assuming you have enough power (in combination with a decent antenna) and there aren't any obstructions in the way, that's how far you might expect to communicate using VHF/UHF frequencies. Obviously, raising your antenna increases your distance. Even just sticking an antenna on top of a single story house (approx. 14') will increase your line of sight distance to another similarly situated antenna to 10 miles. Here's a link to a handy line-of-sight calculator.

VHF/UHF Line of Sight Distance Calculator

 

[Sailor]

My 5 watt handheld 2 meter radio will run off AA batteries, and here in Fort Wayne the 2 meter repeaters are battery backed up. Most the ham rigs can run off deep cycle batteries.

I am studying for my lic now. The Tech lic to be able to use the uhf/vhf is really easy, the general is going to be a little harder.

Lots of activity on the local repeaters every night. 20 mile coverage using my unit and the repeaters.

 

[92FS]

I would recommend investigating Ham radio for emergency communications, that is one of their specialties. And now that morse code requirements have been dropped you can go "all the way to the top" without having to learn code. And the best part to these multiple choice tests is that you are given all of the questions and answers in advance to study for the test. Their are currently three tests. With the passing of each test you are given access to more bands/frequencies.

For further info visit the following links:

FCC: Wireless Services: Amateur Radio Service: Amateur Home

ARRLWeb: ARRL Home Page

N9MGS, Extra class

 

[Dr Falken]

For the time and money, get your ham license, you open yourself up to better/more powerful radios and a network of people who have been doing this for awhile and in a lot of areas are fairly active. As far as emergency situations, Amatuer radio has an annual Field Day, where they transmit and recieve for a 24 hour period off of non-grid power. There are many "nets" on a weekly basis where people check in and communicate in an orderly manner and deseminate news and info. I imagine many radio clubs should be having "Skywarn" training soon for weather preparedness and reporting. You can get a decent HT (Handie Talkie) on the 2m band for about $100 new. That will get you on the repeaters and talking and runs on batteries. You can usually program them to recieve many of your scanner frequencies.

 

[agentl074]

Shortwave Shortwave Shortwave!

 

[CulpeperMM]

thanks to all for the replies. this is helpful

 

[CulpeperMM]

where's the best place in fort wayne to pick up the 2M handheld ham? is ICOM a good brand? do you have to have a license first? anything i should know before going to a dealer?

 

[Sailor]

Icom or Yaesu are both good. I did not find a place here.

I ended up with a Yaesu VX-170 5 watts, waterproof to 3ft. Built like a tank. Google it for the cheapest. I got mine for $114. I am listening to repeaters in Auburn with the included ant. If you get an Ant. on your roof you will extend your range. With your tech license, you can also talk on 6m 10m and 440. Plus I think you can morse code on all the HF bands.

Going to add a base station now so I can comm hundreds of miles.

 

[CulpeperMM]

thanks again. i really appreciate your help

 

[agentl074]

I've been looking into the Shortwave/HF radios and they look cool! YAESU FT 857D HF/VHF/UHF Mobile Transceiver FT857D FT857 D 857

 

[Sailor]

That 857 is sweet. You will need to take both the technician test and the general test to use the HF bands for phone (voice) but you can use the hf bands for cw (morse code) with just a tech lic. The 897d is the same but has the ability to run on batteries internally. You would need an external battery for 857. Both kick A.

 

[CulpeperMM]

I have decided on the VX-170 as a hand-held to start.

 

[The Meach]

I'd have multiple methods ready if that's your worry

GMRS/FRS is good for personal communications but it is kinda hard to find others if they are using the "privacy" Channels

HAM works if you have 50 car batteries or a diesel generator, there are other limitations but in the end its a damn good way to get the word out.

Shortwave is awesome but can be unpredictable depending and what time of day you use it or how high the cloud deck is

A used CB will run you 20-30 bucks and in the end is a lot more populous than HAM. if SHTF there will still be millions of CBs out there. plus they already have an o-crap freq.

But i wouldn't give up on the modern stuff so fast. Electricity isn't to hard to come by and the infrastructure for phone/internet is extremely difficult to take down. Even if 90% of the system were taken out (which would take a biblical event) the remaining 10 could handle at least at a limited capacity and would still function at 26k speeds. (REALLY slow but functional).

I bought myself a hand held CB and a bargain basement laptop with phone/network/wireless connectivity and a multiple power units for the car, standard outlets ect. all for less than 150 bucks. And i use it for rompin around town with. but when i put it away i always pull all the power feeds off it so its EMP safe. That way if S does HTF i will have them as a tool.

Remember in real life there is no magic off switch, its almost impossible to wipe out the whole system. well, at least not without wiping us all out with it...

...in that case there would be no need for the radio anyway ;-)

 

[jeremy]

But i wouldn't give up on the modern stuff so fast. Electricity isn't to hard to come by and the infrastructure for phone/internet is extremely difficult to take down. Even if 90% of the system were taken out (which would take a biblical event) the remaining 10 could handle at least at a limited capacity and would still function at 26k speeds. (REALLY slow but functional).


Remember in real life there is no magic off switch, its almost impossible to wipe out the whole system. well, at least not without wiping us all out with it...

...in that case there would be no need for the radio anyway ;-)

Uhhh... Do you remember Katrina. She took out communications in a tri-state area for about a week completely and spotty after that. At least until the guard arrived with a LOT of generators to power the towers with anyway.

 

[The Meach]

Uhhh... Do you remember Katrina. She took out communications in a tri-state area for about a week completely and spotty after that. At least until the guard arrived with a LOT of generators to power the towers with anyway.

Cells failed, Landlines failed, however VIOP still worked

 

[jeremy]

VIOP only in the very northern area of those states.