A walkie talkie tuned in on our favourite number, maybe, so we can keep each other around us updated. Keep it in a Faraday Box methinks with something to manually charge it.
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Ham radio > Walkie talkie. If the lights go out, you don't need to worry about FCC licensing issues.
Why should we; MSM doesn't.
In time of a life and death emergency, it is legal to use any radio to signal for help. You will likely get away with no license, but there is a certain skill set needed to use it effectively. Why not get a Ham license now? The test isn't that hard, and you can build relationships with other communicators before it's actually needed. I'll warn you of one thing though, no matter when you get on the air, if you don't have a license, generally no other operator will be willing to communicate with you.
Just as owning a firearm, you can shoot it right out of the box, but it's of limited value if you never trained with it. Better to train before the big event(s), and going to the firing range is fun.
Same with Ham radio.
http://arrl.org/licensing-education-training
All test questions and answers are published on line.
Agree that in shtf licenses are useless however consider that being effective with comms requires a bit of practice and knowledge that is hard to perfect without experience. A ham license gives you that ability without being noticed... then when shtf your ready to rock.. its like having a gun but never shooting it until you need it...
"Licenses" will be your least important worry when TSHTF. The FCC has very few monitoring stations and they will go dark when the power goes off. Actually, during a Declared Emergency, Hams can and do transceive with military and civilian stations to pass Health and Welfare and other emergency messages. This has occurred during many disasters including hurricanes, earthquakes and mass casualty events. If you are licensed as an Amateur Radio Service (HAM) Operator, you just use your regular callsign as your identification. There are yearly military to HAM communications tests, most of which takes place on the 60-meter shared HAM and military/FEMA shared frequencies.
yes that was my point
And a good point too. Practice makes perfect pretty much. Hams learn correct radio procedure AND when to keep the frequency clear for real emergency traffic. Remember, use "BREAK" for a so-so important message. Use PAN PAN PAN for an immediate emergency and use MAYDAY only for an immediate life or death situation occurring in your presence. On a net, operator can use EMERGENCY to begin a vital Health, Welfare or Emgency message.