Just wondering if anybody has a back up plan to contact family members in the event our usual comms go down? Ham radios are great, but expensive and not available to everybody. Any other suggestions for reliable communication? Thanks.
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CB and Marine Band radios.
Hmm .. marine band radios. This must be what's on boats. Don't know anything about them so I'll look into them. Thanks for the suggestion and if you have any recommendations regarding either (brand / features) please post them. Thanks.
will send a PM.
There was a thread on this board awhile back with good info. https://greatawakening.win/p/11RO2mAAfg/gmrs-radio-shtf-text-messaging-a/
I'll check this one out too. Thanks.
In a state of emergency you don't need to have a license so it's all good. Nothing will happen to you
Lol. So do you have a recommendation on a CB to get for not so perfect weather on not so flat land and definitely with some obstructions? Also, thanks for mentioning gamers radios. Not being a gamer, that is one I wouldn't have thought of. If you have specific details or recommendations, please pose them. Thanks.
Thanks for the link! I'll check it out.
https://www.baofengradio.com/products/uv-5r-plus-5-packs I've got a prepper friend that swears by these.
Thanks very much. I'll check it out.
I used to have a CB a long time ago and miss it when I'm on long road trips now. I used to enjoy talking to other travelers.
CBs are good but basic hand-held radios may be good for people that are pretty close by.
To the person that has never seen Smokey and the Bandit - it is a MUST watch!
For close range CB radios work fairly well, but you need a Short Wave or HAM.
And you need a Plan, if comms/infrastructure is down WOT DO? Meet up where, when, how?
You can get a CB base station and put them in your trucks and cars and even have hand held radios. Midland and Cobra are both good. Get an antenna and amp too, you don't have to hook that up until you need it.
Short Wave and HAM isn't that expensive, anything is gonna cost you something.
But know that the Enemy will likely be squelching you same as they do with all else, and anything open will be comped, monitored. So devise simple codes, too.
https://files.catbox.moe/e4h2uj.jpg
Good info, thanks. And good info on Midland and Cobra brands. New to all of this radio stuff, so it all helps. Will be researching it more this weekend. Appreciate it.
Smoke signals.
Truthfully, HAM or CB. Or, traditional, non internet linked land lines. They still exist. Just gotta find a carrier.
If you are lucky enough to be near a GMRS repeater you can extend the range of your signal. It takes your signal and re-broadcasts it from a mountain top or tall building so that lots of people can "hear" you. Go here for more: https://mygmrs.com/
Great! Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.
HAM radios actually start very cheap. Under $100.
Seriously? I did not know that.
My family got together in person a long time ago and decided on a place to all immediately fall back to and regroup if this should happen.
Yeah, that's wise but I was thinking even of people a little further flung, or even if the roads aren't passable.
The family is separated in clusters according to distance and will fall back to one location for each of those clusters. I have 2 family members who will be on their own but it was their choice to move so far away to such a toleration state in the middle of all this shit. They will be stuck on their own. We don't have a communications plan outside of each cluster but I'm open to it.
Long distance walkie-talkies. Got some on Amazon and tested them. I live x-amount of miles from my parents, went to a high point nearby, and they worked!!
What is the farthest range they would reliably work, do you think?
Reviews said 32 miles. Entirely dependent on your surroundings though.
Alright. Thanks.
depends on distance/range. Neighborhood - GMRS. Short distance - CB. Long distance HAM - yes it's expensive (I have a bunch of it) but it WORKS and is relied on by govt and ngos for emergency comms.
Well, I was thinking I'd have to go Ham if I wanted to go half way across the country. But I'd even like to go say 50-100 miles.
depending on line of sight (assuming you aren't working from a mountaintop to the plains below with no obstructions) you are in the space where HF (HAM) will be needed. The real challenge is not going to be the radio, but the antenna. HF propagation bounces the signal off the ionosphere and can leave gaps below between the launch point and the point where the wave is reflected down. Investigate a Near Vertical Incident Skywave (NVIS) capability. Best advice for what you've described is to look up your local Amateur Radio Club and ask to talk thru your specific requirements with an experienced operator.
Great advice, really. I'll see if there's a radio club .. within range. :D
For starters the best idea for now is to keep family and friends well informed and than take it one day at a time...
smoke signals
That would require a knowledge of smokesignallanguage and the class at my community college is full up. I checked.
CB Radios
Thanks. That's what I figured it would come to. If you actually use one and have any suggestions on brand or features, please let us all know.
I have a CB radio I bought have not hooked up yet.
Thanks. I was thinking of CBs. If you get to using it, let us know how it goes. Makes me think of that old movie, Smokey and the Bandit, lol. I never saw it but I know CBs featured heavily in it.
when I was a kid dad had them in the cars. I used to go in the car and talk to truckers and so many people, if it was skip season I would get people from soooooo far away. That used to really piss dad off because I used to run the battery in the car dead hehe
Lol. Oh to be a kid again. At least, a maskless kid. But what is skip season?
Certain times of the year the ionosphere allows a reflection of of radio waves. This allows you to talk to people on the other side of the country or farther.
Woah. Never knew that. Sneaky little cheeky monkey, weren't you. :D