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I'll start with the fact that I didn't know CB and HAM were different. I've been wanting to get into it for a while but have absolutely no clue where to start and whether HAM or CB. Just a hobby to get into.
HAM radios can communicate across countries. However you will need license. Not entirely sure if license will be a problem during apocalypse.
Like the FCC won't find away to harass someone even in the event of a collapse/disaster. The gubmint likes their fines.
No, don't worry about a license (I'm sure the HAMS here will be pissed) when it's an emergency. When not IF the SHTF this will be a primary carrier of information in real time. Disinformation can be crushed quickly because reporting is in real time and there are no MODS. You can get a HAM / Shortwave set at a good price right now. A Baofeng UV-5R VHF UHF Dual-Band FM Ham 5W Portable Two-way Radio Walkie Talkie is like $25.00!! Get one and buy a better antenna for it, learn how to use it and how to utilize local repeaters. It's a cheap and effective radio that will at least get you information.
That's far cheaper than I thought.
Ah, things have changed indeed. When I was doing this stuff, long long ago, in high school, the monitoring station was 3 blocks from my home. I remember feeling this vague sense of nervousness every time I passed by it. There were stories of them raiding illegal transceivers and making people pay fines etc. They were more feared than the CIA these days, lol. Not sure if these were just urban legends but we were quite terrified of them!
Do you just make up a callsign?
nice nice, I never reached off world ever, but I did catch some crazy sounding signals - I always thought it was my wonky coil, but who knows it might have been from of world!
Talk all over with cb too, shooting the skip.. needed for ham radio also. diff freqs go farther than others.
Thanks, fren! That's some great info
12 watts if you use single side band AM
I seem to recall that my old boss with a pair of antennas (one mounted on either mirror) would occasionally hear transmissions from thousands of miles away (aforementioned skipping) These days I don't hear much except the occasional transmission in Spanish. The Canadian experience may vary.
We are coming out of a solar minimum. Over the next several years the skip will greatly improve.
It's been many years for me. Are channels 35-40 still single side band (SSB)?
Lol! I think that rule was changed in the 70s, but I could be wrong !
Well that could be. That's about the last time I keyed it up.
Baofeng UV-5R is cheap ham and has a ton of bands. I bought both of mine for around $30 bucks and got a giant antenna. There's a ton of videos on youtube on how to set up and use. I would scan and find your channels and save them.
This guy has all you need to know here: https://www.youtube.com/c/HamRadioCrashCourse
You need to get a license to talk on it or FCC will come after you. They give you your handle id after exam and fees. I have the book but still haven't taken exam. Figured I would use it if shit hits the fan. I listen to police and fire channels then and again.
Its Free to listen
Taking license info. You can get your license online these days.
https://hamradioprep.com/how-to-get-your-ham-radio-license-made-easy/
Are the Baofang radios unlocked for FRS/GMRS transmit?
I have all the weather bands programmed and all the local channels. I wrote the frequencies down on paper, then added them to chirp and uploaded to baofeng with its data cable.
I got a longer antenna and a battery shell replacement to use 6 AA's. This is just so I can power it if we lost power since you can't charge with now power.
I got 2. One in a faraday cage and one outside LOL.
This is pretty much the info I was looking for! Thanks!
Show up at your truck? :)
If it was an emergency and only an emergency and you can.
If not welcome to fines and jail time if they hear you and FCC fines. Amateur radio license has all this info in the study guide.
Good point. And its also probably a good idea to study this material so you don't get yourself killed (unlikely with handhelds; very possible with rigs that are any larger)
Lol. :D I don't know much either and would also like to hear what experienced people have to say. I asked this one time, myself. What I did learn is that you need classes and a license to operate a ham radio. I think anybody can operate a CB. Hams are also quite pricey. I think cb's are more affordable, but you might not have the range - that can depend a great deal on the terrain and the weather, too though. So there's what I know. I hope more people post about it.
You're right that most new ham radio transceivers are much more expensive than CB radios because they're expected to operate on multiple bands, multiple modes and have very high performance receivers with features like digital noise reduction and variable filtering. However there are still options for cheaper equipment: older, used equipment can still be very good, and there are some compelling cheaper options from China (understandably might not be popular on this site!). You can even modify some CB radios to operate on the 10m band.
Thank you for that info.
My baofeng was under 30 bucks. If you want a base station that's another story.
Hmm.