What sorts of equipment do you have for when cell towers go offline?
Will most people jump to VHF and UHF with their Baofengs, or do you have something else in mind?
>>30273694
I have a complete Clansman PRC-320 with all ancillaries, what do you want to know?
I keep track of which pay phones still work in my area.
>>30273694
That chinese HT stuff is shit. Get a ham ticket and get something like a Yaesu 897 or an Icom IC-7100
>>30274162
>what do you want to know?
yeah whats >>30274162 talking about? what does any of that mean?
Once I have my beofeng, where do I go to learn/how do I get the most out of it. I see how to put in frequencies and all but.... I have no idea how or what I'm doing.
>>30275436
he's got an old radio
>>30275453
>how do I get the most out of it
Good question, but you're not going to like the answer. Handheld radios are designed to work with repeaters. You need to have an amateur radio license to use repeaters. Repeaters not only extend your signal by a lot, but they also have other features like autopatch (you can order a pizza since the rules changed a few years ago) or even link one repeater to another on the other side of the world. Most folks just use them to bitch at people living maybe a mile or two away and complain about politics and their health.
>>30275511
>You need to have an amateur radio license to use repeaters
You need a ham radio license to use ham radio licensed frequencies/bands
>>30275539
Yup, and having a repeater on non ham frequencies is against the law (except for businesses who pay the FCC or some locally-coordinated GMRS repeaters, you need to pay a licensing fee and be assigned a callsign to use either)
>>30275560
>GMRS repeaters
The GMRS license was the biggest ripoff ever. What was it, like $90.
>>30275539
I thought ham radios were good to go without a license since the FCC no longer issues them.
I have tin cans and a fuckton of string.
>>30275622
No, the FCC still very much issues ham radio licenses. All these Chicom radio makers are telling bad information about the legality of using the products they're selling.
http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/index.htm?job=service_home&id=amateur
>>30275622
And they still do enforcement actions
https://transition.fcc.gov/eb/AmateurActions/Welcome.html
I thought I read that you can listen in all you want, it's just transmitting without a license that gets you in trouble.
>>30275660
You certainly can listen all you want, and if listening is what you want to do you're better off buying a digital truck tracking scanner.
>>30273694
Open window
Yell.
"Hey Ma, get off the roof."
>>30273694
>>30273694
An old ICOM for HF, a bunch of mobile / handled for VHF UHF. Some baofengs for PMR
SDR to listen to broadcasts (it's very easy to find them when you see them on the screen)
everything can run on a 12 V car battery at reasonable power.
I am preparing the HAM license for the day skyking will respond.
>>30275475
a really fucking nice one from what I have read
40 KM range with the small antenna
>>30275622
Never mind I was thinking CB radios.
The IC-7100 looks kick ass. Looks like a good excuse to bump up to a general.
Always had a small itch to put a 2 meter in a Pelican case and the ability to run on an internal battery, car, AC, hand crank to charge the battery, different antenna options bla bla bla.
I've got two brand name HT one with a dual band the other with VHF
Shhhhhh dont tell the wife about the QRP 40 meter in the garage picks up some CW but way too fast to understand.
Damn texting is nothing more than packet radio.
>>30275760
>40KM
Depends on the weather and what band you're using, but I can pick up stations in central Europe from here in the Midwest.
Skywave, you can go from ranges of 40km to 4000km, ground wave is more stable, but inherently shorter range and limited to 20km or so.
>>30275436
Being able to google things is critical if you're going to develop any sort of skills here.
>>30275985
>Looks like a good excuse to bump up to a general.
Without having to do the 13wpm cw like we did back in the day, a general upgrade is as easy as 4 hours time with some qrz practice test.
Just go for it.
Ive been hoarding tin cans and string. I plan on giving some to all my family when shtf
