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I'm hoping to get some advice here, as well as get others to think about what they should plan for, to communicate with others.
DW and I recently passed our exams and got our amateur radio ("ham") licenses. This was something we had planned to do, but kept putting off for lack of time. But during a lull in our lives, we decided to go for it!
As many of you may know, hams don't look too favorably on CB'ers, although this may vary by locale. Anyway, redundancy is something we believe in whole-heartedly. So I went and bought 3 2-meter radios, 3 CB radios, 2 SW radios, and a dedicated weather radio -- all in addition to the numerous AM/FM radios we've had all along. They are presently sitting in a galvanized metal trash can (new) which acts as a Faraday cage. Now I need to get some coax cable and antennas.
These are all "mobile" radios, which run off 12VDC. The plan is to have a set at home, as well as a set in each of our vehicles. The set at home will run off 12V also, and the battery will be recharged by solar (or by generator if the sun is hiding).
We also bought a couple sets of FMRS ("walkie-talkies") which allows up to 5 persons to stay in contact -- with the base unit at home -- for about a half mile. This is in addition to our cell phones, which we are not depending on. And we will not have a landline, either.
Just wondering what other people here are using, or planning to use? Home and/or vehicle? Which types of radios, and why? Thanks for your replies; we hope to learn more about all this!
I use a 10meter rig opened up (A RCI 2950) mobile, and a Yaesu FT 301s. base with a few 11 meter frequencies added
I don't care for the snooty ham attitude much.
Most of them started on the chicken bands so there attitude is missed placed.
If your not a ham you don't belong on the air. crap.
They would attract more folks into being a ham operator if they didn't belittle everyone who is not.
Mostly I shoot skip, cq cq, cqdx and do some free-banding.
I'm just a rebel
Thanks for the reply! All 3 of the ham radios we bought are Yaesu's...one of them has the 70 cm band as well as 2 m (that one will likely go in the house). We had gotten involved with CB from back in the "Convoy" song days, but gave it up after a few years. Now we have 3 new Cobra units, and as we will be moving to the north woods, we don't expect too much of a snobbery effect up there.
With the ham bands, we hope to do some DX'ing in the event of national emergency, as the CB bands are more local.
Around the woods Northern MN a lot of locals use sideband on their cb or 10meter rigs to communicate from there deer shacks.
I've shot skip all the way to Norway on my cb using the lower side of ch38 and all over north America.
I haven't been on in a while, I heard the bands are opening up again so maybe I'll try DXing again.
Sometimes I'll turn on a rig while I work in the shop and listen to the chatter.
We have some active hams in my area also that are trying to get me to become a ham.
Radios can be a good way to communicate out in the boonies.
I've always been interested in ham radio and operation, but I am woefully ignorant about it. (There is a spot on one of our hills where some previous owner had a huge antenna bolted down - all that is left are the cement pad and the bolts.) Because the house is in a deep valley, I can understand why the antenna is on the hill - I just don't know enough about wiring or relays to do it.
I was a heavy CB'er back in my younger days, when I traveled all over the country. It saved my life once, when I was driving along a long stretch of almost deserted rural interstate, and some punks decided that it would be great fun to try to force me off of the road. I got on my CB, and within 10 minutes, literally out of nowhere, there were three tractor-trailers surrounding them. They "escorted" the punks off of the road at the next ramp, told me to keep going, and right behind them was a cop with his lights going. I never knew what happened to them...
Sadly, most CB'ers later seemed to cop the idea that CB's were for picking up women or playing their music, or broadcasting their foul language and vapid suggestiveness, so I quit and started carrying a gun instead... Now DH and I just use walkies on the homestead to stay in touch.
I'd like to know more about ham radios; since we live so rurally (the "local" radio station 40 miles away does not transmit this far) it would be good to be in touch not only for weather conditions across the state, but to learn about other things, even about people in other countries.
I've always been interested in ham radio and operation, but I am woefully ignorant about it.
I'm in the same boat - my older brother was a ham and had a big ol' Hammerlund (sp?) rig in the basement, running antennas up to the roof like Dr. Frankenstein. It was always magic to me, but I well remember listening to the BBC for the first time - what a rush! Also, he collected those cards that acknowledge contact - again, excuse my ignorance here.
My idea of contact in SHTF is two sticks, some tinder and a blanket.
We have handheld FRS radios and a base station for the two of us around the homestead, the range is up to 5 miles (clear shot) but realistically in the woods it's only good for about 2 miles unless we're up on the roof. As long as we can get reception at the cabin and all corners of our acreage, out to the creek where we get water and ice, out to at least part of the trapline, and up to the main road it's good enough. We have one set tuned for private comms, and another unit that is tuned to a common channel with our few neighbors. In the winter and during fire season, everyone checks in at least daily on the common channel... and we have a round-robin roster for physically checking on folks who aren't responding or checking in.
We've been contemplating getting CB for home and vehicles for emergencies, but there aren't a lot of folks between here and town (4 hours away) so I'm not sure if they would be that useful (without a big antennae and more power) until we got closer to the paved road and the trucker traffic heading to oil fields. The only local benefit would be to check on a few of the neighbors that are a little further out than the FRS range. I certainly don't have any interest in listening to people chatter on, much less joining them since I'm not much of a talker (writer, yes; talker, no). So I guess that's a reason not to get a HAM either. Anytime I meet an avid CB'er or HAM'er they spend hours talking to their airwave buddies... I guess I just don't get that lonely for human interaction
Well, I just spent several hours cruising around the net, trying to find out more... and I am even more confused than before.
It seems that most of the pages are in code! And not Morse code (which my father taught me ages ago, most of which I have forgotten) but an internal code known only to the people who already are ham operators. No, I don't care about state requirements on having my ham call signal on my license plate, TYVM - I want to find out what I need to get that call signal! No, I don't want to order the Federal documents I need to upgrade...
I tried to look up licensing classes, but the only ones I could find were 5 hours away, in another state - and they were last week.
Something I did notice while cruising around is the constant membership complaints about "ham operators not being as prevalent" and "operations not being popular" and folks trying to determine reasons for, and offer speculations on, why this is so. They were blaming internet communications, young people not being taught ... Do ya think maybe it's because the newbies who want and even might need the startup classes and information can't find them? Basically, the webpages I found were all about internal communications amongst members, not about encouraging or helping new people to participate.
OP, some help here please! Give me a direction!
It seems to me that rural folks would need the classes and information the most, yet there is literally nothing out there that I can find, except in highly populated areas, far from where we are.
Seems to me that a HAM operator's license should be something that could be done online... I mean, it's not like a vehicle or heavy equipment that is complicated and could possibly kill someone if used improperly. It's just the FCC rules and crap... log on, maybe send in some notorized proof of identity, read the lessons, do some exercises, and take the test??? Really, it's just a RADIO!
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crap.
Please pass the cheese... to go with my whine!
No, I don't care about state requirements on having my ham call signal on my license plate, TYVM - I want to find out what I need to get that call signal! No, I don't want to order the Federal documents I need to upgrade...
