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Communications is one area that many in the prepper/surivivlaist/III%/militia/ community do not address frequently enough,or go into enough detail about.
Getting your HAM license is one thing most of us need to do,now would be a good time to start preparing for the test,and getting your radio and accessories together.
Used HAM radio,all the accessories ie; microphone,headset,coax cable,and roof mount antenna,can be found for well under half the cost of buying new.
There’s been many times where HAM operators were the only form of working comms in a disaster situation.
Everyone should also have a CB,as with HAM radio and accessories,you can buy used for a fraction of the cost of new.
Both are excellent forms of communication in disaster situations of any kind,be it man-made,natural,or civil unrest.
One other thing that’s good to have is a set of two-way radios-not the $29.99 wally world type,radios that actually work. Most radios claim a 20 mile range,30 miles range, etc. The things you need to remember is that the range is based on line of sight transmission/reception,and that the radios that have a higher wattage generally have not only better range,but voice clarity in both transmit and receive modes is much better.
No license is required for CB’s and hand-held 2 way radios,to operate a HAM radio,you must have a license.
The standard methods of conversation are totally different for HAM radio,as compared to CB.
CB stands for Citizens band,HAM simply means amateur radio,the initials have no real meaning.
There are also two way radios that are HAM radios,cost for one is somewhere around $500.00,more or less-depending on the radio.
HAM radio,desk mike,antenna,cable,etc is probably going to cost you around $1,000.00 buying used,if you spend enough time looking,you may be able to get a complete set-up for half that,from what I’ve seen,and from talking to friends who have the gear,it costs around $1,000.00 buying used,and around $2500.00 buying new.
Complete CB home base set-up is less than half the cost of HAM set-up. CB for your car/truck is much less,you can find the entire set-up for under $100.00 at radio Shack. You could probably find a complete set-up used on e-bay for 50 bucks.
CB,combined with some quality two-way radios-(they use CB frequencies)-is a good set-up for a family,as everyone can maintain contact with each other during an emergency.
There are sites that are focused on communications,many teach you all you need to know.
The knowledge is out there-for free on the ‘net-use it.
Read.
Learn.
Train.
Do more PT !
