So How Are You Going to Communicate in TEOTWAWKI

[JohnyMac]

So what plans have you made to communicate in post SHTF or TEOTWAWKI?

Locally?
Regionally?
Nationally?
globally?

I am sure that many of us have plans to receive coms but what are you planning on using to send coms? As we all know that communication will be your life and breath of survival.

Old JohnyMac:

> Locally = FRS and 2 meter ham transmitter and receiver
> Regionally = 2 & 10 meter ham transmitter and receiver
> Nationally = limited 10 meter ham transmitting and Very Good Short & Long wave receiver
> Globally = Good short and long  wave receiver

We are planning on no or limited cell phone or hard wire coverage. If they go out so will internet.

Lets take a minute to learn from each other.   

[Kentactic]

100 miles of paracord(pricey but worth it) and 2 Dixie cups(might upgrade to SOLO cups soon).

Just kidding dont let my nothing to contribute self ruin your thread. I would like to buy some radios for short range com's some day though.

[JohnyMac]

  Ken!

Think about it bro...First look at a receiver like a Grundig.

[rah45]

100 miles of paracord(pricey but worth it) and 2 Dixie cups(might upgrade to SOLO cups soon).

Just kidding dont let my nothing to contribute self ruin your thread. I would like to buy some radios for short range com's some day though.

Hmm...might be better than my idea....

Yodelling - Franzl Lang

[JohnyMac]

  Oh my God!

A am dealing with a bunch knuckleheads! 

[brat]

A red solo cup

Toby Keith - Red Solo Cup (Unedited Version)

[Kentactic]

A red solo cup

Yes sir the very same lol...


Fun fact for ya... the little step at the bottom is exactly one ounce, ideal for measuring shots etc.

[JohnyMac]

Great video brat! 

[brat]

I didn't know that about the ring on the Solo cup. I was always too busy making sure I wasn't shorted out of 16 oz. 

Back to topic JM,
I have FRS / GMRS and dual band 2/10 ham. I don't have an antenna for home, but plan to get a mobile and antenna for the truck.  Ham and shortwave for receiving info, but as far a getting info out, I'll have to pass on info to other locals with better rigs.

[JohnyMac]

My brother (Stockpile77) gave me a car antenna for my truck to hook up to my Baofeng radio. I didn't install it on my truck. Instead I installed it at the peak of my roof inside the cabin. HOLY CRAP! my range went from 4 miles with the antenna that came with the radio to sky is the limit.

I have been picking up police station calls as far away as 50 miles. Now I am sure I am only picking up their radio tower that is on top of a mountain but still...

I am taking a home learned class to get my Technical Ham license. Apparently nobody around me gives  classes anymore. I local HAM instructor told me it is because mores code isn't required anymore to get your Technical.

[DMCakhunter]

I just figured that when I see smoke on the horizon, it is time to load magazines.

Seriously, I have a couple of garmin rino 120's. Have thought about getting a couple of UHF radios some day.
What type of Grundig are you talking about?
Thanks.

[JohnyMac]

We have two Grundig (One is none two is one) older versions of the S450 DLX. One is packed away and one we use daily while at the cabin. It works great!

We also have a battery charger that charges D batteries using our solar system. It takes 4 D batteries.

[DMCakhunter]

Thank you!

[Kentactic]

So I just bought a Baofeng UV-5R and Wouxun mic that accepts earphones etc show in the video below...

http://youtu.be/Ib9zzbXCb-s

... I really dont understand this radio stuff yet... can you use this radio without repeaters? As in transmit from my radio to his directly? Are there any frequencies that this radio would have that an unlicensed user could use?

[JohnyMac]

I have the UV-5 too. You need repeaters to transmit over a long distance.

A way to look at it is all those antennas on the top of mountains repeat your transmition. With that info you need a HAM call sign to use those transmitters.

[Kentactic]

I have the UV-5 too. You need repeaters to transmit over a long distance.

A way to look at it is all those antennas on the top of mountains repeat your transmition. With that info you need a HAM call sign to use those transmitters.

Well long distance isnt my goal really. If I need long distance then needing the government to maintain my way of communicating is not ideal. Can this radio operate on other channels with its own signal for short distance, similar to walkie talkies for example? If it cant do that ive got a UV-5R for sale.

[APX808]

Let me do some clarifications in plain English, radio specialists please forgive me

* You can transmit directly with your UV-5R to any other radio that operates in the same frequency.

* UV-5R works on VHF/UHF frequency range, those frequencies are "line of sight" frequencies, that means that if you have big objects in the middle (mountains/hills/cities) they will obstruct signal propagation, seriously impacting your ranges. If you have a free "line of sight" to your target probably your transmission will reach it, objects beyond the horizon won't be reached by VHF/UHF.

* Although buildings stop VHF/UHF signals they will penetrate them anyway, but range is seriously reduced. Inside a city sometimes you'll have good range and others not depending where you are. For instance inside a tunnel you're fucked, at the top of a high building you won't have problems.

* It doesn't matter if you use a Yaesu, ICOM or shitty Chinese radio, all of them will have the same range/obstruction problems, because range depends on the frequency they operate, not on the hardware.

* Using repeaters you can "jump over" those obstructing objects, that's why usually repeaters are on top of mountains/hills.

* To transmit to long ranges you need to use radios that operate in a lower frequency range, HF. Usually those radios need big antennas, and are bigger and heavier.

* You need a license for all of the mentioned frequencies HF/VHF/UHF.

[crudos]

I have the UV-5 too. You need repeaters to transmit over a long distance.

A way to look at it is all those antennas on the top of mountains repeat your transmition. With that info you need a HAM call sign to use those transmitters.

Well long distance isnt my goal really. If I need long distance then needing the government to maintain my way of communicating is not ideal. Can this radio operate on other channels with its own signal for short distance, similar to walkie talkies for example? If it cant do that ive got a UV-5R for sale.

The UV-5R is so much better than a walkie talkie or other kinds of similar radios. But the only way to satisfy yourself is to take it out and test it in terrain of your AO.

[Kentactic]

Let me do some clarifications in plain English, radio specialists please forgive me

* You can transmit directly with your UV-5R to any other radio that operates in the same frequency.

* UV-5R works on VHF/UHF frequency range, those frequencies are "line of sight" frequencies, that means that if you have big objects in the middle (mountains/hills/cities) they will obstruct signal propagation, seriously impacting your ranges. If you have a free "line of sight" to your target probably your transmission will reach it, objects beyond the horizon won't be reached by VHF/UHF.

* Although buildings stop VHF/UHF signals they will penetrate them anyway, but range is seriously reduced. Inside a city sometimes you'll have good range and others not depending where you are. For instance inside a tunnel you're fucked, at the top of a high building you won't have problems.

* It doesn't matter if you use a Yaesu, ICOM or shitty Chinese radio, all of them will have the same range/obstruction problems, because range depends on the frequency they operate, not on the hardware.

* Using repeaters you can "jump over" those obstructing objects, that's why usually repeaters are on top of mountains/hills.

* To transmit to long ranges you need to use radios that operate in a lower frequency range, HF. Usually those radios need big antennas, and are bigger and heavier.

* You need a license for all of the mentioned frequencies HF/VHF/UHF.

Thank you for the plain English breakdown. This helps me decide the age old question, "to fuck with or not to fuck with".

One more question. Does this radio have any usable channels outside the realm of license requirements? And if not then how was I able to purchase such a powerful, long range radio, similar to what the military would use, with no background check or 10 day waiting period? Nobody needs to talk that well. This is basically an assault radio.

[Kentactic]

I have the UV-5 too. You need repeaters to transmit over a long distance.

A way to look at it is all those antennas on the top of mountains repeat your transmition. With that info you need a HAM call sign to use those transmitters.

Well long distance isnt my goal really. If I need long distance then needing the government to maintain my way of communicating is not ideal. Can this radio operate on other channels with its own signal for short distance, similar to walkie talkies for example? If it cant do that ive got a UV-5R for sale.

The UV-5R is so much better than a walkie talkie or other kinds of similar radios. But the only way to satisfy yourself is to take it out and test it in terrain of your AO.

Roger that!

[Kentactic]

So reading more it seems the UV-5R can be used as a standard FRS type radio. Thats good to hear. All I was looking for was a person to person radio that was of decent quality. And had the features like the seperate mic etc.


To anyone who owns a UV-5R,  do I have to buy the USB cable and software to use this radio? I see a lot of people "manually programming" their radios. Im not sure if that is just to insert new data long after uploading software via the USB cable or if the USB cable just makes these tasks simpler. Again I just need person to person coms.


@JMac - I hope this is within the scope of your thread. If not i can start a new one to ask dumb questions about how to tell if its my ass or a hole in the ground.

[APX808]

LOL, an assault radio...
I dunno how it is in the US but in Argentina you can own a radio, but you should not transmit unless you have a license.

You can perfectly program the UV-5R without using the USB cable, just using the menus, and you should learn to use it that way, you never know where you'll need to program a new repeater in your radio, and maybe you won't have a computer nearby.

The USB cable only allows you to name memories, and is commonly used to program the same frequencies in multiple radios quickly, for instance for a show or something like that.

The best manuals and programing guides for the UV-5R are here: http://www.miklor.com/uv5r/

[Kentactic]

LOL, an assault radio...
I dunno how it is in the US but in Argentina you can own a radio, but you should not transmit unless you have a license.

You can perfectly program the UV-5R without using the USB cable, just using the menus, and you should learn to use it that way, you never know where you'll need to program a new repeater in your radio, and maybe you won't have a computer nearby.

The USB cable only allows you to name memories, and is commonly used to program the same frequencies in multiple radios quickly, for instance for a show or something like that.

Bingo! Thanks for the info. Ill be using this radio in the FRS 462-467Mhz range as im starting to understand. Thats a frequency that doesn't need licenses. Little kids with $5 walkie talkies can use it. I will definitely save $10 and learn to manually program the radio.

If the SHTF i could start using better frequencies if need be. For my current purposes the FRS will do just fine.

[special-k]

...Ill be using this radio in the FRS 462-467Mhz range...

Just to clarify, it's not 462Mhx *through* 467Mhz...... It's some frequencies that are in the 462.XXXMhz range, AND some frequencies that are in the 467.XXXMhz range.

[JohnyMac]

A couple of things Ken:

1) No worries posting here however there are several topics on the Baofeng currently that may answer
    many of your questions. Just search the archives.
2) As APX wrote, save your $10- and program your UV-5 manually. I bought the cable and found out the
    hard way it will not work with Windows 8. 
3) The UV-5 is a very good radio. Not the most intuitive when trying to program it however the clarity is
     so much better than the FRS radios we have. The battery seems to last for ever. 
4) Up at the cabin we use marine band frequency's to transmit and receive. We use Marine Band
    frequency's because we are hundreds of miles from shipping lanes and such.
5) The antenna that comes with the radio works well. But like I wrote above, we took a car radio antenna and
    put it up in the peak of the roof. The reception is incredible and can receive police dispatcher call up to 50
    miles away. As my brother drove home from hunting this year, with his car antenna and the car
    antenna located in the peak of the cabin; we were able to chat when my brother would crest the top of
    a hill or mountain for quite awhile.
6) Make sure you google the frequency that your local police department uses and plug it into the radios
    memory. For entertainment on Friday nights, we listen to the county police dispatcher. One night we
    listened to the local Fire Company check out smoke at a friends business so add your local fire depart-
    ments frequency too. These all can be found on the internet.

Have fun!