Survival Communications

There are many Ham Radio operators in the world of survivalists. Communication is going to be key in any grid down situation or collapse. A section to talk about Amateur Radio, radio equipment, antennas and hand held radios would be an asset to the board members.
A place where people could find out how to get licensed and what equipment they will need as well as how to use it.
Every survivalist should have at the least a shortwave radio capable of receiving single side band radio transmissions and get at the least a Technician license and 2 meter/70 cm radios for local communication.
The more people with radios in an area, the better informed the group can be. The cheap FRS/GMRS radios are just not going to cut it for anything but very close in comms.
Radios can be run from solar and battery power.

 

I have steered clear of HAM as the licencing puts me off! your name and address is published and you even have it marked on google earth! NO thanks!
I have 27megSSB radios and 477meg cb radios no licences no repeaters and no grid powered!

 

True, I'm not wanting people to put their call signs on the site. As to license address, you can get a P.O. Box address. Communication is a vital necessity. Everyone should consider setting up some kind of coms, short medium and maybe long range.

 

Never mind, you are just looking at your own position. There are many different types of areas and communities that will be in place if and when things fail. In some cases, OPSEC is paramount, in others, open short to medium communication will not be a problem, in fact will be a huge asset.
Survival is not a one mold fits all situation.
What works in one place may not in another, but shutting down discussion because something is not relevant to one place is not the answer. Neither is one solution to fit everything, such as just CB.
Keeping an open mind and looking at the big picture as to suggestions will make this a better forum
We have people here from all over the world, in cities, urban areas and out in the middle on noware. No one solution fits all. But ideas not excahanced are ideas wasted. People can decide what works for them in their situation and discard ideas that won't.

Let me tell you how amateur radio will work where I live and in many other places others live.
We are in a small town, there are other small towns with miles between them. If the SHTF, we are not going to be hiding, we will form up in each town for common defense, trade etc.
the PTB will know we are here, we are on every map. Being able to communicate threats as they come as well as alerting other communities will be far better than being surprised when a threat comes.
Also monitoring and communicating to others the good, bad and other things that may be distant, but effect you will be a huge help. The good thing about amateur radio is that a person can go remote, transmit a message and be gone before someone has the time to find them. If things fail, the government will be stretched so thin, they are not going to have the time to run around and locate thousands of radio transmissions.
Were I remote, I'd stay off the air and monitor, but would still want to have the equipment and know how to communicate if it was necessary.

I'm not looking for everyone to agree with me, some will, some won't. I'm looking to share ideas that many might be able to use, others not so much.
There is no one shoe fits all in any situation.

 

Although I have only local CB freq transmitters I also have an all band scanner with an adapter that fits my stationmaster antenna that I monitor!

Most survivalists have no need to communicate with others as they are Alpha males and they already know it all.
By communicating with others, that just shows they do not know it all and few will admit that!

 

Not sure where you live, but many have ham equipment in the rural area I live in. As to the Alpha Male comment, to each his own. Glad I live where I do, not where you do.

I would consider myself an Alpha Male, but one who realizes that it takes a team and team work if one wishes to survive. Elite military and LE are almost all A.M's. Not any one man knows it all, but they gather their talents and abilities to make a team that is tough to beat.
The lone A.M who thinks he knows it all and expects it to be him against the world won't last long.

Instead of considering the importance of communication, you feel a need to disregard it as a possible asset. If radio communication is not something in your plan, fine. But others could find it to be a real asset, and in many cases, but not all, it will be.

 

Here is the problem, and I don't mean to degrade anyone.
This is a suggestion area. What may not work in your situation, will work brilliantly for someone else. Instead of pursuing discussion and allowing a part of the forum that will be a help to others , that virtually every other Survival Forum has, the dialog is that it won't work for you because you plan on being a Lone Wolf. That is great for you, and I could understand why you might not want to transmit from a hidden location. For others, communication will make the difference between life and death.
Take a rural area, with a population that has settled. If a group starts attacking your group from the west, you can rally support to that area. Should it turn out to be a diversion, you can instantly get people to another area before being over run on another side.
There will be strongholds, places where others know you are there. You are not hiding, but gathering for common support. There, comms would be a huge benefit.
I could go on and on to the advantages of having good communication. It may not be for everyone, but a Survival Communications Area would be a benefit to many on the site. For the Lone Wolf, you can choose when or even if you ever wish to transmit.

Let me give an example, you need to get supplies between two areas. You can send a runner with info and hope a lone person makes it. You could just send the group, and have no support from the other location because they don't know you are coming or, using Digital communication, you have a code, known only to the two groups. One that might take a huge amount of work to decipher for anyone else, and easily send messages to each other with no one with a scanner or radio having any idea what the message is. It's very easy to do and requires very little equipment. Not legal to send things in an unknown code now, but with no rule of law, who cares. I also have frequency hopping radios that 99.9% of the people in a survival situation will be able to decipher, let alone even hear.
When the society fails, the only way anyone will be able to find out anything at all, will be with Amateur Radio.
Expect that when things fail in the United States, there will be States and vast areas who will ban together. Not without problems, but they will for common protection. Ham will be huge in those areas.

 

I do consider comms important and have been trying to set up a network here in Australia for over a decade but of all the survivalists I know few rate it highly or even above beans!
Sitting beside my computer is a modified Galaxy DX959 boosted CB and outside on a bloody great pole is a stationmaster vertical, I am setup and running but other survivalists are not!
Ham over here is the preserve of eccentric old men who drink way too much and talk shiitte all the time! not for me thanks!

 

I've talked with more than a few of your countryman on H.F. ; have always enjoyed them, they are a hoot!!!!

Best way might be to present scenarios to others on how comms may be needed. If you choose CB, the equipment is not expensive and can be stored until it's needed.

I'm not sure what is involved in getting licensed over there for 2 meter/70 CM (VHF/UHF) radios, but if it's not hard, there are radios available for $35.00 on E Bay that are 4 watt handheld that come with battery and charger (can be charged on 120v or 12 V). They are excellent for local coms, have more range than handheld CB and you can vary the power levels. Might be worth looking into. If for no other reason, people in a small group doing look out duty. A base/ mobile unit with 75 watts is about $160.00 over here.
Without rule of law, you could just use them as needed.

 

Over here we have two CB bands the old 27meg AM/SSB limited to 5wAM and 12wSSB and we have 477megFM BAND again limited to 5w !

Ham here is very similar as there!

The 477meg units are very good, my vehicle mounted unit on open flat ground gets just on 40km at 5w but usual range is 20km or less

Ham gets you 100watts but there is lots to it! and unless you are an enthuseist not worth it!
I see no point in just getting the ham stuff just to store for an emergency! transmitters are finicky things that really needs experience and patience to get working proper!
I had no end of little problems getting and keeping my radio working just on the 27meg band! I can set one up and troubleshoot easy now but it took nearly a year for me
to get the first one running proper!
And now the neighbours trees have swamped it bad! will be changing location in a year or two so the radio is receive only for now!

 

What kind of range are you looking for ?

 

Hello this is my first post, have any of you seen the potential of using the latest CB radios often called " Export" models?. I have just ordered a president Grant 2 Premium that is 'expanded' which means I get all the UK and EU bands plus the Freenet bands and if I choose to get a Ham licence I can get the 10 meter bands as well. Over the weekend just gone the CB / Ham members of the Charlet Tango CB group were getting two way contacts from Buxton in the UK as far as Eastern Europe and South America.