Hand held for SHTF and emergency use.

[Tnhawk]

I disagree that you need to get that technical with it. Off the shelf stuff will work just fine, and you only need to be technical enough to program channels into everyone's radio in your talk group.

Once things are channelized, it's easier to pickup a radio and say hello for the first time than it is to effectively shoot a firearm. Of course practice will help you be successful.

If you intend to use a repeater you definitely need to get a license, be that ham or GMRS.

If you're just going to talk simplex, don't bother. Program your boofwang for FRS, GMRS, and MURS and let it rip.

Will the average non ham person be able to tune an antenna such that will operate with a low SWR and not destroy the radio? A radio is a tool but not as simple as a hammer.

 

[TheDan]

Does the average non-ham know what the standard frequency offset is for 2m or 440? How about the PL tone?

I don't think the average non-ham is going to use a repeater in the first place, but if they do the most complicated part is connecting Chirp to your radio. Once Chirp automatically downloads the repeaters in their area and loads it on their radio, all they have to do is select the channel and key up. You only have to be technically savvy enough to follow the directions.

 

[TheDan]

Will the average non ham person be able to tune an antenna such that will operate with a low SWR and not destroy the radio?

Nobody is tuning the rubber duck on their HT.

Many commercially available antennas for 2m are serviceable without tuning, too.

 

[Tnhawk]

Get your tech and general in one go, then spend a few years building antennas and playing with it all.... you'll figure it out. Stick to GMRS if you want walkie-talkies.

As it was said in this thread, the OPs question is akin to saying "Why gun should I buy and never use and expect to win in a gun fight."

Without a callsign, at best people will completely ignore you. At worst, they'll find you and be outside your house... maybe with folks with badges, maybe just telling you to stop it or they'll get the feds involved.

Regarding repeaters... they're up and will be up. Chances are unless you're already in the know, you won't be in the know with the legit EMCOMM repeaters in the area. You should know how a repeater works, how to make a crossband repeater, how to cut a dipole, how to build a 49:1 UNUN and make an end-fed half wave. How to use 12V batteries and use how to not blow finals with high SWR.

There's a LOT... once you get fairly good at all that, picking the HT won't be an issue. (Radio is complicated... really complicated... it's definatly not a "grab it when SHTF and know what to do."

Nobody is tuning the rubber duck on their HT.

Many commercially available antennas for 2m are serviceable without tuning, too.

There's a little difference in a dipole antenna and a rubber duck dummy load antenna.

 

[vmax]

An EMP event would very likely damage the equipment and control systems necessary to operate a fuel terminal.

I am in the wholesale fuel industry. We have drivers at fuel terminals all over the state every day. I can tell you that they can be unreliable when things are good.
Drivers show up almost daily and report the terminal is down for something and is usually back up in a couple of hours.
Its mostly systems/IT related failures

So my my opinion..it dont take much to knock one off line

 

[vmax]

Nobody is tuning the rubber duck on their HT.

Many commercially available antennas for 2m are serviceable without tuning, too.

The supplied rubber coated stubby antenna on most HTs are not much good for sure
Some are just about a dummy load.

 

[no2gates]

The supplied rubber coated stubby antenna on most HTs are not much good for sure
Some are just about a dummy load.

Yup, they are negative gain antenna, despite what the claims are.

 

[TheDan]

The supplied rubber coated stubby antenna on most HTs are not much good for sure
Some are just about a dummy load.

People wanting a HT typically aren't interesting in setting up a more complicated antenna.

Even so, here's a shitty cheap mag mount that someone could throw on their car roof that people are reporting gets 1.2 SWR out of the box. Is it as good as a 5/8 wave on a 40ft mast? Of course not, but it's low effort and effective.
amazon.com/Tram-1185-Amateur-Dual-Band-Antenna...

Don't get me wrong, I love geeking out on stuff and prefer to know how things work, but y'all are seriously overcomplicating it.

 

[cycleguy2300]

An EMP event would very likely damage the equipment and control systems necessary to operate a fuel terminal.

Maybe, but the internal electronics should be pretty safe.

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[Tnhawk]

Maybe, but the internal electronics should be pretty safe.

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While much of the terminal controls are local, some of the operations are controlled remotely from a central control center.

 

[no2gates]

Maybe, but the internal electronics should be pretty safe.

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Not always. You have to remember that all the wires that go to the electronics will act like an antenna. The longer the wires are, well you get the picture...

 

[GregoryRomeu]

Would the Boufang 3rd generation radio fit my want’s……Would appreciate any knowledgeable advice.

The funny thing about HAM radio. First of all, YOU would have to be able to operate your handheld and second of all, there would have to be SOMEONE ELSE in YOUR MINDSET at the time "ON THE OTHER END" to be able to communicate with you.

THEN, if your batteries go down, where are you going to recharge it? Do you have replacement batteries? A charging port? A 100 Watt Solar Cell in your Go Bag?

You would think in a SHTF scenario that if YOU do not already KNOW all the answers to these questions, you would team-up with someone that already does. OR, do like the rest of us and just use a CB Radio! 12Volt system, yeah, a little big, but reliable and have been used for decades by most ANYONE, EVERYWHERE.

You see, Uncle Sam can scramble the FM and UHF frequencies, that makes it tough enough. Hell? People get booted off of Facebook and Twitter and have a meltdown? What are you going to do with a handheld you don't understand, trying too contact someone you don't know may be a reason as to WHY the SHTF situation is occurring?

Focus on YOUR immediate situational awareness. What is going on around YOU and your family, friends. If you all haven't already been communicating amongst yourselves, THAT would be the best place to start. There just might be a HAM radio or COMM operator amongst whatever size group you have right there close by. But REMEMBER! In a SHTF situation, WHO IS ANSWERING THE RADIO ON THE OTHER END? Friend or foe?

 

[mongoose]

The funny thing about HAM radio. First of all, YOU would have to be able to operate your handheld and second of all, there would have to be SOMEONE ELSE in YOUR MINDSET at the time "ON THE OTHER END" to be able to communicate with you.

THEN, if your batteries go down, where are you going to recharge it? Do you have replacement batteries? A charging port? A 100 Watt Solar Cell in your Go Bag?

You would think in a SHTF scenario that if YOU do not already KNOW all the answers to these questions, you would team-up with someone that already does. OR, do like the rest of us and just use a CB Radio! 12Volt system, yeah, a little big, but reliable and have been used for decades by most ANYONE, EVERYWHERE.

You see, Uncle Sam can scramble the FM and UHF frequencies, that makes it tough enough. Hell? People get booted off of Facebook and Twitter and have a meltdown? What are you going to do with a handheld you don't understand, trying too contact someone you don't know may be a reason as to WHY the SHTF situation is occurring?

Focus on YOUR immediate situational awareness. What is going on around YOU and your family, friends. If you all haven't already been communicating amongst yourselves, THAT would be the best place to start. There just might be a HAM radio or COMM operator amongst whatever size group you have right there close by. But REMEMBER! In a SHTF situation, WHO IS ANSWERING THE RADIO ON THE OTHER END? Friend or foe?

I’m more interested in collecting information than I am in communicating with an unknown person.

 

[cycleguy2300]

Not always. You have to remember that all the wires that go to the electronics will act like an antenna. The longer the wires are, well you get the picture...

I am well aware of that fact, but most of those long wires are shielded...

Yall do know EMPs are far from rare right?

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[Coyote9]

There's a lot of factors when asking if it will fit your wants.
Are you planning on using it with a repeater that's fairly close? What is the terrain like in your area?
Remember, these are at most 5 watts, so using the built-in antenna will limit your range drastically unless you're going to use a close repeater.

Yes, our S&R team in Pagosa used these and the external antenna was a must have.
Most effective if you have a local group of friends and do a group buy. Also this is not very intuitive device and some training is required. Very flexible and the inclusive VHF model allows line of sight to nearby aircraft. We laminated frequency / band charts and callsign lists for members... yes not FCC correct but useful .... For that SHTF scenario, it would be hard to beat an old tube HAM HF set

 

[gll]

Maybe 8-10 years ago, a number of neighbors bought varous VHF/UHF handhelds. One guy chose a frequency not in common use, and most tested to see if they could make contact... and, that was the end of that...

Over the years, I've bought several more HTs, lately several tribands (for the 1.25m less used band) and a set of FRS HTs for the purpose of handing out where appropriate when necessary. Those that can be, I program with a gamut of channels across bands.

I've stockpiled batteries, particulary for Baofengs, since those are the radios more people will have. I do have the ability to charge them from my house solar system, 12v sources, or from portable solar.

Wanting more far ranging communication, I bought a President Dick radio. It is a 10m band export radio. Google for what that means for CB...

I then decided I wanted an HF HAM radio, bought a Yaesu FT-991a, and got my Technician license. Same day, I came 2 questions short of passing my General and have never retested.

I put together a window line fed doublet that has good swr from 40m to 6m and it works great for reception on all bands, and great on the 10m band frequencies I have access to as a Technician. Bought a j-pole for 2m/70cm that, at 50watts, will connect to a couple repeaters at great distance to me; there are none close and I am surrounded by hills.

What I have realized about HAM, is the danger in transmitting WROL, but I am glad I have the Yaesu for receive and transmission if desired.

The Yaesu is a power hog for off-grid... somewhat dependent of transmission power.

To wit, to bridge the gap between HT and mobile/base, I this week bought a QYT KT-8900R, which is a cheap Chinese 20w triband VHF/UHF, programmable by Chirp. I assembled a voltage converter for Dewalt 20v batteries that I intend to use to power it in some kind of wearable configuration. I haven't even powered it up yet...


All in all, I do not enjoy radio, I don't like making contacts, I don't much like talking on the phone, or in person, and this is even an unusually long post for me... but, it's Saturday I guess... WTF...

 

[Ranger2k]

VHF and UHF radios are all line of site - thats what this radio is. Try field programming the radio - 90% of the old farts in the Ham community (I qualify as an OF - but I know my way around computers) can't get the channels they want loaded in these things unless its connected to a PC. Keep that in mind....it needs to be simple, and easy to program without a PC. Many of the sub $50 dollar radios are neither.

(Ham here for 45+ years - comms and antenna design are my specialty - but at the HF level)

 

[no2gates]

VHF and UHF radios are all line of site - thats what this radio is. Try field programming the radio - 90% of the old farts in the Ham community (I qualify as an OF - but I know my way around computers) can't get the channels they want loaded in these things unless its connected to a PC. Keep that in mind....it needs to be simple, and easy to program without a PC. Many of the sub $50 dollar radios are neither.

(Ham here for 45+ years - comms and antenna design are my specialty - but at the HF level)

Much easier to program a Yaesu or Icom than a Baofeng from the keyboard for sure, but using Chirp, levels the playing field as far as the programming from a computer goes.

 

[Tnhawk]

Maybe 8-10 years ago, a number of neighbors bought varous VHF/UHF handhelds. One guy chose a frequency not in common use, and most tested to see if they could make contact... and, that was the end of that.....
I then decided I wanted an HF HAM radio, bought a Yaesu FT-991a, and got my Technician license. Same day, I came 2 questions short of passing my General and have never retested.....
I put together a window line fed doublet that has good swr from 40m to 6m and it works great for reception on all bands, and great on the 10m band frequencies I have access to as a Technician. Bought a j-pole for 2m/70cm that, at 50watts, will connect to a couple repeaters at great distance to me; there are none close and I am surrounded by hills....
What I have realized about HAM, is the danger in transmitting WROL, but I am glad I have the Yaesu for receive and transmission if desired.....
All in all, I do not enjoy radio, I don't like making contacts, I don't much like talking on the phone, or in person, and this is even an unusually long post for me... but, it's Saturday I guess... WTF...

Use the online Practice Exam sites such as QRZ.com and earn your General License. The ability to use HF is well worth the effort required for a license. You may actually find HF enjoyable and a useful tool.
AK4SZ

 

[TheDan]

Much easier to program a Yaesu or Icom than a Baofeng from the keyboard

Which Yaesu? I find my FT-60 and FT-70 less intuitive than a Baofeng. At least on the Baofeng you can scroll through the menu options.