SHTF Hand Held Communication Devices

megaphone

I'm being serious

40 channel c.b.

Thank you

im being serious as well. if you use a radio, you'll get triangulated within seconds. it's how they "spot" the bad guys in a-stan these days so j-lens can call fire on them. handheld cb sucks. handheld marine is better, but is what they use in a-stan. those walmart walkie talkies are basically line of sight to about 300 yds. you may as well just shout, or use a megaphone, it'll draw less attention

Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it.

2 paper cups and a piece of string

Depends what type of SHTF. If they're hunting for you, radio silence is good. In a natural disaster scenario, ham radio is key. CBs and marine VHFs are good too but just for line of sight. Radios will be HUGELY important when all the phone lines are down. It will be the ONLY way to communicate with anyone. You can even get internet over radio packet switching.

Yaesu FM Transceiver with Ham Radio License, oh wait no FCC to regulate it, don't worry about license ;)

[link to www.universal-radio.com]

I have 4-whistles packed in my BoB.

I got one of these recently. Haven't had much time to play with it yet though.

[link to www.amazon.com]

You need 3 options
Hand crank cell phone charger
Ham radio/shortwave radio
WAlkie tLkie

Pigeons!

Thank you for all the input. Would it be better to get Dual band UHF/VHF versus just UHF ?

or GMRS ?

Too hard to train, but then again we will probably have a lot of time on our hands ..

I'm a big fan of the yaesu radios. I have an ft-51r, and the very slick and badass VX-8DR, this guy is waterproof and quad band, you can rx .5-999Mhz, w/o mods. The 51r will tx/rx on 50-999 after you modify it slightly.

They also do data (modem) pretty nicely if you are into that sort of thing.

I also have a pile of motorola talkabout type radios too, these are good because you can give them to friends etc. The handheld vhf/uhf radios can be tuned to the talkabouts on FRS channels at 462.xxxx

Thank you I will have to look into the Yaesu. I have heard the motorola's are not that good.

Dual band at the minimum, the tri-band and quad-band radios give you more options in an emergency.

I would look for one like the ft-51r, ebay maybe, because this a dual band radio that can be modified very easily to tx/rx on 50-999mhz. Then you can talk to pretty much anyone else who uses the vhf/uhf band.

Yeah the motorola's are shitty, but you can collect lots of them for cheap from yard sales and thrift stores. I have about a dozen of them, and they work for what they are, but you cant call the police or the fire department on it.

You can probably get more than 3 Wouxons for the price of one Yaesu.

My Wouxon hits a repeater 45 miles away, made well, etc.

$99 bucks at:

[link to www.cheapham.com]

If your budget is even tighter, go for a BaoFeng for about $50 or less:

[link to www.amazon.com]

If you want to pass your Technician Exam, I highly recommend(Best $25 I ever spent):

[link to www.hamradiolicenseexam.com]

a warm gun

Seriously, myself and some more experienced hams tested the Wouxon Model KG-UVD1P, and decided on this model. Tough, receives and transmits well. Get the Wouxon mic as well, I tested all brands, and it was the BEST and least expensive. Get the extended rubber ducky made by Diamond as well, model #SRJ77CA Dualband HT:

[link to www.theantennafarm.com]

First you have to decide WHY you want to communicate ... and with who. That determines the DISTANCE that you need to communicate over.

Secondly will you be communicating via VOICE or DATA? That determines the MODE that you want to communicate with.

In order of distance covered:

No or easy to obtain license options (US oriented):

FRS walkie talkies: 1/4 to 1/2 mile, unless open territory then maybe 2 miles

GMRS walkie talkies: 1/2 to 1 mile, unless open territory then maybe 3 to 4 miles (forget the advertising 27 miles!!)

CB (AM): 1/2 to 4 miles with standard antenna (probably 2 to 3)

CB (SSB - single sideband): 3 to 15 miles with standard antenna (probably 8 to 12)

MURS (near marine radio & 2 meter amateur freqs) 4 to 30 miles with typical (more complex) antenna set up

Amatuer Radio License options:

2 Meters, 4 to 30 miles with typical antenna set up (technician class or higher - US)

6 Meters, 10 to 50 miles with typical antenna set up
(technician class or higher - US)

160 Meters, (just above AM commercial radio station band) 20 to 50 miles day, 40 to 200 miles night (general class or higher - US) NO SKIP except terrain induced

80 Meters, 20 to 80 miles day, 40 to 300 miles night (general class or higher) NO SKIP except terrain induced

40 Meters or higher, round the world potential. Skip is the main determining factor on who you hear and how far the signal goes (includes 20 meters, 15 meters, 10 meters etc. etc.)(10 meters can also have the propagation dynamics of the CB band since it is immediately adjacent to it wrt frequencies)

For others to see.

The new Apple WereAllGonnaDiePad

Indeed cheap chinese electronics are available. The baofeng looks better in that it has a larger frequency range.

I have to say that I have beat the living hell out of my FT-51r, I have used it in logging camps and on the ocean and I have never had it fail me. I hope the newer one does just as well, and I think it will. These radios are solid workhorses, and for emergency situations that's what you want. Yaesus' are like the Nikons' of the ham world, not the very best, but right up there. Anyway you get what you pay for, and it might be better to have three radios instead of one. Esp after two break.