II've been wondering this for a while and I want to make sure I'm asking the right question here. OK. Everything I've been reading here and elsewhere dealing with comms is about the actual communications gear itself. Now, I understand what shortrange VHF/UHF and walkie talkies and CB's are for. Got it. Its just I've seen NO time devoted to setting up actual networks and methods. Heres what I mean. Its great that alot of us HAVE comm gear AND know how to use it. Thats great. But WHO will you talk to?
I propose the following. If the people here are like minded enough to think about these types of preparation anyways, why not start setting up networks ahead of time. BECAUSE, if the crap REALLY does hit the fan, then it will be to late to start setting up networks. Would you rather have comms with "experts" and like minded folk who are smart enough to prepare ahead? OR, just any Tom, Dick, or Jane with a radio shack CB begging for help?


This comes from 4+ years as a US Navy Cryptologist.

Shall we actually plan ahead or just talk about gear...?

For me anyhow it's more emergency communication with the people who are in my local area and monitoring what's going on "out there". I have no intention of spending alot of time on the radio because of the triangulation abilities by both the good & bad guys. I might as well just shoot flares into the air every day at noon. Now my opinions and uses may not be what others out there intend which is why they questions are so varied. Personally when TSHTF I don't want anyone to know where I am or what I'm doing, if I can avoid trouble whether it's biker gangs raiding or O'dumba thugs "putting down" the opposition I will do whatever I can to keep out of it and having a radio will allow me to monitor what the others are doing so I know where not to go.

Actually, there are some groups that have already set up networks, ranging from weekly voice nets to a digital network of Pactor stations.

Establishing a local, regional or wider net takes a good deal of dedication, both from net control and those wanting to get involved. Unfortunately, I've seen many groups talk the talk, but very few follow through for more than a couple of contacts. Needless to say, this tends to sour many to actually using their radio gear so it either gets sold off or is packed into a corner, soon to be forgotton.

As far as being paranoid - well, if the situation is that bad, I don't believe the radio is going to make things that much worse.

I too just listen

For only listening, better use a scanner.

JohnRambo wrote:For only listening, better use a scanner.

Not necessarily true. Most scanners do not cover the lower ham bands or shortwave frequencies...you'd be missing a lot!

Now, don't get me wrong. A scanner (or three) have their place in any listening setup. Just make sure that if your area is using digital trunking, at least one of your scanners has that capability.

Get into HAM radio. Get a liscense, get the equipment and a portable solar set up for power. Join a club or forum for it and get to know people accross the country. If shtf, you will be able to hear, relate news from all over. If your concern is local, join a local radio club and get the equipment and learn who's in your area. Traffic, accidents, bad weather and news can all be relayed.

I spoke to a ham radio operator at a county fair a few weeks ago and I told him about the use of CBs to relay across long distance totally off topic from ham radio I know and I asked him specifically about setting up enough CB radios whether handheld or base station in a series and spread out way short of non receivable range so that you can relay messages between individuals and he told me that it is "do able" but you would have to get enough transceivers pumping out enough transmitter power to get any decent range without going over the allowable 4-5 watt FCC minimum and it got me thinking what if you did something like this and you had stations that were still reachable but were 5 miles apart and using roof top or deck mounted antennas extending 10 to 30 feet high allowed you to extend the communication range to 10 to 30 miles allowing better reception of S.O.S signals because let's face it if SHTF the first thing you will want is status reports, offer and receive assistance from emergency personnel or from individuals with a big heart to help those in need either way you would want to be ready in any case

Good lord, shadowlynx, that whole post had only two 'stops' in it! Glad I wasn't reading it out loud, LOL.

Bidadisndat wrote:Good lord, shadowlynx, that whole post had only two 'stops' in it! Glad I wasn't reading it out loud, LOL.

lol no harm done but adding punctuation never really came easy to me perhaps I should brush up on adding periods, apostrophes and commas to my post so it doesn't look like one big though run amok!