Every day there is one HF radio and one dual band HT that I use.   About a dozen radios all together, though all but the two get very little use.   Regarding SHTF I have a kit with antennas and accessories which are rapidly deployable but there is no detailed plan to save the world, it is just a set of resources I would prefer to not be without.

Well,

I don't claim to have a save the world plan either...

I'm really finding my plans and my friends plans quite different than most expressed here...

Now I use radios just about everyday...

There is on on my desk in my office, one in my it center, one in my gf's office/studio, one in my theater as well as another 8 in my vault on my workbench.

If we as a family are out doing things outside we use radios for comm.

The farmhands use radio for comm either ht or mobile.

Where I live we have some cell coverage nowadays but just a few years ago it was non existent...

It's funny, back when my gf moved in, she sorta laughed at having a phone system with extensions...

Then, she found out the real need for it...and uses it all the time...even paging over them too...else if she is in her studio it's 2 23 step staircases and quite a hike...

Now, a year under her belt, she has her own radio...she laughed...within two days she started using it....called me about getting a game loaded on a pc...now today I just put an extended battery on it for more time off charge...

She already isn't laughing...

Im beginning to notice that many people in the city don't fathom the amount of reliance they have on technology that is not under thier control.

I've had many city folk see my truck and sorta laugh a bit being a 3/4ton long box extended cab with a big antenna on the roof...

Some of these are people that are new homeowners in the area...

I was talking to them and they complain that there isn't a Starbucks close!

I'm not saying they are dumb, but, ignorant sure.

My neighbors I need to drive to...and a drive by is going over to the neighbors and seeing thier tractor out in the field and decide to not bother him.

I put comm in the essential category...not quite #1 but close...

Without comm my property stops working well under normal conditions...I'd hate to see comm issues when there is already a issue...

Bret

Oh my, no Starbucks?   I'm in an oil town, pretty sizeable but somewhat remote, the closest Starbucks is 120 miles away.    The infrastructure around doesn't look like much but it is pretty robust.

Yes, you know the type of people I'm talking about...

I live only like 50 miles from a starbucks...

I've lived in the city back when I was much younger...Chicago to be exact...

Now, not everyone, but quite a few of the cidiots exist around in my area...

Chuck and Jane had 2.5 kids and their moving to the country for a better life...

There is a few housing developments not too far from away...

It's like a friends wife, she made him get rid of the chickens and beef...

Then she is going to a market and paying 5 bucks for "farm fresh" "organic" eggs...damn!

It took years but he has chickens and beef again...

People get so far removed from things they don't even understand what things can break or even works...

I used to teach skyward for many years, remember after the twister movie came out...it was funny!

Then these cidiots say, what's that radio for, you answer communication...but don't you have a cell phone! They say...is sometimes a lost cause...

For the person that has never had to fend or take care of anything their self it really hard to come to a common ground to even start a dialog...

I grew up in what most people think is a small town...165,000 people...What! Small...that is 164,800 more than the town I'm in now...

Maybe I'm the one that is dens...but, I know what is within my control and what isn't should be if at all possible.

I go for weeks never having to leave my property...I don't have to say "home" but I enjoy my peaceful life these days...

I know more percentage of people on the board here will understand the cidiots issue...

My two cents is: If it's something you need, you better have it as much withing your control and backups as humanly possible...

Bret

1) Yaesu FT-757GX II

2) Yaesu FT-897D

3) Yaesu VX-7R

4) Yaesu FT-109RH (currently not working - bad cap I think)

5) Kenwood TM-741 with 220MHz module (currently not working - also a bad cap I believe)
 

One brand new dual band HT.  I'm new.

I'm sure I'll have more stuff someday.

I got into this for backcountry comms, less for SAR (but that is possible), and for emergency comms.  Yes, an HT is weak sauce for some stuff, but it's packable.

Trying to learn enough about radio and antennaes to do more than pass a test now.

A DC to Daylight shack-in-a-box rig at the house. Couple of dual band HTs for the rare time I do public service events. Sitting in a box is a dual band VHF/UHF for the bugout box if I ever get around to building it. In another box is a 2m only for the APRS weather station ... if I ever get around to it. Got another 2m unit that would be good for the work car. Need to get a mobile HF/VHF rig in the truck.

I'm another one who got into amateur radio as a backup for when comms go down. Personal experience with that. Hurricane Gustav blew through and the big red oak in the backyard fell and crushed the house. Internet .. out. Land line phone ... out. Cell voice ... out due to overloaded system. Cell text took 4 hours round trip if it got through at all. Local media was no help. Pretty much "A HURRICANE HAS HIT BATON ROUGE!" Got it. There's a tree in my kitchen and it's not Christmas. Now tell me where I can get a couple tarps. No help. Once I got my Tech it took no time to figure out that I really needed coverage that would extend out of the emergency in progress area and upgraded to General.

As for ARES, RACES, Red Cross, etc. At least locally it has become real clear that we are not wanted. When the post 911 DHS money came the state put up a network of packet repeaters. Pretty cool except that there is no money for maintenance. The local tower has been off the air for over 3 years and it appears that it will never be brought back up. The state has even fired the guy that was the ham liason at the state EOC. In my parish the EOC got a remodeling, much needed by the way. In the process the ham gear was taken down. Two years later it hasn't been put back up and there are no plans to.

For those areas that can make ham radio an integral part of emergency planning with the governments, power to you.

My HT on a external 6db antenna gets "loud and clear" reports from 30 miles away. You can almost double your range just by adding an telescoping antenna. HT's are cool, welcome to the club. Scott



 

Oh golly, I have probably a dozen VHF/UHF rigs.
Icom IC-2350 in the Jeep. ICW21AT HT. Kenwood TR-7730 in the shack, Lafayette HA-146 (rockbound 2m) for the BOL and 4 or 5 Maxon GMRS HT's. I have four Motorola Micor UHF mobile "drawers" and a Micor UHF Compa-Station repeater (not on the air) sitting in the bedroom.
As far as ARES/RACES I'm not involved. I am a SKYWARN spotter but there's not alot of activity here in AZ unless it's monsoon season.

From reading this thread, I take it the Gov't doesn't want our involvement in EMCOMM anymore. That's fine with me. When SHTF I don't want to be anywhere near a Gov't agency.

Yes,

The govt and private sectors just want o get all the grant money they can and put up some new cool gadget and then 3 years later it doesn't work cuz there is no maintance plan or techs that know how to work on it.

The .mil has cool gadgets, and has purely basic radios too...

They don't want to run some trunking system that requires towers and such...

The .mil needs comm all the time...has the budget larger than most small countries...

The crap the govt and the private sector sounds good, but in practice sucks...but looks good on tv and in a board meeting...

Comm needs to be simple, easy to move, reliable, and bulletproof...

So, the .mil uses VHF and UHF comm, plus some nice toys for the upper crust...

But an AWACS overhead in the area is the best antenna you'll ever have...

Myself I can't afford my own private AWACS so I have some hf, VHF and UHF and my own tower.

On my 2m beam I can talk around 150 miles or more everyday...that is what I need for myself...

Reliable comm outside the area the disaster is in...here it it tornadoes and such that cause rampant damage, not much warring for them either...

I own and have used many hf rigs at my place but, find the VHF is enough reach for what I need...now, the hf is there is I should need it...and I have some pulleys up the tower to hoist up whatever long lines need and all the equipment is in my shack if needed...

I myself don't use the hf gear and antennas enough to keep them up...they will be broke or a corroded part, etc before I use them again, so I just take them down.

Now, locally here I also use VHF and UHF ht's for regular comm and emergency if needed...

I have deployed with farmhands and such right now 16 ht's and slowly switching out the older ones for newer dual band units...

Sme of my hands and most of my friends are ham operators and that is nice...

I keep all the equipment running and if there an issue it is taken care of right away insted of just putting it in the corner...

As for emgency comm box...I really don't have one...

I have dual band rigs in each truck, everyone has thier own ht, and beyond that is a huge shit storm if I'm having to bug out in a hurry...

I have food, power, water, for everyone here on a regular basis for right around 90 days....

Yep, 90 days give or take...it is no fancy dry packed or mre's...

It's 50# bags of rice, sugar, flour, etc...
It's lots of jars of sauces and preserves...a lot from here at the farm.
It's boxes of pasta, etc...

We only goto the market about once a month or so, and lately we have been getting less and less each time in favor of our own can goods and such.

But, I do want to get an emergency comm setup going...I'm thinking of doing something I've done before for some counties before...

Get a 36' or longer Rv trailer, bumper pull type...and fit it wil a larger than standard generator...

The county conversions we removed the back bedroom, but I think I'd leave that and use the living room for the comm shack...

If needed just pull out the rigs and put up the antennas and your done ...

The old county trailers like this we build some PVC tubes under the trailer to hold the masts and antennas.

Built a tip up mast for the front and back and one extra location in the middle of the rig.

Back bumper was extended three feet for the generator, and above it additional storage for chairs and tables and ez up tents.

These units workd great and didn't cost a fortune...

They could be pulled by just about any 3/4 ton truck or larger...even a 1/2 ton in a pinch...

On board ups for computers and radios...shut down the genny to refill the fuel...

So far I own plenty of comm gear and antennas...

I have a 5k genny that is just a spare now...

I just need to find a decent trailer and then get this done...

Bret

What antenna are you using?

I have an Diamond X200. Its mounted to the back of my shop and I run the line through the wall and use an 1m UHF to sma adapter. Works really good with a 5w HT.



http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamants/2341.html



 

I have a GP-9 (8.5/11.9dB) on a roof mast as well as a GP-6 (6.5/9dB) attic mount and have had excellent results with a 5 watt HT using a patch cable from N9TAX with both antennas.

Well,

I'll have to say I've never run any of my ht's from a base antenna...

I have 6 gp9n's and just never tried it.

I have 4 on my tower at various locations for packet, repeater, digit eater, etc...

I've also thought of putting one in my attic at the house...but just been too lazy...

This summer I have a fairly large list of comm to do...

I own everything now just have to make time to get it all done..,and I can't walk much anymore let alone climb towers...

I've had all the stuff to install for a couple years now...

New lmr400 new gp9's new m2 beams for 2, 222, 440, 902, and 1296...new yaesu rotor ...lots of work 200+ feet up...

Bret

Nice stuff.  Thanks!

1. Icom F40GT x 2 UHF radios on GMRS, public safety and 440 ham
2. Icom F43GS UHF radio on GMRS, public safety and 440 ham
3. Icom F33GS VHF radio on 2 meters and public safety
3. Icom F3061S VHF radio on 2 meters and public safety  
4. Motorola GP380 x 2 VHF radios on 2 meters
5. Kenwood TM-V7A dual bander in a fourwheel drive.
6. Kenwood TM-V708A dual bander on a power supply as a base radio
7. Kenwood TM-D710 in my daily drive auto.
8. A couple of CB mobile radios and a Midland 75-822 CB handheld

In case of a TEOTWAWKI situation, the VHF radios could be programmed with the Motorola Urban Retail Store frequencies. Obviously a bad thing if regulatory agencies are still being paid.

RS

I tried it just so I would have a backup radio at the house.  I only have one mobile radio set up for use at home and wanted another option with more range than my HT with the standard antenna.  It is amazing how much difference a good antenna can make.  I was able to chat easily with a friend of mine in town about 15-20 miles away simplex on his Kenwood HT.  He was using a standard HT antenna and I was using the GP-9 with my HT.

I'm usually running 5w on radios on the base antenna anyway.  I have a connection cable right there to connect an HT if needed, mainly for power outage contingencies or testing purposes.  I did have a 5w HT hooked up with an APRS controller for testing and was amazed at the range I was getting.

I have 10 or so radios. 11 commercial antennas. 1 wideband trunking digital scanner.

I have radios from the Big Three, Wouxun, and Baofeng. (The new B5 is great!)

I can't do 23cm, thats about my only limitation besides CW, and I am working on that.

I have been licensed for 2.5 months. So far I love my ICOM 7000 the most, followed

closely by my Yaesu 857D. Trying out the crossband repeat on the Kenwood V71A.

Every radio has 2 Meters and 70cm in common. But in an emergency I would have to

go 2M. My wife is going to kill me, soon. This is worse  than BRD and Motorcycles

combined.

Dang! you went to town.  If it makes you feel better, my wife tried to kill me when I brought home my Alpha.  Then she really had it when I told her that It needed another kilobuck to get it up and running and that 220 line into the shack.  Yea, if you are married, ham radio can be hazardous to your health.

Yet another reason I'm not married and never will be.

I get what I want most of the time, and she gets what she wants most of the time...work good most of the time...

Now, it's my farm, house, cabin, airplane, cars, etc...but there is plenty to share...

Bret

I HF rig +SGC tuner
Trunking scanner
3 Mobile 2m/440 rigs
2,/440 HT
UHF Commerical keyboard programable (U16)
VHF "                                                " (replacement for H16)
2 Moto Astros (work, but issued to me) +RIB and software
6 GP200s (one Ham, on LMR freq)
1 FRS
ICOM handheld aircraft radio
URC-200 with 50 Mhz mod (work)
2 CBs

Plus I've got 6 MT2000s at my real office that are more or less mine.

Shack:
Alinco DX-SR8 (HF)
Yaesu FT-7800 (2m+70cm)

Truck:
Yaesu FT-7800 (2m+70cm)

HT's:
Yaesu VX-2R (2, 2m+70cm)
Yaesu VX-6R (2m+70cm + 1.25m)
Icom IC-Q7A (2m+70cm)
Alinco DJ-G7T (2m+70cm + 23cm) just purchased to work several new 23cm local repeaters

I just picked up some new radios since I last posted. I'll highlight the new ones.

Mobles:
1 Yaesu FT-2900R
1 Motorola GM300
2 Icom F221S
2 Icom F420S
1 Kenwood TK-630

HT's:
1 Yaesu FT-270R
1 Baofeng UV-5R Plus
1 Icom F4021T

Misc:
6 Linksys WRT54G routers and various homebrew/commercial hi-gain antennas for them

Why? Well my first radio was the 270. Bought the 2900 on sale for $120. Bought the Baofeng to play. The F4021 cost me less than the 270 (walked out the door with the Icom for $135) and I wanted a rugged UHF HT (and yes it can be programmed from the radio). I was given the F221S and was gonna turn them into a portable repeater…then I was given the F420S and decided to use that instead (so one of the 221S is now in my mobile). GM300 was free…as was the TK-630 (thanks to TxDOT). Mainly it's cheap equipment that I can reband and use so I grab it when I can (atm I need a Part 90 UHF radio to stay legal for school/work). I like playing around with networks, data transmission over distance is just another natural interest for me.

Not many.

2 HF radios. Main and backup fixed
2 VHF/UHF radios. One in POV, one for fixed station.
1 VHF radio. backup fixed
1 VHF/UHF HT
2 digital P25 scanners. One fixed, one mobile
3 analog P25 scanners. Two fixed, one mobile

12v backup power, smaller battery bank, no solar, nor a generator suitable for radio purposes

HF rigs are entry level Icom. FM radios are entry to mid Yaesu. Current vintage.
Why? Katrina. Then I read Patriots. Although HAM does not figure into any survival fantasy. Natural or man made temporary situation, perhaps I'll use radio to keep abreast of the latest developments. Other than that, I'll hunker down and exercise RF discipline to conserve power and remain low profile.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Great,

I haven't picked up any radios lately...

I'm also selling a few more right now too...

But, I've got plenty...I was out in my ham shack the other day...and ran into 4 ft8500's nice! And some more antennas...

Right now,

24 baofeng uv-5r's
10 vx6r's
12 Moto business band radios
2 736r's
2 home built repeaters...
6 5ghz dishes
4ft8500's in use, plus 4 I just found...
A yaesu hf rig...forget the model...I'm not a huge hf fan
and lots of misc wireless items...

I have a bit of solar. Power.
Two in use and current generators...
And on board generators on my woods mowers..

If my on property toshiba phone system is ever down, Ill need every radio and then some...I have a spare onsite as well for this...

Currently, 32 extensions and 8 incoming lines...

so, day to day I use radios even in the off season...but durring the season I usually have at least 24 out everyday...

Bret