I have a Tecsun PL 660. Less than 100 dollars on amazon. The instructions aren't that great,
But there are plenty of YouTube videos on this radio. When I'm in a "conspiracy theory " mood
I use it to listen to Alex Jones. It's a multi band radio.
Another good radio is the Eton FRX3. AM/FM and weather band. Hand crank generator built in
Along with a small solar panel and flashlight. We have both.
If it is a SHTF situation, I don't licenses are really a priority. I have a CB with sidebands, a FRS/GRS radio, and something in 2 meter. That should probably cover 90% of what will be available.
You don't need a license to buy or listen on a ham radio and I would listen for the first few hours or days after an event to get a lay of the land before announcing myself.
Forget those bubble pack toy FRS radios. The go to radios for preppers is the Baofeng UV5. It is a multi band UHF/VHF radio that can be programmed for HAM, MURS, Marine, FRS/GMRS, business class, weather and public safety freqs. You can also listen to commercial FM radio. It also has an alarm, LED flashlight built in. Best is that it is around $30 (amazon or ebay).
You can program it for lots of other obscure bands as well. I use mine on Ham bands but is programed for other things in an emergency. There are tons of info on the internet about them and programing software called Chirp is free.
This link is about the best I've found in terms of setting up frequencies and radios at least in concept. I have about a dozen of these radios for family and friends set up as described in the link below.
Get the license if you can. Besides staying legal you will learn a lot and you should practice and use your knowledge before you need it. You wouldn't buy a gun and throw it in your sock drawer and never practice with it, would you?
These radios are not necessarily simple to operate, keep a manual handy.
You need a license for GMRS and all the HAM bands.
If you think people won't come looking to shut down your illegal transmissions during time of emergency you are wrong. That's the time real fox hunts are most active.
When you don't know the band plan or the rules you are creating radio interference for those that took the time to learn how properly use the different frequencies. No amateur radio operator is going to communicate with you if you don't have a valid call sign.
If you don't use your radio and practice proper radio communications it won't do you a lick of good when you think you need it.
Be part of the community, don't be a jackass with a $30 radio and no clue.
I have the hand held walkie talkies. Great for out riding, hiking and such. Marine base station and hand held. Cb's in my Kenworth and pickup, and another at home which is never turned on. Just ordered a PLB to take out boating, snow machining, and hunting.
Buying a HAM radio without the legal ability to use it before SHTF with the idea that when the SHTF you can use it without legal consequences is like buying a gun that you can never shoot and practice with and expect it to work perfectly when you need it if the S does actually HTF.
There are two functions necessary to communicate--receive and transmit.
You may be able to program and receive transmissions on your radio all you want but transmission is a more complex process and is dependent of line of sight, distance, transmission power etc etc etc. Forget the fact that most HAM 2m transmissions might require an offset frequency and code to work off of local repeaters.
And if you can't legally transmit how the hell do you know if any of that stuff works or if people that you can hear can hear your transmission? They might be transmitting at 50 watts power and you are limited to 5 watts with a handitalkie. So you might hear them but they can't hear you. How will you know if you don't actually use the thing?
Again...its like buying a gun for emergency protection and you aren't even allowed to test fire or check to see if the sights are on...except HAM 2m radios are about 10 times more complicated than a handgun... So good luck with that.
Go get your stupid license. Its not that hard or expensive.
For listening, you want a general coverage receiver like the Tecsun PL 660 previously mentioned. That, with a good antenna, will let you listen to conventional AM/FM broadcast, ham radio operators, and foreign broadcasts for international consumption.
Supplement that with a VHF/UHF scanner to pick up local government and airplane conversations and probably ham FM. Be aware, though, that much government radio stuff is now digital and encrypted so you may or may not get something out of it.
The Baofeng 2-way previously mentioned will also tune most of the useful UHF/VHF stuff, but its scanning capability is pitiful compared to a serious scanner. The learning curve on the Baofeng is not insignificant. I have one myself, but I was already a ham operator. If you get one and want to transmit as well as listen, DO work on a license. The lower level license is of modest difficulty, but you'll have to spend many study hours. And remember that all your friends and relatives ought to get licensed as well. In a SHTF situation, the last thing you want is the government and properly licensed ham radio people triangulating you.
Consider as well the old CB radio. It's something that you can educate granny and the children on pretty quickly. It will also be a band that you'll hear a lot of locals on, since no license is needed.
The bad news for all the two-way radios is that area coverage is limited and you actually have to try it in your terrain to see how it goes. If your friend is only half a mile away, but on the other side of a hill, it might not work. If both of you are on clear hilltops, surprising distances can be achieved.
Whatever you get, make sure you've got the things needed to run/charge them off a car battery.
When you say you are not interested in ham radio, I assume that just means you don't want to transmit. You DO want to listen, since they are organized nationwide for emergencies. They were preppers before the word existed.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Glock Talk
21M posts
185.2K members
Since 1999
A forum community dedicated to Glock firearm owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about optics, gunsmithing, styles, reviews, troubleshooting, accessories, classifieds, and more!