Ham Radio Corner

[AIRret]

I may buy some "prepper" radios some time in the future and I don't know if I've really given up Ham Radio, but I'm hanging on to my original CSS .-- -.. ..... .... . -.

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Wyn, could you be specific…..what type of "prepper radios" are you considering?

[wyntrout]

Inexpensive Chinese-made VHF/UHF FM radios with Ham+ coverage... a couple of handietalkies would be nice... keep them in metal ammo boxes... just basic communication if the SHTF. I have a couple of GMRS that I've rescued numerous times from leaking batteries, as well as a few AC/DC base-type units made for intercom-like use. One has WX channels and I have a few better antennas.

When my wife was working she was usually 9 miles or so away and If we had some kind of electromagnetic event and vehicles and communication went down, i wanted to be able to contact her. I bought a folding bike for the trunk of her car and was trying to assemble a kit for her to get home with. It would do little good for me to abandon our home and go try to find her on a bicycle. Anyhow, she lost her case worker job and she decided she's through working. She's 10 years younger and still has a year and a half to go for early Social Security, but we're both retired USAF and I have Social Security, so we're doing fine.

She became uninterested in continuing to prepare for anything like that. I envisioned her having a belt with pistol, ammo, pepper spray, and water and snacks, whatever to help her get home. A working radio, especially a real Ham HT would be great in an emergency.

I can't vouch for any brand, but I've seen conversation by preppers about the cheap Chinese HTs. The FRS and GMRS HT's have been sold like toys for so long that I don't think they would be much better than CB's.

Still, it's just a thought... been spending next months budget on ammo the last few months and wishing I could afford something like an AR-10 and equipping it with minimum accessories and ammo.

North Korea and Iran are really worrisome. I'm afraid that either will use nukes the first chance they get. Then there are solar flares and wayward asteroids. I don't sit around worrying about that stuff, though.

I do put in a plug for Conservative values and try to persuade people on Facebook that this election is too important for the future of our Republic... too important to not vote, protest vote, or anything besides voting for Trump. I'll shut up... don't want to go political here. I do press "Like" a lot and rant a bit.

Wynn

[AIRret]

Wynn, I'm also retired AF and am very familiar with the risks of EMP! It's an easy way to take over a country without destroying buildings, roads etc.
I was a weapons controller and a lock for NORAD and when I was stationed at the AF Academy one of my additional duties was being the disaster preparedness officer. Sadly, that position was treated like a joke….I won't go into the details.
Hubby and I are not over the top peppers but we have a few supplies put aside. I believe every family in America should be able to sustain themselves for at least 2 weeks (preferably a month). It sure would help calm things down, it would be especially effective in smaller disasters like Katrina.
Thanks for the information, I appreciate it!

[wyntrout]

I wasn't very helpful. I've searched for stuff like the radios to see what people were saying about them. Some guys really give those cheap radios a going over with sophisticated equipment to see how 'clean" they are.

The North Koreans are trying to test doing everything and I shudder at the thought of them launching a "peaceful" satellite that passes over our nation... a perfect vehicle for carrying out an EMP attack.

Solar flares are a possibility, too, should we pass into a solar coronal ejection... all scary stuff.

We keep several weeks worth of water and food on hand. I have a weeks worth of Mountain Home meals that just require hot water for preparation... breakfasts and one regular meal.

I'm not really into prepping but I do have gas masks and Kevlar helmets. I can see Blount Island and the container handling cranes from my seat here. Blount Isalnd is a Marine Depot or something for shipping military stuff in and out of the country... especially war supplies and vehicles. During the Second Gulf War I watched the entire aviation component of the 101st Airborne fly by on their way to the Depot... quite a show... thousands of helicopters of every sort.

I think about those facilities being targeted and what it would be like for us being that close... about two miles away. A lot of my stuff works for hurricanes or tornadoes, too.

I could see having some kind of HF backup for communications, but it's a matter of cost and use. I hate to buy stuff with limited funds and not have a pressing use for it.

Cell phones and smart phones have really spoiled us. I read One Second After when it came out and it was not the first or last book that I've read on the EMP subject. I read a lot of science fiction... since I learned to read in the very early 50's. I hope that it never happens, but we have enemies that will attack us in a heartbeat when they get the capability.

I did restock my ammo, buying almost 6K rounds of centerfire handgun ammo. This talk about stopping Internet gun and ammo sales is really bothersome!

As for EMP, we didn't study it as much when I was active duty. It was just one of the side effects of the weapons we were going to employ. We were expecting that if launched under EWO conditions... Emergency War Order. We would be creating it and experiencing the effects of our weapons and the enemy's. The Rooskies even had nuclear-tipped ainti-aircraft missiles! I'm sure glad that we got past the Cold War, but now we have other threats.

Ham Radio was a lot of fun and it can be a great help in emergencies. It always comes up as the main source of information in national emergencies, especially if the power grid goes down. Most Hams have alternate sources of power and some protected equipment for backup.

We have supplies for a month or so, food-wise, but security would be our biggest problem with the unprepared, but willing to "share" your stuff crowds... the "Zombies"!

Wynn

[CJB]

Well... if you're worried about EMP, go getchself a nice used Hammerlund receiver, or Collins transceiver (or transmitter if you have a Hammerlund too). All tubes, caps, resistors, coils and switches. Totally EMP proof.

I joke - the day after the big one, I can still plug in any of my blackface or brownface Fender amps and keep on rockin'.

[wyntrout]

I had quite a few antennas up at my house in Abilene, Texas, (Dyess AFB) before I went to Europe. I just have a few mobile antennas now, but have coax and wire and an SWR meter (HF and VHF) in case I needed to throw something together.

As I said, the cell phones and smartphones have really changed our lives. If cellular and WIFI went down, most people wouldn't know what to do.

I like having my quad-CPU mini computer/camera/phone/book/GPS and more, with me.

Wynn

[CJB]

aw hell, you could whip up a dipole antenna for almost any band with not too much more than wire and some insulators!

[AIRret]

Kim Jong Un, is a crazy man. In my opinion the most likely attack would come from him or Iran. Not that there are not other candidates.

It would be nice to have a local, "responsible/reasonable" place to go……strength in numbers. I'm afraid that in local civil unrest my neighbors would be heading to our house looking for protection. Many of them are very elderly (5 are 87 - 93) so I have no issue with that, but I don't want 50 people in our 1,500 square foot condo.

[wyntrout]

Yes, that's the problem with an urban location. We're in a house but it's not really defensible with just the two of us and walls that won't stop much... brick veneer on the front and HardiBoard elsewhere. I would like to be in rural Texas with a 'bunker-type" house out of sight, but that would take winning the lottery... not much equity in this house with the housing decline in 2007.

I don't go to the Neighborhood Watch meetings... I pretty much watch OUR area all day. The cop across the street is a nice guy and a few other neighbors have a FEW guns... their wives even have carry permits, but we haven't discussed mutual support or anything like that.

We're just hoping that nothing happens... I guess!

I've been spending so much on ammo... and a few pistols... that I just don't have extra money for stuff that will hopefully just sit around.

[AIRret]

Yes, TX would be a good place to be. It's very patriotic, and yet it's the only Sate that has a right to secede. It was it's own country (republic) before it joined the
USA. Lots of good people there.
But in all likelihood it will be me and Hubby against the hoard. We don't have any immediate neighbors who carry. The ones that own guns are 87 and 90 with terrible arthritis…they have the will but they are too debilitated to train. It would be great to have 6 to 12 folks that would be able to support each other.
I wonder how all the underground groups formed and fought during WWII?
Maybe we'll get lucky and nothing drastic will happen.