Communication/Comms, is it important?

[White Tiger]

Hello everyone - I'm new to the forum so maybe I missed it - how many of you believe that the ability to communicate (locally and to the outside world beyond a few hundred miles) should be a part of your long-term preparations?

How many here have a FCC/amateur radio license?

I don't ask because Im an expert - not by any stretch of the imagination - but I have given some thought to the idea. Perhaps I came to this conclusion due to where I live and the weather conditions causing intermittent communication "blackouts" certain times of the year?
Anyone can put up with a few days of the knower going out. However, I have family over 300 miles away, as well as within 5 to 30 miles from me. There were times when I didn't know if my brother was ok, hadn't heard from my aging parents in weeks, and had no insight as to their conditions...health, food, water, or safety...so I resolved to do something about the situation.

At any rate - last year I made contact with someone who knew what they were doing, that helped me buy a radio for my needs, helped point me in the direction of how to get a license, studied for/received a license, set up and made communications. Since then I have added a small solar back-up energy re-charging system to help me run completely off of DC should I need to - and I am currently doing research into the NTS(D) (a volunteer system of digital message forwarding stations using HF radio) to send/forward email/message "traffic" around the state, nation, or globe.

The equipment is pretty easy to learn, not too expensive, and the concepts easy enough to grasp that a non-tech guy like me has had a BLAST making contacts and learning how to work my rig to get and give information - so that I'm not caught flat-footed and surprised - when the S finally does HTF...

So - that's me - what do YOU think?

[Gwynmael]

Communication/Comms, is it important?

White Tiger,

Welcome.
We have a number of members who currently have their HAM licenses and at least one who is currently studying (not me, yet ). Our guru is AD.

Have a look around and join in.

[AD]

Communication/Comms, is it important?

WT

I see you from the SB site, but I do not post there anymore.
Glad to have you here.

I actually started a site www.preparedham.com when AA was only two months into writing a chapter at a time on SB. I gave him the background on Amatuer radio to put in his book. At the end of January that next year there was a CME event and our very own Tex lost cell coverage in WY. i mentioned on the SB Going Home thread he should have had his ticket and he would still have comms.

Well I got swampped with questions so I started PH.

Still trying to get AA and Tex to get moving on this. Again welcome

BTW I am Amatuer Extra and a VE.

[kickstand]

Communication/Comms, is it important?

WT,
First of all, welcome.
I had my General ticket for about 20 years (yeah, had to pass 13wpm morse code test) , though most of that was inactive. While reading GH, I got the gear out of storage and set it up, and then after a bit of a freq "oopsie", I decided to get my AE.
After coming home from 6 weeks in the hospital and rehab after a nasty motorcycle accident and amputation, I figured it would be the perfect time to spend some time "on the air". Unfortunetly, when I went out to the barn where the rigs are set up, I looked up on my antenna pole and saw that 1/2 of my dipole was pulled down and broken. I almost climbed the ladder to fix it, but then realized that my wife would kill me if I did.
I have recently been able to remove the entire pole from the ground and lay it down (no easy feat with only one foot), and am about to get a different dipole set up.
Glad you enjoy the "hobby", which can be more of a mistress if you're not careful.
Best regards,
Bill, aka Kickstand

[unseenone]

Communication/Comms, is it important?

I got motivated and got my General, I took the test for the Extra, and missed it by one point. They didn't want to stick around to let me take the test again, and I haven't gotten around to going back.

[seawind]

Communication/Comms, is it important?

Being near the water most of my family and friends will use their boat radios. One factor not mention here is our Addiction to communications. Going cold turkey will drive people batty. I can see many people going out to "find out whats going on" when its safer to stay home.

[White Tiger]

Communication/Comms, is it important?

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

I was in the SB /GH thread - that's where I saw a link here (meant for someone else). Because I have a keen awareness that something big is about to happen - which no doubt morphed into a very motivating dream which propelled me headlong into prepping in a serious way in the first place - I have developed a voracious appetite for "good" prepping sites.

AD - I have checked out PreparedHam site as well - like this one, it's a great site. I'm a member of another radio focused preparedness site - like I said, I have this intense desire, maybe better described as obsession, to make sure Im up-to-date and covering all the bases!

I have my General as well - and unseen - that is absolutely awful that your VE's didn't encourage you to retest to overcome that missed point on your Extra exam (too bad AD wasn't one of them, eh)!? I spent most of the month I devoted to getting my license - to studying and practice testing through General. Only spent the last 5 days on the AE tests - I blew thru the Tech, missed one on the General. I was ready to stop and the VE's actually encouraged me to keep going, the 4 that were administering the test had only ever seen one person test through to Extra once - so they were actually more excited than I was! Long story short: I ran into a brick wall on the AE. I only got a little better than half of the answers correct - and I only know that because they were so intent on seeing someone pass all 3 on the same day - they had agreed that if I got into the 70% range, they'd let me take it again. I didn't make it, bit I told them I appreciated them staying around and letting me try. They told me they were pulling for me!

the point is - I couldn't imagine not automatically re-testing if I was that close to passing my AE!? I told myself Id certainly retest the next month...but here it is 3 months later and I am only now getting around to picking up the AE book again...

kickstand - sorry for the complications in your life - so very glad that you are meeting them on your terms! And by the way - you are SO very right about amateur radio becoming a mistress...

I heard AA on The Survival Podcast - where he was promoting his book - immediately afterward I downloaded & read "Going Home" - loved it! I don't drive for a living, but I spend a lot of time in the same area the book covers. I have been through every location mentioned in the book - including backpacking through the Ocala National Forest... The book helped me think through the philosophy that I used to build my "Get Home" bag. I've carried a GHB for the past two years - but based on some of the information in the book - I've gotten rid of some things and added others.

seawind - that is a fantastic point - its one thing to think you could be suddenly marooned without any means of contacting someone to help you, or the ability to check on loved ones - it's something else entirely to be confronted by the habit we've unknowingly developed - that being - we're constantly in contact with people that need or want to speak, text, or email us. I was really confronted by that during a hike my son and I decided to take on the spur of the moment a few years ago (a section hike of a portion of the AT for 4 days) on the trail. I never expected to be confronted by how unimportant it made me feel to be cut off during that period (since then I have learned how unimportant I really am )!

Glad folks know who to talk to about this issue - I hope Tex ...and ESPECIALLY AA...take you up on your advice to get their license. If for nothing else to be able to safely set-up and operate a high frequency communications option for when the lights go out...on a dark road...far from home...

[Kailani Kealoha]

Communication/Comms, is it important?

Aloha!

[AD]

Communication/Comms, is it important?

Tex and AA will alway have excuses. They are posers nothing more nothing less. They are a waist(get it. AA?) of O2 and should be removed from the equation. :woohoo: :imwithstupi

[unseenone]

Communication/Comms, is it important?

We're real tickled to have you on board White Tiger. Yes, I came very close to doing a triple header. It was a bummer, I may get around to finishing it up here at some point.

It ought to be real interesting having a detail oriented White Tiger stalking these parts.

[kickstand]

Communication/Comms, is it important?

Really the only reason I went for AE was because, uh, ahem, a "Friend" of mine answered a call outside of his General license, but within the AE range. Since I didn't want that to happen to, ahem, ME, I decided to go for AE. That 20wpm CW is what made me quit at General last time, although I do have to admit, making contact and having a "short" QSO via CW is really something that I used to really enjoy.
The MAIN reason to get at least a General is the HF privelages. That way you can not only own the equipment, but practice using it now and again so that you know what the heck you need to do when the lights fade away. You can spend a bank full of cash on gear, but if you've never actually keyed up a mic and talked to a guy in Tazmania, then you might as well have bough a cell phone for all the good all the gear is going to do for you.
Glad you're with us WT, and 73,
ks

[W.Lynn]

Communication/Comms, is it important?

Hi WT, poke around, catch up on the news, AA signed with a well-known publisher, so getting the sequels out won't be such a headache.

The artist's concept for book 2's cover makes me want to slap someone around a bit though, the artist (or maybe whomever told them what to draw,) has absolutely no clue about cover or concealment. Any 10 year old that's ever gone hunting would expect to get shot if they stood straight up on a rooftop, silhouetted against the sky, under conditions when lead might come sailing by. My 3 & 5 year old grandsons understand concealment better.



Oh, and I'm one of AD's graduates, I studied how he said to, did the trifecta, and got suddenly hugged by a big, scary, lady VE who squealed really loud, right in my ear. Can't tell you much else about that day, it's a blur.

[White Tiger]

Communication/Comms, is it important?

Really the only reason I went for AE was because, uh, ahem, a "Friend" of mine answered a call outside of his General license, but within the AE range. Since I didn't want that to happen to, ahem, ME, I decided to go for AE.

How interesting, I have a friend who did the exact same thing! It was a real shame too, he couldn't log an otherwise excellent contact/QSO made with a gentleman from Italy. It's the main reason I want to follow-up and get my AE - not to mention - I won't have to keep track of which bands Im "allowed" to be on (and some of those AE frequencies are completely free of static and absolutely smooth to operate in...or so I've been told...).

The MAIN reason to get at least a General is the HF privelages. That way you can not only own the equipment, but practice using it now and again so that you know what the heck you need to do when the lights fade away. You can spend a bank full of cash on gear, but if you've never actually keyed up a mic and talked to a guy in Tazmania, then you might as well have bough a cell phone for all the good all the gear is going to do for you.

This cannot be overstated. It also extends to my point about learning to operate before the lights go out - most people know that 120v/AC can do you serious bodily harm...many don't know that 30v/DC can do the same things...HF radios generate 100w to 1500w ...so high frequency = high voltage. You need to learn how to operate these things properly before having to try and rely on them!

Which is absolutely the point of my overly-long winded OP...I admit, I have much to learn about the importance of being concise!

[kickstand]

Communication/Comms, is it important?

The Tigger rambled on and ended with:

Which is absolutely the point of my overly-long winded OP...I admit, I have much to learn about the importance of being concise!

I disagree. Please feel free to elaborate as much as you care to. Short, concise postings rarely interest and entertain us, and we're pretty easy to entertain.

[XJP5]

Communication/Comms, is it important?

Tiger,

I think you'd be well advised to plan for alternate comm capability. When hurricane Sandy ripped through the NY metro area, I tried to reach family members for 6 days,but the cellular system was down in most areas, or totally overloaded.

Something to think about. If we ever experience a large catastrophic event, the infrastructure could go down for a much longer period of time. Just having receive capability could make the difference between life & death. Information is powerful.

I think HF capability is very important, with portability & solar charging ability being almost a necessity IMO (an M4 carbine wouldn't hurt either). By the way ... I'm also one of AD's flunkies, but don't hold that against me hmy:

XJP5
Extra Class Radio Operator