Best Amateur Radio for Prepping?

[kb0nly]

I would suggest a wideband receiver with as many bands of transmit as possible. A good HF/VHF/UHF radio stored in a protected and semi hardened location to protect it from most of the possibilities, don't forget to pack with some desiccant also to keep it dry.

Other than that, guns and ammo is how i intend to be prepared. For every single person who is ok there will be hundred if not thousands of people that are not and looking for stuff they need. The only way to deal with that is be ready to use force.

I don't put much stock into the 2012 end of the world, but thats not to say that i won't be totally unprepared either.

 

[thomast77]

I really hate to go off topic, but, it depends how may implants you have:twisted:
My suggestion is the Yaesu 857. Work all HF/VHF/UHF.
Larry

So your telling me you have implants? That's not really what I was talking about. I was talking about wrapping radios in foil to create a faraday cage to protect against EMP from the sun or nuclear attack. I can't help you with implants you may need to see a doctor about that.

 

[KZ4RV]

Research the term "Faraday Cage" or "Faraday Shield". That is what another poster meant by the metal garbage can. You would probably want to wire it to a 8' ground rod, and also make a very good electrical connection between the lid and the can.

I am not a "prepper", other than living in Florida and have my "bug-out" stuff handy for when the big whirlygigs blow through the Gulf of Mexico. I've got a 12VDC-110V 750W "inverter"... you've got an inverter, right? They are inefficient, compared to just running something off of the available voltage, but,
"assuming" that an EMP event didn't wipe out your vehicle's electronic ignition, if you can find fuel, you can run 110V gear.

"Somewhere"... erm, I've got a big, fat 2M HT with big, fat AA batteries, both the rechargeable variety and the throw-away types, and a BNC antenna connector on top, as opposed to something that you're stuck using the factory rubber-ducky.

If you read-between-the-lines of what others have said, often-times radios can be made to xmit outside of the authorized Amateur bands. I don't advocate this, or breaking the law. The fact of the matter is that, right now, for a lot less than $100, you can get a "2M/440" Chinese HT with 4 watts out, CTCSS, DTMF, etc., and it will xmit almost anywhere that it can receive. You'll want the programming cable that come with it, and free, aftermarket software to program it, since the instructions are less than helpful. And, you'll want to get the SMA to (fill in the blank) coax adapter, about $5. And, yes, it'll probably work on FRS frequencies, it might work on fire/ems frequencies if they are still on FM UHF/VHF. Seems like an awful idea, though. You wouldn't "prep" with a gun you've never fired, right? Then toss the idea of buying a rig that you don't know how to operate, and cannot verify that it functions like you want it to, without breaking the law and interfering with those that are rightfully on that part of the spectrum.

The Morse Code requirement for Amateur Radio is long-gone and anybody can either buy a book, or download the "question pool" for passing any grade of license. That would be good "prepping". I don't know if you do or don't have your ticket, that's just a general statement.

Randy

 

[dksac2]

I'd go with the Yaesu FT-897D, it can be powered by 120 AC, an internal battery pack or 13.8DC, it covers HF/6/2/440. Not cheap at about $950.00 new, but it is very versital, 100 watts powered, 40 watts on the battery pack. A antenna tuner is available also.

Read the book "Patriots" by James Rawles. It has a lot of info on radios and different situations, a great survival read, lots of good tips. A must read.
They also used 500MW radios as there were forces looking for them and high power allowed them to be easily found with DF equipment. I'd include some Trisquare/GMRS for close range coms, from Mt top to MT top, you can transmit 50 to 90 miles. Lots of Sanyo ELOOP AA rechargable batteries and solar chargers for them.

You are going to want to have a varietty of equipment, the Yaesu, a 2m/440/CB W sideband/GMRS/Shortwave receiver/good scanner and PV panels, batteries, antennas, antenna wire.

It would not be cheap, but you would want to have as many ways to monitor as well as talk to. In many cases, monitoring will be the most important. In the book, the even used military wired telephones to talk to the spotters in their camp. Buy the book, it will give you many ideas on radio equipment as well as many tactical things, any one looking at survival should read this book.
If cashed, waterproof containers made to be EMP proof, don't forget to insolate the inside of the boxes so the equipment does not rest against the metal container.

The only equipment that costs a lot is the HF radio and a good scanner, but you would not really need trunked type receiving scanner, I think all of that will be down, FM, sideband and AM is what you would most likely find. If you cannot afford a HF transceiver, get a Shortwave receiver, even if you can't talk, you can listen, a Sony 7600 receiver is small, gets all shortwave bands, has sideband so you can listen to Hams on HF and uses 4 AA batteries, a great compact unit, I'd get the other radios for sure, maybe a HF tube transceiver bought on the cheap if the Yeasu was out of your price range.

Extra coax, fittings, lots of open wire, extra radio batteries and 12V chargers for everything, 12 volt cords and a 12 V soldering iron and solder, lots of tape, the list goes on. Try to find others in your group who will buy some of the equipment so it's not all on you.

Really think this one out. There will be many situations where you won't want to be found, the Trisquare is a cheap radio that would work well against all but the best DF equipment, great for short range coms.Get some low power transmitters for sure, second best would be GMRS, but it can be heard by others, that's why I like the Trisquare for short range coms.

My Best, John K