Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred McKenzie
In article ,
Justin wrote:
I was thinking of getting a pair of handheld CBs for emergencies. I'm
in the US just FYI since each country has a billion different standards.
I saw a story about Hurricane Sandy, where a family member went out to
help somebody down the road. Wouldn't it be nice if he brought a radio
so he could communicate with the people he left at home?
Justin-
If you do get the pair of handheld CB radios, they should be a
relatively inexpensive "learning experience". They may be of some use,
but you will learn they do not work over a very long distance. Their
range is mostly limited by interference from the many other users of the
Citizens Band, even if the radio at home is connected to an outdoor
antenna.
Using GMRS radios may not have as much interference, but are limited to
line-of-sight distances. If there is a nearby GMRS repeater with a high
antenna, your range would be determined by the line-of-sight between
each radio and the repeater, which could be several miles. If there are
no repeaters in your area, you would need to install one of your own,
perhaps on top of a tall building in your community.
The same is true with Ham Radio. Using a Two Meter repeater, your hand
held radios might have a range of several miles. There are Ham Clubs
that sponsor repeaters in most population centers, and many are involved
in ARES and RACES emergency services. I suggest you look for Ham Clubs
in your area. Some offer free Ham Radio License Classes to get you
started. Take a look at the ARRL website, http://www.arrl.org.
Just remember, in a true emergency, power failure may keep all of your
radio systems from working unless they have backup power. In many
situations, the Cellular Telephone System may be the only working system
in the early hours.
Fred
K4DII |
FRED -= I agree whole heartedly with what you are saying - to a point..
Cell phones are the LEAST reliable equipment - not the most.
Even in New York - at least 25% of all the cell towers were down and the ones that were not, were over taxed to the point of where they also failed - because they were not designed to be used with more then the average amount of users and they were overloaded.
If the calamity is so bad that it wipes out MA BELL - you can bet your dupah that it will also talk out most of the cell towers, public service communications, electrical power etc....
A real ham maintains a battery bank and has real radio equipment, towers, antennas, transceivers etc....
I tried to relate this information to our local ham radio clubs two years ago, the problem being that we have never experienced real storms of such a magnitude as what Hurricaine Sandy was and we were not prepared...
The mindset here was that our local repeaters would save us, and when the lights went out and no one knew how to control the local repeaters - we lost many people who could have helped - because no one could hear them, because the linked repeater system unlinked.
The Walkie talkie serves a couple of good purposes - if you have a flat tire, you can place it under the tire to keep the vehicle from rolling away.
You can use it instead of stones if you want to skip it over a body of water.
Or you can use it as a flashlight if the display is bright enough.
It is the last radio you should buy and not the first.
It doesn't talk anywhere - except the one or two local repeaters and it doesn't do anything - unless you are working with some friends that are also hams - doing some type of chore such as field days or a ham fest where you want personal communications...