On 12/7/2012 7:24 PM, Fred McKenzie wrote:
In ,
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.

The CB radios would be for short range, maybe half a mile, or around the
neighborhood. When Sandy hit the cell phones were out for days. Even
though my area was relatively unscathed, the towers were still down.
Just having the ability to talk to a family member back at the house
would be nice.



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.

I don't know of any GMRS repeaters in the area, but that's a good idea,
I'll check it out.
Is there a website with all of them mapped out?


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.

That's true, the cell phones worked for a while but not for long.


Fred
K4DII

What about those TriSquare radios? I know TriSquare is toast, but was
the technology any good?