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? Since I my
area was amazingly lucky and had literally zero damage even though the
storm passed right over us. Things could have been very different. It
got me thinking that if I were in that situation.
I was thinking of a set of UHF, GMRS, or even business band radios. I
knew I would be breaking the law using them, but during an emergency I
don't think anybody would come after me. I would not use them every
day. I'm thinking CB might be a good idea too, since there are probably
more people on it and they could listen in and possibly help. A good
thing if emergency services are stretched if operating at all.
Eventually I plan on getting a HAM license, and being part of the local
Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES).
What is your input? Any specific models or brands of radio I should get
that fits the bill?

"Justin" wrote in message
...
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? Since I my area was
amazingly lucky and had literally zero damage even though the storm passed
right over us. Things could have been very different. It got me thinking
that if I were in that situation.
I was thinking of a set of UHF, GMRS, or even business band radios. I
knew I would be breaking the law using them, but during an emergency I
don't think anybody would come after me. I would not use them every day.
I'm thinking CB might be a good idea too, since there are probably more
people on it and they could listen in and possibly help. A good thing if
emergency services are stretched if operating at all.
Eventually I plan on getting a HAM license, and being part of the local
Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES).
What is your input? Any specific models or brands of radio I should get
that fits the bill?

As you are planning on getting a ham license, you may want to look at this
brand. Go to Amazon.com and search for Baofeng. They are small handy
talkies that have an output of about 4 watts. They can be programmed for
the ham bands and other frequencies. Be sure to get the programming cable
and softwear for them. A pair should be less than $ 100.

On 12/7/2012 5:07 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
wrote in message
...
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? Since I my area was
amazingly lucky and had literally zero damage even though the storm passed
right over us. Things could have been very different. It got me thinking
that if I were in that situation.
I was thinking of a set of UHF, GMRS, or even business band radios. I
knew I would be breaking the law using them, but during an emergency I
don't think anybody would come after me. I would not use them every day.
I'm thinking CB might be a good idea too, since there are probably more
people on it and they could listen in and possibly help. A good thing if
emergency services are stretched if operating at all.
Eventually I plan on getting a HAM license, and being part of the local
Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES).
What is your input? Any specific models or brands of radio I should get
that fits the bill?

As you are planning on getting a ham license, you may want to look at this
brand. Go to Amazon.com and search for Baofeng. They are small handy
talkies that have an output of about 4 watts. They can be programmed for
the ham bands and other frequencies. Be sure to get the programming cable
and softwear for them. A pair should be less than $ 100.




Yes I'm planning on getting a HAM license, however I'm studying for the
CPA first.
What about brands like Kenwood? Aren't they know for decent quality?

"Justin" wrote in message
...
On 12/7/2012 5:07 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
Yes I'm planning on getting a HAM license, however I'm studying for the
CPA first.
What about brands like Kenwood? Aren't they know for decent quality?

They are fine brands. Just as Icom and Yeasu are. I was thinking of the
price. You get about the same in any of them. I have a Wouxun HT that I
bought several years ago. Many in the ham club have them and they work
fine. That is about a $ 120 each radio.
There are many places to get the Wouxun. Here is one :
http://www.wouxun.us/item.php?item_i...category_id=46

I bought mine from a local dealer.

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...

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?

[quote='Justin[_4_];799490']On 12/7/2012 7:24 PM, Fred McKenzie wrote:

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.

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

GMRS requires a license and permission to use another persons repeater.
The repeaters are not open, because the people who built the repeaters owns them and leases them to others - who wishes to have wireless communications, but does not have the experteise and property and finances to build their own repeater system.

GMRS repeater frequencies are usually not published...

At the same time, building your own repeater just in case is a very expensive proposition..
Repeaters are built in the most opportune places - places such as on top of mountains, very tall buildings or atop very large towers.

It involves both the construction costs to purchase the land, the tower, the equipment and the frequency - since you have to apply to a repeater council for permission for a frequency and the repeater council charges a fee - if there is an available frequency available and a fee to belong to the repeater council. It also involves land tax or a lease, insurance on the tower and equipment and calamity...

A tower owner with a tower more then 300' tall also has to include the costs of lighting the tower.
Most tower owners can anticipate having at least one lightning strike every 4 years which is very expensive to repair.
With a Cellular tower - the cost averages about $12,000.00 in repair costs alone.....

Unless you are willing to pay a monthly fee for permission to use someone's tower, a license fee of $85.00 every 10 years and the cost of good transceivers and antenna's - you ought to forget about GMRS....

Amateur radio - most towers / repeaters are free to use..
Less then 5% of all repeaters are closed repeaters...
THe license is free - once you pay for the exam.
AND - there is more people to talk to, once you establish yourself in the buddy club.

On 12/11/2012 9:22 AM, Channel Jumper wrote:

'Justin[_4_ Wrote:
;799490']On 12/7/2012 7:24 PM, Fred McKenzie wrote:-

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.-

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-

GMRS requires a license and permission to use another persons repeater.
The repeaters are not open, because the people who built the repeaters
owns them and leases them to others - who wishes to have wireless
communications, but does not have the experteise and property and
finances to build their own repeater system.

GMRS repeater frequencies are usually not published...

At the same time, building your own repeater just in case is a very
expensive proposition..
Repeaters are built in the most opportune places - places such as on top
of mountains, very tall buildings or atop very large towers.

It involves both the construction costs to purchase the land, the tower,
the equipment and the frequency - since you have to apply to a repeater
council for permission for a frequency and the repeater council charges
a fee - if there is an available frequency available and a fee to belong
to the repeater council. It also involves land tax or a lease,
insurance on the tower and equipment and calamity...

A tower owner with a tower more then 300' tall also has to include the
costs of lighting the tower.
Most tower owners can anticipate having at least one lightning strike
every 4 years which is very expensive to repair.
With a Cellular tower - the cost averages about $12,000.00 in repair
costs alone.....

Unless you are willing to pay a monthly fee for permission to use
someone's tower, a license fee of $85.00 every 10 years and the cost of
good transceivers and antenna's - you ought to forget about GMRS....

Amateur radio - most towers / repeaters are free to use..
Less then 5% of all repeaters are closed repeaters...
THe license is free - once you pay for the exam.
AND - there is more people to talk to, once you establish yourself in
the buddy club.





Just as well, there aren't any repeaters around here. Closest one is 40
miles.

[quote=Channel Jumper;799502]Channel Master,
I hate to tell you that you are wrong on about 80% of your GMRS comments,

True-"GMRS requires a license and permission to use another persons repeater".

True and False-"The repeaters are not open"Some are some are not according to the owners all you need to do is ask permission and the repeater owner is supposed to keep a list of regular users.

False-"GMRS repeaters are leased to others",donations may be given for upkeep but leasing GMRS is against FCC part 95 rules.

False-"since you have to apply to a repeater council for permission for a frequency and the repeater council charges a fee - if there is an available frequency available and a fee to belong to the repeater council".There is NO repeater coordination for GMRS,you are free to use any repeater pair on a shared basis with other licensed users with exceptions of power limits on certain frequencies near the Canadian border.

False-"Unless you are willing to pay a monthly fee for permission to use someone's tower, a license fee of $85.00 every 10 years and the cost of good transceivers and antenna's - you ought to forget about GMRS...."

A GMRS license is $85.00 for 5 years it covers you whole family including in laws, also a good site to get a idea of repeaters around the country which mind you is not a complete list is www.mygmrs.com.

On a side not hand held radios are limited to 5 watts and mobile transceivers are limited to 50 watts along with low power base stations.

I hope that clears up the misconceptions of GMRS.I prefer to read what the rules actually say instead of hearsay.

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx... 1.1.5.1.139.1