2aHawaii
General Topics => Preparedness and Survival => Topic started by: Old Guy on November 03, 2010, 05:12:30 AM
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Hey Guys, what are you doing about communications after a major event like a Hurricane?
Most likely have a loss of electricity. Meaning cell phones are out of service. Or cell repeaters are out too.
If you have a land line(we don't anymore), how long will it keep working?
Since I'm older, I lived thru the CB radio era and still have my high end CB radios and vehicle mount antennas with plug in power.
On a good day, I have managed to "skip" to Australia and the west coast. My friends still have their CB also.
For local area, I have Motorola FRS handheld radios. Old model with a range of 2 miles, line of sight. Maybe it's time I upgraded to newer Motorolas.
I still have a handheld VHF radio I used when I had my trailer boat. Hmmmm, maybe I should get one for the car too. Now is a good time,
Christmas is coming up. Haven't been to West Marine for a while. See what they have on sale.
I really don't think FCC is going to care if a boating VHF radio is being used in a non boating situation.
I Was going for my Ham radio ticket but had a problem with morse code. That equipment will reach almost anywhere. Provided the antenna is still up.
Just thought I'd toss this out.
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We don't have land lines anymore either (internet phone), however in the event of a power outage the land line phones will still work. For how long though is the question. Depending on the severity of the outage itself, the land lines will work as long as the batteries powering them have enough juice. Not to mention you need the corded type of land line phones, cordless will not work.
Walkie Talkies are good to have, though the battery life isn't all that great. It's best to have a good stock of the proper batteries on hand just in case. FYI, even if you have a rechargeable battery for the walkie talkie, you can still swap regular batteries into it and it'll still work.
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IMHO, if cell phones go down everyone and their dog will be using those short range radios. Too many people would be clogging up the channels and they would be useless. From experience, there will be bottle necks in communication. Sometimes i can't even get through on the morning of Mother's Day. I guess land lines would have to suffice, but if the disaster is a hurricane, they too will likely be down. What i'm doing is having a plan of the "ifs" and "whens" with my immediate family.
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Hey Guys, what are you doing about communications after a major event like a Hurricane?
Most likely have a loss of electricity. Meaning cell phones are out of service. Or cell repeaters are out too.
If you have a land line(we don't anymore), how long will it keep working?
Since I'm older, I lived thru the CB radio era and still have my high end CB radios and vehicle mount antennas with plug in power.
On a good day, I have managed to "skip" to Australia and the west coast. My friends still have their CB also.
For local area, I have Motorola FRS handheld radios. Old model with a range of 2 miles, line of sight. Maybe it's time I upgraded to newer Motorolas.
I still have a handheld VHF radio I used when I had my trailer boat. Hmmmm, maybe I should get one for the car too. Now is a good time,
Christmas is coming up. Haven't been to West Marine for a while. See what they have on sale.
I really don't think FCC is going to care if a boating VHF radio is being used in a non boating situation.
I Was going for my Ham radio ticket but had a problem with morse code. That equipment will reach almost anywhere. Provided the antenna is still up.
Just thought I'd toss this out.
Morse is not required for an HAM operators liscense any more. I have a good POC somewhere for the class and test. I have yet to get around to it..too much work.
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I'm interested in getting my HAM license as well...maybe we can get a study group together?
- Alex
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I'm interested in getting my HAM license as well...maybe we can get a study group together?
- Alex
We can. I have looked into it somewhat recently. I will make a valiant attempt at getting the info together for anyone that is at the 13th shin dig in my garage. From looking at a sneak peak of possible questions on the exam, a study group would take care of the knowledge level.
I have a fellow Military communicator who got his liscense by just using an electronic study guide.
Chuck
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I always was semi-interested in this. I did some googlefu and never could find much information regarding this in Hawaii. Imma try my luck again!! :rofl:
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Next license test is 11/20. Guess who's taking both tech & general in one sitting... :shake: I'm glad CW (morse) is not on the test.
Here's how I am studying for the Tech:
http://www.youtube.com/user/merryviking (http://www.youtube.com/user/merryviking) He has the questions and goes through each question.
qrz.com practice tests.
Here's how I am studying for the General:
http://www.youtube.com/user/merryviking (http://www.youtube.com/user/merryviking) He only has the first few sections up though.
qrz.com practice tests.
General Class booklet & audio course from W5YI.com some good and some bad about the course. I will review when I pass the test.
My thoughts....
I hate listening to the radio when an emergency is happening (ie tsunami warning). Lots of idiots on there. You can get info straight from DEM (dept of emergency management) just by monitoring their frequencies. If you don't need to know how family is doing on the other side of the island, I suggest a scanner. Less than $100 at Radio Shack. Since police have gone digital trunking, I'm not sure if the new digital scanners will pick them up. About $400 or so.
If you are of the tinfoil hat type here's some craziness for you.
If the president invokes the War Emergency Powers, he can order all communications (except for RACES) stopped.
You can look up a call sign and get their address/location.
I haven't confirmed this yet, but If an emergency breaks out, the government may come and "commandeer" your equipment.
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I got licensed in June, which was the last month the "old" test was being used....from that point forward the test material will be changed, so make sure that you are studying the correct info and not the old stuff.
HAM is good for emergency comms, all of our hospitals and other healthcare facilities have HAM operators for contingent comm needs.
Besides it being a good backup, it means more toys to play with....
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Congrats on getting your license. Maybe we'll QSO sometime. The General Test will change in June 2011 also.
Some good hawaii ham emergency comm info here:
http://www.qsl.net/ah6rh/am-radio/emcomm/ (http://www.qsl.net/ah6rh/am-radio/emcomm/)
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Damn... :P I don't need more stuff to want to do lol!
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Ham is probably the most reliable because of the range of channels. Everyone and their mom has a cb or the frs radios but they are still useful for vehicle to vehicle comms, or vehicle to home from a short distance. I have cb in both vehicles and a base unit for the house. Shtf, there should be some pretty interesting talk on the radio.
O0 we never get to use this smiley
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When I pass my tests this weekend, I can lend the General Exam Book and accompanying CD out to anyone interested. I would like it back again because it has some good info in there though. Again, the test will change in June 2011 so plenty of time for all. PM me if you are interested.
You must pass the Technician exam before taking the General.
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I passed both tests today. If you have questions, I'll try to answer as best I can.
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Congrats Jaydawg!
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Congrats Jaydawg!
Thanks. I encourage everyone to get their license and start making contacts. Like guns and everything else, practice makes perfect, especially for disasters or shtf.
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Ok here's a question...Where to start?
How much is total cost to get licensed? How much is noob equipment?
How long does it take (minus study time)?
Online test? Mail-in test?
Do you have to go anywhere physically?
EDIT #1:
Hmm seems this link covers everything in my work googlefu. So where do you start in Hawaii? =Op
http://www.ehow.com/how_1756_file-ham-radio.html (http://www.ehow.com/how_1756_file-ham-radio.html)
EDIT #2:
All I had to do was look. lol.
http://ronhashiro.htohananet.com/am-radio/getting-started/ (http://ronhashiro.htohananet.com/am-radio/getting-started/)
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Thanks for the finger work.
Now all I need is to get motivated enough......
Anyone in the Kailua area?
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Ok here's a question...Where to start?
How much is total cost to get licensed? How much is noob equipment?
How long does it take (minus study time)?
Online test? Mail-in test?
Do you have to go anywhere physically?
EDIT #1:
Hmm seems this link covers everything in my work googlefu. So where do you start in Hawaii? =Op
http://www.ehow.com/how_1756_file-ham-radio.html (http://www.ehow.com/how_1756_file-ham-radio.html)
EDIT #2:
All I had to do was look. lol.
http://ronhashiro.htohananet.com/am-radio/getting-started/ (http://ronhashiro.htohananet.com/am-radio/getting-started/)
Not sure there is such a thing as a noob radio...after you pass your test, you can get your handle as KNUB! :rofl:
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Ok here's a question...Where to start?
How much is total cost to get licensed? How much is noob equipment?
How long does it take (minus study time)?
Online test? Mail-in test?
Do you have to go anywhere physically?
EDIT #1:
Hmm seems this link covers everything in my work googlefu. So where do you start in Hawaii? =Op
http://www.ehow.com/how_1756_file-ham-radio.html (http://www.ehow.com/how_1756_file-ham-radio.html)
EDIT #2:
All I had to do was look. lol.
http://ronhashiro.htohananet.com/am-radio/getting-started/ (http://ronhashiro.htohananet.com/am-radio/getting-started/)
Not sure there is such a thing as a noob radio...after you pass your test, you can get your handle as KNUB! :rofl:
lol :rofl:
Is there like a national registry of handles or something? I always wondered about that. Gawd I hope no one has mine. :(
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I think radio shack has the list, or at least they used too afaik. Maybe try the fcc website?
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I think you guys are confusing CB with amateur radio. I don't know much about CB but this guy gets it.
11-22-2009 ModSquad Dr.RedEye 249 No.6 641 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksR54aUcA58#)
As for amateur radio, the FCC gives you your call sign depending what the rotation is. After you get your call sign, you can then get a vanity call sign. There are certain parameters on what the call sign can have though.
Ok here's a question...Where to start?
How much is total cost to get licensed? $15 per test. Pass or fail. If you fail, you can try again but need to pay another $15 for another test.
How much is noob equipment? I just picked up a 2m/70cm handheld for $125 used off ebay. that's just to get started for local (island wide) transmission. For contacting West Coast US or Japan, you are going to have to upgrade to General license. As with everything, the more bells and whistles, the higher the cost.
How long does it take (minus study time)? For me, 10 minutes for Technician and 10 minutes for General. YMMV. My study time was about an hour a night, every night and my lunch breaks too. (that was for studying both the tech & general exams).
Online test? Mail-in test? Do you have to go anywhere physically? tests are administered by volunteer exam coordinators and must be done in person.
EDIT #1:
Hmm seems this link covers everything in my work googlefu. So where do you start in Hawaii? =Op
http://www.ehow.com/how_1756_file-ham-radio.html (http://www.ehow.com/how_1756_file-ham-radio.html)
EDIT #2:
All I had to do was look. lol.
http://ronhashiro.htohananet.com/am-radio/getting-started/ (http://ronhashiro.htohananet.com/am-radio/getting-started/)
like I said before, check out merryviking channel on youtube. He has the tech courses up for free. He is in the process of putting up the general courses. You could also check out w5yi.org if you want a book format
hope this helps.
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Fired up the handheld during the blackout on Thursday night. Monitored the emergency frequencies. Some hams were giving reports etc. Good to know that I can get info pretty easily.
No takers on the General Exam booklet and CDs?