My first ham was a Yaesu, a ft-101. Excellent quality.. Used it for years on my boat. Now use an Icom 802 as home base station. This FT-891 gets mixed reviews from hams, but seems a superior receiver. Programming can be a challenge, but probably lots of online help. Price point is very good for this quality. Very portable, but not in moisture areas. Overall an A rating. Will give you HF and 6m reception. 2m should be considered for local communication. Of course you need a license to transmit. Hope this helps WD6FDR.
Just receivers...Don't bother with CC Crane...a steaming pile compared with my old GE Superadio or Sony 330. But, a lot of problems the last decade are from the sun...so I've heard.
Well this is a fine pickle we're in, should'a listened to Joe McCarthy and George Orwell I guess.
I'd look at a radio that has vhf and uhf along with hf if prepping is your primary goal. I have an Icom 706mk2g that does it all and is small and reliable. Another option is a separate vhf/uhf rig to accompany an hf rig. Most modern rigs run off of 12volts and thus are easily powered from your vehicle. Good luck and keep us informed!
I'd look at a radio that has vhf and uhf along with hf if prepping is your primary goal. I have an Icom 706mk2g that does it all and is small and reliable. Another option is a separate vhf/uhf rig to accompany an hf rig. Most modern rigs run off of 12volts and thus are easily powered from your vehicle. Good luck and keep us informed!
You can buy one of those....you just can't transmit with out a license?
I'd look at a radio that has vhf and uhf along with hf if prepping is your primary goal. I have an Icom 706mk2g that does it all and is small and reliable. Another option is a separate vhf/uhf rig to accompany an hf rig. Most modern rigs run off of 12volts and thus are easily powered from your vehicle. Good luck and keep us informed!
You can buy one of those....you just can't transmit with out a license?
Correct. However, you can be licensed pretty easy with some study. Internet study guides and practice tests will get you there.
Getting a licence is not that hard, but even if you don't get one just listening will give you all they info you need due to we will all be in the same Poop storm. I don't think we can rely on the web or cell service for what ever reason nefarious or not, so this is just one more saftey precaution I am taking. There is a running joke in my circle between family and friends, it goes something like this "if things go south we are all headed to your place" I have since made it clear that if they have done nothig to prepare they will be turned away" with the look I gave them they knew I was serious. they have all since started and have all told me that they feel better about themselves and for there families for doing so.
Do a search for a Ham Radio club in your area. There is a tradition of "Elmers" where Hams help newcomers get started. I just entered my zip code in the search and was in a local Elmer's Ham shack later that day being passed as 3rd party traffic. Anyone can get on the air if a licensed operator asks another station if they will accept "3rd party traffic". I spoke with several Hams the first day.
There is a glut on the market of used analog radios now. Software defined radios have largely taken over. For about a Thousand dollars you can buy a new radio with a built in panafall that lets you see live signals and a history of where signals had recently been. It's almost like cheating.
Flag ship rigs that cost 5000.00 ten years ago are now selling for pennies on the dollar because just like rifle loonies want the latest and greatest Hams are "churners" too. Amature radio is like a giant scavenger hunt and older Hams love helping new comes get set up
The best advice my wife and I got was "For every dollar you spend on your station invest .75 Cents into you antenna system". The very best rigs don't work well with a poor antenna.
The Tech License is easy to pass. You do not have much in the way of HF voice privilege with that but all the UHF and VHF you could ever want which is a very good option for SHTF local Coms
A Tech also can get a free Echo Link account which lets you speak with Hams World wide as long as there is still Internet. I use a free app on my Smart Phone. The last person I spoke with that was to a woman driving long haul truck in the Yukon.
If you just want to listen and not transmit this is an interesting option. Looks like this is 2 years old... no telling what advances have been made since.
There’s not much broadcast shortwave left, most stations have moved to the internet. The old days of the BBC and the like are long gone. Maybe a better path would be getting a tech license, for primarily VHF/UHF amateur frequencies. That’s where most of the activity for disasters occurs, don’t need a huge antenna with repeater systems on mountaintops or tv towers, etc. I can usually check in on a local repeater with a 100 mile coverage. Most are linked to other systems for state wide coverage during emergencies. A good mobile-base 2 meter/440 rig will run $200 to $400, antennas anywhere from $40 to $100. They can be operated off a battery or even solar.They’re small and easily transported, some are hand held types as well.
When we didn’t have any mercury to play with, we sat around and listened to the Russians jamming their signal. Every so often flip over to the naval observatory atomic clock.
Yaesu has a very good reputation in the marketplace.
Like St Georger, I have an Icom 706MkiiG. At one time, it was probably the best seller. And it is a very good transceiver. It covers all the ham bands from 1.8 to 440 Mhz, and has a general coverage receiver that will get you shortwave broadcasts and the national weather service as well as broadcast bands.
If all you want to do is receive, there are some SDR (software defined radio) options in the market for a lot less money, $300 and less.
The Technician class ham license is not hard to get, and that will let you transmit mainly on the VHF/UHF bands, and that is where most of the disaster relief communications happens. See ARRL.ORG.
If you do decide to get your license, you will be assigned a call sign from the FCC. ANYONE knowing your call sign can look it up and get your address too. Buyer beware. Good luck.
For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
I have been licensed since 1960, and have never had a problem with people looking me up.
I don't look people up except as a curiosity if I hear their call sign. Never had the want, need, or desire to actually travel. However, motives will vary with individuals and groups. Just an FYI type thing. 73
For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
My Dad was a full blown Ham nutjob it was his passion, talked to people all over the world, everyone knew him. He'd wait for the 2nd Tuesday next month at 3.37am bounce a signal off sun spots, and talk to Russia and the other side of the world(or something like that)....like a little kid staying up all night waiting for the perfect time.
He had 1000's and 1000's of dollars into his system, huge antennas, guys would come over to the house all the time just to see his system...it was the best of the best, always being updated with new bigger best. I remember all the neighbors screaming he was coming through their cordless phones and TV's, just cranking the heat lol could hear every word he said....he went around to all the houses and installed filters on their homes, so it didn't do it anymore. Big Dave melting people's TV's and phones, had em calling the police of him and chiit lol
When he suddenly and unexpectedly passed away, he had put in his will to ship all of his equipment to his friend(that had come to our house and stayed)in Russia. Well that wasn't happening, customs would rip all that apart looking for bombs or something. So we donated everything to a Ham club that held a raffle for a newbie(didn't have equipment), and they brought a Team over to take everything. A young girl had won the raffle, all she did was cry in joy as they loaded all the stuff up in trucks. They even took all the antennas down, guide wires, cables...saved us a lot of work.
His call sign was WA3L and his name was Dave, many hams trade the cards and display them....he had 100's from around the world, maybe someone here has his ?
it was his passion, talked to people all over the world, everyone knew him. He'd wait for the 2nd Tuesday next month at 3.37am bounce a signal off sun spots, and talk to Russia and the other side of the world(or something like that)....like a little kid staying up all night waiting for the perfect time.![[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]](https://i.postimg.cc/MZts3ZcG/dads-ham.png)