Reasonable handheld radio, prefer older with a 60-100 mile range

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slickrock

slickrock

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Lemoore, CA (south of Fresno) / Cortes Island, B.C
With all the political and social unrest going on, I'm gathering a few supplies for a rainy day. My brother lives about 45 miles away as the crow flies and I want to be able to communicate with him in the event that cell phones and hard lines are no longer an option.

I'd like to find an older set or type of hand held radios for us to use that will reach that distance. I know nothing about these and I'm a single father with a mortgage and tight budget so ebay is probably my best option to save some money. Can anyone recomend a specific radio or type of radio to look for?

What frequency is my best option and wildly used?



Thanks, Dan
 
2 Meter ham is probably your best bet for widely used and repeaters. You'll need a license to use it, at least until TSHTF, then I doubt anyone is going to care. There was a recent thread here on licensing, it's not costly or too difficult to get, but it will likely take a little studying for the Technician test. On qrz.com there is a practice test online. I studied for the real test by taking their test (questions come from the same "pool" of questions) at least once a day for about a month. By the time that I took the real test I recognized all of the questions and knew the answers.

In ham-speak a hand-held radio is referred to as an "H-T", short for "handy-talky". I'm not the one to advise which will work best for you. Be careful about used electronics on ebay. Most (all?) HT's are 5 watts output. A vehicle mobile will run you about the same coin (not including an antenna) and can have as much as 75 watts output (currently). Not say that you can't reach 40 miles on 5 watts, but you're going to be pushing it.
 
If things go nutso, then any repeater that relies on the electrical grid will be useless. Many have their own power systems.

Your best bet for communications is to have two radios: an HF and a Dual band VHF / UHF radio. I'd go for mobile radios (installed in your vehicle) over hand-helds. You'd also want one too two deep cell batteries and a solar charging system for when you run out of fuel. You both will also need to be licensed to use those radios.
 
canucksafari said:
If things go nutso, then any repeater that relies on the electrical grid will be useless. Many have their own power systems.

Your best bet for communications is to have two radios: an HF and a Dual band VHF / UHF radio. I'd go for mobile radios (installed in your vehicle) over hand-helds. You'd also want one too two deep cell batteries and a solar charging system for when you run out of fuel. You both will also need to be licensed to use those radios.
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You made me think that I don't need a hand held because the radios will be used once. Are there any older hard mounted radios I should look for?
 
slickrock said:
With all the political and social unrest going on, I'm gathering a few supplies for a rainy day. My brother lives about 45 miles away as the crow flies and I want to be able to communicate with him in the event that cell phones and hard lines are no longer an option.

I'd like to find an older set or type of hand held radios for us to use that will reach that distance. I know nothing about these and I'm a single father with a mortgage and tight budget so ebay is probably my best option to save some money. Can anyone recomend a specific radio or type of radio to look for?

What frequency is my best option and wildly used?

Thanks, Dan
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What you want doesn't really exist. Any 2m radio will have the range you want but only with "line of sight" access. So with some elevation, you could easily reach 100 miles with a 5w hand held, but on the flat, you might be lucky with 5 miles.

A 2m hand held accessing a repeater (nearly always mounted high) works well for reaching distance. 2m is also a practical choice in the off-road world as many people have switched over from CB.

If you truly want instant access with no dependence on the power grid, you'll need HF, but the frequency will vary based on conditions and the distance you want to reach. Also not practical to do with a hand held.

My recommendation-Study up and get your tech license. They you'll have a better background to make a radio choice. Get a decent 2m and use it for a year. After that, you will be much better informed in all aspects of radio.
 
Thanks for the radio suggestions. It looks like I will have to compromise and rely on repeaters. That Yeasu looks like my best option or one like it.

With having to rely on repeaters, would they still be running through civilian networks or are they government controlled. In other words, are they under the same authority as cell networks and phone hard lines? If they are controlled the same way as normal communication sources, it would defeat the purpose of having a radio.
 
slickrock said:
Thanks for the radio suggestions. It looks like I will have to compromise and rely on repeaters. That Yeasu looks like my best option or one like it.

With having to rely on repeaters, would they still be running through civilian networks or are they government controlled. In other words, are they under the same authority as cell networks and phone hard lines? If they are controlled the same way as normal communication sources, it would defeat the purpose of having a radio.
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LOL. Yep, it's all a plot to deny access to communication so the government can take over. Next thing you know the'll want to put fluoride in your local water system.


More seriously, most repeaters are owned and run by local radio clubs, but still ultimately subject to FCC regulations.
 
Cruiserdrew said:
LOL. Yep, it's all a plot to deny access to communication so the government can take over. Next thing you know the'll want to put fluoride in your local water system.

More seriously, most repeaters are owned and run by local radio clubs, but still ultimately subject to FCC regulations.
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Well I have proof from a Navy tanker pilot they do spray regular chemtrails in my area so I guess I have to make a tinfoil hat... Better stop talking about this before this gets moved to politics chat.

Seriously, I'm not concerned about some doomsday situation...it happens by nature or the government, I'll deal. That's why I asked if communication was controlled just by the Man and for some situation, even as mundane as keeping the lines open or emergency and rescue only, I want to still be able to contact my brother. Since repeaters, from what you said, are civilian ran, that shouldn't be a problem,

One of those yaesu will be in my future. It would be cool to keep in the Cruiser especially for emergencies.

Thanks for the direction guys.
 
I believe regular cheapo CB radio with a modest sized illegal linear amp of say 100 watts will make it 45 miles. If there are no mountains between the two of you. Of course legal wattage is 4 watts but in the event you describe no one will care. If I ever put a CB in my rig I'd run one anyway. ;p
 
slickrock said:
Well I have proof from a Navy tanker pilot they do spray regular chemtrails in my area so I guess I have to make a tinfoil hat... Better stop talking about this before this gets moved to politics chat.

Seriously, I'm not concerned about some doomsday situation...it happens by nature or the government, I'll deal. That's why I asked if communication was controlled just by the Man and for some situation, even as mundane as keeping the lines open or emergency and rescue only, I want to still be able to contact my brother. Since repeaters, from what you said, are civilian ran, that shouldn't be a problem,

One of those yaesu will be in my future. It would be cool to keep in the Cruiser especially for emergencies.

Thanks for the direction guys.
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Very interesting. What did he say is in the concoction they're spraying?






.
 
JCruse said:
I believe regular cheapo CB radio with a modest sized illegal linear amp of say 100 watts will make it 45 miles. If there are no mountains between the two of you. Of course legal wattage is 4 watts but in the event you describe no one will care. If I ever put a CB in my rig I'd run one anyway. ;p
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If you are going to go rouge why not get an HF rig that is designed to operate at higher wattage and other people will actually be listening for? A decent ham HF rig, with a good antenna, running 100Watts will get contacts much, much further away than 45 miles.
 
I actually bought a book by Andrew Baze on the subject at the local HRO last month. He has a blog also (book info at the blog too). Great info in the book on this topic, pros and cons of all types of comms. Based on idea of comms breakdown following a natural disaster, though mentions how SF Transit shut down cell towers in an area they thought was going to have a protest in 2001.
Covers everything from cell phones, SPOT, walkie talkies, CB, SARTs, sat phones, and ham radio from handheld short range FM to intercontinental HF :).
Great book!
http://emergencycommunicationsblog.com/
 
you guys seem to talk about HF as if it's a telephone. My impression OTOH is that you are at the mercy of the atmospheric conditions, ionosphere, solar flares and what not and that you're as likely to get australia as the town next door (so to speak). IOW, not as "reliable" as 2m. Is that not the case?
 
e9999 said:
you guys seem to talk about HF as if it's a telephone. My impression OTOH is that you are at the mercy of the atmospheric conditions, ionosphere, solar flares and what not and that you're as likely to get australia as the town next door (so to speak). IOW, not as "reliable" as 2m. Is that not the case?
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In my experience, you're a lot more likely to make some contact somewhere at any time of the day or night on one or another of the HF bands than you are on 2m, mostly because 2m traffic is so local, but I guess it depends on where you are (proximity to a busy 2m repeater).

The thing about HF is, there are many bands that you have access to and each has its own advantages in different conditions or distances. Some are better during daylight, some are better at night. Some are better for medium distance and some are better for across the country or around the world. You need to know what the capabilities of all the various HF bands are and have some experience with them, if they are to be useful to you as a reliable communication tool.

Having said that, I can almost always make a contact in the U.S. day or night on the 20M band.
 
1911 said:
In my experience, you're a lot more likely to make some contact somewhere at any time of the day or night on one or another of the HF bands than you are on 2m, mostly because 2m traffic is so local, but I guess it depends on where you are (proximity to a busy 2m repeater).

The thing about HF is, there are many bands that you have access to and each has its own advantages in different conditions or distances. Some are better during daylight, some are better at night. Some are better for medium distance and some are better for across the country or around the world. You need to know what the capabilities of all the various HF bands are and have some experience with them, if they are to be useful to you as a reliable communication tool.

Having said that, I can almost always make a contact in the U.S. day or night on the 20M band.
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but the point is that the OP IIRC wants to contact somebody reliably 50 miles away, not in Australia or some random spot around the world.
 
e9999 said:
but the point is that the OP IIRC wants to contact somebody reliably 50 miles away, not in Australia or some random spot around the world.
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Right; he also wants it for SHTF-type emergencies, when repeaters are not very likely to be in operation. I can only offer my best advice based on my experience. For one station contacting another on an agreed-upon frequency (he wants to be able to talk to his dad), it doesn't get much simpler or more reliable than 10M or 20M HF bands, and 50 miles is no problem at all.
 
it's not certain that repeaters go offline, where I am most repeaters are run off of 12v batteries charged with solar panels and are way up in the mountains, some of them only accessible by helicopter
 
e9999 said:
but the point is that the OP IIRC wants to contact somebody reliably 50 miles away, not in Australia or some random spot around the world.
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My apparent simple question wasn't so simple it seems with all the discussion. My concern is 45 miles as my max distance... After that, it's not necessary as my brother and I would have made contact and worked out a alternate meeting place if the original places were not accessible or one of us is dead.
 
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