Some people are of the opinion technology is useless when SHTF, and that is fine. I view technology as a convenience, not a necessity of survival. However, I do want that option available to me. As a ham, I understand that some people "catch the radio bug" and some do not. We are all allowed our free choice in hobbies and how we interact with a broken world.
But what I see all to often here is that the people who view radio as useless try to convince others of the same, and that is ridiculous. The radio may work, it may not. Your generator may start, it may not. Your crops and livestock may thrive, or someone can dump agent orange and CS gas on us and we should all just throw in the towel out of the fear that none of it will be worth it.
I think many people are of the mindset that if catastrophe strikes, it's all or nothing, and that anyone with a functioning radio will instantly be targeted by the enemy as if they have nothing else to do but direction-find everyone that transmits ~ ridiculous. You all realize how many radios are out there, how many signals there will be??? You would need to be saying very stupid things to get the kind of attention you think you and your preps are worth to an enemy already prepared enough to find you.
The biggest threat right now seems to be economic collapse, not EMP (although I am not discounting the possibility entirely). During times of economic collapse, you might want to have contact with a few people, or at the very least, listen to a few shortwave stations. Most shortwave has died down leaving mostly high-powered religious services, but there used to be a time when you could hear actual honest US news broadcast by other countries (obviously not the communist ones, but yea). Those days will return the way things are going. We are not the only ones that value freedom out there, although we like to believe that all to often.
I, for one, love radio, and I view it as one of my most important preps.
Edit: One last thought on the matter. If there are people here that shun the idea of radio simply because of the learning curve getting everything set up and working properly, just know that there are a few people here passionate and knowledgeable about radio that would not hesitate to help. I am willing to share my knowledge and give advice to help anyone get their station set up and working. I love answering radio questions. Feel free to PM me or start an open thread, and if I have an answer, I'll jump on it.
