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Prepped123

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soon to be wyoming
I have been thinking should I go to school and get a ham licens or just use a cb but in the state of emergency would I want a cb or ham. Please give all input you can
 
I have been thinking should I go to school and get a ham licens or just use a cb but in the state of emergency would I want a cb or ham. Please give all input you can
I personally am going for my Ham license. I figure it is worth it since you only pay $15.00 to take the test, and the license is good for some 10 years.
 
The price for a license isnt bad at all and is well worth it, both having a cb or HAM setup would double your efforts of getting knowledge from others, emergency situations and plan just getting in contact with others.
 
I have been a Ham radio operator for quit some time KC8RQH, and I think it is a vitale way to communicate with others when SHTF. I would love to see a lot of others get their ham ticket.
 
Hello allopbtaining a ham radio license is not t difficult at all.The Tech license is the entry license .You can purchase a study guide at most larger books shops.Spend al ittle time reading it and pass you can pass the test no problem.I got my Tech license in Feb o8 and than upgraded to my General license a few months later.You should be able to locate a ham radio club in your area.Most are very friendly people.And will welcome you into the hobby.Maybe you could find a Elmer,Which is a person that has beeni nto the hobbby for a while.And can teach you about the equipent set up ect. David kb1pyb
 
Today I am waiting for the delivery person to bring me my first HAM radio . The antenna is installed on top of my roof , the cable run and the empty spot cleaned off to set the base station on . The plan is to also have installed a CB base station , which has also been ordered . One of my concerns though is , if we see a Nuclear conflict or food crises , I don't want to hear a bunch of crying and begging desperate people wanting me to rescue them . I think I will try to keep my location confidential and if that kind of crap starts , I will just go silent .
 
In a disaster situation, listening is critical. Most likely a weather event will happen before a SHTF event. When the power goes off, I have battery back-up for my amateur radio station. Now I am not going to tell everyone I have power, but I will monitor the amateur radio repeaters, public sevice frequencies and local news radio to hear what's going on. When I lived in Texas we had a real bad thunderstorm and most of the city was without power. There I sat in my radio shop, lights on and a cop came by to see how I had power and lights when everyone else in most of the city was without power. Some of us will be ready.
 
we can listen in without having a ham radio setup, I've got various small radios so I can hear if there are any announcements post SHTF, but seeing how slow any official help is getting to any event in my country we are usually on our own for days or weeks even in normal times so post SHTF it will be even slower most likely non existent, we are so far here from the centre of govt that we tend to be left to get on with it as best we can. most officials seem to ignore this area of the UK, this is a rural location not a city.
 
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I've been a ham for 26 years and aside from the fact it can be great emergency communications, it's FUN ! I collect QSL cards (have about 4500 so far) have gotten my " Worked all States " on voice and Morse code and have contacted about 37 countries. I can get as far as New Zealand and Australia and I'm using an antenna I built myself for about $30.00. The local clubs here are filled with super good people and I've met lots of friends because of ham radio. It's a REALL fun hobby !!. Kids as young as 6 years old get their license. As a side note. QTH.com is a great place to look for equipment--I got a lot of mine from there. For new gear, it's hard to beat Ham Radio Outlet. Also if you're ever interested, I have plans with pictures of the HF antenna I've been using to go worldwide for 25 years. I can e-mail or snail mail them free.
 
I have been thinking should I go to school and get a ham licens or just use a cb but in the state of emergency would I want a cb or ham. Please give all input you can
Look around at classes, I found mine at a community college and it was 10 dollars + the book. It was fun, informative and included the test fee at the time. You could do it on your own if you wanted to, but I enjoyed being with others that were interested in becoming hams. Our class had all ages literally. It’s a great skill, a great way to get to know “generally” really good people and provide a potential community service in the event of a shut down. Good luck and have fun. Renewals are also no cost as long as you complete it in accordance with FCC requirements.
 
The people I like talking to locally won't go get their ham licenses, so I have been sitting on 11m and letting my general ticket collect dust.

I just finished repairing a Royce CB radio for a friend. He bought it on ebay (listed as untested) and of course it didn't work (neither did the last Royce he bought, they never do lol). This one only needed a recap, a crystal replaced, and a few small changes in the PLL unit. I don't want to give it back now, its a good sounding radio! I go his direction in 2 days, so the way I figure it, I have 2 days to play with it before it goes home :)
 

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