F&L COMMAND POST!

Like. And stickied.

Yes, most definitely mister dark!  A HAM radio is definitely on my "to get list".  It hasn't been a high priority though, but seeing that I have most everything else, I should be able to slip one in.  I will eventually work towards a liscense as well...maybe the GI Bill will pay for a course???  No telling how much more pain and suffering would have happened during 9/11, had the HAM Radio operators not have mobilized.  Conventional comms were overwhelmed in short order, so the Gov. had to bring in HAM radio operators to coordinate supplies/responders from around the state.

Also, as stated, there's a LOT of stuff, that while illegal anyday of the year, becomes perfectly legal in a true emergency/survival situation, like setting snares or killing animals out of season.

On a side note, the Emergency Channels for CB is channel 9, and for GMRS, it's channel 7.

I'm down Mister Dark...it would have to be timed with my access to "excess boy-toy funds" though.  

As far as radio's go though, the big thing that will cover distance is 1) Power, and 2) Antenna.  Now, don't read this wrong.  Power has a lot to do with it, BUT, the antenna is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing in any comm set-up.  This applies to HAM, CB, GMRS, AM/FM, etc.

The most important thing with antennas is in this order:

1) Length.  Pick a frequency (or three, one step up, and one step back), and calibrate your antenna to that frequency.  This is why truckers use 19.  It's the freq. that is in the center of the FCC's authorized CB freq's, so, 19 is the most clear channel for uncalibrated antennas.

2) Wave.  This is kind of like length, only this covers the ratio size of the antenna.  There are math formulas to use to determine the initial required length.  Once you figure that out, you determine if you want full wave, 1/2 wave, etc.  So, a 2 meter band antenna (~6 feet) would require a ~6' antenna.  That would be a "Full wave antenna".  A 3' antenna would be have wave, so on and so forth.

3) Height.  This is rather obviuous.  The higher you can get it, the better LOS you will have, and thus, further distance, clearer comms.

There's more, but, if you want Mr Dark, open a new thread in the comms section, and we can take it from there, so this doesn't get bogged down.

The Baofeng is very highly rated, it works, it is mostly waterproof, and it is 1/2 the price of a Yaesu.      Remember that without a license you can always listen to anything you find, it is just a problem if you hit the transmit key.  --- except in an emergency situation, when FCC rules say it is ok to transmit on HAM bands for emcom.

The only "problem" with the Bao radios is they are limited to 2 meter (and that strange stepchild 144cm) - both are useless beyond 10 miles unless you get some really nice antennas.   BTW, this is the same "problem" experienced by Icom or Yaesu radios, in the 2m band, it is mostly line of sight, and antenna length dependant.

Personally , I had great success hitting local (and even not so local) repeaters on 2meter on my FT60R with a 19" antenna with a counterpoise. (aka tigertail)  - on one occasion had a nice ragchew with a guy driving down from Greenville - he was probably 60 miles away, but we were both on repeater, and the signal was 5 by 5.

In an emergency, I expect the repeaters to drop offline first.