"All Circuits are Busy" Now What?

[Navman]

Good knowledge base here!

As a new Ham of a little over a year, me thinks I be needin' an "Elmer"

 

[The Heretic]

Yes, the Baofeng HTs are not the equivalent of a Yaesu or Kenwood or an iCom.

But then they are only $30 each on Amazon, and for that kind of money they are better than a Motorola, Cobra, Midland or Uniden "blister pack" FRS radio set you get at Walmart.

No they are not type certified for FRS/GMRS and yes, you would be technically breaking the law if you used one for FRS/GMRS, because they are not type certified. But then you also break the law everyday when you go over 55 MPH, and I would bet you the cost of the HT that you would be more likely to get a ticket for that than if you used a Baofeng HT on low power regularly on FRS/GMRS freqs.

I am not suggesting anybody do that.

I am saying that the Baofeng HT is a better HT to have in a SHTF situation than something from Walmart that costs about the same.

Are you going to hand out a Yaesu or iCom or Kenwood HT that cost you between $150 and $450 to every family member who is just going to put it in their trunk and probably never use it?

I'm not. Are you going to hand them out to your neighbors if SHTF?

I wouldn't.

But I might buy five to ten Baofeng HTs to have on hand in case SHTF and save the nice HTs for myself.

If SHTF that bad, I am not going to worry too much about the FCC coming around and handing out fines. You can, but I won't. I don't they will even be hunting down anyone operating on FRS/GMRS freqs at 1 watt just because that is above the legal power limits (0.5 watts) for those types of comms.

I will give my kids one for each of their cars, pre-programmed for a few key freqs., in a static bag, in a dry-box that will keep it dry and safe from harm, until such time as they need to dig it out and use it.

My kids (40 YO and married) won't go playing with them - they will use their cell phones instead if at all possible. If they need to use the HTs, then it will be in an emergency only.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Indian likem smoke signal

If there is a lot of smoke in the cities it means the rats are still alive. BEWARE!!!!

 

[Caveman Jim]

SHTF
Everyone picks up their land line phone to call ...
Only the first few in line can complete their calls.
The rest get reorder, 120 ipm beeps, recording.
There are thousands of customers served by a central office, only hundreds of trunks out of the CO to the world.

SHTF
Everyone reaches for their cell phone to call ...
Only the first few in line ...
The rest get dumped
Your cell phone and everyone else's cell phone is served by the nearest cell tower. The tower is linked to a CO by a "trunk line" There are more customers then there are trunk lines.

Bert and Jim are well versed in telephone stuff.
Metoo, spent 39 years working for the old AT&T 4A, private line, toll radio, custom service, fiber optics splicing, microwave radio, and the Frame.

I also spliced many fiber jobs & ran T-1 lines to every cell tower in our serving areas. I was the go to guy for outside plant splicing & repairs but knew little about the inside workings. I once was sent around to different CO's looking for a quart of Dial Tone when I first started back in the early 80's.....

 

[Provincial]

I flew telephone crews and equipment around Alaska in the 1980's. They were putting phone systems in native villages out in the bush. We delivered the cable plows and materials in a DC-3 (our "Lowboy") and used Cessna 180's and 185's as pickup trucks.

I ended up helping the crews when I wasn't flying, and got to do everything from hanging phones on the wall in the houses to running wires in the switch house (which I helped build). I loved to tease the splicers by saying "all you need to know to be a Phone Man is to call grey "slate." To which one splicer asked "what is the color code of the 723rd pair?"

 

[U201491]

Yes, the Baofeng HTs are not the equivalent of a Yaesu or Kenwood or an iCom.

But then they are only $30 each on Amazon, and for that kind of money they are better than a Motorola, Cobra, Midland or Uniden "blister pack" FRS radio set you get at Walmart.

No they are not type certified for FRS/GMRS and yes, you would be technically breaking the law if you used one for FRS/GMRS, because they are not type certified. But then you also break the law everyday when you go over 55 MPH, and I would bet you the cost of the HT that you would be more likely to get a ticket for that than if you used a Baofeng HT on low power regularly on FRS/GMRS freqs.

I am not suggesting anybody do that.

I am saying that the Baofeng HT is a better HT to have in a SHTF situation than something from Walmart that costs about the same.

Are you going to hand out a Yaesu or iCom or Kenwood HT that cost you between $150 and $450 to every family member who is just going to put it in their trunk and probably never use it?

I'm not. Are you going to hand them out to your neighbors if SHTF?

I wouldn't.

But I might buy five to ten Baofeng HTs to have on hand in case SHTF and save the nice HTs for myself.

If SHTF that bad, I am not going to worry too much about the FCC coming around and handing out fines. You can, but I won't. I don't they will even be hunting down anyone operating on FRS/GMRS freqs at 1 watt just because that is above the legal power limits (0.5 watts) for those types of comms.

I will give my kids one for each of their cars, pre-programmed for a few key freqs., in a static bag, in a dry-box that will keep it dry and safe from harm, until such time as they need to dig it out and use it.

My kids (40 YO and married) won't go playing with them - they will use their cell phones instead if at all possible. If they need to use the HTs, then it will be in an emergency only.

Hell of a price for sure. But In a serious pinch and stuck in the weather.
I just think reliable would be better, but it sure would be better than no coms.

I like my little Yeasu's

 

[Navman]

I've been thinking along these lines myself with these little practically disposable radios.

The question then for me is which towers to pre-program for family members?

KOIN tower (Portland) has a lot of population around it and may be difficult to get in to.

In a crisis if the FCC wants to triangulate my Wife's location to hand her a ticket for trying to reach me I would thank them for finding her

I will give my kids one for each of their cars, pre-programmed for a few key freqs., in a static bag, in a dry-box that will keep it dry and safe from harm, until such time as they need to dig it out and use it.QUOTE]

 

[Caveman Jim]

I flew telephone crews and equipment around Alaska in the 1980's. They were putting phone systems in native villages out in the bush. We delivered the cable plows and materials in a DC-3 (our "Lowboy") and used Cessna 180's and 185's as pickup trucks.

I ended up helping the crews when I wasn't flying, and got to do everything from hanging phones on the wall in the houses to running wires in the switch house (which I helped build). I loved to tease the splicers by saying "all you need to know to be a Phone Man is to call grey "slate." To which one splicer asked "what is the color code of the 723rd pair?"

Red super binder, slate group & violet green pair.....

 

[Bazooka Joe]

I plan to get some Baofeng HTs with a mag mount antenna for a vehicle, put these and a AA battery pack in metal bag, preprogrammed for FRS/GMRS freqs. and some other freqs with instructions to use the FRS/GMRS freqs first and only to use these in an emergency and only if they can't use their cell phones.

Misconceptions about the UV-5R

Taku and the Heretic are both right. Hey, I love my Yaesu HT, too. And I really like the 2m Icom in my pickup. But I also picked up a bunch of of Baofeng HTs, because they are cheap and work well enough for emergencies. Every vehicle BOB get's a Baofeng. Baofeng in an emp enclosure. Baofeng on the shelf for backup, and so on. They certainly aren't the greatest radio. By bubble-pack Motorola FRS/GMRS radios work better on those frequencies, but I can get five Baofengs for the same price. My MURS radio works better on those frequencies. But only the Baofeng can do all of those in a pinch. Get a baofeng. Get a cigarette lighter charger or battery replacement unit for it (because if you leave it in your car the battery may not be charged when you need it). Probably get a SMA to SO239 cable for using other common non-attached attenas. Other accessories are gravy. Ed Fong makes a good jpole from 300 ohm twin lead for both 2m/70cm or for MURS/FRS/GMRS if you want a cheap, full-size antenna.

 

[Caveman Jim]

What about these for double the money? Worth it? Not a radio guy but need some input.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/400622480343?lpid=82

 

[Bazooka Joe]

What about these for double the money? Worth it? Not a radio guy but need some input.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/400622480343?lpid=82

You can check out reviews over on eham.net
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/11453

It looks like the GT-3 is a bit more rugged than the UV-5R, plus you're getting some accessories included which would be extra on the base UV-5R (the car charger, better antenna, speaker mic, programming cable). So it's probably good to go.

 

[Bazooka Joe]

The question then for me is which towers to pre-program for family members?

The Radio Reference web site is your friend.
https://www.radioreference.com/

Members get more info, but even the open info is extensive. You can find out what amateur repeaters are near you and what frequencies your local emergency services use. Click on Databases and "frequency database" then put in your location.

For just ham radio repeaters, you can use Repeater Book. http://www.repeaterbook.com/
Here are three Canby repeaters - <broken link removed>

My wife does not have a ham license. I program into her radio the local repeaters between her work and home, the national 2m calling frequency (146.520MHz), the FRS, GMRS and MURS frequencies.

 

[U201491]

What about these for double the money? Worth it? Not a radio guy but need some input.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/400622480343?lpid=82

VX-170 Yaesu

https://www.google.com/search?num=1...sposvce#num=100&lr=&as_qdr=all&q=VX-170+Yaesu

If you can find a couple of these used in good condition, they are 20x the radio.
Simple bulletproof.

 

[The Heretic]

Hell of a price for sure. But In a serious pinch and stuck in the weather.
I just think reliable would be better, but it sure would be better than no coms.

I like my little Yeasu's

Oh for sure, I will get myself Yaesu VX8DR eventually.

But I am not going to be handing it out to anybody, or for it to just sit in the trunk of someone's car. The $30 Baofeng can sit in a drybag, inside a static protection bag, inside a mylar bag, inside a drybox, with a mag mount antenna, in the trunk of my daughter's car, for about $50 total. Which is less than one third the cost of a dual band Yaesu without the dry bag, dry box or antenna.

Now if either of my kids showed any real interest in becoming a Ham and actually took the test and so on, then I would probably be more inclined to get them something they would actually use.

But I would probably have some Baofeng HTs around, for handouts to visitors, neighbors, or to put on my dirt bike where it is likely to get smashed when I drop the bike.

 

[The Heretic]

As for batteries in the car.

For sure, a battery eliminator.

But you can also get a AA battery pack (often you have to get a dummy battery too). If you get some good alkaline batteries, they should stay good unused for a number of years (IIRC, Duracell guarantees a shelf life of ten years for some of their batteries). You can also get some non-rechargeable lithium cells that are supposed to have an excellent shelf life.

 

[Brutus57]

SHTF, I figure my student pilot's FCC license is good enough.

Brutus 57

 

[U201491]

Oh for sure, I will get myself Yaesu VX8DR eventually.

But I am not going to be handing it out to anybody, or for it to just sit in the trunk of someone's car. The $30 Baofeng can sit in a drybag, inside a static protection bag, inside a mylar bag, inside a drybox, with a mag mount antenna, in the trunk of my daughter's car, for about $50 total. Which is less than one third the cost of a dual band Yaesu without the dry bag, dry box or antenna.

Now if either of my kids showed any real interest in becoming a Ham and actually took the test and so on, then I would probably be more inclined to get them something they would actually use.

But I would probably have some Baofeng HTs around, for handouts to visitors, neighbors, or to put on my dirt bike where it is likely to get smashed when I drop the bike.

I like the plain simple Yeasu VX-170's

 

[U201491]

SHTF, I figure my student pilot's FCC license is good enough.

Brutus 57

At that time Screw-any Lic, no one will care anymore.

 

[willseeker]

The FCC has been asked for years now to drop the $80.00 license fee for GMRS users. They are still thinking about it. (if in fact they can do it at all)
If SHTF, I'll use any GMRS communication available. They can send me the bill!

I'm a N.E.T. in my neighborhood and also an A.R.E.S/R.A.C.E.S, A.R.O.

OK, for those of you not familiar with acronyms:
N.E.T. - neighborhood emergency team. (similar to CERT)
A.R.E.S. - amatuer radio emergency service.
R.A.C.E.S. - radio amatuer civil emergency service.
A.R.O. - ( ) fill in the blank.

I'll be in comms with P.B.E.M./F.E.M.A. through either my Yeasu HT, my Icom mobile in the truck or at my local firestations radio.
Family has a number of radios they can monitor what's going on.

If the repeaters are still up, you can give a brief message to a Ham to relay via Radiogram to loved ones in another state.

 

[Bazooka Joe]

Oh for sure, I will get myself Yaesu VX8DR eventually.

I like the plain simple Yeasu VX-170's

I'm currently using a Yaesu VX-7R and am pretty happy with it. I was pretty happy with my old Icom IC-T7H, though, before it went to a watery grave. The extra bands on the 7R are nice to have, even if I don't use them much.