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Reply to: Beginner’s guide to amateur (ham) radio for preppers Posted May 28, 2018

I’ve been a HAM since 1998, and continue to enjoy it to this day. Your artcle is quite good, in many areas, but something was missing, and the shortfall was glaring. The Alaska Earthquake, in 1964, plainly showed serious problems, in many areas.The recent hurricanes, that affected Puerto Rico and outlying islands, showed many of the same issues. While your notes are important, the most important was, in past and more recent SHTF events, was not where to buy radios, and who one talks to… but electrical power. Not one word about it. SHTF events have one overarching problem. The power grid fails, the one thing most preppers overlook. And so did you. Two things need discussion, especially as regards regional and national communications. Radios capable of this kind of operations, need to be selected based on types of antennas (which will still be working after the emergency will be upon you), and how much power will be consumed. The smallest radio, using the least power, and still perform the mission; is ALWAYS the starting point. Remember, the Pacific islands emergency, had communicators that did not have generators, and gasoline was poluted by sea water. Which means battery power. Solar only works when hurricanes have not blown them off a roof. Conserve large-scale battery power, none should be used for heat, light, or comfort. Communications is everything. Now that we’ve gotten here, let’s talk about radios. Nothing Icom presently makes, uses less than 1.25-amps/hr, in receive. Some are much higher. The much liked IC-718 is totally unsuitable, because it uses more than 1.5-amp/hr. Your emergency battery at 12-amps, will supply reciever operation for roughly 8-hours. Using this radio to talk on, will consume that battery in roughly 1-hour, count’em “1”. Kenwood has absolutely nothing that lends itself to shortwave preppers’ needs. Yaesu has not one, but possibly two radios, depending on the user needs, and how he has constructed his station. 1). Yaesu FT-857/897 type radio. Both thse radios share the exact same mainboard, so their power consumption is similar. Less than half of the reciever power of the IC-718. And neither will use more than 19-amps/hour, at 100-watts. About 7-amps at 20-watts. These numbers are some of the best power consumption numbers of any prepper radios available. The FT-857 is still available brand new. The FT-897 has been discontinued, but is available used from eBay and other sources, and its accessories are still available via HAM stores. Are these super-radios? No, but these radios, out of the box, are much more sensitive than the whole low-priced line in Icom, or Kenwood, for that matter. And the audio-based DSP is far superior to the DSP in the Icom IC-718. At the same time, it is possible to place 9-amps of 13.2-volt batteries in a FT-897 radio, for emergency power. Something not possible in any other product line. 2). Yaesu FT-817/818. This transciever is ideal for low power operation, and many people use them for base stations, that often transceive across the United States. Recieve power consumption is less than 1/3-amp/hour! Recieve performance is similar to its larger siblings. And uses less than 2-amps/hour at the full 5-6 watts/hour. These also contain a battery that operates at full power for at least an hour, until larger batteries can be attached. And even larger batteries are available for internal installation from sources like Windcamp and Batteries America, for reasonable prices. What this means is, keep a weather eye on that which is most important. POWER, and choose your equipment accordingly. Missing the need for power, when power is in short supply, creates a huge hole in the SHTF scenario.

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Reply to: Beginner’s guide to amateur (ham) radio for preppers Posted May 28, 2018

I’ve been a HAM since 1998, and continue to enjoy it to this day. Your artcle is quite good, in many areas, but something was missing, and the shortfall was glaring. The Alaska Earthquake, in 1964, plainly showed serious problems, in many areas.The recent hurricanes, that affected Puerto Rico and outlying islands, showed many of the same issues. While your notes are important, the most important was, in past and more recent SHTF events, was not where to buy radios, and who one talks to… but electrical power. Not one word about it. SHTF events have one overarching problem. The power grid fails, the one thing most preppers overlook. And so did you. Two things need discussion, especially as regards regional and national communications. Radios capable of this kind of operations, need to be selected based on types of antennas (which will still be working after the emergency will be upon you), and how much power will be consumed. The smallest radio, using the least power, and still perform the mission; is ALWAYS the starting point. Remember, the Pacific islands emergency, had communicators that did not have generators, and gasoline was poluted by sea water. Which means battery power. Solar only works when hurricanes have not blown them off a roof. Conserve large-scale battery power, none should be used for heat, light, or comfort. Communications is everything. Now that we’ve gotten here, let’s talk about radios. Nothing Icom presently makes, uses less than 1.25-amps/hr, in receive. Some are much higher. The much liked IC-718 is totally unsuitable, because it uses more than 1.5-amp/hr. Your emergency battery at 12-amps, will supply reciever operation for roughly 8-hours. Using this radio to talk on, will consume that battery in roughly 1-hour, count’em “1”. Kenwood has absolutely nothing that lends itself to shortwave preppers’ needs. Yaesu has not one, but possibly two radios, depending on the user needs, and how he has constructed his station. 1). Yaesu FT-857/897 type radio. Both thse radios share the exact same mainboard, so their power consumption is similar. Less than half of the reciever power of the IC-718. And neither will use more than 19-amps/hour, at 100-watts. About 7-amps at 20-watts. These numbers are some of the best power consumption numbers of any prepper radios available. The FT-857 is still available brand new. The FT-897 has been discontinued, but is available used from eBay and other sources, and its accessories are still available via HAM stores. Are these super-radios? No, but these radios, out of the box, are much more sensitive than the whole low-priced line in Icom, or Kenwood, for that matter. And the audio-based DSP is far superior to the DSP in the Icom IC-718. At the same time, it is possible to place 9-amps of 13.2-volt batteries in a FT-897 radio, for emergency power. Something not possible in any other product line. 2). Yaesu FT-817/818. This transciever is ideal for low power operation, and many people use them for base stations, that often transceive across the United States. Recieve power consumption is less than 1/3-amp/hour! Recieve performance is similar to its larger siblings. And uses less than 2-amps/hour at the full 5-6 watts/hour. These also contain a battery that operates at full power for at least an hour, until larger batteries can be attached. And even larger batteries are available for internal installation from sources like Windcamp and Batteries America, for reasonable prices. What this means is, keep a weather eye on that which is most important. POWER, and choose your equipment accordingly. Missing the need for power, when power is in short supply, creates a huge hole in the SHTF scenario.