Been working on my coms

[Easy rider]

I really have neglected my preps for quite some time.
But I have already 're found interest in my radio com prep. Recently did a deal for a silent key bulk buy of radio equipment ,several sets of swaged alloy poles ground stakes guy ropes ,antennas for uhf ,hf including several mobile antennas,radios and linear amps spares you name it

Taken me weeks to go through the lot to either refurbish ,improve and test the equipment .
It's just too easy to accept someone's word it all works and give it a quick wipe over and put away.

That would be a mistake and even this gear had several faults mostly poor soldering cutting corners and not considering longevity of the items. Radios with loads of fluffy dust on boards,psu same ,crackling switches,broken wires .
Well it's kept me interested and provided me with several more sets and uhf vhf antennas for base and mobile to give us wider choice and if it comes to it trade if needed .

It still amazes me when I chat to like minded people just how many still have no com equipment .

For sseveral months I have enjoyed joining in on the cb weekly monthly nets too ,am ,fm ssb nets around the country including all regions net months back
These are becoming more popular and these nets will likely be a source of info exchange in post shtf as tbey won't rely on net or mains power.
Stay safe peeps

[Mortblanc]

"Like minded" people with no coms are of the opinion that all coms do is make noise and tell them where you are at!

There are precious few I wish to communicate with now, much less post SHTF.

[Easy rider]

This is true, if you transmit on a regular frequencey regular time it's possible to track you although this will take quite some time .
Been their and done that.
Much like firearms their heard from great distances and will attract those in search of them and you.


Both may require sensible use only at the right time.but have value

[Straight Shooter]

Although I have coms , its there to monitor traffic ! local and otherwise …...useful to find out what is going on when tshtf .

[Pete Grey]

My communication needs are very similar to those of SS.

Everyone needs to know what’s going on after an event both nationally and locally.

The internet is now so useful for developing news but is vulnerable so we may not have it when we need it most, but it can give early warnings.

So we have two good multi band radios for national and international news, (we will need to listen to foreign stations as TPTB may censor news).

For local information we have CB, ham radio is out of our league, but i may get a baofeng uv-5r to use as a scanner.

We have two sets of walkie-talkies, a very old binotone set and a pair of motorola T60s for communication between two vehicles or between a scouting/foraging trip and base (home, BOV or BOL).

This is for just the two of us, relatives are to far away, and i don’t know of any other preppers in this area.

An extended group or family possibly spread over a few miles will need to know when and where to meet up, or where to BO to, and will need the best coms they can get, probably baofengs and as more experienced members have said in previous posts, they will have to train in their use before an event.

[Pete Grey]

..............by training i mean everyone familiarising themselves with the radios.

[Pete Grey]

One of the things i’ve done while in lockdown is where possible to make sure i have several ways of powering up radios and charging batteries, mains solar 12volt and usb. A few more sets of AA and AAA rechargeables would also be very useful.

[Easy rider]

Yup radio coms have been far more popular during initial covid lockdown.many got dusted off and used which was great.

Sure pays to have as many ways to run and charge them.