NR wants to buy a stealth aerial for his CB

[NorthernRaider]

(4 November 2012, 01:28)Bug_out_Bag Wrote: Ha! Ha! So pretty close to a DV27 on a baking tray then!

1/CB is currently NOT a waste of time for ALL preppers! It's a shame that you find it so!

It's also a good way to put people off investigating comms making sweeping statements like this!

2/ How do you know it's not worth jumping through the hoop? As far as I'm aware, ham radio is not just about repeaters!!!

3/ PMR 446 is really useful to preppers!

4/ A PSU won't help you if the grid goes down pshtf! Doesn't sound like it will help you get much benefit now either!!!

5/ Perhaps you really should flog your kit and forget comms.

Seems to me LS and Paul in the comms threads have both indicated what could be of best use to us and how to set sytems up, best buys for different things etc etc etc

It's really detrimental to the further encouragement of others expanding their preps to include comms when you post like this!

1 I believe CB is a waste of time in the current environment, if you get a system up and working its just full of retards and foul mouth yobs, it MAY be useful after TSHTF providing other preppers are close by, ignore all this talk about skipping signals off the ionisphere that is often only a temporay phenonema. Its range is severely limited and in a survival situation you do not want to be driving up the nearest hill looking for a suitable spot to try and get a signal out. It is not a SHAME I find it so its just a simple statement of fact as to the limited use of radios for me, could be fine for others.

People can make there own choices and if they have a brain they will investigate thoproughly if CB is for them, for some it will be, for others it wont.

2 Because I have looked into it, first I followed the ham radios lead organisation specific intstructions on doing a basic course, they directed me to TWO ham clubs in this area who they informed me hold regular training courses. I contacted both and neither do courses.
Then on investigation I find that in many BUT NOT ALL systems they rely on repeater stations to get messages more than a few miles, repeater stations are the weak link in my opinion if it needs a repeater its no use after the SHTF. The other bigger more powerful kit can reach far further but cost a great deal more and often involves huge great come and find me aerials, again for me personally its not worth the expense or effort for such little return. Especially when I can just go to an RV or Mail drop.

3 PMR 446 is useful in limited effective range it may be good for calling the kids in for tea but in built up areas its only good for a few hundred FEET in many cases, same again for wooded ground or hilly areas, it CAN be made useful by tewaking some rigs up to 7 watts and fitting a better antenna as documented on the forum, Again in its basic simple form it does not cut the mustard. Preppers need simple reliable kit that does thejob straight out the box , without licence, mods, hugh great aerials or having to hang off the conservatory roof to get the signal out. My spoilt brats two PMR 446s fully charged could NOT get a signal from one side of his school to the other, the building absorbed the signal, I was in the top carpark standing outside the van, he was at the other side of the school no more than 500 yards away by the main entrance and he could not hear me. Inside the building it was even worse.

4 A valid point these CB handsets eat conventional batteries, rechargables last no time at all, so to make it work for any length of time you need a PSU, and you are 100% right that after TSHTF unless I have an expensive genny the PSU will be useless, so its another negative towards CB radio.

5 I dont give up so easy i will continue to explore all possibilities, but in general I will not include radios as part of my kit as they fall down on far to many issues. Power consumption, range, reliability, useablity, practicality etc. If I cant make it work to an acceptable level I'll flog it to a technogeek

LS and Paul have indeed done a great deal of valuable research on RC, Its very useful information on kit choice, but it has prompted me to explore and expose the HUGE shortcomings involved in RC.

Indeed as I explained to AL on the phone yesterday I deliberately posedt my question in a very simple, clear and concise form that many new survivalists would post , in seeking to BUY an aerial to fit a clearly defined criteria, for a specific job. Read post number 1 again, and as with many questions on telecoms our technogeeks simply ignore the question and write replies they think the poster wants to read and ignores the actual question posted.

Guys the RC section is for many people not just me a technical nightmare LS's research done with contributions from others on the forum has done much to clarify and simplify the subject, AL will confirm that LS's research hangs in pride of place in my office for easy access. But RC is neither simple, definately as far from reliable as you can get, grossly over complicated, expensive and for my group fails well short of being a worthwhile expense, It probably works ever so well for a radio hobbyist, but its got to many shortcomings for a novice prepper with a limited budget or technical expertise.

I stand by my finding for my group, I do NOT want hulking great aerials in my garden, I want them concealed in my loft, yet I recieved contradictory advice on horizonatal dipoles that could cause issues for new preppers, I do not EVER want prepper comms reliant on repeaters, especially repeaters controlled by another organisation, I do not want to have to drive half way up the peninnes and stand on the roof of my van to get a signal out, I do not want close range PMR radios to fail to get a signal through only one building. I do not want a 30 ft container of AA batteries in my garden because rechargables dont last 300 minutes.

Not for me cos I'm capable of adapting but the research for a SIMPLE, RELIABLE, Semi LONG RANGE radio system that does not eat batteries, require daft antenna or repeaters must go on.
Sorry if I've upset our technogeeks but I have to look at the bigger picture.
NR
NR

---

My definition of the perfect prepper 2 way radio

It is hand portable
Can accept quick fit longer antenna
Has a minimum power of 4 watt and can do 12 watts
Has 27 FM 27 Cept and 10 meter Ham
Can broadcast for at least 90 minutes on one set of Nicads or Nimhs
Can reach 10 miles in an heavily built up area / wooded area / hilly area
Does not use repeaters
Does use Channel numbers not frequencies
Can do AM / FM
Does not require licencing.

For ordinary every day god fearing folk a radio in a PA world needs to be as simple as a cellphone.