Which Radio / Comms Gear

[Tarrel]

Ham (amateur) radio has a couple of advantages;

1. The amateur bands are numerous, ranging from VHF/UHF short range line-of-sight applications, to HF "bounce of the ionosphere" long distance stuff, plus everything in between. So, a multi-band amateur transceiver will give you a lot of options post-SHTF, from tactical, neighbourhood communication to "check in with my family across the country" stuff. And you can go and buy one now, license or not.

2. Amateur bands are used regularly so, if you need to get a message out post-SHTF, there are likely to be people on the air.

I agree with the comment about picking up the "Foundation Now" book, although I'd go one step further and look at signing up for a foundation license course with a local club. Did mine in a weekend, along with my Scouts. Could probably have done it in a day TBH. Learned a LOT just in that weekend about how to rig a simple but effective antenna, propagation, capabilities of the different bands, etc. In fact, I'd say the training was more useful than the license! Yes, there was some stuff about legal obligations, etc, but most of it was useful, no-nonsense technical stuff for beginners. It seemed to be pitched right. I have an engineering degree but still learned a lot about the specifics of radio, yet it was understandable enough for the Scouts, who were mostly 12-14 year-olds.

If you are part of an already organised group, then a previously-agreed, set method of communicating, such as an agreed PMR446 or CB channel would be useful. But if you're on your own and just need a way to get a message out, I'd go amateur.

Just my opinion.