[bd476]

coloradan wrote: "FRS and GMRS radios have a range of a few to tens of miles, on open land, much less than that urban or hilly areas.

Shortwave ham radios, on the other hand, can reach hundreds or thousands of miles with ease, since they use frequencies that reflect off the ionosphere and back down to Earth far away. Not mentioning ham radio is, as I’ve already pointed out above, a serious omission."

Thanks Coloradan.

I have been wanting to get a ham radio for years but other expenses have always gotten in the way.

Ham radio operators have been of critical importance during emergency situations, like earthquakes for example.

Ping to ErnestattheBeach and DJF: Ernest and DJF, have you ever thought about getting a ham radio?

[djf]

I have actually thought about it. Don’t you need some kinds of licenses?

Abt two years back, I bought something called a Eton Solarlink FR-600

A radio with shortwave. It can run on batteries, solar power, or in real emergencies it has a hand-crank.

Kinda cool. But getting used to listening to SW is an art in itself...

[dragnet2]

You can get a nice older ham radio with general coverage receiver and 100 watts talk output for a couple hundred bucks. You can make your own wire antenna for a few dollars, no big antennas or towers needed, and you can talk to the other side of the planet.

It's an interesting hobby, and lots of fun. Getting the license to transmit on your new/old radio is easy, and takes little study. It's a very rewarding hobby, with many aspects and modes.