[Eagles6]

Something big is going to happen in the next 10 months and there's a very good chance internet and cellular comms will go down.

Baofeng handheld for local comms and a base station for long distance.

Smart enough to get it, but I have no idea how to use it.

Not that expensive.

[srmanuel]

Back before Covid, I got my General Class license, I bought a Boafeng on Amazon Prime Day one year for around $20, figured out how to get programmed, started listening to local repeaters, then got my technician’s license, with the ultimate goal of getting the General Class License for HF or longer distance communications.

The biggest issue with HF communications is the Antenna, each one is a trade off between frequency band and performance.

My big project was being able to mobile HF communications, I put together a backpack with cabling, radio, Antenna, battery, etc., everything you need to setup in a remote location and communicate via HF without Grid Power.

I haven’t set it up in a few months, I’ve had it setup in my driveway in NE Florida communicated up and down the east coast up into Canada and down in the Caribbean and west out to Texas, Oklamoma, Michigan, etc...

It’s definitely something to have in your inventory in case of a grid down situation.

[Jamestown1630]

Even if you’re not licensed to transmit, it’s useful to have in an emergency so you can hear what’s going on in your area.