[Jon12312]

Im looking for good but easy on the $$$ two way radio's for my family and group in the event of a shtf senario. For use if one needs to leave the safe zone or try to make contact with others. What do yall suggest?

[trip286]

Smoke signals....

Kidding man, but don't expect much more than a mile or maybe two at the very most out of almost any store bought budget friendly 2-way.

[Jon12312]

Originally Posted by trip286

Smoke signals....

Kidding man, but don't expect much more than a mile or maybe two at the very most out of almost any store bought budget friendly 2-way.

I was thinking cb or murs?

[jebsca]

At work, we use UHF. Not cheap, at about $225 each radio, but it can be set up with private channels, and can reach out for miles. If find myself in a shtf spot, I think I will look for something less public than cb.

[willfully armed]

CB is garbage. 15 miles if you're lucky at legal wattage.

Get your amateur radio license and a low cost 2 meter rig. I've gotten 120 miles on 5 watts. My Yaesu rig is capable of 65 watts.

HAM it or go home.

[Tell_Sackett]

Originally Posted by willfully armed

CB is garbage. 15 miles if you're lucky at legal wattage.

Get your amateur radio license and a low cost 2 meter rig. I've gotten 120 miles on 5 watts. My Yaesu rig is capable of 65 watts.

HAM it or go home.

Agreed 100%.

Look here for more information: http://www.arrl.org/licensing-education-training

I got my license about a year ago for general hunting hiking and fishing but it turned into yet another complete hobby.

[bkt]

Originally Posted by willfully armed

CB is garbage. 15 miles if you're lucky at legal wattage.

Get your amateur radio license and a low cost 2 meter rig. I've gotten 120 miles on 5 watts. My Yaesu rig is capable of 65 watts.

HAM it or go home.

That's probably very sound advice. Still being a newbie myself, I'm not sure if the range is due to the nature of the wavelength(s) and how it propagates or if it's due to lots of repeaters being up and running all the time. How would a HAM HT do out in the middle of absolute nowhere versus a different type of radio. Any insight you can provide would be welcomed!

Getting a Tech level license for HAM operation isn't difficult and lets you experiment legally. A lot of HAM equipment can be picked up cheap (last year's models instead of brand new stuff). There are a bunch of HT (handheld) units available, too.

Alternatively, single-sideband CB will reach out a lot farther than regular CB. I know of no handheld SSB CB radios, but vehicle-mounted ones are well under $200. Base station models are available, too.

If your concern is security more than range, the eXRS radios from Trisquare might fit the bill. The radio "hops" through 10 billion channels automatically in a pseudo-random way to ensure secure communication. You can program multiple handheld radios with the same key so those radios are always in sync but other similar radios aren't. Two or three channel-hops per second keep snooping ears from listening in.

[HockaLouis]

SSB CB is a fair idea. I am a Ham too and would recommend it but don't expect miracles there either.

Willfully, may I ask... is that picture of you and do you realize you are using the wrong eye (or hand) and is your thumb actually resting on the slide of your pistol!?

[downsouth]

He maybe right handed but left eye dominate. IDK want to subscribe for answer.

[Vikingdad]

I have used HAM radio to communicate all over the world. Locally, within the state of California, I have used it with great success when using repeaters. Some of the repeater networks are available worldwide. Most of the repeaters are self-reliant meaning they do not rely only on grid power.

Station to station I have worked over 200 miles on 2 meters, 50 watts. If you get on down to 80 meters you can work stations all over the world. I have worked stations in New Zealand from here in California on 10 meters.

You can get what you are looking for (local communication) with a HAM radio, but everyone talking on those frequencies must be licensed. Not only that but whatever you say is on open frequencies and can be heard by anyone. In an emergency the repeaters will be piled up with emergency traffic, but if you have a frequency plan (station to Station) with your loved ones you can probably get in touch.

The higher frequencies should be used for closer communications, the lower freqencies should be used for longer distances. CB is as I recall in the 11 meter range but at a maximum of 5 watts output.

I'm making it sound more complicated than it really is.