Resilient Emergency Communications

[KrisWard]

Dont you need a license for these though?

[Malthouse]

Hi Kris, yes. As said on here - PBR requires a licence that covers the whole group. Pricing ranges from negligible to huge, depending on the frequency used.

The important part though is that individual operators do not need their own licence, as per Ham radio.

The other handy thing is that in an emergency situation you can use any and all means to raise the alarm and call for help without fear of prosecution, so having the kit and being familiar with it is a valuable resource.

[ForgeCorvus]

Would these radios also pick up the Coastguard, Mountain Rescue, CRO and other groups you may need to speak with during an Event ?

Would we be covered to do that under the UKPreppers Licence (assuming we get one)?

Does a PBR ticket require a single named individual to be the Licencee and we all operate as their agents (as with a liquor licence for example) or is it more of a case of anyone who is recognised as a member of UKP (or on a UKP 'Com Squad' list ) ?


Re: Range. As someone who has had to put up with PMR over broken and wooded terrain (where we might as well of been shouting), a couple of miles with the option of tweaking for more sounds great

[Steve268]

You cannot rely on text messages, at any time!
Although most texts are received almost immediately, the mobile operators do not subscribe to any quality of service for SMS.
As a result, your SMS could be pushed to the back.

During large scale power failures you will lose all local mobile coverage - completely.
The networks used to have 8 hour battery back up on all sites, but this is being steadily phased out on all but the key sites.
This is mainly down to the reliability of the power networks during normal times, so was seen as a wasted cost.

When the power starts dropping, you may as well switch your mobile off

[Malthouse]

Would these radios also pick up the Coastguard, Mountain Rescue, CRO and other groups you may need to speak with during an Event ?

Does a PBR ticket require a single named individual to be the Licencee and we all operate as their agents?

Have a look at the list I put up with a load of different frequencies:

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=9173

And yes, exactly what you describe. As a licensed radio engineer I can be the point of contact and it then falls to me to make sure everyone who wants to use the UKP has the right equipment, training and understands the scope of use.

[seadog]

Malthouse, brilliant set of posts, great idea for using the PBR, and fully support your idea.

Fairly new on this site, and been far too quiet.

Taken a leaf from your book and orderred two of the UV5RA's.

[seadog]

I've decided to finaly get my Radio HAM ticket, think it may be useful in a SHTF time.

[mallie99]

PBR Cheap entry level kit, some level of privacy, no operator's licence, range can be excellent and the kit is versatile and in many cases will do most of the above as well. But, requires a qualified person to set up and there are fees ranging from 75 to 10k payable every 5 years.

75 what (are we saying £75 to £10,000 - That's quite a leap!)? Have any resources in mind for me to dig deeper into this?

Was looking online earlier today at the handheld radios, not sure if it's something the SOH will let me buy just yet tho, but worth digging into.

Mallie

[Malthouse]

are we saying £75 to £10,000 - That's quite a leap!?

For 75 quid you get access to frequencies that are used by other licence holders the length and breadth of the country.

For 10k you get your own dedicated and private frequency covering the whole of the British Isles, no one else is allowed to use it and you can use an unlimited mixture of both handheld, mobile and fixed stations.

And various variations in between.

[mallie99]

Shiny!

*checks bank balance*