I still have my old faithful Yausu FT840 which was valued highly by Shortwave Listeners as it's front end is so stable. I saw one being sold for £300 a while back so I presume they are still out there? I got rid of my base station set up which at the time cost me nearly £2,000!
I also have 3 Yausu FT811 handhelds (430mhz) which should work just fine.
Once I have sorted the CB stuff out I intend to get myself a cheap Chinese VHF (2 Metre) handheld.
This will give me access to most if not all forms of wireless radio comms:
1. 446 mhz - my street
2. CB - My city
3. 430 mhz - local ham
4. 144 mhz - local ham
5. HF - Ham long range
Not forgetting my scanner (.5-1300 mhz coverage) and a simple battery powered transister radio.
The most important thing being - the transister radio. This will enable you find find out what's happening nationally. Try to get a model with FM, AM, Medium wave plus all the shortwave bands. You will need to send about £50 for a good quality Roberts model.
Do NOT bother with a Digitial radio (drb?) - The system will fail quite early on at SHTF.
Citizens Band Radio (CB) - For Preppers?
Re: Citizens Band Radio (CB) - For Preppers?
got to agree a digital radio will be next to useless.. a good transistor radio will last and pick up most, there are emergency govt transmission frequencies, i presume they still exist and will be used as they were government plans from 1960s.. also if you do decide Ham is part of your plan D-star although good for playing with is not going to last long after SHTF
Having worked in Comms for the army until i became a paramedic redundancy and back up is important. learn and practice with what ever you use. work out how it will work in your area. dont assume that if you get "X" distance one day that you will get it every day. depending what you are prepping for and how you intend to react to this threat will also help. if you are a solitary person all about self sufficiency a scanner or transceiver may be all you need. as a social person it depends how far you want to talk or listen. if you are sharing comms make sure people know how to use them now before they need to.. my 5 year old knows how to use the hand held and ask for Daddy.. dont spend a fortune on any radio unless it is going to be a hobby the older sets are usually more robust and a much cheaper. and work out what you are going to call yourself.. if you ask for John or steve on any radio you will be swamped with calls.. use nick names or callsigns to help find each other in the background chatter. and have a plan for lost comms. any system can fail.. lost comms plan could be try again at a certain time or even meet in this location.. many years ago i was stuck in a small country when the rebels started a civil war we spent days trying to get us all together because we had no plan, and it was more luck in the end than skill ..
I know this may seem like i disagree with MP but i do agree with CB being very useful and as he does i also have many parts to my communications plan. only you will find what works best for you, i am just trying to add another perspective.. and if i have offended MP i apologize and not my intention
Having worked in Comms for the army until i became a paramedic redundancy and back up is important. learn and practice with what ever you use. work out how it will work in your area. dont assume that if you get "X" distance one day that you will get it every day. depending what you are prepping for and how you intend to react to this threat will also help. if you are a solitary person all about self sufficiency a scanner or transceiver may be all you need. as a social person it depends how far you want to talk or listen. if you are sharing comms make sure people know how to use them now before they need to.. my 5 year old knows how to use the hand held and ask for Daddy.. dont spend a fortune on any radio unless it is going to be a hobby the older sets are usually more robust and a much cheaper. and work out what you are going to call yourself.. if you ask for John or steve on any radio you will be swamped with calls.. use nick names or callsigns to help find each other in the background chatter. and have a plan for lost comms. any system can fail.. lost comms plan could be try again at a certain time or even meet in this location.. many years ago i was stuck in a small country when the rebels started a civil war we spent days trying to get us all together because we had no plan, and it was more luck in the end than skill ..
I know this may seem like i disagree with MP but i do agree with CB being very useful and as he does i also have many parts to my communications plan. only you will find what works best for you, i am just trying to add another perspective.. and if i have offended MP i apologize and not my intention
Give a man fire and he will be warm for a day..
Set him on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life..
Set him on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life..
-
modplod
Re: Citizens Band Radio (CB) - For Preppers?
Offended me? Not at all. It's hard to disagree with anything you say 
I think we agree that the ideal communications set up is one which uses a variety of frequencies and bands.
I have no doubt that once all the ham radio sets and CB's have been hastily bought up by the sheep, even things like 446 mhz will get very busy too.
If you just want one level which will do almost everything then simple CB radio is THE way forward.
I think we agree that the ideal communications set up is one which uses a variety of frequencies and bands.
I have no doubt that once all the ham radio sets and CB's have been hastily bought up by the sheep, even things like 446 mhz will get very busy too.
If you just want one level which will do almost everything then simple CB radio is THE way forward.
Re: Citizens Band Radio (CB) - For Preppers?
I have the problem that our plan includes people in Edinburgh. Yorkshire, tayside and Moray. So our only option is HF. fortunatly 3 of the locations have Ham operators another has a base stAtion of mine and the final 2 are close to other stations, we are going to run a foundation licence course in the summer though. I think we all have CB for getting close to any meeting place and all have PMR and will shortly be getting the dual bands that were £50 MP identified. Our plan involves one of the farms and working as a small comunity depending on what happens. Both farms have hard wired landlines for once we get there. I know this is not everyones idea of a solution but it does work well for us. And can be modified quickly.
Give a man fire and he will be warm for a day..
Set him on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life..
Set him on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life..
-
modplod
Re: Citizens Band Radio (CB) - For Preppers?
*post edited by mods*
The thing that annoys me most is that when you talk to the BBC brainwashed sheep, they all seem far more interested in Strictly Come Dancing and Eastenders than current affairs and our future doomsday scenario!
The recent banking crisis was a mere blip - the BIG event will happen in the next 5 years.
Aplogies If my post here breaks the imposed political rules. But I happen to think that talking about what is likely to happen must by necessity include discussions about politics (to a point). What should be banned is pushing a particular political party...
When will the sheep stop voting for these failed 3 parties? Only 100 years ago WE were the worlds richest most powerful nation, this lot has reduced us to a "basket case" in less than 80 years. From the point of SHTF/TEOTWAWKI I forcee this country will become a third world nation (and the all the imported third-world invaders will finally feel at home).
My saving grace here is that I think that ALL politicians are traitors and I do not subscribe to any one of their anti-British parties or indeed the unfair undemocratic & skewed system which allows them to rule over us all (first past the post thingy) .
I myself have very low opinion of what has been done and I prefer not to get into "which party is best" - I reject the whole lot.
Is there somewhere else on the forum where discussions like this can be safely conducted? Surely it's okay to discuss what will cause SHTF?
If deemed to be off topic, this will be my last rant.
The thing that annoys me most is that when you talk to the BBC brainwashed sheep, they all seem far more interested in Strictly Come Dancing and Eastenders than current affairs and our future doomsday scenario!
The recent banking crisis was a mere blip - the BIG event will happen in the next 5 years.
Aplogies If my post here breaks the imposed political rules. But I happen to think that talking about what is likely to happen must by necessity include discussions about politics (to a point). What should be banned is pushing a particular political party...
When will the sheep stop voting for these failed 3 parties? Only 100 years ago WE were the worlds richest most powerful nation, this lot has reduced us to a "basket case" in less than 80 years. From the point of SHTF/TEOTWAWKI I forcee this country will become a third world nation (and the all the imported third-world invaders will finally feel at home).
My saving grace here is that I think that ALL politicians are traitors and I do not subscribe to any one of their anti-British parties or indeed the unfair undemocratic & skewed system which allows them to rule over us all (first past the post thingy) .
I myself have very low opinion of what has been done and I prefer not to get into "which party is best" - I reject the whole lot.
Is there somewhere else on the forum where discussions like this can be safely conducted? Surely it's okay to discuss what will cause SHTF?
If deemed to be off topic, this will be my last rant.
Re: Citizens Band Radio (CB) - For Preppers?
MP totally off topic.. But as you say it is going to be a large part of the problem. All are equally bad and self serving. Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy had it right... Any one wanting to be involved in politics should be banned from ever doing so for that reason. How have we gone from being the only super power to an almost nothing worried about what everyone else thinks.
Give a man fire and he will be warm for a day..
Set him on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life..
Set him on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life..
-
23pioneer
Re: Citizens Band Radio (CB) - For Preppers?
madmedic, cheers for the pm, i thought that was the case but i wasn't sure, i tried to pm back but apparently i have not been a member long enough yet... cheers again
Re: Citizens Band Radio (CB) - For Preppers?
Not a problem Pioneer. If you want any help or further info let me know and I'll PM you my email.
Give a man fire and he will be warm for a day..
Set him on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life..
Set him on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life..
Re: Citizens Band Radio (CB) - For Preppers?
In answer to your questions, yes it is off topic and no, there isn't anywhere on this forum for political ranting. It has nothing to do with practical prepping and only serves to flame threads and derail conversations.modplod wrote:*post edited by mods*
The thing that annoys me most is that when you talk to the BBC brainwashed sheep, they all seem far more interested in Strictly Come Dancing and Eastenders than current affairs and our future doomsday scenario!
The recent banking crisis was a mere blip - the BIG event will happen in the next 5 years.
Aplogies If my post here breaks the imposed political rules. But I happen to think that talking about what is likely to happen must by necessity include discussions about politics (to a point). What should be banned is pushing a particular political party...
When will the sheep stop voting for these failed 3 parties? Only 100 years ago WE were the worlds richest most powerful nation, this lot has reduced us to a "basket case" in less than 80 years. From the point of SHTF/TEOTWAWKI I forcee this country will become a third world nation (and the all the imported third-world invaders will finally feel at home).
My saving grace here is that I think that ALL politicians are traitors and I do not subscribe to any one of their anti-British parties or indeed the unfair undemocratic & skewed system which allows them to rule over us all (first past the post thingy) .
I myself have very low opinion of what has been done and I prefer not to get into "which party is best" - I reject the whole lot.
Is there somewhere else on the forum where discussions like this can be safely conducted? Surely it's okay to discuss what will cause SHTF?
If deemed to be off topic, this will be my last rant.
-
modplod
Re: Citizens Band Radio (CB) - For Preppers?
The likely cause(s) of SHTF/TEOTWAWKI surely is worthy of debate for preppers wanting a period of warning before the impending doom (the government calls this intelligence)? Providing we keep away from supporting a particular party or ethos, this should be tolerated to a point on a forum designed to aid people who prepare for the worst...
I am preparing for a financial collapse the likes of which the world has never seen. The recent banking crisis is a mere blip to what is in store for us all. After this event almost nothing will work including the banking system, ATM's and even money itself.
However I take your point that it would be very hard to police and in this regard I will refrain from further rants on the subject here at least...
I am preparing for a financial collapse the likes of which the world has never seen. The recent banking crisis is a mere blip to what is in store for us all. After this event almost nothing will work including the banking system, ATM's and even money itself.
However I take your point that it would be very hard to police and in this regard I will refrain from further rants on the subject here at least...