Best radios to use in an emergency (2021) • Hacker News Board

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#71

Post by user3939382 » Sat, Jul 09, 2022, 3:48 PM UTC

grendelt wrote: post #64

defrost wrote: post #3

In an extreme emergancy (eg: captured in a POW camp) you might just have to build your own: Queensland Prisoners secret radio revealed >> Two Queensland brothers, Ernest and Charles Hildebrandt, built a secret wireless radio receiver which they operated in the camp near Bandoeng in Java which was overran by Japanese soldiers in 1942. >> Constructed of parts scrounged from the internment camp where they were held pris…

Scanning that article I was blown away to see it said "the transmitter..." - then I realized the author is play fast and loose with the terms transmitter and receiver (surprise! They aren't interchangeable!). It looks like a tube-based regen receiver. In Europe, Allied POWs would build "foxhole radios" which had no selectivity and you'd hear the strongest signals best - and during WW2, that was the BBC.

> which had no selectivity

All of the foxhole radio designs I've seen actually do have an (albeit very crude) way to select a frequency. Maybe all the designs I've seen aren't faithful to the ww2 versions?

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#72

Post by thcipriani » Sat, Jul 09, 2022, 3:48 PM UTC

ianpenney wrote: post #66

If you’re going to use a radio in an emergency, the radio is less important than the skill of the operator. So, if you’re serious, go do the test and get the license so that you can practice. Radios don’t work like in the movies. There’s a lot to know. You’re not likely to get help in a timely manner by slapping 146.52 into that shitty Baofeng spurious emissions potato.

> You’re not likely to get help in a timely manner by slapping 146.52 into that shitty Baofeng spurious emissions potato.

Why not? What should you do instead?

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#73

Post by joshz404 » Sat, Jul 09, 2022, 3:54 PM UTC

rsync wrote: post #47

There are one or two competing and/or converging standards for texting over ham radios and I find them very interesting… But as I have said again and again - the handsets are missing . I’m not going to take a laptop with a serial link to a yaesu into the woods, nor am I going to 9key in my texts on one of the two models that support it. Where is a teenage engineering for radio handhelds ? Where is a qwerty ham handhe…

PicoAPRS, Moblinkd, likely some others I believe will Bluetooth pair to your phone. As will the icom 705 with wifi I think.

I’ve sent messages just fine with the built in pad on a th-d72 and d710g.

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#74

Post by LinuxBender » Sat, Jul 09, 2022, 4:11 PM UTC

willcipriano wrote: post #70

LinuxBender wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For an emergency I personally would disregard FCC regs. I don't think the rescuers will care either. Certainly local law enforcement won't care. Out in the wilderness it is unlikely one will be causing interference using a few extra watts. I say this as someone who used to pump out a few thousand extra watts. People generally get into trouble when they are playing around on frequencies they should not be on and causi…

The hams tend to be "lawful good"[0] types. It's pretty alien to my way of thinking[1] but that sort would rather follow the law to a bad outcome as opposed to violating it to achieve a good one. If you are in mortal danger please do whatever you can to obtain help. [0] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LawfulGood [1] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChaoticGood

I am a pragmatic minimalist and have +2 to agility.

But I agree that ham's tend to be "lawful good" as you say. That is why I generally do not get along with them but have always had ham gear. I've had the FCC sitting right next to me monitoring what I do and to my surprise they did not care at all that my friends and I were running power since we did not interfere with anyone. I have also had the FCC suggest/imply that we resolve issues with locals that were shutting down some trucker channels since they were too busy. This was in the 70's and 80's. I'm sure they must have evolved by now.

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#75

Post by mbrameld » Sat, Jul 09, 2022, 4:18 PM UTC

thcipriani wrote: post #72

ianpenney wrote: post #66

If you’re going to use a radio in an emergency, the radio is less important than the skill of the operator. So, if you’re serious, go do the test and get the license so that you can practice. Radios don’t work like in the movies. There’s a lot to know. You’re not likely to get help in a timely manner by slapping 146.52 into that shitty Baofeng spurious emissions potato.

> You’re not likely to get help in a timely manner by slapping 146.52 into that shitty Baofeng spurious emissions potato. Why not? What should you do instead?

Not a ham operator and this definitely isn't the correct answer, but if you find yourself in an emergency with a radio you don't know how to use, 121.5 mhz is monitored by almost every airliner and a lot of general aviation aircraft.

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#76

Post by nibbleshifter » Sat, Jul 09, 2022, 4:23 PM UTC

bityard wrote: post #38

samatman wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate? I'm interested in having an emergency radio which can listen to (and send on) frequencies I'm not allowed on, I have no intention of transmitting on the prohibited channels, and I have a Baofeng. Is there some obviously better radio I should have instead, and why?

I wrote a longer comment about this elsewhere in these comments but the short version is: a Baofeng is a terrible scanner and can't be used to transmit on ANYTHING without a license of some kind. If you can't transmit, then you can't practice, and if you can't practice, you aren't prepared for an emergency. If you just want to listen, a handheld scanner would be a far better option than a Baofeng (but of course cost…

> implying anyone actually cares about the "radio laws" besides HAM's.

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#77

Post by AlbertCory » Sat, Jul 09, 2022, 4:32 PM UTC

iasay wrote: post #28

samatman wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate? I'm interested in having an emergency radio which can listen to (and send on) frequencies I'm not allowed on, I have no intention of transmitting on the prohibited channels, and I have a Baofeng. Is there some obviously better radio I should have instead, and why?

Honestly the Baofeng is mostly fine. Just use it. 90% of it is elitism. The harmonic suppression of the transmitter is crap which is the issue but the radiated power is constrained by the antenna so not usually a problem unless you’re testing it in a lab. Most of the problem is just sinophobia. If you want something actually with decent capability then the Yaesu FT818 is a good bet. It does all amateur bands, UHF, VH…

> spend some time with some hams and you will get the idea

Also a former ham (age 14!).

Nearly all conversations:

"We read you loud and clear here. What kind of equipment are you using? Mine is blah blah blah. How do I sound? Ok, over and out."

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#78

Post by mabbo » Sat, Jul 09, 2022, 4:36 PM UTC

dorfsmay wrote: post #48

mabbo wrote: post #29

I woke up yesterday to: no home internet; no mobile connection. I own no broadcast tv service. (Why yes, I am a Canadian Rogers customer). I literally started searching through my junk to see if I owned a radio of any kind, just to try to hear news of what the hell was going on. Eventually I gave up and walked to the library instead, discovering 500 other people in the same situation sharing the wifi. Time to invest…

No car with a radio?

.... Dammit.

The car is in the basement garage of the condo and basically "out of sight, out of mind". It literally never occurred to me.

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#79

Post by AlbertCory » Sat, Jul 09, 2022, 4:38 PM UTC

I have a windup radio (receive-only). Being not all that serious about prepping, I just got interested in GMRS. Yeah, go ahead, make fun of me. I live in a developed area, so I think it'll be pretty easy to find help, and I do know a lot of the neighbors.

Since the GMRS radios are reasonably cheap, I was thinking of getting one and just trying it out, to see who's normally on. Also so I don't have a panicky read-the-manual moment in a real emergency. Thoughts?

Re: Best radios to use in an emergency (2021)

#80

Post by Forge36 » Sat, Jul 09, 2022, 4:40 PM UTC

ianpenney wrote: post #66

If you’re going to use a radio in an emergency, the radio is less important than the skill of the operator. So, if you’re serious, go do the test and get the license so that you can practice. Radios don’t work like in the movies. There’s a lot to know. You’re not likely to get help in a timely manner by slapping 146.52 into that shitty Baofeng spurious emissions potato.

~430 questions and tested on 35 of them.

If you're going to buy a radio "just in case" Make sure you know how to use and maintain