Ham radios always been interested but have had the time. Please don't roll our eyes so if I wanted to get started on basic communication what would I need to buy and what brands are descent.
I basically want a way to communicate if it hits the fan.
Thanks for our time in advance.
Nobody is going to roll their eyes at you taking an interest in basic communications. If you're considering HAM radio you can get into it with little expense. You can study for the test online and download some PDF books for free and taking the test, which is required once in your life, costs between $12 and $15. In most venues you can take all three of the tests for that one fee if you so choose. It is a matter of how much you time and effort you wish to put into it. The quickest way to prepare for the test is to simply study the flash cards (online or download an app) and basically memorize the questions and answers.
As Chad says below, a couple of cheap radios coupled with a decent antenna can get you started. As a practical matter, you can get a radio for about $25 and a mag mount antenna to put on a vehicle for about $18 and have fairly decent reception and transmission range. Most people do start out with a handheld, or HT (Handy Talkie) as they're called. You can get an inexpensive one for about $25. You can get ones that will have the newer digital modes like DMR for about $100, or you can get a higher end model like a Kenwood for about $250-$300 dollars. Note that to a degree you do get what you pay for and a $300 Kenwood will have better performance than a $25 Chinese radio.
At this point we're still mostly in the realm of UHF/VHF which is largely the spectrum available to a technician license. If you want to go into the HF realm you should get at least a general class license.
I guess the first 2 questions questions you should probably answer is long range or short range comms and what kind of budget do you have to invest?
Excellent question. If you're interested in short range, either a technican HAM license or even one of the FRS / GPRS (I think it is) or even CB will work.
I have a ham license but I rarely use it. I mainly got it so that I could buy some short range equipment and test it out. I'm not that interested in HF comms, having gotten my fill in the suck.
I wouldn't say that HF sucks. It is different. It is less structured but it also opens up a lot of distance modes that you simply can't get with UHF. One reasons this may appeal to you in terms of preparedness is that with an HF radio and a piece of wire you can easily establish a communication range of about 200 miles or so whereas without a repeater a VHF radio will limit you to a few miles.
What I decided to go with is an inexpensive set of Beugang (or however it's spelled) UHF/VHF radios.
It's Baofeng and that will earn you an eye roll.
With a good external antennae array on top of the truck or outside the house, even with the handhelds I can effectively communicate about 5 miles which gets my circle of friends.
If I connect to the Sauertown mountain relay I can communicate about 30-40 miles.
When it comes back on line, you will probably like W4GG which is on the WFMY tower. You should be able to get a large portion of the central state. You might also like to check out W4GSO and K4ITL Raleigh (if you go out eastward - about Burlington or better).
I should add, you can buy and monitor without a license you just can't transmit on these stations unless an emergency has been declared.
Very true. One thing that I will mention is that if your plan is preparedness, it WILL take more than just getting your license and putting a couple of radios in your faraday cage. You WILL need to practice and learn how to use them as there are a lot of intricacies, especially when it comes to using a repeater and even more so when it comes to communicating via HF.
