Would appreciate some advice again. This time I’m not so much concerned with two way radios for vehicle to vehicle communication or during camping or whatever but rather for communication with my family if we should have a catastrophic event, maybe nuclear, EMP etc. I live about 25 miles from work in a city of 4 million, 5 miles from my wife who works downtown, and I have 4 small children who will be in school close to where i live. If I need to make my way to the children by foot I need to be able to talk to my wife and stay in contact with her. Will anything work? What contingency plans do you guys/gals have if the unthinkable happens?
I am thinking that you guys have given some thought to this yourselves and hoping you have the answers. Please bear mind that I am truly a novice and don’t even know the difference b/w UHF and VHF, ok? Thanks - I appreciate your knowledge and willingness to share it.
Nothing will give you more than 1/2-2 miles range in urban areas, with any reliability, especially in a downtown area.
Good old CB on 27 MHz might be best for this use, though it won’t be using handhelds, but even there 4-5 miles is about where it tops out unless you’re on a hill on one or both ends. Since you seem to expect to be walking, that’s a no-go.
Worry more about batteries. Get solar charging capability. Power will be out for indefinite times in your mega-disaster scenarios.
The only way we’ll be communicating in a nuclear/EMP situation is going to be with telegraphs, smoke signals/flashing lights, spark gap transmitters, Aunt Bessie the yodeler, and foxhole radios.
EMP burst #1 hits, and the ‘preppers’ pull their equipment from their Faraday cages. Then, WHAM! Here comes EMP burst #2.
NOTE TO PREPPERS: Keep those classic radio-making skills sharp…
