Im looking for suggestions in case our grid goes down, how to communicate. I am looking for suggestions on what to purchase. Economical & reliable is my aim, can you suggest such a radio? Also how do I go about getting a license. I live in Southern California. Thank you.
It really depends on what you are trying to accomplish with your radio(s). If you want communication for folks that are within a couple of miles from you you may be able to use an Amateur VHS/UHF handheld radio (HT) or a GMRS handheld HT. There are mobile versions of both of those types which will give you a little more power and with a base type antenna can give you more range.
If you want to talk long distances Amateur HF radios are your best bet.
An Amateur (HAM) license requires a test and basically only covers you.
A GMRS license can be obtained from the FCC website and covers you and your family.
I have both licenses and prefer GMRS for use with my family and friends. In my mountain location I can get up to 7 miles at best. GMRS is line of sight so if you have a lot of buildings, hills, or trees your range will be less. There are many brands and types of GMRS radios. The owners of this forum, BuyTwoWayRadios, have a lot of radios and information on their website.
If you will give more detail about how you want to use the radios folks here can give you better advice.
Also keep in mind that with any radio service that you choose to use it will only work as well as the operator that is using it and will only be useful if there is someone on the other end that you are able to communicate with. Handhelds using simplex (radio to radio no repeater) or handhelds using a repeater are pretty simple to startup and utilize. Once you start going on a larger scale things get more complicated and costly. To communicate via ham radio on HF you and the other people are ALL going to need the appropriate ham licenses along with radio equipment and antenna setups. To simplify things, how far are you and your countrrparts trying to communicate? Are we talking about neighbors down the road or friends and family greater distances away?
For some reason nobody suggested CB. You can get the radios for five bucks at rummage sales. No licensing is required. If the grid goes down, so will the cell phone network… and everybody will start hunting for grampa’s old CB which will inevitably be found in the bottom of an old junk drawer out in the shed somewhere.
Most of these radios will still work, and as there re millions of 'em out there, you’ll likely have plenty of folks to talk to. Some of these people will know where FEMA is distributing food or which gas stations still have gas or who might have few cans of beans and some canned tuna.
Now, as it is unencrypted, you gotta be aware that everyone with a CB can hear what is being said, so if you have 500 gallons of bottled water, you might want to keep that information to yourself.