Antelope Valley Fire Protection District - 1610 kHz (fixed emergency advisory radio station) Berkeley - 1610 kHz (fixed Information Station) Berry Creek Fire Safe Council - 1250 kHz (fixed ALERT AM station) Beverly Hills - 1500 kHz … Fortunately (at least in my opinion) this requirement was dropped totally in 2007. Adapter & Coax:    Simply put, if you use the “Slim Jim” antenna then you MUST have an adapter to attach it (or a longer piece of coax) to the UV-5RA. ). While nets, whether HF or above, typically operate on known frequencies … If you live in an open, flat area, or are using your radio over open water, then you can probably transmit or receive 5 miles or more…maybe even a lot further if you are on a hill and depending on atmospheric conditions. You also need to consider a grounding method for your coax. You can download this free guide in PDF format: http://www.kb6nu.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/2010_Tech_Study_Guide.pdf, (NOTE: The questions in this guide are good through 6/30/14 at which time a new pool of questions will be used). 317.80: Used by U.S. Coast Guard aviation. While an operator holding a technician license is not authorized to use the HF bands, still he/she may be able to contact another operator via 2 meter that does have HF equipment. Then plug the charging base into your wall outlet and place the radio in the base to charge the internal battery pack. The radio offers both 2 meter and 70cm band receive/transmit functions along with marine receive functions once programmed. Hopefully, in this article, I can shed some light on at least one area that I have had a small measure of success in….amateur radio commonly referred to as HAM radio. Creekmore November 11, 2019. 155.475: Used for inter-department emergency communications by local and state police forces. About two years ago I contracted a rare muscle disease that is rapidly crippling me to the point that I spend most of my days sitting in the house “playing” on the internet. 47.42: Used across the United States by the Red Cross for relief operations. Please don’t think that just because I have a license that I condone this practice! ), HAM RADIO COMMUNICATIONS-ON THE CHEAP…or…How I put together a HAM radio setup for less than $120.00 that allows me to talk with other HAMS hundreds of miles away. The following frequency list is part of a blog post from Graywolf Survival. Enjoy the rural, conservative, safe lifestyle in Idaho! 121.50: International aeronautical emergency frequency. The following frequency list is part of a blog post from Graywolf Survival.  ©2019 SurvivalBlog.com - As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Hopefully what follows will be of help to some of you regardless of all my failings as a writer. After taking the sample test a few times you will soon begin to remember the answers based on repetition, at least I did. While the speaker and built-in microphone on the UV-5RA work fine, having an external microphone will allow you to place the radio in a shirt or vest pocket or clipped on a chest rig and still communicate without removing the radio from your pocket (assuming you don’t want to use the vox headset). Shipping on the antenna will vary depending on where you live. There is a manual in the box and there are several useful websites that will assist you in programming. The second communication method and the one that will give you the most communication range is by using a “repeater”. In fact, that cable will probably work if it has the correct adapters and is 50 ohm. May God richly bless each of you in all you do for His glory. At this point let me say that I have no financial stake in any of these companies and do not stand to profit in any manner from your purchasing any of the listed items. Other widely used itinerant channels are 154.57 and 154.60. The only catch to using “CHIRP” is that you will need to buy a “programming cable” which comes with its own driver disk to load on your hard drive. There are no common frequencies for emergency communications in the VHF / UHF spectrum however the bands are heavily used for local communications by national emergency groups. When I tried to search the ARRL site for a testing location close to where I live all I came up with were places at least 75 miles away! It is easy reading and written in a manner that actually teaches you about the basics of amateur radio while preparing you for the actual test questions at the same time. What is The Best Long Term Survival Foods? Please don’t ask me how I know. Just remember that however you do it, you need to BE CAREFUL and not get yourself or the antenna or coax near any electrical lines. If we suffer an EMP then all bets are off for any type of electronic communications. Simply put, no. Once each of you has the same frequency punched in, all you do is key the mic and start talking. There are a number of online services that allow HAM operators to do callsign searches to determine the name and location of any licensed operator. However, by using what is called a repeater (more about repeaters later) you can greatly expand the effective distance of your communications. That’s right, less than $34.00! Please forgive this shortcoming as my intent is not to bore you to tears but to do my best to cover every point, large or small, that I think will be of assistance to you based on my personal experiences. Most of us have concerns also about being on governmental “watch lists” and I am no exception. Why not CB or FRS or GMRS or Marine? 243.0 MHz: NATO Combined Distress and Emergency Frequency. I am speaking of a class of antenna called a “Slim Jim”. We greatly appreciate your support to help keep this blog up and running! Honda 2000 Watt Portable Generator In that info, you should find the repeaters receive frequency, the offset (most likely 600 kHz) and whether it is plus or minus. 34.90: Used nationwide by the National Guard during emergencies. 168.55: National channel used by civilian agencies of the federal government for communications during emergencies and disasters. Now that you have your antenna mounted and your radio battery charged, you need to attach the coax adapter to the top of the radio and then attach the coax cable to the end of the adapter with the screw-on fittings. However, please remember that the study guide mentioned above covers ALL of this and gives you the exact answers in bold as you go through it! James Wesley, Rawles (JWR) is Founder and Senior Editor of SurvivalBlog, the original prepping /survival blog for when the Schumer Hits The Fan (SHTF). 162.475: NOAA weather broadcasts and bulletins. This allows you to use a “standard” piece of coax in between the antenna and your radio. I don’t know how often this happens but when it does happen that means anyone accessing this repeater can talk to others up to a thousand miles away! Direct communication between federal and Amateur stations is permitted. I. ARRL Sections Emergency Frequencies. Welcome to Scanner Frequencies - A Police, Fire & EMS radio communications database with around two million radio scanner frequencies spanning the … At this point I need to point out that just like your radio, repeaters operate on electric current and in the event that we are faced with some type of disaster or societal collapse that shuts down the power grid, it will most likely negatively impact repeater usage. That is all there is to it! 317.70: Used by U.S. Coast Guard aviation. Each repeater uses two frequencies,  receive and transmit. Most models of scanners these days come equipped with a zip code feature that will allow you to simply enter in a zip code and the device will automatically scan for local frequencies. Since you are dealing with an FM signal you are transmitting and/or receiving “line of sight” so usually the higher the antenna the longer the line of sight distance is and therefore the longer the distance you can communicate. It is also heavily used on rivers, lakes, etc. Since this repeater is the highest repeater east of the Mississippi, it has a tremendous coverage area which enables me to talk with other HAMS located in East and Middle Tennessee, Southeast Kentucky, Southeast Virginia,  Upstate South Carolina, Northern Georgia, and Central North Carolina….and all points in between. Jim is the originator of the American Redoubt movement and a frequent talk show guest on shows such as Alex Jones. (more on coax later). Creekmore. In fact, I have read reports that on occasion HAMS in Maine and Florida have been able to hit the Mt. However, as stated earlier, if you decide to buy any of the items sold by Amazon.com (which includes everything except the antenna) PLEASE click through M.D.’s Amazon.com portal so that when you purchase he can make a little money on the deal to compensate him for all he does for us through his site. CHIRP is in the form of an Excel spreadsheet that allows you to enter the frequencies(s), tone and offset (both required for repeater access) and then quickly upload this data to your radio. Simply put, go online and search on Google or Bing for “ham radio repeaters” and look for a link to one of the many online databases that allow you to enter your zip code to find local repeaters. Wrong. —- For the purpose of this article, I will talk about the small handheld unit as that is what I started with. Over the last 40 years, I have dabbled a little with each of these radio types with varying degrees of success. If you are fortunate enough to live in an area that has a linked repeater system then by being able to access any repeater in the system you could be linked to all other repeaters which could increase your effective range tremendously! 47.42: Used across the United States by the Red Cross for relief operations. Much of that “playing” eventually turned into research involving HAM radio. I frequently read posts on various survival forums where folks like us say they are woefully inadequate when it comes to communications and quite often some of the reasons given are: I can say for certainty that EACH of these thoughts was in my mind for several years before I took the plunge into amateur radio. One final point to consider regarding how far you can communicate involves other HAM operators. The same holds true for HAM radio equipment. This site, http://www.arr.org  is a great site with lots of free info (can you tell I like “free”?). Before I go further let me say that there are probably many who will read this that know far more about HAM radio this I will ever know. I know what you are thinking….”I don’t need a license….I will go ahead and start talking to people and avoid the hassle of getting a license”. The Emergency Alert System is a national public warning system that requires TV and radio broadcasters, cable television systems, wireless cable systems, satellite digital audio radio … Just remember that by getting a license now you can practice and learn how to use your radio along with the amateur radio network of users…and LEARN…just like you learn to become proficient with your firearms from use, not just looking at them. He is also a retreat consultant specializing in off-grid living, rural relocation, and survival preparedness. NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from the nearest National Weather Service office. NOW… where you get the real distance is when you can hit a repeater that is located at a high elevation. The antenna is made from a piece of heavy flat ribbon wire similar to the old flat ribbon TV lead-in wire (if you are old enough to remember such as I am), but much larger. Each transmitter covers a range of approximately 40 … As shipped from Amazon, you can take the UV-5RA out of the box, attached the included antenna, place it in the charger for an hour or so and be ready to transmit or just listen (if you are not licensed). These suppressed-carrier reference frequencies, also known as dial frequencies or window frequencies, 5330.5 kHz (voice), 5346.5 kHz (data), 5357.0 kHz, 5371.5 kHz, and 5403.5 kHz, … However, in the last few years, things are looking up as there are now more licensed HAMS than ever before… over 700,000 in the U.S. I am sure there are lots of others here though that can answer your HAM radio questions much better than I can. I took the sample tests many times until I was consistently scoring in the mid-’90s. Rather than having to remember that this repeater is on a frequency of 145.190 MHz, all I have to do is search the LED screen for the “Mt-Mit” name I typed into CHIRP for this frequency am I am quickly ready to transmit or listen whichever the case may be. Also, since HAM radio is such an integral part of most local government emergency response communications I would hope that efforts will be made by emergency services to keep the repeaters up and running…at least as long as emergency services exist! 8. As said earlier, I have mine on a PVC pipe mount on my house. 409.20: National communications channel for the Interstate Commerce Commission. After researching about the UV-5RA  I learned that the easiest and fastest way to program it with the frequencies needed to access repeaters or to directly connect with friends or group members is to use a piece of freeware called “CHIRP” for which I will list the link below. 259.70: Used by the Space Shuttle during re-entry and landing. What I do know is what works for me. “Well…why can’t I just make up a call sign?”   You can but it probably won’t work very well. If you decide to buy the UV-5RA then PLEASE go to this website and read all the information listed. The external microphone/speaker can be purchased from Amazon.com for $8.80. For instance, the highest elevation repeater east of the Mississippi is located on Mount Mitchell, North Carolina at approximately 6,600 feet above sea level. I must admit that they have a point…especially if the balloon has gone up and the rule of law no longer exists. There are several brands of these radios but the one I settled on is Baofeng. The price of this antenna is $22.99 plus shipping which will vary depending on where you live. A One-Time Donation (You choose the amount): A $5 Dollar bill, a €5 Euro bill, a few Pre-1965 silver dimes, or a booklet of “Forever” U.S. postage stamps sent in the mail also works! Another example for me is using a repeater located on Holston Mountain near Bristol, Tennessee. Before I forget, make sure you attach your coax cable to the end of the antenna before hoisting it up in the air. However, by using two different frequencies and what is known as a duplexer, the repeater allows you broadcast to it on its “receive” frequency and then it “offsets” that frequency to a higher or lower frequency and re-transmits it at a higher wattage output. Once I got my Slim Jim antenna hooked up I was able to access this repeater easily with my little 4 watt UV-5RA. 52.525: Calling frequency used by ham radio operators in FM on their six-meter band. IV. NOAA … Find systems, replacement filters, parts and more here. 3. I am not going to attempt to get into all the wavelengths and building or “cutting” of antenna’s to tune them because, to be honest, I don’t understand it all! (see direct link below). To those individuals I say…please bear with me and forgive my oversimplifications and PLEASE, jump in and add your expertise or correction should you feel it is warranted. new to ham radio working on getting the license as soon as possible, id love to network and explore the hobby but my main goal is getting access to information when its relevant and having emergency channels if they where to be needed. Once you find a clubs website, look around the site and there is a very good chance you will find info relating to a local repeater. 7. You should also find listed the tone frequency if the repeater requires one…not all do. ... Ham Radio Frequencies … If you want to find out if there are any licensed HAMs close to where you live you can go to http://www.arrl.org/fcc/search  type in your zip code and see the name(s), call sign, and license class of those living close to you. Fortunately, the software has a “help” menu as well as a website that will help if you have problems. Radio frequencies are an essential—but limited—resource for LMR communications. Water… food… shelter… medical supplies… security. … General Shortwave Frequency … I am speaking of an antenna offered by 2wayelectronix.com, found specifically at http://www.2wayelectronix.com/Dual-band-2m-70cm-Slim-Jim-Antenna-dual-slim.htm  . You will also need to know if this is a plus or minus offset which indicates if the 600 kHz is added to the repeater’s receive frequency or subtracted from the frequency. (there’s that “free” thing again). 462.675: Used for emergency communications and traveler assistance in the General Mobile Radio Service. I think mine was around $5.00 which still brought me in under $120.00 total! microphone/speaker   Cost:  $ 8.80 (. That repeater or radio may be running much higher output wattage (power) than your 4-watt radio which explains why you can hear transmissions from it but cannot transmit to it. 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