I have recently become more aware of and generally interested in electronics and amateur radio, and it got me thinking. What advantage, if any, would there be to having amateur radio experience, over a simple disaster crank radio/flashlight, in the event of a major natural disaster or some other emergency that leads to a longer delay in power being restored? For the sake of argument, let’s assume you have a generator or battery bank to supply your own electricity.

  • Rivalarrival@lemmy.todayEnglish
    1·
    5 days ago

    I don’t think you actually understand what a ham radio is. Here’s a typical one:

    A (legal) CB radio puts out 4 watts of RF energy in the 11-meter (26-27MHz) band. The legal limits on ham radio are 200 watts for HF, and 1500 watts for VHF/UHF.

    That particular radio I linked puts out 50 watts in the 2M and 70CM (144MHz and 440MHz) bands, which are the most popular VHF and UHF bands in the US. It is designed to be installed in a vehicle, just like a CB. It has a detachable faceplate, allowing the main body to be located under a seat, or in the trunk, while the control panel can be placed near the driver’s seat. It’s also capable of being “installed” in a backpack, or an ammo can. It can be powered from a car battery, a cigarette lighter, a “jump pack”, a cordless drill battery, etc. Radios like that are commonly used for fixed or mobile stations, and is often used in “go” kits for setting up temporary fixed stations.

    “HTs” are walkie-talkie sized radios, putting out 5 to 8 watts in the same bands. Baofeng UV5 and UV82 are some of the most popular models.

    In addition, Hams can use the 6-Meter (54MHz), 10-Meter (29MHz), 20-Meter (14MHz), 40-Meter (7MHz), and 80-Meter (3.5Mhz) bands, with similar transceivers.

    OP is talking about batteries and generators, meaning a fixed installation and not a mobile one.

    Batteries are portable. That rig I mentioned above? I can run that all day on a couple drill batteries.

    Generators are portable. That’s kinda their shtick: you can load them up and take power wherever you need it to be.