At All Outdoor they have published a list of reading materials, which is necessary for me at least.  It’ll be a good way to spend a rainy day or four.  The Ham Radio Guide: UV-5R Basic Ham Radio Setup.  It lists four articles on this subject.

• Part 1: Intro to Ham Radio and FAQs
• Part 2: Basic Radio (you’re here!)
• Part 3: Navigating the UV-5R Menu
• Part 4: Basic Radio Programming (Frequencies and Channels)
• Part 5: Advanced Programming (Repeaters and Tones)

It looks fairly comprehensive, and combined with the various videos I have sent to myself, this should keep my busy for a while.

Survival Blog:

Back in August, I warned SurvivalBlog readers about an upcoming FCC rules change.  Well, the ban did indeed arrive, on Monday. As of September 24th, 2018, the FCC banned the importation of some quite capable dual band models of inexpensive Baofeng ham radio handie-talkies:

     FCC Enforcement Advisory No. 2018-03

Because of this new FCC “enforcement advisory” ban, I predict that fewer and fewer these particular hand-held ham radios will clear Customs. Then, Amazon and eBay listings for them will soon disappear, probably in just a few weeks. The window of opportunity is closing quickly, folks!  Note that no license is required to buy these radios.

I strongly recommend that SurvivalBlog readers stock up on these dual band radios, NOW, while there are still some available at a reasonable price! Grab a five-pack, or perhaps two five-packs, so that you will have some extras available to trade at a later date.  Remember:  “Buy low, and sell high.”  As I’ve described in detail in the blog before: Bans almost always lead to higher prices!

JWR wrote about this earlier and I’ve been thinking about this.

The Baofeng radios he’s recommending come with baggage.  The real radio guys pan this stuff.  The clubs won’t go within a mile of it, and the scuttlebutt is that if you don’t buy after-market antennas for it, as soon as you walk around the next building you lose signal.  Parts fall off, the radios don’t work for long, etc., etc.

Furthermore, it’s said that you must have your certification to use most of the frequencies on these radios.  Frankly, I don’t know what to think.  I believe it’s important to have at least minimal comms equipment, but I also believe that we don’t all have to be Ham radio operators in order to have this minimal capability.

On the other hand, these are fairly cheap, and getting your certification is said to be easy.  Furthermore, they aren’t going to be available for long.

So here’s a bleg for readers.  How about someone with some comms capabilities (Pat Hines?) weigh in and give us a lengthy assessment of this whole matter?  I’m not thinking about stationary radios.  I’m talking about highly portable comms equipment.

So I was reading the link sent by @WRSA at American Partisan, and was looking into Comms gear.  Specifically I was looking at a Yaesu VX-6R.

It occurred to me that this, like so much other electronic equipment, has a unique rechargeable battery, which is nice.  But we have a load of AA and AAA batteries in the house, and any Comms gear needs to be functional in a grid-down situation.

Do y’all know of high-end portable Comms gear that will function on standard batteries as well as their unique battery?