How ham radio endures

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161 points CrankyBear | 1 comments | 14 Oct 24 17:26 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source

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mindcrime ◴[14 Oct 24 18:31 UTC] No.41840419[source]▶

So very true. Ham radio operators, AIUI, played a critical role with emergency communications in the Western NC area in the aftermath of Helene. I believe there were some instances where local PSAP's / dispatch centers were knocked completely offline and they had local ham radio operators helping to dispatch fire/ems resources.

The great thing about ham radio, it really is an inexpensive hobby to get started. Now, once you get into it, you can spend just about as much money as you want (or have access to). But a Bao-feng handheld that costs around $40 or so can work the local repeaters on 2m or 70cm and is a fine way to get started, learn the lingo, etc.

I encourage everyone to give it a shot, and join up with a local AUXCOMM group or whatever you have locally. I have to admit, I'm not as active with our local group as I'd like to be, due to competing demands for my time, but I hope to eventually work things out to where I can get more active.

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wepple ◴[16 Oct 24 12:53 UTC] No.41858524[source]▶

>>41840419 #

> But a Bao-feng handheld that costs around $40 or so can work the local repeaters on 2m or 70cm and is a fine way to get started, learn the lingo, etc.

I’m not sure where you live, but I’ve never lived in a house or apartment where I could hit a local 2m repeater without driving or getting up on a roof.

I also have an 80 watt 2m radio in my truck, and will turn it on when I’m doing long trips. Very rare to encounter anyone else (simplex), let alone be able to chat for more than a very short period of time.

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1. giraffe_lady ◴[16 Oct 24 14:30 UTC] No.41859461[source]▶

>>41858524 #

I haven't done a like, systematic survey or anything but when I used to travel for work I'd take my little quansheng and mess around. Basically every american city with at least one "tall" building has a repeater up there that covers the whole metro area. There's one on the sears tower that you can hear in michigan. But even dubuque had one I could contact from a hotel room across town.

So yeah most of the area is rural and there's probably not much out there without big gear. But most of the population lives within 30 miles of a 12-storey building.

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