Best Handheld Ham Radio For Survival

A: Ham radio is another term used for Amateur radio. This common hobby is capable of bringing communications, electronics, and people together. You can use a ham radio to talk to your buddy across town, or you can communicate with people from another continent. You can even have access to talk to people in space. It is all very exciting what you can do without the internet or cell phone assistance. Best of all, a ham radio can be the lifeline in the case of an emergency. Particularly, when all other forms of communication are out.

A: The name “ham radio” is a popular term that refers to amateur radio. It comes from “ham” which is a nickname given to an operator of amateur radio. It didn’t become famous throughout the US until about 1920 in which it began to populate throughout the countries that speak English.

A: The BaoFeng UV 82HP is the number 1 best ham radio for a beginner. It is listed as our number 2 Ham radio on the buyer’s guide. Out of the top 5 beginner handheld Ham radios it is rated a 4.5/5.

A: Three of the best handheld ham radios to buy made our top 5 Buyer’s guide. The number one is the Kenwood Original TH D74A. Number 2 is Yaesu FT-60R and the third best radio to buy is BaoFeng BF F8HP.

A: The average between two Ham stations is 18 miles. For a CF it is 14 miles and a MURS is 10 miles.

A: No. It is not a requirement to know Morse code in order to earn one’s amateur radio license in the United States. The FCC announced they were joining the trend internationally by eliminating Morse code knowledge and proficiency as a requirement for Ham radio licensing.

A: Yes. When you are using a Ham radio your signal can be tracked by way of DF (Direction Finding). Since ham radio transmission is on public record, you can be tracked. Many hams have started a sport named “Fox Hunting” in which they track other users by means of DF.

A: This is a telegraphing code meaning “best regards”. In addition, 88 means “hugs and kisses”. There are both terms that belong in the ham radio language.

A: The signal “5” and “9” is signaling that the readability of the signal is a “5” and the strength of the said signal is a “9”. This is the ideal readable and signal strength. In addition, “S-9”is also used to report an extremely durable signal is being received.

A: When setting up your ham radio station it can cost as little as $50 to an undetermined amount. You can spend as much or little on the equipment you purchase. You can find fairly low cost Chinese hand-held transceivers that are single VHF frequency on FM. In addition, you can find low budget handheld ham radios that operate on dual bands, usually 2 meters or 70 cm.

A: You may be able to use a ham radio as a “guest” without a license. However, the licensed ham radio operator will need to be the “control operator”.

A: HF means High Frequency; VHF means Very High Frequency; and UHF means Ultra High Frequency. These are all names for different sections of a broad spectrum of radio frequencies. The definition of the above frequencies are as follows: (HF) or HIgh- frequency is from 3-30 MHz (VHF) or Very HIgh Frequency is from 30-300 MHz (UHV) or Ultra HIgh Frequency is from 300 MHz to 3 GHz Other sections of frequencies--such as low frequency-- are not really spoken about. This is because this is not a term used for civilian radio. When one thinks about the history of handheld ham radios for survival, it all makes sense. The thought was “this is low or this high.” Frequencies developed through the years which developed higher and higher. From low frequency (LF) to High frequency (HF), Very High Frequency (VHF) and eventually Ultra High frequency (UHF).

A: A radio band is a block or range of frequencies of radio. Bands are referred to by their frequencies such as a “14 MHz band” or their wavelengths “20 meter band”. When we talk about amateur radio bands, there are 27 of them. The two bands that most beginner’s focus on are 2 meter/144-148 MHz and the 70 centimeter which is 430-440 MHz. The local amateur radio stations use 2 meter and 70 centimeter bands; these are the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, the Community Emergency Response Team, and the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service.

A: The frequency is how often something happens in a certain window of time. For example, when it comes to the beat of music fast music is a frequency of 120 and slow music is a 66 frequency of beats. When we talk about radio frequency, we are talking about the waves per minute. When you see how one lists frequencies it is “840 KHz” or “300MHz.” The Hz is the abbreviation for Hertz-- which is the meaning for “one wave” of radio frequency. Before the Hz is the k, M, and G-- these letters are for kilo, Mega, and Giga. The k is lowercase and the other letters are uppercase. This is similar to the computer terms Kilobyte, Megabyte, and Gigabyte. One- millionth of a wave is what is called a Megahertz. For example, 300,000,000 waves per second would be 300 MHz frequency.

A: A wavelength is easy--it is simply the length from one section of a wave (such as the peak) to another similar area of the wave. There is an inverse relationship between a wavelength and frequency. If a frequency is a high amount, there will be a lesser wavelength. For example, if a wave is 60 miles in length, it would be difficult to put 300,000,000 waves into a second of wavelength transmission.