I may have time later to give more information on scanners but this will have to do. I am sure there are more articles available for which digital scanners to buy.
First: get off of Amazon. Not only are you overpaying for equipment, you are supporting the enemy.
Second: Ham Radio Outlet, Bearcat Scanners, DXEngineering, Factory Outlet Store
https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-014048
Take some time and see which scanner you need. The prices have gone up.
Third: Anyone recommending using a Baofeng to transmit will get what they deserve. Which is unsecured comms leading to easy triangulation and targeting. The military can locate a Baofeng transmission within 2 seconds. Is your family’s life worth $30 for a radio made in China? There is a reason the military calls these units missile magnets.
Fourth: Do the research on the unit you will purchase for scanning. Get any associated programming software, earsets if necessary, chargers and batteries.
Fifth: There will be a learning curve.
David DeGerolamo
6th. Have another comms plan that does not include any form or radio transmission. The government can and does jam traffic when it suits their needs. Often they do just monitor for the “middle magnet” feature previously mentioned.
Some old laptops,cat5 cable and P2P messenger application will provide great off network comms between neighbors and on your property.
Yep. The hour is late.
The VHF/UHF range is seldom jammed; it also is used by police and emergency services.
GMRS has a greater reach (without use of repeaters) than VHF/UHF, and is therefore useful in emergencies. It can be coded for privacy in groups tht users build, making it the radio of choice for groups/neighborhoods wanting communications and protection.
https://alternativeto.net/software/lan-messenger-2-/
Link for free software to set up your own P2P messenger. Works on ALL platforms. Download now why you can.
Install on your devices and you can setup you own home/neighborhood intrAnet using some cat5 cable and a few cheap hubs. Or just a direct line between 2 computers. No outside connection to the web is needed.
Man, I could use some help with these. I’m clueless when it comes to HAM Radio 🙁
http://arrl.org -- look for local users’ groups/clubs in your area. They are eager to help newbies.
Thank you!
Boafengs are fine, all made with the same parts, Every radio regardless of either digital or analog signal, still emits a RF signal and can be triangulated and eavesdropped on. As a active ham radio operator I suggest keeping you messages in code, brief and to the point. also most of the digital walkie talkies transmissions are not that secure. like anything else especially with wifi it can be decrypted. Unless you have the latest SINCGARS with frequency hopping tech dont expect much confidentiality.
I retired in 2004 (US Army) and I remember we had the FH back in, I think 86. It was kind of crap back then but it got better. By the time I retired, FH was the standard for FM comms.
Or you have frequency hopping DTRs like I recommended that cannot be tracked.
Ditto on that.
So, I have been exploring the idea of two-way laser transceivers (in my spare time LOL). Must be line-of sight, pre-aligned, and can either transmit analog AM voice (easy) or digital (not as easy). Essentially cannot be intercepted (only blocked) and very difficult to detect.
Here’s a link (old) for two-way data/text comms using RS-232 serial ports: https://www.projectguideline.com/pc-to-pc-data-communication-using-laser-transceiver/
Here’s a link to a two-way radio transmitter: https://makezine.com/projects/make-16/simple-laser-communicator/
Now that is interesting, not sure of there is time to get that setup though.
A directional wifi link with high gain directional antenna could be implemented with the network messaging I mentioned earlier. You could of course do it all on wifi or use something like gotenna or bridge fly mesh and be up and running tonight. But you still have the possibility of being jammed
use blue light frequencies.
When I was growing up in southern CA, we had a neighbor that was into Ham radio; he had a very tall antenna in his back yard; I asked his kids (My friends at the time) what that was all about. They didn’t know but did say their dad was retired Navy. FFWD to today; I know literally ONE person who has a CB radio and nobody that does Ham radio. I am retired from the US Army and I flew helicopters, so I know a tiny bit about communications, but none of my cohorts ever expressed any feelings one way or another about “scanners”. I never knew anyone that had scanners, or anyone that knew anyone that had or used scanners. I’m saying this is a new arena to me; I feel I should be interested, but I would be starting well at the back of the line in terms of knowledge/experience. Just looking at some of the links, it seems these scanners can be quite pricey, and I guess that makes sense, especially if there is a move towards more people using them. But I still seem to be missing something, I guess it’s the “Why” factor. I’m in my mid 50’s and gone through some things throughout my Army career and now with my non Army career, and I’ve never had the thought enter my head that, hey, wouldn’t it be a great idea to get a police/fire dept. scanner? I’m not saying it’s a dumb idea, it’s just an idea I don’t understand at this moment.
Scanners are very important or I would not have 2.
Well At least a couple of people on here get it when it comes to radio’s.
Anyway I would like to relate an incredible but true story that involves three self important survivalist. I will use their first initial only so S. won’t try to sue me, but don’t forget your gold wafers.
Second is D. and you need his brand of survival food and Third is B.and you need to visit his website for your Baofeng radio pack. So anyway back when I listened to D all three were talking how you needed communications and if you did not have that the Lord was going to doom you Hades. That you needed to call B to buy his radio’s, now wait this is where it get’s good I am a licensed ham so I know a little .
I call B and I say B you know they can triangulate you pretty fast if you transmit on the radio and your giving up your location, he then says to me I am going four mile’s from my house and do my comms and run back home. Now those handheld radios are line of sight unless you are on a repeater, they are not going to talk very far in heavy woods ,over mountains etc. Now this guy just gave up his location and everyone he was talking to.
I guess the moral of this story is think people anytime you transmit somebody is listening period and they can find you very quickly. Don’t be like B, B is an idiot.
Triangulation time for the Army in Afghanistan against the Taliban using Baofengs: 2 seconds.
Good advise, but many of us can’t afford good, secure communication. For those on a budget, frs gmrs, CB and a boafeng are good solutions if used at low power in rural areas. To be sure, use coded communication and keep it short if you are transmitting. They can not direction find you if you are just listening. Get a short wave radio as well and listen to all bands, as many will be communicating in the open and that will provide good information. If you are in an area that is near the feds or planning an attack, use secure good radios and remember if they can direction find you they can also send arterillary or attackers!
I forgot to mention, all radios need power, duh! Get a deep cycle battery and charge it with solar, to run your base units and then recharge your hand helds from it, or even your cell phone.
Harbor freight has some small panels and some at fifteen to about fifty watts, they even come with a charge controller which has a usb port and a voltage indicator.
Because of threats to the grid, think about expanding solar to a hundred watts or so, so you can have a few lights. As I live in a very rural area, I put in a small solar power system at a couple of hundred watts and three 100 AH batteries thirty years ago. We all ways have lights in power outages. I have since expanded it to a couple of KW and run freezers, lights and a refrigerator.
I have a generator as well but it eats gas and sun light is free and don’table most of the time!
Our power grid is very delicate and vunerable, unfortunatly there is much talk about taking it down in any conflict. A solar powered system not connected to the grid, might survive a CME or EMP!
Solar can start out small, simple and cheap, then expanded to what ever you can afford. I don’t sell any solar but would be glad to help anyone.
Hello, Lon schultz Schultz
Ditto that on the solar and the comm’s. I know little to nothing about comm’s, as evidenced by the bevy of Baofengs charging on my desk.
It does seem that concentrating on comm’s first might be reversing the priorities, a basic solar system for recharging/necessities may be a good first-step into the world of comm’s.
I went to the sites searching for handheld transceivers as a starting point, I didn’t see any that were designated as frequency-hopping, however. I sense from David’s posts that is an important detail. Are Motorola handhelds the most popular frequency-hopping units?
There’s a HAM guy at work who seems unmotivated to help much until the newbie gets a license. I’m thinking that the period I’m going to need it for, FCC licensing will not be a concern.
Thanks in advance for any help.
SDR radio USB dongles are also a quick cheap option. Usually around $30. Your computer does all the work. Only downside is you have a computer tied up. Any old computer will work for most channels but if you want to scan for the digital and trunking modes you will need a good processor and sufficient RAM
The issue with this excellent suggestion is the availability of the Internet in the future. I believe either will turn off the Internet when times get sporky.
I believe you may misunderstand what an SDR radio is.
It is a usb device that plugs in to your computer, or in some cases a tablet or phone. The computer does all the work as it is now basically a scanner. No internet connection is required.
In addition to basic listening you can also receive satellite weather data, receive digital modes of communication such as morse and PSK31.
All scanners are basically small computers that translates the rf into sound to hear. The SDR just adds the one piece to your computer that it doesn’t have to work, an RF chip.
There is a guy here in NC that sells several models on ebay. I have a few different models and they work great. The cheaper ones are basic scanners, the higher prices ones allow you to connect a more elaborate antenna to to receive satellite comms etc.
No affiliation to him other than a customer by the way
https://www.ebay.com/itm/RTL-SDR-radio-receiver-TCXO-RTL2832U-R820T2-Fan-Thermal-cooled-unit-/272285194893?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292
http://www.ammaconsulting.org/
His direct website
Brandon, thank you for this great tip..
You are correct. I was thinking about another system in place using repeaters on the internet.
No worries, looks like we are all having a great exchange of ideas and solutions here.
The bottom line is: find someone who is knowledgeable about current technology. Ham clubs are a good place to start -- find them at http://arrl.org
Attend the meetings (you may have to do it virtually at present). Get to know people, and ask for help -- you will get it readily.
Good luck -- KM4GSF
It took me 2 seconds to find Linda in Rock Hill, SC based on the information in her comment. Congratulations on your license level, we need more people who are using HF.