REVIEW (MINI) – Tidradio TD-H8 on SALE!
This is a mini review of the Tidradio TD-H8. I really love these radios for a few reasons, and it is on sale right now (Feb. 2024). Check out the link below to get the sale price.
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Importance of radio dispatcher
A community of survivors have established base camp, and the community is humming with tasks being done, enjoying life as best as possible, and the community needs to communicate. There are several ways of doing this, and mesh network text messages and radios are the best ways. So do you need someone to handle dispatch?
REVIEW: My favorite Baofeng – UV-17 Pro GPS
I recently ordered the Baofeng UV-17 Pro GPS without any expectations. It cost me under $50 with international shipping. It is a multi-band radio but supposed to work on 2m and 70cm (as well as 1.25m) bands. It has air band and GPS. My quick summary is that this is the best Baofeng I ever purchased.
Meshtastic – Open-Source mesh messaging platform without cell or internet
Meshtastic is gaining popularity faster than I had ever thought. It is a great way to send messages to people off-grid or with no cell or internet service. You can build your own (check this post) or you can buy one already built on different sites.
Is a weather radio necessary?
I get asked this question a lot. The answer is a resounding yes. Weather radios can give you information about what is going on, what is coming (in most cases), and what they recommend if severe weather is imminent.
Are CB radios any good for survival?
People think that CB radio is dead, but in fact it is still very well used by truckers and people on the road a lot like RVers. With GMRS usage picking up and repeaters throughout the country, you would think most have moved off CB radios.
REVIEW: The ever-popular Baofeng UV-5R
Baofeng UV-5R is a ham radio that works on 2m and 70cm bands. It is so popular that there are significantly more of these units sold than the number of ham radio licensees out in the world. Granted I have quite a few of these since no two are alike, more on that later in the review, and they break so people replace it with another Baofeng UV-5R. What makes these radios so popular is you get a very simple dual band ham radio for an amazingly low price.
Ham Radio with a Solar Powered Battery Bank
The most interesting configuration whether you are doing SOTA (Summit On The Air) or POTA (Parks On The Air), or setting up a base camp communication station, is using a Solar Powered Battery Bank with your ham radio gear.
GMRS 101 – Fundamentals
GMRS is a great way to communicate at distance for basecamp or survival situations. With the right radio, you should be able to communicate in the right terrain for about a 10 mile distance. With access to a repeater, that can be extended further. With linked repeaters, that can go across state lines and in some cases, multiple states. If you have made the decision to own a GMRS radio, whether it is an HT (handheld transceiver) or a mobile unit, there are some fundamental things you need to know.
Acronyms used for communications
There are a lot of acronyms for everything these days, and it would be nice to have a place to go to find ones specific to a category, in this case, communications.