Got a Baoefeng today and now have it programmed with... the fucking weather. That’s it. Police have all gone digital. Local Fire and EMS too. Wtf?
EDIT: I’m working on my license so I can talk to all the boomers out there but in the meantime it’s perfectly legal to LISTEN, but it’s crickets with everything being digital now.
I’m just confused as to how this would be of any help to me in SHTF.
Mine is on the way. Now I'm wondering if I will have enough time to figure out out. Guess it's time to get watching some videos
I may or may not be an engineer in real life and it's honestly not that difficult once you figure out the different bands. This Baofeng I have is good for FM radio (eat a dick Spotify!) and frequencies higher than CB (arguably the most important for local comms, IMO) which lives around 27Mhz. All my local law enforcement steppers are digital so we're about 20 years too late to be able to listen to them. Also, buy a programmer and download Chirp for free. and you don't have to mess with programming frequencies by thumb. Ewww.
I've spent $70 on way worse gear. :-)
Isn't it also a walkie talkie? That is what hubby and I are in the market for, is a good set of walkie talkies with other capabilities.
It is, but it does not include CB (citizens’ band), so most of the frequency ranges that allow transmission require a license. I think there is a Family band (FMRS) that doesn’t require a license, but you may also have to dial back your transmission wattage to comply.
Keep your expectations low to moderate regarding 2 way communication. These radios do best in flat areas, not in hills/mountains, and their simplex (person to person with no intervening repeater) range is definitely limited.
That being said, to this ham, I find the baofengs to be remarkably well equipped and useful. ESPECIALLY for the price range. As a point of comparison, go look at a Yaesu model and see what they cost.
Hubby and I don't need anything with spectacular range for what we are usually doing, and most of what we do involves clear line of sight, nothing oddball. Normally he is up a hill and I am down below, but not heavily forested areas or anything like that. I very much want to get HAM licensed and intend on doing so ASAP after we move, which will be happening as fast as I can manage it.
For the coming circumstances, I will be wanting to listen to things more than communicate anyway at least initially. From what I read in the specs there is an FRMS band, and while I am not the most tech savvy person around I have friends who can instruct me in its use as they own them and use them.
We are looking at the model with the longer antenna rather than the stubby one. Do you feel that is a good idea?