SHTF, you have a Yaesu VX-6r. Now what?!

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Another title for this thread could be "School me on emergency HAM usage". Let's say the grid is down hard.. no electricity, so normal radio stations and TV are down for the count. How could a hand-held radio such as a Yaesu VX-6r be of use? How would one go about getting info the frequencies that would be used, what methods of communication with others can be employed, etc. for hams and non-hams alike?

Sorry for the vagueness/cluelessness of the questions, but I am finally starting to turn my attentions to communications from a SHTF standpoint.
(If this is better suited for the Survival forum, please feel free to move it)
 
Go to the bottom of the band and hit scan up. Most repeaters will give the pl. Once you find a freq that is handling important messages save it.
 
I've been thinking about this as well. Bearing in mind that my interest in amateur radio would be limited to learning how to use the rig I have for emergency coms would a good 2m mobile rig be a decent solution for SHTF? I'm not looking to Spend $4-600 on a handheld for something I may never need/use
 
If the repeaters are down. I'd start with the 'national calling frequencies'. Depending on your location you may not be getting out very far. But if the repeaters are down, that would be my first try.

2M FM.......... 146.520 MHz
70cm FM....... 446.000 MHz

I'd also program in the FRS/GMRS frequencies. Not everyone has a Vhf/Uhf Ham radio, but millions of people have the little FRS radios. You can usually do a MARS/CAP mod with little trouble which will open up the radio and cover those frequencies (usually).

http://www.ba-marc.org/writeups/gmrs-frs-freq.htm

Be aware it's illegal to transmit on those frequencies with an open Ham radio for a couple reasons. FCC type acceptance of the radio, power output, lack of GMRS liscense. But we are talking SHTF scenario.
 
Make a copy of the manual for your Go Kit. These things are a complicated SOB to operate if you don't use them daily.

Good call. I used my FT-60 a lot when I first got into it. It was my mobile in my car....then I haven't used it in about 4 or so months. I don't even remember how to change the power settings. LOL! I need to break out the manual and play with it again.
 
VX commander is a huge help for the Yaesus, but in a SHTF situation that may not be a luxury, so good call on the manual.

Kaos: Correct on the mod, it opens up the radio to quite a bit. Other than FRS, what other frequencies would be good? IIRC, it can at least listen to CB. I know it is useless for listening to most police/fire/etc due to trunking however.
 
If it has a wide band receiver you could also program in local PD, FD and EMS as well as fed stuff like FEMA and MEMA and a whole bunch of other stuff that might be useful to "listen" to in a SHTF situation.
 
Don't forget HF will be great in an SHTF scenario to get info from overseas and from the other side of the country. I have HF to UHF capabilities and I feel that I wont miss anything. I think a lot of scanning will be in order and very little transmitting until you figure out what will evolve. Transmitting will give your position away to anyone with the capabilities to track. Which is many people. Google (Fox Hunt). If you need to communicate with your MAG use the lowest power that will get the job done. No need to broadcast your position to everyone for no reason. My MO will be passive until I figure out what's going to happen??
 
I have an Icom 703 I use as a nightstand radio. Power outages happen in my area of the Cape way more often than I'd like. I purchased one of those garage door opener back up batteries for like 25 bucks delivered to my door. I think it's 7 amp hour. I keep it charged with a battery tender. When the lights go out locally it's my time to tune in the world. I've never completely discharged the battery so I can't tell you how long it will last but I know once I used it for six hours and the output voltage of the battery only dropped three tenths of a volt.
 
You would need to live in the middle of nowhere. I can't see that working in an urban envrionment. Also, talking about giving your position away...

Hey, look, there's a big ole balloon over there...let's go see what they have for us to pilfer. Hell, if they can afford to hoist up a balloon, then they must be stocked up.

Also, with wind and such, if i were to try to do that...I'd have wire all tangled up in trees and power lines. I'm not thinking that's a very good idea either.
 
I would think that would work GREAT in the middle of a bunch of buildings to shoot your aerial above the buildings. What "position"?

You use your antenna as the tether. There is nothing to get tangled. Ya gotta think outside the box, man.
 
Storing a tank of helium is pretty low on my list..but it is kind of a neat idea.
 
Slingshot or bow, and put up a wire antenna. One thing we have plenty of in New England is trees. Bows and slingshots might have other uses during SHTF too [wink]
 
I would think that would work GREAT in the middle of a bunch of buildings to shoot your aerial above the buildings. What "position"?

You use your antenna as the tether. There is nothing to get tangled. Ya gotta think outside the box, man.

It's a SHTF time right? What do you mean, "What Position?" YOUR POSITION! A big ole balloon up in the air is going to let people know from miles away where you are. And I don't care what you tie to...unless your at the top of this building...the wind is going to be blowing this balloon all over the place. So your antenna is going to get caught in all kinds of things...unless you're at the TOP of everthing...then there's no need to elevate your antenna because you're already at the TOP.

Think of flying a kite in the middle of a neighborhood. There's reasons that people fly kites in open fields, at the beach...because the kite will get caught up in stuff as wind is unpredictable at altitudes.
 
I was thinking that you want to communicate and let people know where you are if things get bad.

I think a kite and a helium weather balloon would behave MUCH differently in the wind.
 
If things are bad...as it was posted above...you're going to want to listen more than talk to gather what's going on out there.

I must have missed the bad.. part. I read about the grid being down and communications being down. I'd say open lines of communication are imperative.
 
Let's also keep in mind that you can't assume the repeaters are up. You'll be running simplex, so you will need a good directional antenna and/or learn how to locate other stations.
 
Communications being down and a SHTF scenario are two different things.

Communications being down is like the NH Ice Storms...or Irene.

SHTF is more like people are looting, there's no government or police, people are attacking houses for supplies.
 
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