So In All Out TEOTWAWKI or SHTF developing into it, Do You Contact Strangers or Not? I Say No Unless

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by ED GEiN, Jul 23, 2018.


  1. ED GEiN

    ED GEiN Monkey+++

    In a recent thread several people recommended getting a Ham Radio for TEOTWAWKI or SHTF developing into TEOTWAWKI situations. Other than contacting people I know and trust, I do not want to contact strangers unless it is a last resort because I don't see anything good coming out of it in those particular situations. From my City raised point of view, I think you have a much greater chance of being endangered by reaching out to strangers in these situations than being helped. Am I wrong? For clarification I'm not talking about say a storm in your area where you are stranded but say a deadly worldwide epidemic
     
  2. Dunerunner

    Dunerunner Brewery Monkey Moderator

    My take is any radio with transmit capabilities should be used only for monitoring what others are doing and what news is being shared. Your position can be identified when you transmit, and your range of possible contacts is very large. You will be reaching out to a very large and non-communicative audience every time you key up.
     
  3. arleigh

    arleigh Goophy monkey

    Amateur radio folk usually over time get to know one another especially by reputation .
    It depends on your community, but if your ignorant of the character of your community your better of with out it. You know no one , and no one knows you.
     
    ED GEiN, Lancer and SB21 like this.
  4. azrancher

    azrancher Monkey +++

    OK... the lights go out, your local radio stations are off the air, there is no cable, satellite, cell service... you can sit in the dark and wait for FEMA to come rescue you, or wait for the looters to come and relieve you of your stuff and life, or you can contact somebody, somewhere out there to figure out if this is a local event, a nation wide event, or is the entire world in the dark. Perhaps what you learn will dictate how you survive or not. If an EMP or CME took place you probably will have wished you stored a backup ham radio in a Faraday cage.

    Rancher
     
  5. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    Non of my buddies have Ham or other 2-way radio. I have a pair of FMS/GMRS handhelds, that's it. We will meet at a predetermined location, if a BO is warranted.
    I do have a small AM/FM/WX/SW radio to listen for reports and notifications.
     
    Gator 45/70 likes this.
  6. arleigh

    arleigh Goophy monkey

    Here is the problem .
    There are so many people with radios that when things get desperate they will use what ever means to find some one willing to help .
    How or when they acquire the radios is not the point ,it is the method in which they are used . and remember deception is the name of the game .
    This is why for the most part knowing who your friends are NOW is more important then attempting to make friends post SHTF . This does not mean that people cannot change due to their circumstances ,people can change with in a group unexpectedly disaster can bring out the crazy in people and it also can bring out the best in people as well .
    Most every one knows that even with in a church ,there are those committed and those there for show ,but these things you don't know unless your in there and been there long enough to learn these things .
     
  7. apache235

    apache235 Monkey+++

    I think the whole idea of a HAM radio is to gather information and/or to communicate with others in your group. The idea of a meet and greet with total strangers, especially in a SHTF situation, is nuts and by meet and greet I also mean "can somebody please come help me, I live at... ." OPSEC is the name of the game in coms and if you think that you are being triangulated, then you need to move a few miles before you transmit.
     
  8. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Yup. As now, there are folks out there that you do NOT want to know later.
     
  9. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    "Information is power", it's as simple as that. What you learn by listening might be the one thing that saves your or your family member's life. One doesn't need to transmit but, over time, you will get to know people on the air waves just like you get to know people on this forum and that could be beneficial in the long run.

    EDIT: Having said this, I need to get off my butt and get my Extra license...this winter for certain.
     
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  10. Lancer

    Lancer TANSTAFL! Site Supporter+++

    Most of them....
     
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  11. azrancher

    azrancher Monkey +++

    Do you have your General License? If so you will be able to communicate with 100% of the Hams out there right now, Extra guys don't stay only on the frequencies designated for them. And of course after SHTF, there will be no holds barred, and all frequencies will be available.

    BUT ... You need to get at least your General License so you can practice on HF, so you can learn how to build and tune an antenna, especially if you need to re-locate, i.e. practice practice practice.

    Rancher
     
    madmax, Motomom34, ED GEiN and 4 others like this.
  12. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    Yes, I got my General but really haven't used it. I got a pair of Baofeng UV-5R but haven't really used them much. I did purchase a pair of Nagoya NA-771R telescope antennas for them. My interest in SDR (Software Defined Radio) and has been for many, many years. I will probably jumped into the deep end and purchase a IC-7300 when I get my Extra and a decent external antenna set up but I got so damn much to do around the property that it will just have to wait. As always priorities dictate my time and currently it is getting this firewood (looks to be 12 cords) tucked away for a rainy day. But, there really isn't any excuse for me not having license as I got through half of the questions before I got sidetracked by life and stopped studying.
     
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  13. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    You can ALWAYS find a reason to procrastinate. Just buy the radio, takes 10 minutes on line when it's raining. Put it on the dining room table, and I'll bet some incentive will magically appear (from the kitchen?) to get you off your settin' spot.
    There is really no point in holding off until you have your Extra. No one says you have to use ALL the capabilities of the xceiver, in fact there is a good reason to have more capability in the box than in your brain, gives you space to grow.
     
  14. Oddcaliber

    Oddcaliber Monkey+++

    Hears a link to an interesting website, www.preparedham.com Prepper with communication and then some.
     
    ED GEiN likes this.
  15. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    We know those guys, several members on the forum come thru here now and then.
     
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  16. azrancher

    azrancher Monkey +++

    The Prepared Ham lives just down the street from me, a very good source of information.
    The correct URL is--- Prepared Ham

    Rancher
     
    ED GEiN, hitchcock4, ghrit and 2 others like this.
  17. Oddcaliber

    Oddcaliber Monkey+++

    Thanks for the fix.
     
  18. ED GEiN

    ED GEiN Monkey+++

    Makes sense! Thanks!

    Makes sense! Thanks!

    Makes sense! Thanks!
    But isn't there an extra large chance that the stranger you contacted will try to rob you, etc., etc. So far I like the idea of using the ham radio just for monitoring others
    Totally agree
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 24, 2018
  19. ED GEiN

    ED GEiN Monkey+++

    But isn't there an extra large chance that the stranger you contacted will try to rob you, etc., etc. So far I like the idea of using the ham radio just for monitoring others

    Now that makes sense to me! Same with just monitoring others! Very helpful Thanks
     
  20. ED GEiN

    ED GEiN Monkey+++

    Agreed
     
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