Short wave radio - universal survivalist frequency

I'm new to survival forums and the like for various reasons but happened to think about communication when the phones, internet, etc go down.

Is there any universal short wave radio frequency to use for help?

I am also new to short wave but my dad had one from years ago and we used it during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

Even if "everyone" on ATS knew of one certain frequency to go to, it would GREATLY affect the efficacy of post-internet communication!

So if there is one please post it. If not, let's pick one!

Bump for great justice!

I'm suprised this hasn't been answered yet. Perhaps the OP should make a suggestion based on the lack of replies of an existing frequency.

Unless this has been posted elsewhere...

reply to post by notreallyalive


THere are several problems here with this.

First off ...the short wave bands cover alot of the frequency spectrum. This involves signal propagation under certain conditions, Power, frequency used, Antenna type, Type of transmission used, AM, SSB, FM, CW...and for some who have the equipment ..variations of packet data.

By Packet data I mean computer to Terminal Node Controller to radio and the reverse on the receiving end.

Not all communications on Short wave is what we call ..microphone or Phone for short.

Most Short wave sets are Simple AM receivers with a side AM/FM broadcast receivers. Most of these cover from some 3Mega Hertz to 22 Mega Hertz.

Also for those in the know...we have the ability to build more effecient antennas than the simple telescoping rods that function as an antenna on most sets. These antennas are marginal at best and mostly constructed for portability.

A shortwave set is a nice feature to have and I keep a small portable two AA battery one in my BOB made bu Grundig. I also keep around two others ..one Grundig with the hand crank generator, dynamo type feature which will charge a telephone type battery for about 30 minutes of use on a good cranking. This radio can also be used on straight 3AA type batteries.

It is a good idea to purchase short wave radios which use a common type battery such that you will not have to keep on hand several types of batteries. I buy AA type batteries by the 40 pack and like to keep at least two 40 packs on hand all the time. I use them as well ..in my daily Mag Light for which I take to and fro work along with at least a four pack in my pocket as back up batteries.
Most of my radios are configured for AA type batteries.

I have 5 short wave type radios around most of which take the AA type batteries.

Now for your question about what frequency to use.

Depending on the type of emergency you many or may not want to find other people...but definitely know something about what is going on around you.

If something happened like the Wildlife which fled New Orleans(Two legged wildlife)..you may want to use alot of discretion about finding and joining up with others. You may opt to keep yourself and your group isolated for awhile. This is up to you.

In the case of medical emergencys ..you may need to find help. This too is up to you. It will be a judgement call..depending on the type of wildlife by which you are surrounded.

Depending on the nature of the emergency ...many radio stations of the broadcasting type may be down. ..or turned off except for official government broadcasting needs.

Those with the independent means...mostly those trained in Amateur Radio operations will be the only ones independent enough to do much broadcasting and thier power abilities will be limited. Not many Amateurs Of whom I know can broadcast or run gear with over 5000 watts of power. Some AM stations at night go to some 50,000 watts of power.

Amateurs have the ability to operate from some 1 mega herts to 30 mega hertz and even in the UHF and VHF bands. Some even up in the 900 MHZ and higher bands...including some slow scan television.

This is why you have so much frequency spread coverage on the short wave bands.

If you want to ..pick a frequency to meet on ..do so. The problem wiith most short wave sets is that they cannot transmit..they are strictly receivers. Most amateurs I know will keep thier options open and meet on thier normally assigned or agreed to nets..and go from there...changing bands and frequencys as needed...also modes of operation. I say this simply because they already have broadcasting/transmitting equipment which can broadcast on CB bands as well as amateur radio bands.

I dont think the average short wave listener just getting into the hobby is fully aware of these lines of thought.

Something for some of you to think about.

Thanks.
Orangetom

For Listening, you can get a several decent models for $40-200 USD that will work just fine for your basic listening needs.

You should have a weather alert radio as well, 90% of your most immediate disasters are going to be weather related.

If you're part of a large family or group, those small family-mobile radios are excellent radios, next up should be a CB radio. The CB will operate when all cell phones and everything else is down and gives you two-way communications capability as well without a license.

Thanks for the great info Orangetom and crgintx!

I'll take a look at crank generators too =)


[edit on 27-4-2009 by notreallyalive]

Most amateurs I know will keep thier options open and meet on thier normally assigned or agreed to nets..and go from there...changing bands and frequencys as needed...also modes of operation. I say this simply because they already have broadcasting/transmitting equipment which can broadcast on CB bands as well as amateur radio bands.

Many amateurs i know will go to packet radio in a SITX.
en.wikipedia.org...
run right you can send messages in seconds (burst transmissions)and they would be very hard to triangulate the source.

burst transmission.
en.wikipedia.org...
transmission that combines a very high data signaling rate with very short transmission times - i.e., the message is compressed. This is popular with the military and spies, who both wish to minimise the chance of their radio transmissions being detected, i.e. Low probability of intercept (LPI) and Low probability of recognition (LPR).

Is there any universal short wave radio frequency to use for help?

there are many for distress.

* 2182 kHz for medium range maritime voice use.

* 121.5 MHz as the civil, and 243 MHz as the military aircraft emergency frequencies

* Marine VHF radio Channel 16 (156.8 MHz) for short range maritime use

* 406.025 MHz used by the Cospas-Sarsat international satellite-based search and rescue (SAR) distress alert detection and information distribution system

Satellite processing from all 121.5 or 243 MHz locators has been discontinued. Since February 1, 2009, the U.S. Coast Guard only monitors distress signals from emergency position indicating radio beacons that broadcast using digital 406 MHz signals.[2] Digital 406 MHz models became the only ones approved for use in both commercial and recreational watercraft worldwide on January 1, 2007. [3]

Also channel 9 on the CB radio 27.065 MHz

[edit on 27-4-2009 by ANNED]

If you are in a Situation X or TEOTWAWKI having a licence or not will be the least of your worries.

If you dont have knowlege of certain equipments or how to run it ...you may be in dire straights.
Much ham equipment is fairly complex and strange to those not trained in using it. Same with packet equipment. The other drawback is that much of this gear is not very portable. Also much of it has great power requirements.

Technology is significantly downsizing this type of equipment but much of it today is also menu driven. Computer skills are needed as well as basics of radio operation.

Even many types of short wave sets are menu driven today.


This is my entry level hand crank radio by Grundig. Strictly an AM shortwave receiver with added AM/FM receiving bands on it.

www.amazon.com...

Here is the shortwave receiver I put in my BOB daily to carry to and fro work.

www.universal-radio.com...

This is one of my home shortwave radios though My amateur gear can get all these frequencys as well. The advantage of this radio is that it has single side band reception as well as AM/FM. It is however a bit more expensive than the other two above.

www.transistor.org...

All of the above three receivers use AA type batteries ..hence the commonality of power requirements. Something to think about when choosing your equipment.

I also have this Radio Shack DX 392 shortwave receiver. The problem with it is that it takes different sized batteries..Four D cells and also AA type batteries. Its main advantage is that it also has a cassette recorder in it which can record whatever it is to which stations you are listening oir if you prefer ..record just like a cassette tape recorder..voices.
This radio receiver can pick up single sideband transmissions as well.
It is however a larger radio receiver than the others so it seldom leaves home.

www.mods.dk...

As I stated..the problem with these receivers is exactly that they are receivers. They are not also transmitters. You are dependent on the transmissions of others. It will be up to you to monitor and listen wisely.

This is the Handi Talkie or if you prefer ...Walkie Talkie I take to work with me daily in my BOB. I do not use the factory issue antenna as it is marginal at best. I have purchased more effecient antennas of two different types.
This Walkie Talkie will work on two bands. 2 meters as well as 70cm.
I also carry a spare battery for this unit.

www.twowayradioonline.com...

If you look carefully at this unit or others similar..you will notice that the front of the face is actually a keypad similar to what you get on a telephone. Yes you can make short telephone calls on this walkie talkie through a repeater network which is tied into the telephone network One of the priveldges of beiing a ham. You need to know the access codes to the telephone patch but I have done this on occasion. It is another option when needed. Phone calls can be made on either of the two bands if the repeaters are properly set up for this feature.
I own three of these walkie talkies and they have come in handy.

These are generally short range units unless you use them with a repeater...called duplexing. Range is cut considerably short in simplex mode. By simplex..I mean radio to radio..not going through a repeater.

There is a new feature for Hams called IRLP networking. You can find this on the WEB under that name..IRLP. IN this feature the radio is duplexed into a repeater and then to a computer instead of a telephone patch ...by the proper codes on the keypad. These codes will open what are called reflectors. The reflector I often use is the Las Vegas reflector. Then you just use it to make contacts around the country. This greatly extends ones range by using a computer node..or reflector. From the Chesapeake Bay here in Virginia...I have made contacts to Fort Smith, Arkansas. Portland Oregon, Dallas, Texas, and of course Las Vegas.
Last Friday I was able to make the connection to the Sidney, Australia reflector and work two stations down the coast from Sidney.
All of this from a simple Walkie Talkie. Amazing what they are doing with technology.

Now these features may be useless in Situation X or TEOWAWKI..but it shows what potential is ..and flexability...if one knows how to apply it.
Nonetheless ..I carry this Handi talkie with me daily....to and fro work...along with my spare battery and charger.

Hope this helps some of you.

Thanks,
Orangetom

[edit on 28-4-2009 by orangetom1999]

reply to post by crintx


I agree with the CB idea cheap short range can buy at any truck stop... no real technical skills needed and you don't have to have a tall 100'+ antenna tower that kind of screams "Here I am"!

I would go as far as to say there are some radios that do have sideband capabilities that are fairly easy to use, much like cbs they aren't overly complicated unlike proper HF sets.

president lincoln, uniden 2830 come to mind...you just need a frequency table to follow due to having a frequency readout but thats it really.

Originally posted by Dar Kuma
I would go as far as to say there are some radios that do have sideband capabilities that are fairly easy to use, much like cbs they aren't overly complicated unlike proper HF sets.

president lincoln, uniden 2830 come to mind...you just need a frequency table to follow due to having a frequency readout but thats it really.

Yes Dar Kuma...I agree. I keep a President 2510 made by Uniden in my garage. It is a mobile radio and I run it off an olde car battery and occasionally hook my battery charger up to it. It will work on 10 meter amateur bands as well as CB or what is called 11 meters.
I listen to it alot when I am working out in my garage.
Single Side band, AM, FM, and CW or morse code modes of operation.

Its drawback is that it is made to use in an automobile as far as portability. It must be hooked up to a 12 volt source. It is not really very portable....as is the same with my base station set up.

However...Uniden makes some fine radios for what they were intended.

Thanks,
Orangetom

Orangetom,

There used to be a survivalist type station wwcr that ran some years back. Do you knowof any that are currently functional? I need to replace my radio, it went out some time ago.

respectfully

reluctantpawn

Originally posted by reluctantpawn
Orangetom,

There used to be a survivalist type station wwcr that ran some years back. Do you knowof any that are currently functional? I need to replace my radio, it went out some time ago.

respectfully

reluctantpawn

Reluctantpawn,

No I do not know of any. Hope you are able to replace your radio.

Thanks,
Orangetom

Great info here and thanks for posting it!!

What about portable CBs?? Would one of these be a good investment for someone on a very limited income??

Thank you for any replies..........

CB's operate on one narrow piece of one band. For short-range (what we might call tactical communications) it would be OK. But some of the newer FRS and GMRS radios would be more suitable for that purpose. Truly, if you imagine a real SHTF scenario with infrastructure damaged or disabled, power grid crippled or gone, no phone, no cell, no internet, getting information from a distance is going to be crucial.

Suppose the area you are in becomes unsafe or unsustainable and you decide you need to bug-out. Where are you going to go? How will you determine a safe area or a safe route to get there? Without near realtime information you could bug-out from the frying pan into the fire.

I've made this comment before: people on the survival threads are commonly spending thousands of dollars on guns and ammo. You could pick-up a used multi-band, all-mode ham transceiver that includes general coverage SW for a few hundred dollars or a really good one for maybe $500-$600. You can pickup a suitable antenna tuner (so you can use random long wire antennas) for $100 or less. Many radio models are designed to run on DC power and are portable.

Originally posted by Champagne
Great info here and thanks for posting it!!

What about portable CBs?? Would one of these be a good investment for someone on a very limited income??

Thank you for any replies..........

Not to long ago I found a couple of CB/11 meter walkie talkies at a yard sale... gave them to my kids to play with... Range is very limited maybe a half mile? eats double A Batteries in no time but they did come with the car (12 volt adapter)

They do work and for 10 bucks at a yard sale were certainly cheap enough... Bet you could find them just as cheap off craigslist too... now they don't work near as well as my Cobra 148GTL or Galaxy DX2547 but for $10 bucks verses $300 what do you expect?

Still there are a lot of these old radios around so I would guess if you put an ad in your local craigslist (Wanted CB with ssb, will pay up to $40) I bet you get more than one offer...

reply to post by DaddyBare



Cobra 148 GTL is a great radio for the moneys. I had one years ago. Wish I never let it go. Did alot of distance talking with mine. Even had FM put in it as well as other goodies. That radio was very adaptable and capable of being extensively modified. Had some decent side rejection as well compared to my earlier Cobra radios.

Thanks for reminding me,
Orangetom

CB radios can be bought cheap at thrift stores.
Don't buy the handheld type but the mobile units for cars.

The car mobiles are 5 watts. the handheld type are 1 watt.

I have a old mobile crystal controlled CB radio that has been tweaked to 12 watts but you can not do that with the newer CB radios with phase-lock loop Frequency control.
My radio can go one channel above and below normal CB frequencies also
this lets me talk to someone with the same modification.

With 5 watts and the right antenna you can talk across the US and with a 150 watt linear amp you can talk to Australia from Calif
I know i did this for many years.
And i did it without the FCC ever getting close to catching me in my mobile rig.

Anned reminded me we truckers are used to having to make our radios portable... their always putting us in different truck's so we don't like to permanently mount personal belongings right... well the answer to that is something called a CB or Slip-seat box...

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/39458eba8c70.jpg[/atsimg]

You can mount a Farly large mobile radio in one and only making a couple of connections be able to move from vechile to vechile in a minute or two

PS the box pictured above is not mine. that's a store bought box you could pick up in any truck stop.. I made my own out of an old wodden box I picked up cheap at a yard sale

[edit on 14-6-2009 by DaddyBare]

For those folks that are looking at a 12V rig, consider a solar battery maintainer as an accessory. Your radio can operate in a vehicle, and off a 12V car battery at home. The solar battery maintainer, for those that are not familiar, is a handy little doo-dad that folks get for boats, tractors, 'play' cars, whatever is not regularly operated, to keep the battery topped up. The maintainer would allow you to keep the battery up. It is a trickle-charge type setup.