Communication

I had two great speakers come to my class last Wednesday. Jack and Chris.  Jack has his Ham Radio License, and Chris is a Sheriff’s Search & Rescue guy for a city near my neighborhood.  This is what I learned.  The walkie talkies I have right now are good for Disneyland or talking to my neighbor across the street. I can’t talk to my neighbors with houses blocking mine .4 miles around the corner from my house.  Hmmm, this does not work for me.  This is why my good friend Bob invited Jack and Chris to give us the information we all need.  Here’s the deal.  You can get your Ham Radio License.  It’s pretty cheap, $10 to $15.00. You can REALLY talk to lots of people.  All you have to do is take a class and take a test.  Here is a link to find where they teach classes in your area.  No more Morse Code is needed.  I am excited to sign up to take this class.  Ham Radio Licenses are renewable every 10 years.  I will keep you posted and give you information later. You can also get a GMRS License. They are about $70-$85.00. No test. Just application and renewable every 5 years.

Here are some communication terms that are good to know!

FRS means Family Radio Service/Limited distance for talking.

GMRS  means General Mobile Radio Service (requires GMRS License). Better distance for talking usually has a “repeater” that improves coverage.
HAM or AMATEUR means the same thing. You need a Ham Radio License to use.The Walkie Talkies that Chris, the Search and Rescue guy uses when they are involved in a Search & Rescue are these and he recommends them for ALL families:

 Motorola MR350R 35-Mile Range
It’s rechargeable. It has an Emergency Alert, NOAA Weather Channel, Silent Signals, the list goes on and on. I bought a two phone set from Amazon.com for about $65.00. No shipping. Chris said they use to sell them at Costco, you could check there.  They have them in yellow also, but the ones I bought are black.
Our landlines and cell phones aren’t always going to work.  So let’s make sure we are prepared and ready to communicate in every way we can!