Ham radio shouldn’t be at the top of your preparedness list, but you should investigate it at some point because when it’s useful it’s truly a lifesaving skill to have by giving you a communications outlet that’s completely independent of the grid.

Unprepared

Why You Should Get Your Ham Radio License Now

Communications play a key role in preparedness. It’s not as important as food, water, and shelter, but being able to call for help or contact loved ones in an emergency is important. You can’t always count on Internet connectivity or cellular service, and your most reliable option for talking to others over a distance is ham radio…

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a year ago · 4 likes · Josh Centers

But ham radio is also one of the most impenetrable hobbies there is. You have to study complex topics to earn licenses to even participate, the equipment is expensive, and establishing a station can be a finicky process of trial and error.

When I first dipped my toe into ham radio, I was overwhelmed by the amount of information. I’d watch an introductory video only to watch an old ham doing math problems on a whiteboard. I didn’t even know where to start to wrap my mind around it.

The reality is most day-to-day ham radio operations are very simple, so I’ve compiled this “faker’s guide” to make it so a layman can make sense of it. After reading this, you should be able to show up to a ham event, like the upcoming Winter Field Day, and understand what’s going on. You won’t be ready to take a license test, but you’ll know how 90% of typical ham radio operations work.