Call to Action Checklist: Ham Radio Communications

One page that turns reading about radio into doing it. This Call to Action checklist goes with Survival Dispatch Insider Vol. 3 Issue 2 and walks you from a first handheld to a working family comms plan.

The gear list for new hams (a Baofeng BF-F8HP or UV-5R, an upgraded antenna, AA and high-capacity battery packs, a speaker mic and a charger), then the upgrades: a portable solar panel, a car antenna, a ladder-line J-pole for the get home bag, a J-pole for the house and a mobile radio. Then the challenges: find and test the repeaters and simplex frequencies every family member can reach from home and work, program them into the same memory slots on every radio, join your local nets and the National Traffic System net, practice copying traffic messages and grade yourself, and set a three-month deadline to pass your General license, with where to test. Every item has its link and the Insider page it came from.

Printable PDF, instant download.