Ham Radio Mistakes You Need to Avoid at All Costs

Source: https://www.askaprepper.com/

If you are serious about prepping for any disaster, you must have off-grid communications squared away.

The only way to guarantee robust post-SHTF communications is amateur radio.

Most preppers will add ham radio into their preps, but as they do, there are many mistakes that will derail their post-SHTF communications plans.

Not Being Licensed

You must get licensed before you start using amateur radios. While many people will push back and say they do not need to be licensed to use these radios in an emergency, that attitude is foolhardy and dangerous.

Amateur radio requires practice, testing, and tweaking to work well.

You must program repeaters into your VHF/UHF radios, which must be confirmed after programming. The only way to do this is to be licensed. You cannot legally transmit on ham radio bands without a license, and you cannot practice, tweak, and set up your equipment without transmitting to test everything.

Also, you will probably want to use your radios on the local repeater network after a disaster. If you do not have a callsign and have not checked into the local nets, no one will want to talk to you, and you will not be able to get any assistance.

Related: How to Get a Ham Radio License for When SHTF

The bottom line is you must be a licensed amateur radio operator first, and this step must not be skipped.

Ignoring Practice

I cannot count the number of times I have tried to use my ham radios only to spend far too much time troubleshooting a host of problems that have popped up.

Sometimes, an antenna was out of tune; other times, a feed line was faulty; other times, it was a programming issue.

Regardless of the problems, if I had to deal with these in a post-SHTF situation, it would be no issue because I practice with my radios regularly.

Related: How to Use a Ham Radio When SHTF (With Pictures)

Practice also allows you a significant amount of knowledge about the capabilities of your equipment, the common issues that come up regularly, and how the radios themselves work.

For example, my IC-705 has a very different menu system and user interface than my FT-818. When I have not used one of these radios in a while because I have been favoring one over the other, I find that the learning curve to get back to proficiently in that radio is quite steep. It is vital to use all our radios regularly to maintain proficiently.

The other part that practice allows for is that we can ensure that all the software for running digital modes is up to date. There have been several times that I have opened my laptop to find that I needed to do some updates to the software that was necessary to run digital modes.

After a SHTF event is the wrong time to realize that all your software needs updating.

Not Protecting From EMP

I know that protecting all our equipment from EMP 24/7 is not practical, but we should always have some radios set aside inside a Faraday cage.

Or you can also use an EMP cloth to shield your ham radios or even areas of your home. The EMP cloth is a conductive fabric you can use to wrap items.

Developed by top-notch U.S. scientists after years of hard work, the EMP cloth outperforms a Faraday cage. It’s not just flexible and portable, but a reliable shield for your electronics during an EMP attack. You can get yours here, before they’re out of stock.

The cloth acts the same way as a Faraday cage and will protect electronics from the damaging effects of EMP.

Depending on your communications needs, some of the things you will want to put into this Faraday cage are:

• HF radio
• VHF/UHF mobile or base station radio
• Several VHF/UHF handheld radios
• Batteries and chargers
• Several GRMS/FRS handheld radios
• Shortwave receiver
• Scanner
• Antennas
• Computer and digital interfaces
• Solar power station

Include everything you need to set these radios up and get on the air right out of the box. The reason for this is that after an EMP, all you need to do is open the cage and start setting up your equipment without looking for anything.

You must periodically re-charge the batteries, update software, and set up and test your equipment.

Not Enough Antennas

Every antenna has advantages and disadvantages, which you need to consider and understand before you use them.

Most ham radio operators have more antennas than radios because every situation is unique and often requires a specific antenna for the best performance. It’s easy to find an antenna that works well for your radio and stick with that, but this error could cost you dearly in a SHTF scenario. You’ll want multiple antennas to cover a variety of situations.

A mix of dipoles, verticals, Yagi’s, EFHW’s and other antenna styles will give you a good amount of versatility and coverage over the amateur bands.

You’ll also need to ensure that every antenna is tuned appropriately and that you check and test them regularly.

I would also suggest you have a collection of connectors, wires, and toroids to build antennas if you need one after SHTF.

Not Having Hard Copies

When the grid goes down, you will no longer have access to the internet and all the information you probably look up regularly. During a SHTF situation, you cannot look up the instruction manuals for any of your radios or equipment. So make sure you keep all the manuals that come with anything you use.

Along with manuals, you’ll need to have some handbooks to help you keep your amateur radio station up and running. I have a copy of the ARRL Antenna Handbook and all volumes of the ARRL Handbook. These give me access to a massive amount of ham radio information at my fingertips.

Amateur radio is essential for any serious prepper, but if you make any of the mistakes I mentioned, you will have massive holes in your SHTF communications plan.

Solid and robust off-grid comms will be in short supply when the grid fails and if you can still communicate, you’ll have a massive advantage. Above all else, get licensed, practice using your radios, and enjoy the ham radio hobby!