In a localized emergency situation why would I want to talk to someone half way across the world? I’m more apt to need to talk to the guy down the street or the next house over. Or possibly in the car behind me in a caravan situation. Bigger isn’t always better, or necessary.

FormerParatrooper,

There are two different kinds of “EMP” events to consider which present different problems.

The first kind of EMP event is human created (most typical would be from a nuclear blast). These events will damage many electronic devices unless they are in a Faraday cage. Electronic devices which a skilled and knowledgeable person “hardened” should also be undamaged.

The second kind of EMP event is a massive solar flare. These events will damage many electrical devices (e.g. a simple fan) as well as electronic devices if they are attached to long wires of hundreds or more likely thousands of feet long. Electrical and electronic devices which are disconnected from long wires should be fine without any “hardening”. Note that it may not be practical to “harden” devices since a solar flare could create very high voltages on long wires for several hours and “hardening” usually entails shunting excess energy away from devices for a few seconds. Shunting excess energy for several hours would likely “burn out” the hardening components.

Most civilian broadcasting facilities are NOT hardened for EMP events. I imagine that the only possible civilian broadcasting sites which are hardened would be the top-tier transmitters in the Emergency Alert System. And I can easily picture that even those are not be hardened.

Most of us are well aware that any given firearm tends to be optimum for a small number of applications and very much sub-optimal for several other applications. The same is true when it comes to two-way radio communication. Any given two-way radio platform is nearly ideal in certain respects and very poor in other respects.

For example the small and inexpensive Family Radio Service (FRS) radios are ideal with respect to cost and size. Of course their tiny batteries (usually AAA size) deplete quickly and their reliable communication range is very short.

A large marine radio running on a marine power system (vessel’s engine-powered alternator and large marine battery and solar backup) with optimum antennae will have a range of 20+ miles and run for days/weeks. Such a system is expensive and obviously not handheld.

Consider your use case and acquire two-way radios which are optimum for your use case, just as you would with a firearm.

I repeated the same test with someone’s General Mobile Radio Service handheld two-way radios and transmit power around 1 Watt. I also located that radio on my second floor, six feet above the floor. Maximum reliable distance was about 1/2 mile, with fairly regular ability to reach one mile.

I also tested old-school Citizens Band radio between a base station antenna at approximately 60 feet above ground and my vehicle. The base station antenna and vehicle antenna were both the ideal practical size (8 feet long) with near perfect efficiency (e.g. near perfect antenna “match” to ultra-low-loss coaxial cable). When terrain was not an obvious obstacle, reliable communication on Single Side-band (SSB) was easily out to 10 miles. When terrain was a problem, range was much shorter.

Summary:
Cheap and small hand-held Family Radio Service (FRS) radios will usually support reliable communication to about 250 yards.
Inexpensive and small hand-held General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) radios will usually support reliable communication about one mile in favorable terrain. More expensive radios with higher transmit powers will reach farther–up to 20 miles in favorable terrain.
Citizen’s Band (CB) radios will usually support reliable communication out to three or four miles, even in less than ideal terrain. In favorable terrain they can support reliable communication out to 20+ miles. And if atmospheric conditions are favorable, communication ranges of several hundred miles to over 1,000 miles is possible.

If you want reliable communication out to 20+ miles, you really need a radio service with very high transmit powers (10 to 100 Watts) and/or clear line-of-sight (more-or-less) between transmitter and receiver with minimal foliage in between.

The YouTube channel “Not A Rubicon” ridicules “sad hams”, whom he calls “some people” and other pejoratives. He’s hilarious, but “some people” (he uses air quotes) don’t have a sense of humor and do miss the point.

I had a few of those Baofeng’s for use around the property. They worked out OK for those short ranges, but these claims of 2 miles or more some how being reliable is more dubious than reliable.

“Baofeng UV-5R for emergencies”

Count me as one of those who bought a few, plus extra batteries and a case to protect them. I got mine just before the FCC bandwidth change went into effect, so they’re more capable than current versions. I have the common FRC radios like every Average Joe, plus UV-5Rs for SHTF. There’s always a legitimate argument for advocating higher quality equipment, but let’s remember that this article is about common modes such as CB, FRC, etc.