Many people get into ham radio as a way to communicate with loved ones in a SHTF / Emergency Communications type situation. That for me was one of the main reasons that I got into it. Because of that I wanted to share with you what my "hand out radios" are and why I chose those.
To start, I wanted to cover what my requirements were
- Had to be USB C chargable
- Had to accommodate digital modes
- Had to have AES 256 encryption capabilities
- Had to have Bluetooth and GPS abilities
- Had to be "unlocked or unlock-able" to rx/tx on GMRS
- Had to have near complete front panel programming abilities
The radios I chose were the Ailunce HD2's. They cover all of those requirements and some, are built pretty rugged and are extremely simple to use. I have 12 of them (2 banks of 6) that are pre programmed for all of the major frequencies (WX, Mars, GMRS, Common Simplex freq's (analog) and in addition to those items, they are also setup with a "significant" amount of freq's that are "digi" with aes256 encryption enabled. Each radio has an ID and so they can talk to "the entire group" of 12, or they can have 1 on 1 conversations with any other radio in the group. Every radio is marked (engraved and labeled) with a "simple ID" ie. HD2 Black, HD2 Orange, HD2 Magenta, etc. for ease of identification
You'll notice in the picture some have "different" plugs on the side. Those are adapters to attach to a plate carrier helmet setup that uses peltor comtac's as the headset / microphone.
These aren't the cheapest option, but for me they were the best option and by far not the most expensive option and in my opinion a UV5r is NOT acceptable so if that's what you are planning to use you should consider other radio options.
What questions do you have? What setup do you use?
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