If you plan to work as a ham radio communicator during a major disaster, there are three things you MUST have or you will be of very limited usefulness.
1) The first is EXTRA BATTERIES. The batteries in your HT will only last for a very limited time under the heavy traffic of an emergency situation. In the early stages, you radio will probably not ever be silent. You will be at a middle level power drain almost constantly. [NOTE: Power drain levels when the radio is ON - LOW - silence, squelch is unbroken, nobody is talking - MIDDLE - the squelch is open and other operators are talking - the audio driver circuits consume a lot of power - HIGH - you are transmitting].
If you are going to work in a shelter or command center using a mobile rig, how will you power it? Mobile rigs draw a LOT more power than HTs and they do not come with batteries. If the power is out (a VERY likely scenario) you are going to need a way to get your own power. A good idea is to have cables that will plug into the mobile rig and have Anderson Power Poles on the other end. With this set up you can then use alligator clips or a cigarette lighter plug to connect to any available 12 volt power source.
2) A LONGER ANTENNA with gain for your HT. The antenna that comes with your HT is technically a "rubber attenuator". It is designed to be VERY broad band so that the radio can "hear" signals across its entire spectrum. That spectrum includes LOTS of stuff outside the ham bands. With many radios this includes the AM and/or FM broadcast bands, the Weather Bands, the FRS/GMRS bands, and more, all in addition to the specified ham bands. That antenna is a "jack of all trades, master of none".
3) An antenna that you can mount 20 to 30 feet in the air. This includes the mast and a tripod and some guy wires and tent stakes for the guy wires. This is an absolute necessity if you are going to be the communicator at a command center or shelter that was selected at the last moment. This happens a LOT in major disasters due to the planned command center or shelter being damaged in the disaster. You aren't going to get out very well on simplex using just an HT and its little rubber attenuator. This antenna setup is something you can keep handy in the garage where it is easy to grab and move quickly to your assigned station.
These are not things you need to get all at once, but they should be on your "gotta have it" list. You can acquire the antenna that goes up 20 or 30 feet in stages. Get the tripod or other mount, then get the mast elements and finally the actual antenna, etc.
4) OK, there's actually a fourth thing. You must have a "CHEAT SHEET" for your radio. You may be asked to operate in cross band repeat mode using frequencies you are not familiar with. You could be required to use squelch tones with a new temporary portable repeater on frequencies you have never worked before (SLC emergency services has at least two of these). You could be required to use tones to ignore all transmissions except those with the proper tone/signal on the carrier. There are many modes that your radio is capable of that you never use. In an emergency you could be asked to get your radio in and out of modes you've never worked before.
You can buy pocket reference manuals and special abreviated full size manuals from dealers like AES Ham and also on eBay. They are CRUCIAL in an emergency situation. If you can find the manual that came with your radio, you can also make your own using your computer. I strongly suggest that you laminate it if you do make your own.
-N7OZH-
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