Aloha8

I don't want to be remembered from one log-in to the next. But the "remember me" box is automatically checked, and I have to uncheck it. Can I change it to not be checked by default? Thanks.

My wife and I went to the range where the class would be held -- Cleveland Shooting Sports -- a week before the class. We got the official targets so my wife could practice with it (she doesn't shoot much) and feel more comfortable during the test. She scored 80% on the shooting test.

Now, that is one properly done Land Cruiser! I had one for several years and loved it.

No worries, pop pop. I have a year (at least) to finish researching.

PP, mind sharing what unit you bought? We're planning to build a house in Old Fort (someday, real soon now ) and are planning to install some fashion of driveway alarm / alert. Just looking for actual experience with some options. Thanks.

We just got dash cams for both automobiles -- a growing number of incidents right here in our neighborhood -- and this thread reminds me to test and practice bringing up videos on the cams in case we need to show them to the police at the scene. We've been in the "sure, we can do that" camp without actually trying it out .

Possibly a Winchester 52. Shot them a bit in 66 and 67 but much preferred the Remington 40X.

If you have Real ID for you driver's license, you can do everything online except for the training class and fingerprinting.

Like the famous reply from Abbie Hoffman as he was at the checkout in a store and tried to buy with a check (I think) and the clerk wouldn't take the check because his driver's license was expired: "Lady, the driver's license is expired but I'm not expired!"

Welcome. The Sequatchie Valley is beautiful country, isn't it?

We're GMRS (licensed) users for communication on the property (although cell phones seem to work just fine too). Thinking about a base station but we'll have to see if there's anyone we need to talk to on GMRS. Likely in an emergency situation, 2-meters may be more useful. Not sure, and really won't be until we get the house built.

Good move and welcome. The folks here are a wealth of advice, and pretty darn friendly to boot.

Thanks everyone. Regarding backup power, as I mentioned in a previous note, we'll have a generator and likely solar with batteries for backup power for the house which will well cover the radio power needs. Good point there. It will be a process regardless with Technician coming first, and soon. General is still a maybe as is the hobby question.

Have to agree. In the new house we are planning for backup power. Since we're more than a year from moving in, we aren't settled on the technology but the plan will include a backup generator and likely solar.

Just one more question and then I'll stop pestering you all with my ignorance . It's clear that ham is the way to go for emergency communications, certainly as compared to CB. I'm thinking that for some emergency situations, winter weather and the like, 2 meters to repeaters may be fine. But in "grid down" or SHTF situations repeaters may be off the air, as Trekbike noted. In that case HF will be needed. So... Technicians license will be a fine place to start but a general license should be the goal. Is my thinking here way off base?

Good info! Thanks! I think I can close out this thread in that ham is the way to go for communication while at home in an emergency situation. Thanks everyone for your input and suggestions.

Thanks. I've heard something similar from other residents, so your average power outage shouldn't be too bad or long. I figure that in Polk County there won't be any monitoring of civilian comms. We'll be fairly close to Cleveland and I plan to talk with the police and fire there plus Bradley County. Good idea (to attend a meeting and get advice). I plan to take the Technician license test there, likely in March.

Right. Getting out to the world or more likely trying to find out what's going on. On the property we can use our cell phones or GMRS HTs.

Thanks! Really good information. As to elevation, we'll be on a small ridge generally higher than other hills toward the repeaters in Cleveland and Chattanooga. Planning for point-to-point is a good point. Thanks again.

I'm planning for emergency communications at home when we move to the new house in SE Tennessee (SW Polk County). There are certainly several parts to emergency planning -- emergency power for example -- and those parts are also in the works, but for now I'm interested in just communications in my home (Bobsguns has facilitated an excellent discussion on communications while out and about in the CB thread). From everything I've been able to gather, I'm leaning toward ham radio, and will probably start with 2-meter (Technician license doesn't seem too hard to get). Any of you have any practical advice with 2-meter or any other type of radio communication? Some other questions, on no particular order: We'll be about 10 miles from the nearest 2-meter repeater. Is that too far for a reliable connection to the repeater? If you have lived in SE TN for a while, how many power outages have you experienced and for about how long were you without power? Does anyone know if any emergency services in SE TN monitor any civilian radio communications in emergencies? CB or GMRS or ham or ????. Down the road I'll contact each of them but I'm just wondering if anyone has any information right now. Are there any other questions that I should be asking ? I appreciate any and all help.

Thanks for the heads up. We'll be away from most neighbors but cautious. We've made that drive along the river (we'll be just off Ladd Springs Rd). Beautiful indeed. Hadn't heard about Fletcher's Spout but we'll investigate when winter rolls away. Thanks, will do for sure.

A bit from looking for property there and having purchased some land, from driving around some.

Interesting. We'll be moving to SW Polk County (near Old Fort) when the new house is ready. Did you find out if they monitor anything, e.g., CB or GMRS or ??

Likely there are only a few folks out there monitoring, at least from what I'm reading in this thread. In our new house I'll have to investigate the who and what of emergency comms local to that area... so no CB purchase just yet. If we were stuck on a highway, like in the big snow and ice events (admittedly a rare possibility), we'd want some nearby information. We couldn't get that with a cell phone most likely but with few folks on the road with CBs a CB in the car likely wouldn't be helpful either. Maybe GMRS would be a better choice there, no sure. On the other hand(s): Isn't a bad point of view. In fact, for backwoods travel I'm considering a sat communicator (but don't want to hijack this thread on that topic ). Bottom line for me, so far, no decision on CB... and not urgent anyway.

For power outages, SHTF-ishness, fun times stuck on the road, and the like, we were thinking of CB, more of an emergency communication plan. Probably base at our new house and HT for the car. Several prepper "experts" claim CB is still relevant, but I'm becoming more skeptical, you know? What's everyone's opinion of CB for emergency comms? We do have GMRS HTs and could go that route for a base station in the new house too... <sarcasm on> those "experts" recommend having CB + GMRS + Ham... and with those helpful links to certain "best" models <sarcasm off>.