Raw 'newbie' here- will have many questions

[RockHillWill]

Good morning all. I am interested in knowing what I need to learn and acquire to have a functioning communication system in the event of power outage and or emergencies. I am electronically challenged, but feel that I am capable at reading instructions and drawings and have a nice work shop to be able to build things. Thank you in advance for your efforts and time in responding.

[The Poet]

Hi Will.

This forum is mostly geared to people interested in pirate radio broadcasting, or listening to such broadcasts on shortwave radio-- not really on two-way type communications in which you seem to be interested.

What you are looking for would probably depend on what kind of distances over which you would want to communicate. Assuming a situation where cellphone networks were down, the first option would probably be CB radios or walkie-talkies as a backup communications system. The advantage of these is that no license is now required for their use. The range is generally limited to a few miles most of the time, although with good and high antenna systems I recall them being useful up to 20 miles or so.

The other option might be amateur radio, but in "normal" times that requires studying up on electronics and amateur radio and passing a license examination. One of the advantages might be that you can communicate over thousands of miles with amateur radio.

With either option, I'd suggest looking for a forum that is more geared towards those topics for more detailed information.