[ICOM] Emergency radio ICOM

[Ron Hashiro]

> But I'm still a bit lost. I need 4 "walkie talkies" that could be used in case of fire, explosion or any other big emergency. The biggest problem is that they have to work the facilitie's underground rooms..
Since you mentioned a company and assuming you can achieve a 
point-to-point solution with handhelds, your best bet would be to get a 
company radio license in the GMRS radio band and use four commercial 
radios.  If your underground facility does not propagate radio signals 
well underground, look at a repeater system and Radiax "leaky coax" 
coax/antenna solution.

On the other hand, assuming that your situation allows the use of 
amateur radio (that's a real big assumption) and that handhelds are 
usable underground (again, another really big assumption), the radios to 
get are the T70A ( VHF/UHF) with the BP-263 alkaline battery pack, or 
the IC-V80 SPORT (VHF) which comes with the alkaline battery pack.  
Generally speaking, the UHF model is preferable.  Buy a whole load of 
disposable AA lithium batteries (they're coming down in price) and put 
all of it in storage.  Don't forget to program the radios to common 
settings first.  (You'd like to get the programming software and 
programming cable to make it easier.)

Lithium batteries can remain in storage for up to ten years and still be 
usable.  It also has about three to four times the power capacity as 
alkalines, runs at a higher voltage to produce more output power, and is 
lighter than alkalines or nickel metal hydride.  Prices have come down 
in recent years, so it's not worth messing around with rechargeable 
batteries for emergencies.  If you expect a long term emergency 
(hurricane), you'll need rechargeable batteries, but you need to charge 
and condition the batteries periodically.  You should also look into 
solar panel recharging systems.  From your brief description of your 
needs, it seems that disposable batteries are sufficient.

Ron H, AH6RH
http://www.qsl.net/ah6rh/am-radio/in-hawaii.html