That's a great post, amper. Lots of options to dig deeper into.

Actually, that Uniden MHS550 sounds intriguing. I like FRS-only radios, and I live near both the water and an airport, so listening in on marine and air bands is something I have thought about from time to time. I'll have to look into that model.

I'll ask it again ... What are all of you looking for a "survival radio" to do?

Do you want to find something that will replace landline systems in the even of a local disaster that takes down the telephone lines?

GMRS - or most any other radio? - won't go far enough to do that unless you use repeaters, and it seems to this marginally knowledgeable person that if landline systems are taken down so would radio repeaters.

I've heard of people bouncing amateur radio signals off of the atmosphere, the moon, UFOs, etc... but it would seem that is not the norm.

Maybe a group of amateur radio operators can get temporary repeaters up faster than the telephone company can repair systems.

Actually the global satellite phone system might be the best bet??

I found out the hard way how important a radio can be when the power dies durring Hurricane Ike. I had to rely on what litle batteries I had around the house to try to keep up with the latest information. Gas was scarce, the lines were long, and most of the time with the power down you couldn't get gas because it couldn't be pumped out of the ground. So, rolling out in your vehicle had to be for a really good reason. And when you did batteries were very scarce and extremely rare to find. You actually got excited when you did.

After that was done I spent 50.00 or so on a small light survival radio. It has AM/FM/NOAA, and wide band. It operates on solar, crank, conventional battery or USBP and will also aid in charging cell phones. I vowed I would never be stuck wondering if my radio would give out due to a lack of batteries and be cut off from any vital information about the time table for power restoration, where ICE might be available, etc. I cannot emphasize how important these little survival radios are. I learned my lesson the hard way.