What Randy says is absolutely true! The HAM lisence is the entry ticket to effective back-country comms. (and a whole world of expensive habit forming hobbies) With VHF / UHF in the flats (read kansas) you can get very long range 50 maybe even 100 mi. comms with a 50 wat mobile rig. If your locations have Home on a hill top you may even get decent radio - radio contact in hilly areas. If you get a 10 meter NVIS setup you can cover up to 300 mi point to point from a home base. With HF rigs (general lisence required) you can talk to Tokyo from Kansas city. (really!) With HAM satallites you can get coverage all around the world in the microwave frequencies. It is not all that expensive to set up for microwave / satellite comms either. There was an article last year on makeing a good satellite antenna from a card-board box and some copper plumbing for under $2.00