Ask away. I am sure there are lots of people that could help you out.

Try this thread...
http://internationalpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=1057

Cb are cheeper and easy to deal with ham radios are easy as well but I know you use to have to have a license to operate a ham radio I've had cb radio for a long time you can pick cb up just about anywhere all you need is power 12 bolt battery and a Antenna and remember the higher you get the antenna in the air the further you can reach. Been driving truck use them every day with two cb antenna on my truck I can talk with people at least 20 miles away and the top of my antenna are only about 12 feet off the road. Also I've had cb set up at home and had the antenna on old tv tower and could talk to people 45 min drive away and question am sure I can help or find out for you

I have an old cb ...will post details on it once i take a pic and would like to learn how to use it . Any recommendations?

I would also like to setup a ham radio at my house... What should I start with? What kind of costs am I looking at? Do I still require a license?

Thank you

You know, I want some form of set up here, but am totally inexperienced and ignorant about this kind of equipment. So, I called the guy over at radioworld.ca and asked him a specific question, which was:
"I'm going to buy a base unit and two handheld units and throw them in a box (a cage actually), and I want to know that when I pull them out they'll work for me. I also don't want to spend a fortune on this equipment".
Here's what the guy recommended after he commented on my overall plan:
1. Buy the Yaesu FT-1900R Mobile Transiever and use it as the base - $175.00
2. Buy two Yaesu handheld units for anywhere from $145-$199 each
3. Buy an antenna for the base unit around $40.00
So, for somewhere around $500-$600 I'll have what I need. Is it the best? I don't know, but I have to trust the recommendation(s) of the folks in the business to know. That's what I'm going to do.

Here a link that should help with any question about hamradio license
http://www.rac.ca/en/amateur-radio/regulatory/certification/ also add a link to there main page
http://www.rac.ca/en/

Thanks for the info, very usefull

has anyone used portable solar panels with thier radio?

Does it work well?

You will need a battery pack also.

has anyone used portable solar panels with thier radio?

Does it work well?

I don't have solar dedicated to the future radio, but have looked at the power consumption. My unit is rated at 11 amps. That's not an insignificant load. You wouldn't want to leave the radio on 24/7.

Now when it comes to brand of cb radios it total up to the person buying the radio !
Me myself I like cobra cb radios they been around for 50 years there great radio I have a home base until that belong to a friends father that sat in out building for 15 year be for I got a hold of it plug it in and it still worked if you can track down a older cb I would go that way I've talked to trucker friend of mine that have keep there old radio and they will tell you hands down there better cb radio not always easy to find

Check out the Quansheng TG-UV2. They go for about $85 on eBay.
They can transmit 1, 3 or 5 watts of power, so a radio license is not required.
Plus it can be programmed for FRS/GMRS radio freqs.

Get yourself a Baofeng UV-5R.... with the big battery pack and extended antenna... you can pick these up on ebay very very cheaply. They are hand programable work on both UHF and VHF frequencies, built in radio, built in flash light and many more features. This radio is also extremely light weight so it will not add a ton of weight to your pack or take up a lot of room either. It is 4 watts so it will give you the power you need to reach a good distance. You can also hook this up to a larger antenna with a simple adaptor to boot. I have a set of these and have put them through their paces during 24 hr events in very harsh conditions and they have pulled through with no problems.

lots of good intel and info
thanks