Do not Get your Ham License.

This author has many preppers for friends, due to obvious reasons. One of the topics that comes up often is comms in an emergency situation. I have decided the hill I will stop on is local comms - as can be had via normal handheld walkies or similar. To get more range, ham radio is about the only civilian option, and I will NOT be going that way. 

It is a protest. And this is why. 

From the tweets:
"I hate to be discouraging, but I must remind everyone that even in a time of emergency, unlicensed operation is against FCC regulations. I know that personally I've received a few tattle-telling messages from hams over the past few days who have reported to me people sharing life-saving information over the radio without a license. 

This is a constant reminder that for the overwhelming majority of the ham radio hobby, there is NO emergency so severe that unlicensed operation will be accepted. Sure, net control for formal nets can operate under emergency rules, but for most hams, this is just not something that is done even in life-or-death emergencies. 

For many, that callsign is literally the most important thing, even more important than human life itself. I am ashamed at this behavior, and am embarrassed to be a part of a community where this culture has been allowed for far too long. While I cannot legally endorse any breaking of FCC regulations, I can say this: If your chief concern for radio use during a disaster where children are starving, YOU are the problem and I hope you reexamine your actions. 

ICBMs will be in the air one day, and most hams will still demand that callsign, that is a certainty I will wage my entire existence on. I am considering doing a video on this topic specifically, but after observing the events of the past few days, I'm afraid I'm far too angry to address the topic coherently for now. 

For all those who don't understand my frustrations, I'll find a way to talk about this soon. I am exceptionally glad and thankful for the good work some hams have done, this is truly heroic work. I am just beyond the end of my rope with most hams at large, and the ham radio community who has ignored cultural problems for so long that lives are now at risk."

AND

"When your first instinct in a disaster is to ask for a license, and permission has to be granted for a disaster to be serious enough for unlicensed radio use, your community has massive problems. Licenses should be so far down the list of priorities that it's not even a consideration. And yet, here we have hams once again prioritizing that magic callsign, which is more important than anything on Earth, apparently."