For those interested in Ham Radio, I would recommend getting your license since you can't legally transmit without a license. There are multiple hams on the island and testing can be arranged if enough are interested.
I recently bought a new inexpensive ham radio to see how it does against my more expensive radios. I was pleasantly surprised. I have other radios of the same brand (Baofeng) from years ago. They worked but were very basic. Baofeng has really upped their game. For $28, you get a decent radio that does anything a beginner would need (connect to repeaters) The good about this is that it has a big color screen, 2 channels so you can monitor 2 frequencies at the same time, easy to program, easily hit the local repeaters, good battery life, powerful enough for most uses, charges either with a cradle or by USB. The main bad thing is that the screen is hard to read in bright sunlight. But at $28, I can live with it. There is also an option to buy the radio with an extra battery for $40, and an option to buy a 3-pack for $80.
If you are interested in ham radio (especially since we are in a storm prone area), let me know. If you are local and you get one of these, I can help you with programming it.
But again, if you want to transmit legally, you need a ham radio license. We just need to coordinate to see about getting the testing team together to make it happen.
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