Let's talk prepping communication:
GMRS ( General Mobile Radio Service) radios would be your best option. They require a license but there is no test. They have similar power and range characteristics as Ham hand held units. Generally this is about 5 watts and a few miles. How many miles depends on a great many variables such as the type of antennas, the height of the antennas and the number and type of obstacles between the two points. I have a Ham hand held. It’s good for around 5 miles give or take when communicating to another hand held. However, I can sit in my bedroom in the top story of my house which is on top of a hill and hit a repeater (a special automated radio that receives and forwards signals) that is about 15-20 miles away on the tallest mountain in the state. Using the repeater I can communicate with people more than 50 miles away. GMRS radios can also have repeaters to extend their range. These repeaters would have to have solar powered backup power or a UPS of some sort or they would be unavailable during a power outage.
There are more powerful mobile GMRS & Ham units about the size of a paperback novel that are designed to be mounted in vehicles and powered by a 12 volt battery that can have substantially greater range up to 30-50 miles. All of these radios use signals that travel in straight lines. This means that around 50 miles the curvature of the Earth comes into play and blocks the signal.
