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Non-Cellphone Emergency Communications

Non-Cellphone Emergency Communications. Or How I stopped worrying and learned to love smoke signals. By Tim Weaver. The Situation. The Government in Exile of Mali (fka Upper Volta) has learned the secret of destabilizing Western society The economy of the United States as collapsed

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Non-Cellphone Emergency Communications

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  1. Non-Cellphone Emergency Communications Or How I stopped worrying and learned to love smoke signals By Tim Weaver

  2. The Situation • The Government in Exile of Mali (fka Upper Volta) has learned the secret of destabilizing Western society • The economy of the United States as collapsed • Normal infrastructure has ceased working, making normal communications by cell phone or landline impossible or impractical

  3. Task • How to communicate with others • In person • Obvious issues regarding geographical limitations • Couriers • Trust, geography • Semaphore • Really? • Radio

  4. Action • With whom are you planning to communicate? • What distance do you need to communicate? • Scheduling? • Method?

  5. Action • What distance do you plan to communicate? • Local (0-35 miles) • Mid (35-800 miles) • Long (800+ miles) • Scheduling • You can’t just call them any time like you can with a phone • Certain times of day may be better than others

  6. Action – Short Distance • 0-35 miles • Primarily FM mode • Line of Sight • Mobile (vehicle) are more powerful • Handy Talkies (HT) are convenient • FRS / GMRS Radios • Don’t believe all the marketing • GMRS technically requires licensing, but fast becoming new CB radio

  7. Action – Short Distance (cont’d) • FRS / GMRS • Fixed “channels” • Not secure • GMRS requires license; FRS free • Low power (0.5-2 watts) • Only GMRS radios can be altered • Realistic Distance • FRS – Zero to two miles • GMRS – Zero to five miles

  8. Action – Short Distance (cont’d) • Ham Radio • Frequency range versus ‘channels’ • More robust equipment • Much more configurable • Higher legal power output – 5 to 50 watts common (HT or mobile, respectively) • License required AND enforced • Repeaters can extend range significantly • Directional antennas can extend range significantly

  9. Action – Short Distance (cont’d) • Other • “Land Mobile” – such as used by taxi services, construction companies. Can be very robust radios. Programmed channels only. • Marine Radios – supposedly legal in areas beyond a certain distance from ‘navigable waters’. Otherwise limited to lakes, rivers, oceans, etc. • Both are very enforced by the FCC

  10. Brands • FRS/GMRS – Motorola, Kenwood, Maxon • Ham – Yaesu/Vertex, Icom, Kenwood, Alinco • Land Mobile – Vertex, Icom

  11. Action – Long Distance • Remember CB Radio? • “Skip” • 27mhz / 11 meter • Power output • 4 watts for “normal • 12 watts for Single-Sideband (SSB) • Bandwidth • AM vs SSB

  12. Action – Long Distance (cont’d) • Welcome to High Frequency Communications • HF relies on bouncing the signal off the ionosphere • Some frequencies will never bounce; others will rarely bounce • Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) will vary from time of day, every day. Usually higher during the day (7mhz range, 40 meter Ham) and lower at night (3mhz range, 80 meter Ham)

  13. Action – Long Distance (cont’d) Source: MCRP 6-22C, Radio Operator’s Handbook

  14. Action – Long Distance (cont’d) • HF can be used to communicate across the globe • Sometimes, farther is easier due to skywave • Extremely modular, with nearly anything possible if money or imagination + skill isn’t an issue • Power from 5 watts to 1,500 watts • Some people enjoy the challenge of low power communications (<20 watts)

  15. Action – Long Distance (cont’d) • How to get into the “Skip” Zone? • NVIS – Near Vertical Incidence Skywave • Low antenna “shoots” signal straight up • Comes down like a dome • Distance – 30 to 800 miles • Usable frequencies 2mhz – 15mhz

  16. Action – Long Distance (cont’d)

  17. Action – Long Distance (cont’d)

  18. Action – Long Distance (cont’d) • HF Communications are generally not plug-and-play • Very dependant on knowledge, atmospheric conditions, sun spot cycle, antenna and, frankly, luck

  19. Action – Long Distance (cont’d) • Brands • Icom, Yaesu, Vertex, Kenwood

  20. Action – Long Distance (cont’d) • What about military “backpack” radios? • Heavy – 15-20 pounds without batteries • Expensive - $1,000 + • Hard to repair • Battery availability is a big issue

  21. Examples • PRC104 • PRC2000 • PRC515 • PRC1099 • PRC320

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