Help !, disaster communication options ?

[lobsterman]

i recently mentioned to someone that in the event that there could be a major national or global disaster in the future, we should all try to figure out some ways to have some type of "offline" Patriot or Minuteman type of communication networks set up, to protect our families, friends and neighbors, ( remember the old saying... "hope for the best, but prepare for the worst" )
considering the worst case, what if there is no... power, cell phones, or internet. the roads are impassible, all traditional means of communications and travel have been disrupted, how do we keep in contact ?, and who or what methods do we trust (or not) in the connections network.
does anyone have any ideas that would help to achieve this sort of offline communications network ?, such as... old military crank up phones. snail mail, package drop locations, group meeting locations, CB's + VHF radios, message boards at set locations, codes or secret symbols, rockets or smoke signals, motorcycle messengers, etc.

remember no idea is off limits, as long as it works. also remember that ... ( 1 if by land + 2 if by sea, only works if there are follow thru messengers available to continue spreading the news ).

what do you think ?, do you have any other ideas that could be used for a communications network ?, also it must be taken into consideration that some folks in the network will want to help, but prefer to remain anonomous, and i can completely understand that, but somehow methods of getting the messages out, must be developed.

where's the pony express when you need them

 

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[mrs.oroblanco]

I know there are a lot of folks who are entering or re-entering the ham radio industry, just for this very reason.


B

 

[Tank69]

Ham Radio's even the small hand held repeaters an get out there an connect the dots so to speak, I can reach you , an you can reach him an so on.

 

[lobsterman]

ok, lets say that it is either a natural or man made disaster such as... a major ice storm, asteroid strike, civil unrest, tidal wave, or a electro magnetic pulse or some other equally horrible senario and just about all electronics are disabled and large groups of people are on the move. What then ?

up here in New England last winter when a relatively minor ice storm put out the power to almost 300,000 homes ( some areas were without power for almost a month), the roads were impassible, over a million people were left with... no heat, no water (no showers or toilet facilities), limited food supplies, no land based phones, cell phone reception was greatly disrupted (antennas were toppled, and relays were encased in ice), water pipes in homes were freezing and bursting, even simple things that people had taken for granted for so long were now gone, they now had to do without or make do ( i was amazed at how many folks that were actually helpless from such a small storm ).
after about a week most areas and services were back up and running, but it really put some folks in a dire situation, my family and home was only ok because we were used to doing without. ( no cable, phone or electricty really wasn't much of a problem for us ), we had food supplies, had a woodstove to heat and cook with, and i broke thru the ice on a stream out behind the house for water to be able to flush the toilets with.

 

[RGINN]

Ham radio would probably be the thing. But if the whole thing shuts down on a catastrophic scale, why would I want to communicate in some world wide web? My people did just fine communicating no farther than the next valley or river crossing over for thousands of years. And I don't really know if I would want to advertise my presence to whatever roving bands of scavengers would be out there. And if civilization as y'all know it does shut down, in say 2012, I won't be available to help y'all re-build the internet, as me and probably a whole bunch of other guys on here will be headin out to a long list of places we are so far prohibited from entering. Look on the sunny side of apocalypse!

 

[ashleysflyr]

It's also a good idea for everyone to know Morse Code. It's an old skill, but will always be useful! You know they used to teach this in school! It has saved many lives! Even dialing the police on your home phone. If your phone is busted...just tap the part that hangs up the phone 9 short space 1 long 1long! You can communicate with flashlights, to hitting a metal pan...to smoke signals...to keying the mic of some kind of commo equipment!

~Tom

 

[ivan salis]

ham radio's are the ticket -- battery powered w/ solar panels & bicycle pedal type generator to power the battries (pedal gen in case of foul weather --or long time type use)

 

[mrs.oroblanco]

RGINN,

The people you want to talk to may not be right across the valley, and even if they are people right across the valley, they may not be of any help.

Besides, smoke signals can be seen by people even without normal communications - most people you might contact with a ham radio has a better chance of being of like mind as you. They have a very good chance of being the people who have supplies, etc., and are prepared - or at least more prepared, than someone who used the grocery store every day.

B

 

[The Beep Goes On]

If there's an EMP all electrical equipment will fry. What I would love to do, if I could afford it, would be to build a large Faraday cage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage) and keep a computer, ham radio, and all the other gizmos I would want and keep them in storage in a Faraday cage...maybe even a car too.

 

[Timberwolf]

The first thing I would do, is pray!

One important thing would be to have a prearranged meeting place where your family would gather after a disaster. Then you could make plans from there.

A bug-out bag for each person would be important. This would include food, water, medicine and other essentials for 3-5 days.

As long as there wasn't an EMP involved, just about any type of radio transceivers would work...Ham, CB or even those walkie talkies that have a 5 mi. range (I can't remember what they are called).

Timberwolf

 

[mrs.oroblanco]

We have 2-way radios (5 mile range) AND 4 walkie-talkies with a 3 mile range. They do not always work. First, someone has to be on the other end, of course - but secondly, and most important (imo) is that topography can block transmission, as can having too many people overlapping on a channel.

Not such a problem with ham radios. (though you can still have too much chatter)

B

 

[spartacus53]

Thanks to the scouts I've learned both Morse Code and semaphore. I just hope the people on the other end also have learned this form of communication.

 

[diggemall]

If there's an EMP all electrical equipment will fry. What I would love to do, if I could afford it, would be to build a large Faraday cage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage) and keep a computer, ham radio, and all the other gizmos I would want and keep them in storage in a Faraday cage...maybe even a car too.

I suspect that any reasonably well-grounded commercial steel building, or even most steel-clad pole buildings would suffice as an effective Faraday cage. That said, while most electronics in stick-frames homes would be toast after a sizeable EMP, most nearly everything in most nearly every commercial building or warehouse would likely survive. Incidentally, the grounded steel case your desktop PC is in is also, by design an excellent EMF shield (meant primarily to keep electrical noise in so as not to bother your TV / radios)

Diggem'

 

[SteveDodds]

KD0BHF at your service. N0ZYS is my brother who lives with me. He is a member of ARES. It stands for Amateur Radio Emergency Service. We are set up with a system where we can operate our ham radios without electricity for a week or so. Even more if its sunny. We can talk worldwide without the use of repeaters.
I would be surprised if I am the only licensed ham radio operator on here.

 

[SteveDodds]

A very good video hosted by Walter Cronkite talking about the need for ham radios.

 

[lobsterman]

thanks steve, thats an interesting video, can confidential, coded, or scrambled, messages be sent by ham radio as i imagine that the space shuttle isn't on a channel or station that everyone can access ?, or are they ? thanks again for the info.

 

[SteveDodds]

Yes it is possible to talk to the space shuttle under certain circumstances such as band conditions and licensing requirements. I remember my brother talking to them a couple years ago. Its not legal to send coded or scrambled messages.

 

[RGINN]

Ah, you got me on that one, Sra. whitegold. I come from the southern plains where the wind will blow the smoke away, but mirrors work pretty good. I'm pretty self sufficient, and iconoclastic, whatever that means, but if it all falls down tomorrow, the folks with kids and elderly family around should have something in place. One good thing to rely on, if communication is shut down, telemarketers will find a way, and we can follow them.