[Outages-discussion] FEMA, W.H. send victims to Internet

[Hamm, Jack]

I'm seconding on ham radios.  

I don't expect everyone to get a license, but there can be enough critical mass to keep a pretty robust system up during emergencies.  I've been talking with some other hams in the SF Bay area about developing a field deployable, high-speed, network to support emergency services.  We can combine the best of modern technology with good ol'fashioned neighborliness to help each other out during emergencies.

Cheers,
Jack Hamm (also a ham, N1REU)




On Oct 30, 2012, at 5:29 PM, VM wrote:

> I agree with your comments.  These days, people assume that everything  
> went global and forget that their neighbors remain local.  Just  
> walking outside seems too archaic for most folks these days.
> 
> What about using Citizen Band radios?  CB Radios are still around and  
> work up to a radius of about 3 - 4 miles.  CB channel 9 was at one  
> time monitored by local authorities and still may be.  If not, at  
> least you may find a trucker willing to help.
> 
> On Oct 30, 2012, at 6:47 PM, Peter Rossi wrote:
> 
>> I figured this was the main issue, I just think it's more practical to
>> expect the aforementioned Grandma to both live within a mile of
>> someone else, and be able to operate a PTT radio.  If we're talking
>> about residences over a mile apart, then we're talking about more
>> isolated areas than north Jersey, which was mentioned.
>> 
>> I have a problem, and I realize it sounds conspiratorial, but I feel
>> people should try to be a bit more self-sufficient (at least at the
>> community level) and rely a bit less on the higher and more removed
>> levels of government to help them deal with their problems, but that's
>> a completely different discussion, I suppose.
>> 
>> Oh well,
>> 
>> -Peter
>> I'm just this guy, you know?
>> 
>> On Tue, Oct 30, 2012 at 5:30 PM, Bill Wichers <billw at waveform.net>  
>> wrote:
>>> The usual range on those is less than a mile so they are of limited
>>> usefulness in a large scale disaster. The ham stuff mentioned  
>>> earlier can
>>> use repeaters to cover a good-size area (small city) with  
>>> handhelds. The
>>> shortwave stuff can be setup to cover either a region (using NVIS) or
>>> internationally. All of that can be done with simple and hastily  
>>> erected
>>> antennas in a pinch.
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>> 
>>> On Oct 30, 2012, at 5:16 PM, "Peter Rossi" <phpete at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Peanut Gallery / Lurker here,
>>> 
>>> Why has no one mentioned good old fashioned 2way radios?  I know cell
>>> phones have all but replaced them for Joe Average User, but who
>>> doesn't have a set sitting up in the attic?  We charged our EM1000Rs
>>> before the storm and used them both for weather updates, and for
>>> finding other people in our area who needed help by scanning
>>> periodically.  The batteries when fully charged can be made to last
>>> quite a while by using them sparingly, and they're cheap.
>>> 
>>> Maybe my issue is that I'm of the opinion  that the most important
>>> contact is within your local community, and this wouldn't help with
>>> "official" contact for everyone, but mesh networks can be powerful,
>>> and someone's bound to be connected to an official channel.
>>> 
>>> Just my $0.02.
>>> 
>>> -Peter
>>> I'm just this guy, you know?
>>> 
>>> On Tue, Oct 30, 2012 at 3:23 PM, Byron L. Hicks
>>> <byron.hicks at tx-learn.net> wrote:
>>>> On 10/30/2012 10:27 AM, Patrick W. Gilmore wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Yeah, 'cause so many people have short wave gear that operates when
>>>>> power has been out long enough for their smartphone to stop working
>>>>> (or at all) these days.
>>>> 
>>>> Well, that is the point of ARRL Field Day:
>>>> 
>>>> http://www.arrl.org/field-day
>>>> 
>>>> 73 de KD5KLL
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> Byron L. Hicks
>>>> Lonestar Education and Research Network
>>>> Office: 972-883-4645
>>>> Google Voice: 972-746-2549
>>>> aim/skype: byronhicks
>>>> 
>>>> 
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