Public Comms SHTF

[Joe]

So the mobile networks, landlines, internet etc are all down after an event, what do you envisage the general public using ? Do we expect to see the 446Mhz band becoming more active, or even old 27Mhz radios being pushed back into service ? Or will we see people staring at their mobiles hoping they will suddenly spring back into life.
Initially I suspect a bit of panic then people turning to the car radio but then what.
If you don't have any radio kit what will you do ?

[bigpaul]

the general public will have nothing, there may be some govt broadcasts on the BBC but that will just be BS for the masses.
what will I do? I'll be getting on with what I have to do post SHTF and not worrying about others.

[Lightspeed]

Loss of smart phones would be a catastrophe for the vast majority. Their main information source would then be TV and to a lesser extent broadcast radio.

GP use of two way radio would be very limited.

Maybe a few optimistic souls would try PMR446 or CB but i'd expect them to give up disappointed, quite quickly.

Maybe some pre-existing networks of neighborhood watch and the like would use them for longer as their networks would be already established.

Most likely the response would be t sit at home and wait for "the authorities" to look after them.

[bigpaul]

the masses will expect the government and NGO to come galloping over the hill like the 7th Cavalry to save them, by the time they realise no help is coming and their on their own, it will be too late for them.

[CharlesHarris]

Pulsed laser CW can be used horizon to horizon like old school heliograph, isn't dependent upon critical infrastructure and works either day or night. A clever lad could design an interface to interconnect smart phones or notebooks and you could use it to set up your own local area network. Potential for reasonable data rate which defies casual eavedropping. Not secure in the national security sense unless encrypted.

There are inexpensive kits to do this Charles.

Alignment / sighting would be the biggest obstacle I think.

[Joe]

Totally agree LS, the loss of smart phones will be catastrophic to anyone under 30. However some of the older generation will still remember the basics of using CB etc and I suspect there’s a lot of CBs out there that might still work ( I suspect more than half will die on power up due to capacitor issues) .

As far as tv and radio is concerned a lot of this could go down during a large event but some providers like the BBC have off air feeds and satellite back ups.

One of the very big issues that very few are aware of is the loss of Gps. Yes most will scream without the sat nav but that’s a minor. The major thing is the loss of gps timing. In fact the whole of the telecom network and most other industries are dependent on gps timing. For example on back up timing could BT connect to Vodafone? Doubtful. In the old days we had Rugby timing transmissions but I don’t even know if this is still available.

[Lightspeed]

Joe,

I think there's not be may people dusting off their old CB sets. Certainly not while TV and broadcast radio are still functioning.

Only if mains power was out for a long period and over a large area might GP be tempted to try two way radio as a means of finding out whats going on. But I honestly feel BP's on the money here, most will be too complacent to do anything more than sit in place waiting to be rescued.

[bigpaul]

the only people using CB's or even ham radio is the ones already doing so, and I suspect those numbers like the number of people actually prepping in the UK is going to be very low, very low indeed.

[Straight Shooter]

I have most bases covered, and have had some great advice from Lightspeed on kit ......but mostly how to behave and conduct myself whilst on air....if you ever get there SS !

[kellys_eye]

Two-way radio is one thing but simply keeping yourself informed is a huge requirement in a SHTF situation.

If you haven't got one already I'd suggest you aim for a multi-band receiver (LW/MW/SW/VHF) covering the main broadcast bands - shortwave is particularly useful as it allows you to hear what's going on across the world, direct from other countries.

I have recently acquired a Sangean ATS-808 (originally bought duff but I have the skills to fix this type of thing so now fully operational) that covers all the aforementioned but for backup - in the case of EMP - I've also found an old VALVE radio that covers all the SW bands too.

The older the equipment the more opportunity there will be to keep it working too - integrated electronic devices will likely have ZERO spares availability so whatever you have make sure you take good care of it.