Public Comms SHTF

[Mortblanc]

(20 June 2021, 15:21)Joe Wrote: If there’s people you need to contact then you need a system in place that will still be working when the phones go down and the power goes off.

See there Joe, you said it right there.

We are not the Civil Defense. Being the town crier is not our job.

Some of us are not in charge of anything, and no one is in charge of us. We have no one to contact, and don't want to go looking for someone to talk too.

The very most we will ever need is a good set of "walkies" or a CB so we can do closed group coms for neighborhood security over a one mile radius. Most of the time we can shout that far or send up smoke signals.

So why should we spend thousands on communications gear just so you can feel justified in spending on your hobby by declaring it a necessity. Yes, that is what you are doing.

Just say it; "This is my hobby, I'm a radio guy." That's OK if that is your hobby, it take all kinds. Just be aware that when things go sideways these are not people that will hold together in the crisis. You only know most of them over the air. Their situational knowledge and help would be of questionable value. Normally they are in a basement or attic room and have no window to look out from.

In my area they meet once a month in the basement of the Methodist Church and communicate in Morse Code and "radio speak". They have little to say to each other face to face due to "radio stuff" being all they communicate about over their costly equipment.