Quick Q about radio signals in current climate

[Highlander]

(25 November 2012, 10:45)NorthernRaider Wrote: Thanks chaps I appreciate your information and advice, I dont want to sound negative or troublesome but the more I learn about radios and the various frequencies / systems the more I believe they wont be of any use to my group, They are just too limited and ineffective for practical use. At best on a clear day with line of site you still require LUCK to be on your side to be guarenteed any decent range from a handheld set, and in a normal urban or hilly, or wooded environment and / or day days with rain or low cloud their use is apparently even more limited.

I think RV points and couriers will be better suited to my own groups needs and the topograpghy in Co Durham.

Maybe its time to think of other ways of sending meassages,..... one that I would love to try would be the use of dogs,.. they have been used in many wars to convey messages,... and its reaonably easy to train them, providing you have two people intested enough,...start by releasing a dog to another person who calls the dog,.. when the dog gets there praise and reward,...increase the distance bit by bit,...start having the second person go out of sight,..provided that the dog finds this a good game, and gets rewarded for his efforts he will do this every time

http://www.metsahovi.fi/~mtt/viestikuvia/#training

[NorthernRaider]

We must have in plce comms systems utterly divorced from technology as technology is the weak link, set aside my bias towars two way radios because IMHO they are woefully inadequate there are other issues that could make them useless or dangerous, Crap weather ( common in the UK) limits range and effectiveness, EMP could toast them, Atmospheric interference, winter storms, JAMMING by a twat with a bigger transmitter, being triangulated by bad guys etc etc.

Radios do most certainly have a very useful role to play in comms after TSHTF mainly on a very local basis, but I think it would be the height of folly to rely on radios.

I think couriers, dead letter drops, regular rendezvous, frequent group meetings, perhaps even pigeon messengers should be the failsafe comms systems for us after TSHTF.

Homing Ferrets anyone?

[Tarrel]

Slightly off-topic, but did anyone hear about the WW2 carrier pigeon message found recently? It was tied to the leg of a dead pigeon found in someone's chimney. Had a coded message in it that the folks at GCHQ have been unable to crack! ;-)

[Highlander]

Yes I heard about that,... just goes to show how quickly we forget our own codes

[Skean Dhude]

It is not we forget our own codes but the fact is we don't share them with anyone. So it could be a one time pad with something important on. Maybe a warning about socialism.