Which Radio / Comms Gear

[NorthernRaider]

The prob with the geosync orbit satelites for telecoms is they require constant adjustment as to their position in space and the way they point in space. if the sats are in a geostationary orbit they should last longer BUT of course BOTH systems will require working ground stations or those horrendously expensive iridium phones.

I think they may last longer than the GPS network which will be starting to fail with 24 hours of a collapse because the GPS sats require atomic clock regulated adjustments every day if not their accuracy starts to go off very quickly. And of course the US GPS system is controlled by the US military so if sommat kicks off they are likely to turn it off, alter its settings or jam its signal.

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Folks like SD and AL are pushing ahead with research on the PMR 446 system using the Baofeng UV5R family of radios which after the SHTF will provide 4 watts of usuable power compared to the normal standard of .5 watt power. And AL is talking about 12watt SSB CEPT CB being legalised soon for UK use in the EU harmonisation thing.

[Lightspeed]

(11 June 2013, 08:11)River Song Wrote: LS

Satcom has no government controlled access. I can go out and buy a satphone on one of three commercial networks today.
Trouble is we are talking around £500-£800 for the phone and around £2 per minute call charges. But at least they are not reliant on earth bound cellphone/mobile network.

I know from my own work that gold/silver/ and possibly bronze is going to be given or already have special sim cards and if the SHTF then only those units with special sim cards will be able to operate. Those are present plans.

I see no plans for the satellite networks but I could be wrong.

Ham Radio could be useful. I have family around 150 miles away. I am in East Anglia and they are in Surrey with London in between !!

I personally reckon it might be easier to run the satphones although the radio waves are not controllable.

Long Term? In the rebuilding phase? I had considered packet-radio as a precursor to a new data network


X

RS

East Anglia to Surrey is very doable on Ham frequencies with as little as 10w power. I know as I used to live in both Surrey and Hampshire and had very reliable comms with friends in East Anglia. Antennas were very simple end fed wires, albeit 20 metres long. Reliable second hand equipment that is suitable for voice transmission over this range will cost around £500.( also this type of radio will have capability as a very high grade world wide shortwave receiver for the broadcast and often airbands as well) Brand new radios that are capable of reliable communications in Morse Code cover this range will cost in the region of £250 each. Such equipment is available to run from 12v power ( car battery / solar chargable arrangements)

CB is sometimes capable of the range you require at the moment. "at the moment" and "sometimes" are critical words here though. At the moment we are at the peak of atmospheric conditions that favour CB, things will get worse and worse over the next 5 years before recovering bit by bit for another 5 years or so. The sometimes bit refers to unreliable and fluctuating atmospheric conditions that take place in the summer months. But the good thing is that you can start using the radios immediately without the need any registration or licensing. Cost for new units from £50 to £250 each

PMR446 type radios be they 0.5w or 5.0w power are good for very local and out as far as line of sight ( generally 6 to 25 miles or so) You will have no chance of point to point direct communications between EA and Surrey with this type of radio. (nor VHF, nor UHF nor Marine band)

Cheers

LS

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Clarification: PMR 446 range quoted is line of sight. Poorest range achievable using this type of equipment can be very short in built up and heavily forested areas....In poorest conditions the maximum usable range is often less than 0.5km

[Tarrel]

Ham (amateur) radio has a couple of advantages;

1. The amateur bands are numerous, ranging from VHF/UHF short range line-of-sight applications, to HF "bounce of the ionosphere" long distance stuff, plus everything in between. So, a multi-band amateur transceiver will give you a lot of options post-SHTF, from tactical, neighbourhood communication to "check in with my family across the country" stuff. And you can go and buy one now, license or not.

2. Amateur bands are used regularly so, if you need to get a message out post-SHTF, there are likely to be people on the air.

I agree with the comment about picking up the "Foundation Now" book, although I'd go one step further and look at signing up for a foundation license course with a local club. Did mine in a weekend, along with my Scouts. Could probably have done it in a day TBH. Learned a LOT just in that weekend about how to rig a simple but effective antenna, propagation, capabilities of the different bands, etc. In fact, I'd say the training was more useful than the license! Yes, there was some stuff about legal obligations, etc, but most of it was useful, no-nonsense technical stuff for beginners. It seemed to be pitched right. I have an engineering degree but still learned a lot about the specifics of radio, yet it was understandable enough for the Scouts, who were mostly 12-14 year-olds.

If you are part of an already organised group, then a previously-agreed, set method of communicating, such as an agreed PMR446 or CB channel would be useful. But if you're on your own and just need a way to get a message out, I'd go amateur.

Just my opinion.