communications
 

This is moving up the priority list..
My Daughters live about 25 miles away in two different directions. They only have cell phones, no landlines. What is the best and least expensive resource for communication if we lose cell towers and power?

Re: communications
 

QWAK,jaima,Not many choices realy,Short wave radio,CB or perhaps over the net. with back up batery power and sat link is all I can think of,the dixey cup and real long string :questionm other than SMOKE signals!:wink:

the DUCK

Re: communications
 

base to base 27 mhz sideband should do it and it will probably be the cheapest but it will be very hard to learn how to get that distance
on a reliable basis it will require setup and practice and i have found
that unless you are an enthusiast people dont take the time to learn.

it may however be possible to still get a message through using relays
of other people passing on message.

you may be better of with more expensive uhf sets or maybee going
to ham which also requires practice.

My prefered comms setup is 27 Mhz AM but i mainly want to be able to contact local and i know i can contact a ham operator who could get
out a longer distance message when need be.

I once passed a message 500 miles with trucker using only short range am mobile unit max range about 2 miles.

27 mhz is cheap,common and easy to use if you are not expecting huge distances
it also has the posibility to contact people hundres of miles away but unreliably due to weather conditions.
no need for a liscense

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I found this info. It doesnt sound promising does it.

http://www.cbradioaustralia.com.au/p...ing_a_cb_radio

Re: communications
 

depends where you live outback australia is a place unto its own where your
nearest neighbor could be 100 km away.

if you live on or close to highway or metro areas 27 mhz cb may be a good choice
if you want to be able to chat to your daughters on a regular and reliable basis I would
say its the wrong choice but if they and you know how to use it well i am pretty
sure you could get the message through if you are in a reasonably populated
area.If the plan is for them to head to your house and they will be using highways
i would say its an excelent choice.even if they can not reach you directly untill they
are within 5 or 10 miles having the cb is sure going to help you find them and
is going to give them the oportunity to get a message out to you.

Re: communications
 

QWAK,When I was a kid I had a dog that was with me almost from the time I was born and Mom always knew when I got with in a block of home because the dog would get figity and wine in his special way.

When I got older both with my brother and my self when she needed to talk to either of us she would sit in her favorit chair, close her eyes and just sort of FOCUS on us and almost every time with in an hour or two we would just CALL HOME with no real need to and some times it had been a week or two since we had talked to her.

As we got older this seemed to fade but still worked it just took a day or so befor we would just call.:wink:

Perhaps OFF the wall a but but WHY not experiment with your daughters:questionm first meditating at a set time for just a fiew min. and try sending a simple immge like thinking of their favorite pet,somthing with imotional energy atached to it. :thinkey: Call them or let them call you in the evening and see IF they got the MESAGE.

I shure miss being able to call my Mom, I lost her 8 years ago but I still feel the link and WISH I could pick up the phone and hear her voice agen!

BTW:It is my understanding that both the USA and Russa HAVE done experiments in subs under the ice at the north pole and had had some sucess but it is not totaly reliable and found not to be suitable for any kind of spicific information transfers.

the DUCK

Re: communications
 

Shouting :realmad: or physical gestures :ciao:.:ARMS1::wavey:

Re: communications
 

If we loose power and cell service, what would you communicate about ?

Re: communications
 

damoc, I'm stuck at work and it is dead in here. Ill have lots of time to websuf the 27 MHz cb today. My Daughters and I are in a triangular pattern all about 25 miles from each other with a big city in the middle. The roads are major highways so it might work. I can see having a plan in place is important. We need to map some routes for driving and even hiking.

I have a horrible fear of being out of touch with my kids WTSHTF. My youngest Daughter has been very edgy since she had the dream about the Government rounding up sick people and taking them to camps. I would want to talk to them about bug out plans. Lets face it we have no idea how this may go down. It may be slow or there could be an event. If there is an "event" and the MPs are coming to town we are heading for cover.


Duck, that sounds like a grand idea. My one Daughter and I frequently call each other at the exact same time and laugh about how often it happens�. I need to work on my meditation. My mind is a very busy place. Lots of clutter, lots of ideas floating around in there , I have to know the reason why for everything. On the rare occasions I can quiet my head I can be rather intuitive. Being intuative runs in the family� but then so does hearing the voices..:s9:

I miss my Mom too, she died about a decade ago. Life is never quite the same once a Mother is gone :( Speaking of this type of thing isnt it amazing how pets know you are on the way home 5-10 minutes before you get there.

Re: communications
 

Very cool, Duck.

There is an interesting bunch of research done by the Princeton lab for space-time anomalies. They discovered that people could send complex telepathic messages around the world - the surprising part was that the messages tended to arrive BEFORE they were sent - often up to 3 days ahead. :questionm:smokin: They also were able to influence random event generators that had already generated a number.

As a result of the hurricane barrage of recent years, local government in FL has gotten behind ham radio, and I understand there are free classes available around here. Ham operators made a significant contribution to recovery efforts from Jeanne and Frances. Might want to check out what is available in your area.

Re: communications
 

Jaima,
Consider Marine VHF.

MAX DISTANCE is 25 miles and it IS limited by 'line of sight'.

http://powerboat.about.com/library/weekly/aa013003b.htm

But given you said your daughters are 25 miles away, it just depends on THEIR locations AND the antenna's you use.

Also, consider using CB's with a linear amplifier.

A linear amplifier can significantly increase the operating distance of a radio. These amplifiers are used to boost the power of an outgoing signal as high as the operator's budget will allow. I have heard it said that amplifiers normally cost about a dollar a watt; I think this estimate is too high. The average I would recommend for a reliable system is about 500 watts. This power will increase local reliability by allowing communication over the "skip" coming in and also allow you to talk very clearly to out of state or even out of country stations when skip conditions are good. When skip conditions are favorable Channel 6 (27.0250 MHz) on the CB band is a very good example of the benefits of a linear amplifier. Many of these stations, even from thousands of miles away, will sound like they are in your back seat. Most of the stations on channel 6 are running 1000 watts or more.

http://www.i4at.org/surv/radio101.htm

But as Andy said, without power, most of this is a moot point. Unless BOTH YOU AND YOUR DAUGHTERS have the ability to have power when others do not.

Re: communications
 

CB radio (AM) will be almost useless with the masses resorting to it and the skip issues bleeding all over the 11 meter band.

FRS radio (FM) is too high frequency, the UHF is short range at best with very limited power (1/2 watt).

MURS (Multi User Radio Service) is VHF radio (FM), same as rural police FD bands. Long range, no skip and is reliable. Ten times the power.

Few people use it.

I'm set up with three Radio Shack business band MURS radios, one for base station using a lond range YAGI antenna , one in my truck with a 5/8 wave antenna and a spare.

I have used mine reliably out to about ten miles in hilly country using only five watts power.

HAM radio linear amplifiers can be used to bump power to 30 watts or so. Use the 2 meter amps.

Its all outlaw radio in practice. So please no complaints about the HAM amps.

Re: communications
 

Don't forget EMPs. I don't know what scenario you are thinking for normal communications being out. If there is an EMP CB usage could be disrupted for several days. HF also.

sb

Re: communications
 

I think it depends on where you are I was in LA on the 5 and tried to use it
and turned it off for just that reason (to much garbage coming through on it)
and all in spanish.skip is not an issue most of the time.

but for all those areas between totally remote and highly populate it is still
a good choice.

I dont know what the laws are in the usa regarding linear amps but back
in australia they were not legal with max power output being only 4 watts
on AM.but i would sure like one:D

Jaima if you can "legally use" the linear amp that will get you the distance
you need but we used to have RF inspectors which would measure and
locate excesively powerfull transmissions on 27 mhz, 11 meter band

but that may not be an issue if tshtf

Re: communications
 

CB radios or 10 meter radios with single side band and a base antenna will do the job.

CB's with SSB can be bought starting at around $150 and 10 meter radios start at about $200. A simple pole antenna will work. The higher the antenna the better.

Your results will depend on your location and how much local interference there is.

A good place to shop for these items
http://www.copper.com/cart/index.php

Re: communications
 

Do any of you have ESP?

Re: communications
 

This is what I love about this place. Where else could you post this question and get two responses suggesting telepathy as an option.:D

Ill sure give it a try... In the meantime Ill check out some of the suggested equipment.

Re: communications
 

You will need telepathy if you try contacting your loved ones with a CB when SHTF.

Re: communications
 

QWAK,jaima,"Speaking of this type of thing isnt it amazing how pets know you are on the way home 5-10 minutes before you get there"--- All LIFE has INTELIGENCE and to some extent able to comunicate and send mesages to its own kind and even others but most of the time other than there own kind THEY don't LISTEN or bother to LEARN how they comunicate and what they are saying!:wink:

I had a deer that lived here with me and my dog for most of two years and WE comunicated all the time, REALY, no foolin!:wink: "Little Buck" fell in love with my Begal "Lonsome Girl" and they would go off on walks together and viset with the people down the road (pan handeling for treets mostly).

They comunicated with each other and with me We just did not comunicate about subjects like WE do here --- they had no intrist in such things and of corse they were in love so wile I worked they mostly hung around and watched. Some times little Buck would want to play and come up with out me noticing and nuge me with his one big antler, scared a man working on his fence down the road when he did that --- he did't know Buck! :s9:

Even now the deer come right up to the cabin and I talk to them,mostly they just inore me but I injoy seeing them and remembering Little Buck. I just can't grow a garden out there because THEY think I grow it for them!:wink:

It's ALL TRUE I SWARE!:grin::congrats:

My real point is that WE already DO comunicate in LOTS of ways other than words or sounds or pictures but LISTENING or PERCIEVING that level of comunicating tends to be SHUT OUT or TURNED OFF by the way we live and the things we focus our atention on!

The information is OUT THERE just as radio or TV is there but we don't notice because we need a DEVICE to TUNE it in, so we can apreciate it.

Thoughts have ENERGY, they have POWER, more power than WORDS and words can start WARS!:rant:

Thoughts that pass threw neorons in the brain do so ELECTRICLY and when you pass a current threw a wire it RADIATES ENERGY WAVES ,that's how radio works, just with much higher power and a diferent frequency range! :D

We see in COLOR we are told that dogs only see in BLACK and WHITE and shdes of gray,well perhaps but I am inclined to think they see LOTS more than WE do,I think they see AURAS -- an energy field that surounds all living things, EVEN PLANTS!

We give dogs credit for there incredable sence of smell becuse WE can smell stuff too, but THEY do it better.

We know the energy field exists they have made countless photographs of it with krylon phtography, WE can't see it with our vision ( some people do) but I believe that dogs and many other crechers can too!:s9:

We teach people to talk with words and other visual and audio out put signals but we DON'T teach them to LISTEN ---- mostly just to shut up wile some one else is talking and THEN they only slightly hear wile there minds are FOCUSED some ware else, ON somthing else! :yes::wink:

the DUCK

Re: communications
 

...LOL


Duck, that's a great story and yes I believe it. Deer are such beautiful animals. It sounds like you live somewhere very quiet and are in tune with nature. I heard a animals Whisper describe the process one time. She said you have to open your heart chakra and communicate through it. She told amazing stories about the things animals had to say. They evidently have a lot of worries and concerns too.

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Just don't ask about the voices. Too many weird things already happen around here!!

sb

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Carrier Pidgeon. Start training them now though.

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I like that and they are a food source and didnt they used to keep them just because of the high nitrate in the poo used for fertaliser and gunpowder?

Re: communications
 

Jaima, check out the ARRL book "now you're talking" or its most recent equivalent. Look for the local amateur radio club. Someone in the club will be happy to get you pointed in the right direction. HF gear is common and pretty inexpensive. You dont need a tower or huge antenna, nor any illegal equipment.
An amateur radio license is pretty easy to get, HF radio and 60 feet of wire strung out your bedroom window will allow you to talk across your state easily. Almost all modern (last 30 years) ham radio gear runs on 12 volt supplies, (many of us use a car batter for emergency or field use)
look up the the technique called
" NVIS"
near vertical incidence skywave, very reliable comm in the 5 to 80 mile range day or night, usually with low power in the 10 to 100 watt range, and very low to the ground antennas. simple dipole at 15 feet works.

comm
 

Jaima, check out the ARRL book "now you're talking" or its most recent equivalent. Look for the local amateur radio club. Someone in the club will be happy to get you pointed in the right direction. HF gear is common and pretty inexpensive. You dont need a tower or huge antenna, nor any illegal equipment.
An amateur radio license is pretty easy to get, HF radio and 60 feet of wire strung out your bedroom window will allow you to talk across your state easily. Almost all modern (last 30 years) ham radio gear runs on 12 volt supplies, (many of us use a car batter for emergency or field use)
look up the the technique called
" NVIS"
near vertical incidence skywave, very reliable comm in the 5 to 80 mile range day or night, usually with low power in the 10 to 100 watt range, and very low to the ground antennas. simple dipole at 15 feet works.

comm
 

Jaima, check out the ARRL book "now you're talking" or its most recent equivalent. Look for the local amateur radio club. Someone in the club will be happy to get you pointed in the right direction. HF gear is common and pretty inexpensive. You dont need a tower or huge antenna, nor any illegal equipment.
An amateur radio license is pretty easy to get, HF radio and 60 feet of wire strung out your bedroom window will allow you to talk across your state easily. Almost all modern (last 30 years) ham radio gear runs on 12 volt supplies, (many of us use a car batter for emergency or field use)
look up the the technique called
" NVIS"
near vertical incidence skywave, very reliable comm in the 5 to 80 mile range day or night, usually with low power in the 10 to 100 watt range, and very low to the ground antennas. simple dipole at 15 feet works.

Re: communications
 

Unfortunately you won't have a clue who you're contacting but the long distant call is free ....

Re: communications
 

Another outlaw radio band that's great for when SHTF is the Marine band.

Equipment is cheap with 25 watts output on VHF (FM), very reliable.

Been used for Ship to Shore phone patch for 50 years.

Clear, clean, VHF signal.

Re: communications
 

Uniden Marine Radio

Re: communications
 

I had not thought about a Marine radio. My Nephew does boat repairs and comes across all type of salvage parts from old boats. Ill give him a call today and see if he can locate three of them. The new ones averaged around 150- 200. dollars x3 and I dont have that right now.

I would prefer not to have a big antenna on the house. I don't want anything that will call attention to our house. We live in an town that houses some of the roughest State and Federal Prisons around, WTSHTF this area will be crawling with Government. The positive side of that is we are on the same electrical grid and when there is an emergency we are top priority for power restoration. The downside is its hard not be noticed.

Re: communications
 

Sounds like a plan, I've been meaning to get one for my boat anyway. Cell phones only good in some locations.

My ESP doesn't seem to work consistently. Mostly only in times of emergency when the most energy is being emitted. It's something I don't talk to others about, though because a lot of people do not understand. Hey, they would think I'm nuts or something, go figure! :D

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This is a web site about my MURS radios, its the Radio Shack 19-1210, prolly the most hacked VHF radio.

Can be programmed by dip switches to many (not legal) frequencies in the VHF band) and power is adjustable.

You can find them between $50 and $80 on Ebay.

This rig has Tone Controlled Squelch so you can set them for private use - no one else but your other radio will break squelch, so you know its a valid call coming in.


http://www.wild-ideas.org/191210_mobile/index.html


Dave Bolduc has come up with a list of dip switch settings that even enable the 19-1210 to work down to 148 MHz!

http://www.wild-ideas.org/191210_mob...extrafreqs.txt

Re: communications
 

Thanks for the links, Ill do some reading. 50- 80 dollars is much more in my price range..

Re: communications
 

Most of the SHEEPLE have no idea what Amateur Radio is or how it works. 27Mhz CB is not Amateur Radio and how things work. Communications via VHF or HF Radio is simple and yes, I know my contacts. Getting a license is easy and no morse code is needed!!!

As far as the radio hackers out there, modified stuff can cause you more problems since comms on somebody elses frequency might not be worth the headaches.

Go to ARRL.ORG and look over the info. W5yi.com is also a good source of info.

15 miles to Worldwide Communications is easily obtainable and not expensive. Playing around with Marine Radios, CBs or Outbanded radios could be a hassle with the undisciplined masses trying to use them, for me I use Ham Radio with legal power limits and a support network (NETS) to use for relay and checkins. Decent info from the hams and the ability to use voice, computer or digital, its all there legally.

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And make darn sure you register everything with the Feds.

Its the "law".

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You don't "register" anything, but most of the CB wannabes want to operate radios but don't realize who is on what frequency. In a SHTF scenario, "hot" radio ops like modified CB, Freebanding or VHF frequency pirating will bring on more attention than you realize. "HOT" ops are closely watched in a SHTF situation due to security concerns and attention is something only a fool would want. In Katrina, "hot" radio ops was monitored and tracked in South Louisiana with DHS noting security concerns, but ham radio wasn't even looked at!!!! Hide in plain sight.