Posted on 08/27/2011 4:10:42 PM PDT by bd476
I have actually thought about it. Don’t you need some kinds of licenses?
Abt two years back, I bought something called a Eton Solarlink FR-600
A radio with shortwave. It can run on batteries, solar power, or in real emergencies it has a hand-crank.
Kinda cool. But getting used to listening to SW is an art in itself...
It's an interesting hobby, and lots of fun. Getting the license to transmit on your new/old radio is easy, and takes little study. It's a very rewarding hobby, with many aspects and modes.
Get the older type landline phone that goes through the phone line rather than the kind that goes through the electric line. We have one phone that works when everything else is down.
Instead of calling on your cell in the big middle of the storm, wait until the weather has passed.
The problem is, in a major event, even after the event, can leave cell towers destroyed, compromised, overloaded, grid goes down, lines down, generating plants down etc, etc. In a major event, computers, telephone landlines and cell phones are generally the first to go and some don't come back for a long time.
As a 60 year old and recipient of the Eagle Scout award...I can honestly say that those two words “Be Prepared” are the two most important words ever to be put together...both here on earth and spiritually!
They just keep getting better and better. A few suggestions about their use.
The first is that extra batteries are good, but it is also a great idea, for several reasons, to have a DC to AC converter, so you can charge your walkie talkies from your car’s cigarette lighter socket.
The second is that when you use walkie talkies, if there is interference, using alpha-numeric code is a big help. But take it a step further. Use a simple, one use code, which will defeat most of the snoops out there.
Spot Connect provides a capability to send out a 40 character msg via satellite to anywhere in the world. Check it out!
First, it wouldn’t kill FEMA to say: “Those of you who are not averse to taking a test about technical topics should consider getting a ham radio license and one or more radios made for those bands, which are enormously capable of long-distance communication under adverse circumstances. The rest of you could consider obtaining some walkie-talkie-like CB or FRS radios, which require no license, and which can communicate over many tens of miles, which might well be enough to reach someone outside of the disaster area, noting that under a communcations emergency, any type of radio communication is superior to none whatsoever.”
Oh, and second, hams have generally been pretty compliant about doing what the government asks, like ceasing transmissions during wartime when advised off the air (last done in WW2). In any case, what hams would or would not do in an emergency is not up to FEMA to speculate about, and therefore decide not to mention AT ALL.
“Spot Connect provides a capability to send out a 40 character msg via satellite to anywhere in the world. Check it out!”
Welcome to FreeRepublic. Just kidding, your post sounds like an advertisement.
Maryland "Freak State" PING!
“Spot Connect provides a capability to send out a 40 character msg via satellite to anywhere in the world. Check it out!”
Actually they do look pretty neat. To bad for us, though, we just use Jihad Phones, not Smart Phones.
Whew - I’m glad they warned about the carbon monoxide from charging my phone with my car! I could have overlooked that small problem.
Not sure if you're being facetious but sometimes in emergency situations people forget the oddest things.
After an unusually strong quake one time, I ran outside wearing just a long night shirt. It was only when I heard my Landlord laugh as he stood braced in his doorway and said "are you okay?" that I realized how wrong I was on two counts.
I ran back inside, slammed the door, threw on my jeans and grabbed my cat. Then I did something even more silly when I ran back outside, down the stairs, jumped into my car which was sitting in the carport beneath my building ... while the quake was still shaking.
It never hurts to hear emergency preparation recommendations several times.
Sacajaweau, I'm sorry. I meant to ping you here.
LOL! Perfect!
It's not fun to be without power and phone in an emergency situation.
I got an early start as a girl geek with my radio staying up late at night listening from the Midwest to WABC and then a few times I heard a station which sounded like either Radio Moscow or VOA. My Dad later bought a deluxe shortwave radio which was very cool for my late night listening, that is, when he let me borrow it.
Since the 1994 Northridge quake I bought a fairly good hand-crank radio but the coils stopped charging it and the solar panels never worked very well at charging it up.
I'll google Eton Solarlink FR-600 to see what's available. Thanks.
That's one of my dreams and it will happen, hopefully soon and before the next big quake.
Thank you, Yefragetuwrabrumuy! Those are excellent ideas. I'm going to look to see if Costco still carries them and re-check their range. Otherwise I think the local Fry's carries them, too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.