Earlier this year I got my ham radio license and so during the recent hurricanes I paid attention to emergency communications. Then I did some research to sort out what I think would be the best way to handle communications if the cell network and electric grid were down. Here are the useful bits of what I learned for anyone interested in preparing for the next disaster.
By way of caveat, I'm new to ham radio, not any kind of expert, and obviously you should assess your own situation and come to your own conclusions for emergency preparedness. I do hope for those not familiar with the topic that the following provides some good starting points for your research, and I would be very interested in your thoughts and knowledge.
As you can guess, probably the best individual emergency communication technology is satellite. There are satellite phones, but a quick look shows them to be $800 or more and require a subscription. A common option used by hikers, etc., is the Garmin InReach Mini 2, which is $400 for the item plus a $15 per month subscription for GPS tracking and satellite texting. There is also satellite internet, like Starlink, but that requires electricity. These really aren't too bad, but there are much cheaper, if less reliable, options.
For small group radios, I think GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) is the way to go in most cases. GMRS handhelds (like walkie talkies) work out of the box, are as powerful as the handheld ham radios, have repeaters to extend local communication range out to 25 miles or more, and have all of the FRS channels plus some. They can be had for as little as $15 each and do not require a subscription. GMRS repeaters are not terribly expensive, so you could buy one, take it with you, and not rely on local repeaters. While it requires a $35 license, it is a household license and does not require a test. In addition, unlike ham radios, GMRS radios can be used for commercial purposes, so you might find a good business use for them outside of emergency situations like warehouse work, farm work, company drivers, etc.
You might also be interested in radios that don't require licenses. While you don't need a license for CB, MURS, or FRS, they are more limited than GMRS, particularly because they can't access repeaters. I would go with GMRS, but if that wasn't an option, CB would be my choice simply because it has the largest number of users and decent transmission power.
What about ham radio? For local communication, say, out to 25 miles or so, ham and GMRS radios are about the same in cost and performance. The main advantage of ham radio over GMRS, it seems to me, is that the ham community is a lot bigger. This means there will probably be more people listening on ham frequencies than GMRS, so if you are trapped somewhere the odds of a distress call being heard are probably greater if you use a ham radio. That said, the GMRS community is growing and in some places the GMRS community may already be bigger, so check that out for your location. The two problems with using ham radios just for emergencies are the complexity and legality.
CB, MURS, FRS, and GMRS radios have set channels to use and will come pre-programmed for their type, so they really are ready to use out of the box. Ham radios, on the other hand, do not usually come pre-programmed. The local ham frequencies are different in every location, so it doesn't make sense to sell pre-programmed ham radios in most cases. If you decide to go with a ham radio, it would be best to get it programmed for the local frequencies in advance of any disasters, or at least find out the local frequencies and know how to tune into them. That said, they all come with instructions and all the ham handhelds I'm familiar with have a scan function, so if you don't have time to prepare in advance, you can read the instructions and fiddle with scanning to find the local frequencies.
Legally, of course, you can use any of these radios without a license if life, limb, or property is at risk and normal modes of communication are not available. If you care about the law, then the main problem I see with using GMRS or ham radios without a license is that you can't use them except in an emergency, which means you can't train with them in advance. Do you really want to be figuring out how to use these things during a disaster? However, if you don't care about the law, then maybe that's not a problem for you. The FCC might catch you and fine you, but from what I've heard that's pretty rare unless your transmissions interfere with someone else's radios and they complain to the FCC.
In short, when the electric grid and cell network are down, satellite is probably best, but it is also the most expensive. GMRS is probably best for small groups, like a family, a search party, a road crew, a neighborhood, etc. Barring satellite communication, ham handhelds are probably the most likely to be heard for distress calls in most areas, but really should be set up in advance. Please chime in if you have different opinions or knowledge.
7 comments:
I'm reading these with renewed interest, and have little more to offer, other than that the Garmin InReach Mini you can get a plan that is the annual fee, and suspend service till you need it on a monthly pay-as-you-need plan. More per month than the annual plan though. That's not so great for me in earthquake country where the likely big disaster is unpredictable, but in hurricane/flood country, could work well.
Yeah, a bit hard to predict a big earthquake. If you are near a city, they seem to be saturated with both ham and GMRS repeaters. You can check your area to see what's out there.
The handhelds are quite small; I can almost hide one in my fist, except for the antenna. Easy to keep in a glove box or back pack. Write your emergency comms plan on something the size of a business card and use a hair band or something to keep it with the radio.
In light of a previous posting here, I looked up myGMRS.com and Repeaterbook.com and found that there are two GMRS repeaters ( one "open system" and one "permission required"), that in theory are well within range to provide communication between my workplace, and my home.
I suspect that in addition to the obvious benefit of being contactable by my family when the phones and internet are down after a storm, they would also act rather like an old "party line" in allowing us to be informed about the road conditions and emergency responses in our area by listening to the communications of others in the area.
Assuming of course that they are set up resiliently enough to keep operating through the sort of emergency that leaves one without power and phone service . . .
That's always a question. If the repeaters go down, then that limits local communication a great deal. However, a number of ham repeaters stayed up and running through Hurricane Helene up to now. Presumably they have solar and/or generator backup power.
I haven't paid any attention to GMRS repeaters until now, but given my research on this I've decided I should probably get into that as well as ham radio. It's probably much easier to get family and friends who don't care about radio tech to get into GMRS or FRS than it is to convince them to study for the ham test. Plus, it gives me one more way to communicate.
Thomas, I'm a fellow ham, and also a former Army Signal officer and current network engineer. So a few things to add: I'm a huge Starlink fan, as you might imagine. The power draw for a Starlink terminal is typically 50-75W. That's quite modest, and should be possible to power indefinitely with a portable solar panel and battery system. (These are often called "solar generator" systems and are available on line. They aren't grid-connected.) For full-time operation, you'd want a battery that is 5000 Whr (at least) and a set of panels that can generate 400-600 Watts peak power (at least). More is better, particularly if you also want to run/recharge devices or have one charging outside and one inside powering your rig; more is expensive, though, and the batteries in particular will have relatively short lifespan (~5 years if properly maintained). If I had any of my people dependent on medical devices, as Grim has described, I'd insist on a system like this be at their house and ready to go. (And if I were in the emergency response team, I'd insist that the county buy and maintain a store of the battery systems, so that they could be delivered and swapped out every few days for these people.)
For ham radio, the best thing to do is get involved with your local group. Hams are EXTREMELY friendly folk and would LOVE to help you get trained up and join the community. American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the top-level organization, and you can work your way down from there to your local group. They're very good people to have on your friend list.
-- Janet
Oh, dang, one more thing: I have a Garmin InReach myself, as I do some hiking in very remote places. However, the next big thing coming is satellite to cellular connection. Once this is in place, your (unmodified) phone should be able to text to 911 to get help from basically anywhere in the US, and you'll have limited ability to make phone calls as well. Starlink has the prototypes flying and got emergency authorization to use it for this hurricane, and there are other companies doing this as well. Basically at this point, the engineering is done and it's a question of building out the satellite fleet, which should take 2-3 years, and regulatory approval/commercial sales. So, for the immediate future, the InReach is a good tool, but within a few years, just your cellphone will have that capability. I wouldn't, at this point, spend money for a sat phone unless I was planning to travel outside the US (e.g. sailing across the Atlantic). But do look into getting solar power and battery backup for your phone.
-- Janet
Hey, Janet. It's great to have someone with your knowledge and experience here! I feel both that I have learned a ton in the last six months and that that "ton" just barely gets me in the door of what there is to know.
Great to know the satellite - cell connection is close. It seems like that will solve a lot of problems.
50-75W isn't bad at all for Starlink connectivity. It wouldn't have to run 24/7, either, but just for regular quick check-ins and when you wanted to do something online.
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