Emergency Communications Part 2 After The Disaster 

More than anything, I like the psychological effect of going door to door, asking what people need. There will likely be a natural tendency to turtle up, every man for himself. It takes a catalyzer to go out and set the example that we're all still neighbors. When the emergency passes, we want to be proud of how we behaved. You've all seen that episode of the Twilight Zone, right?

We are living in Turkey and we need the all of these informations. Because Turkey in Middle East and there are so many terror organizations and our country's east regions unders attacks. Thanks for the informations and hope the US people understand the Turkish People

15:08 For the beginners and non-initiated who just want to up their prep for emergencies. Thanks for the info! I realize this is 5 years later... but for the prepper who isn't interested in getting a license or actively being part of the amateur community as a hobby, BUT wants to be able to monitor appropriate channels during an emergency and call out if life or limb is on the line, a more detailed explanation on how to find the appropriate channels/nets for VHF/UHF for your local area would be helpful.

Yes!! An AVE ruler!

I hear of so many people that have new ham radio gear in the box in a waterproof bag and a "CB antenna" and they think that when the SHTF they'll whip it out and start talking away. I tell them that's like waiting to learn how to swim after you fall off the pier.

Great video. Ask any group of Ham radio operators if a group of people that have not practiced radio communications will be successful in an emergency--they will not. Orderly transfer of information takes some practice.

Great vids. 2 points though... 1. If you are unlicensed, PLEASE be a good user. This means don't talk when someone else is, wait a sec for them to get done. And if you are asked to get off a freq do so unless you or someone else is in imediate danger. Hams are good people who as a rule will do what they can to help... Let us do it. 2. HF is fun, but it is truly a different game. Most uhf/vhf radios are basically a step up from the walkie talkie you had as a kid. Let me use bicycles as an example... 1 speed is your kids walkie talkie 3 speed is FRS/GMRS. 10 speed is the radio he has set up here... Lots more moving parts.. HF is a motorcycle... Same idea (2 wheels, you ride it..) But there is a learning curve. Chances of you sitting down at an hf rig and communicating w no training is near zero unless it was up and running when you sat down. I use a pilot-style laminated checklist so i can mark the steps off as i power my rig up, I'm not going to berak my rig because i turned the wrong thing on first.. Setting one up from scratch is something I still discuss with the elders at my club... And I've been licensed since '08. Better to get a good reciever, and listen in. They dont cost nearly as much, like this one i found online. kaito.us/radios/dr920cb.html. Dont have one, but something like this covers a lot of freqs for cheap... Just my thoughts, YMMV... Get into Amature Radio 😀... Learn all you want, play w the toys, and have the tools to help when it is needed. 73... KE5ZUQ

As I understand since this video was made. The California government Will no longer except the Emergency Help from Trained Ham Radio Organizations. Ham radio Organizations have been used for over 100 years in Emergencies of all sorts all across the Country. But now you are on your own. Best Wishes!

I'm a CERT Member on the NO. Oregon Coast. I like your STEALTHY Dipole setup. I have Bioenno Batteries myself, and LOVE them! Yes, I'm a licensed Ham. MOST people do NOT have the resources or "Know How" to survive 10 days one their own.

I live in Ohio, last night we had some of the biggest storms I have seen in years. A few tornadoes as well. I ordered my first Ham radio Friday. Just received it this morning. Kinda missed the storm, but now my radio is here. I got my license a month ago, just hadn't bought a radio.

Josh, just seeing this today. Excellent video. I live in a rural, mountainous area with no cell service for 35 to 100 kms. My, just north of Whistler BC is a perfect fit for ARES, etc. RAC, here in Canada, is transitioning to AUXCOMM from ARES but the transition appears to have much work to do. I feel the need to work with local and BC provincial govt to get ecomms moving in this area. In summer we have wildfires and winter, flood and slide risks. Have been evacuated once thus far. So Josh.... my hat is off to you and thanks again for your Emergency Communications videos. 73, Bruce VA7BDC

Get in the habit of using ES forms and fill out an ICS205 for your radio plan.

Thanks for this. I am the first and recently selected CERT Volunteer Coordinator for a city district of more than 100,000 residents and know my community is very deficient in disaster preparedness. The Hayward and Calaveras faults are literally on the edge of our district so this is shameful. I am requisitioning dozens of HTs, most likely MURS, for tactical CERT use but will exercise GMRS and hams for strategic use. Thankfully, I'll be using your RU-vid channel to bone up on my becoming a ham as I'm learning almost daily that amateur radio, even at a Technician level, is critical.

Great tip. I live in the Philippines, last week a volcano errupted. That is about 20 miles away from where I live. Thought it is that far, ashfall reached my home. In some place in my city that is much within the 17km (10 and a half mile) it rained mud from the volcano. Aside from that, the Philippines is very prone to typhoons. The worst being typhoon Hiyan that ravaged the central part of the Philippine in 2014 or was it 2015.

Great video, thanks for posting, I have enjoyed the Emergency Comm Part 1 and 2. Great for CERT members.

Hmm... using pens on maps. The offshore navigation part of my brain, makes my molars wrestle watching that.

Great series - been looking forward to this one. You got me into ham. Took a lot of notes and will pass on and looking forward to the next vid. Thanks for the effort and information!

I hold an Extra Class Ham Ticket. YOU are abso-freaking-loutely RIGHT!

Just watched the Part 1 for the emergency comms series. My family is getting into being all trained up for CERT and would like to see more people doing the same. Like your stuff!!

Nice presentation Hoshnasi. Sadly, one of the biggest challenges is getting people to take seriously the possibility of of an emergency situation and get them involved with at least rudimentary preparedness. Having lived through the 1998 ice storm in Eastern Ontario, Quebec, and the North East US, which left millions of people without power for days and even weeks in January, I was amazed at the total lack of forethought most people displayed. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and ideas.

Tactical, Operational, Strategic.

Im building my own repeater, I also built a small go box and used it the other day after severe storms went through and the power went out

Good stuff, Josh. Onward to your 3rd in your series. But, before I do, a nota bene for your followers on something important to take of of your family during that 10-day window: take a GOOD basic medical training course (e.g., Emergency Responder coupled with Wilderness First Aid). You folks down there in the L,A. basin are particularly at risk for EMS et al in being delayed a l-o-n-g time. I know it's been said numerous times before, but ya gotta be able to function on your own for a bit and that includes life-and-death first aid. AFTER sitting through the first aid/medical classes, I heartily recommend "The Survival Medicine Handbook (The essential guide for when medical help is NOT on the way)" (Alton and Alton). Best regards -- Jim / N6MED

Thank you for the great video. I will join the CERT in my area now that you sparked my interest in helping out the community. Looking forward to your next video.

Common sense will tell you to program all the MURS, GMRS and FRS channels into the baofeng so you have one radio, YES it is legal during an emergency to transmit on those channels with that radio, otherwise it will make a much better receiver radio for those channels than the FRS radio will.

So many hams will be it’s my time to shine!

Huh... another CERT member. Cool. That CERT 20-hour training is pretty good.

Great videos, and channel too! I cant help but think though, while watching this small series. I love living rural with no neighbours or people near by to worry about. I feel that having to put so much effort into the regards of people in such close proximity, especially during an emergency event, puts a hinder on your own survival and well being. This is just 1 thought process that I come up with now whilst watching this, and ill hit play to continue! Keep it up man!

i had to laugh when i seen AVEs ruler! thats pretty cool!

Liked and subbed I’m new to radio and I have a uv5r on its way in the post it’s cheap enough so if I don’t really like the hobby I have it for an emergency but atm I’m enjoying watching the vids and can’t wait to get started but as I said I’m a noob and know next to nothing lol

Nice, you bought and used the ruler Ave (from Canada from youtube) had made & sold.

I want to thank you for talking about how others may not be able to go without power for up to ten days. My son who is only three would not survive as it is without power for that long. I do not expect any sort of of real disaster in my area, however my sons life is not that risk to my wife and I. I know that it is my responsibility to have a plan if something were to happen and believe me I will, and also for others in my area because I know there is another medical supply truck that delivers on our street for someone besides my son. It may seem like everyone in your area is doing alright, but realistically the chances are there is someone near most of us that could very easily die if things like power were interrupted even for as short as a few days or a week.

I have enjoyed your vids today - just came across them when I was casually perusing ECOMM stuff to circulate. I understand the rigors of family and work and balance. I love amatuer radio, shooting and motorcycle touring and camping, but only get to spend some time on some of those interests. Luckily, my commute for work being about 75 or so minutes, I get to exercise my above50MHz portion of the hobby pretty liberally. I have the car EDC setup to be able to sustain me should I have to end up on foot to get home, I give myself about 4 days if I have to travel off the beaten path. I notice in part 1 you have a Kenwood 72? I have a TH-F6A as my EDC bag radio complete with power plug charger, extra battery, mini mag mount and Diamond tri-band SMA antenna, gotta love all the bands you can scan with it! Great vids you've done - I look forward to any others you come out with. My only regret is I didn't find you sooner! Semper Fidelis! Mike/W3TWG

Thanks for your videos! You actually inspired me to go and get my technician's license and I have picked up a few BF-F8HP's for home/car/office. Still trying to convince the wife to get her license but doesn't appear I'm going to win that battle. Still trying to figure out comms for when I'm in SF and she's in Oakland. Anyway, thanks a bunch. Keep it up and hope the Hayward fault doesn't slip anytime soon.

Dont depend on your Govt . Just prep, Its pretty dam easy.

Great video with clear explanations. Got me re-invigorated in studying with this and some of your earlier videos. Thank you

Ave ruler = thumbs up for sure!

Interesting that we have many of the same hobbies - ukulele, harmonica, geocache, LCP, amateur radio.

Good video & TIMELY--just heard about the earthquake in Mexico DF a few hours ago. It is suddenly a season of disasters & preparedness & communication is just smart.

I do not know if it was different when this came out, but with a Tech license you can use some HF freqs, but only code, not voice.

Good stuff, love the dress socks n running shoes

i don't indentifily as a prepper but when getting my ham gear I'm gonna think about normal use cases and about emergencies as well (who knows. maybe a "black out" situation is gonna happen)

love your vids especially this series. I already had reserved radios for neighbors and friends I call it Network 23 n honor of Max Headroom. Still learned some new things from yours, thanks

another option people might want to consider for medium distance is a half wave or even a snap together three or four element beam. I do hill topping with one of the name brand five watt portables and get ranges of 50 to 100 miles doing simplex. This, though, might be more appropriate for long term problems, zombies and the like breaking into repeater shacks and raising havoc (long range is of course hf, most likely cw. For a twenty word message, I intend to charge two roasting chickens or a decent sized hog.)

The other problem is these same people think that these little HTs have long range, when in point of fact they do not. I now have a TYT UV8000e 10watt HT. With a good antenna, and a fully charged battery, and standing on top of a hill or building, I might have a range of 8 to 10 miles, but in reality more like 4 to 5 miles. Even in a vehicle with a higher powered 2m/70cm radio, and a good antenna I would not expect more then a ten mile range. I wish he would have talked about that.

I really like your ham radio videos. Don't forget the band plan, people without a license won't know which frequency ranges to use to find out what's going on outside their neighbourhood. Also a real call sign gives you instant credibility, not a lot, but some :)

Just found your channel and subscribed. Thanks for posting these great videos! I may use some in our CERT training as we gear up our CERT team in Chattanooga. It's been a tough road, but we should be officially sanctioned by FEMA this year. Keep up the great work! I'm headed over to check out your General courses.

Thanks again. Really digging your videos. Very informative.

Good stuff; thanks much!! 73!!

very good information very good 73

Amderw Be has n excellent book out: Personal Emergency Communications. Technology, geer and planning Goes from FRS, Ham, CB and NVis and other senerio. its a good read, gives me seveal ideas.

OMG! You're a lefty like me.

Here in 2020. "biological virus agent" ominous.

im a fan of Anderson power poles for my 12V hook ups

Awesome

Great video. I live in Los Angeles and Im going to join CERT, Since you are near Los angeles ,i see no one in my area talking about disaster and preparedness but you and enjoy your videos and getting a tech license soon. I had a tech license but forgot to renew it and it was expire. Also you should make a video on so repeaters that are active in Los Angeles. Keep up the great work. Big Fan!!!

SoCal resident checking in. Do you ever hop on the GMRS repeater (675) located on Santiago Peak? Not yet HAM certified, but did pick up a GMRS cert to get my feet wet.

One other comment. A book that I really like, that may get some people more interested and shows (what I feel) how ham radio can be useful in a emergency is "Seattle Quake 9.2" by Marti Talbott. It is an older book, so I think she mentions the CW requirement that has been done away with. Still available on Amazon. OH-Forgot to mention that it is a fictional story! LOL

Love the erre music in the beginning video!

My hand's got cramps from all of the info I'm writing down.

I have a UV-5R radio. I use it at work since i work in areas without cell coverage. I'm pretty good at it. Sometimes i'm assigned to help in search and rescue situations. And i dont have a license. I just operate my radio to coordinate things that help other people. I live in the Philippines. A bunch of us at work who use vhf radios dont have licenses. And in shit-hits-the-fan type of situations, a ham radio license wouldn't really matter. But i still would like to have a license. I've also built a vertical dipole antenna to enable me to communicate to areas at work with out cell coverage while i'm at home.

Love that tactical vest ... Is it bullet resistant?

Great video! Definitely making some notes.

studying for the first test now.....laymens terms would be a lot more helpful tho.....13 pages of notes...books on the way.... baofeng on the way

Great video series

Gonna start preparing for my ham cert by watching your vids ;-)

Great series - it's not funny but most folks here in my area (So Cal Pomona Area) don't care to hear any of this- they all thing "The Govt" will take care of them- even though they see the electricity being turned off for the fires- Oh well

So say I want to connect a dedicated two way FRS to a set of comtacs. 1) Which FRS brands/models would allow for this 2) How would I hook that up with a PTT? i.e. what adaptors would you suggest?

I did not see a part "Emergency Communications Part 3" under the emergency portion of his site. If there is a part 3 it is going by a different name.

I didn't know that renowned physicists Stephen Hawking did the emergency alert announcements! Must have been some required community service requirements for a DWI...

Was there ever a Part 3 of this? I couldn't find it.

When I set up my hamshack I decided to go strictly solar. The power grid in this area is famous for going down anywhere from a second to a week or more. My Icom IC718 hf rig is powered by it as is my mobile 2 meter radio that I use as a base station. This is with a 45 watt solar array connected to a 12 volt battery. So far it has worked out fine for the last 3 years. For my Baofeng radios, I was keeping them charged from a standard wall wart, but recently got a car adapter and have been keeping them charged via solar. Now, I will admit that I am not a rag-chewer, most of my coms are short. So, even with 100 watts on HF I am not draining the battery very much.

just found this series of video's (9/2021) - the uniden 1635-2 FRS/GMRS radio recommended is discontinued - any recommendation among current offerings?

Yeah, an Ave ruler :-D

Great content. BTW, there are youtube videos explaining how to set your BaoFeng to communicate on FRS frequencies. (It's not complicated)

Hey hoshnasi, I just programmed repeater stations near me using CHIRP but for some reason my transmission wont go through. i can receive but cant transmit. CHIRP says all the information for the frequency are correct. any guesses to what my problem is? thanks.

hoshnasi Have you checked out the BTECH GMRS-V1? Vastly superior to bubble-packs!

What is that book that has frequencies listed

you know how to use any radio from birth if your john mcclain yeppie kay a ......

Hey Jeff. I see this is an old video. But I don't see a scanner as part of your arsenal. Do you use and/or recommend scanners for EmCOmm to know what police, fire are up to? I know particulars are dependent on the systems used by local first responders. But do you have any recommendations?

Ah, Brilliant Video from a Leftie same as myself!

What antenna are you using on the uv3r in this video?

Josh whats ,the cw coder/decoder your using?

10 days unless you were in the Kentucky ice storm of ‘09 and have no power or phone for 14days lmfao. I know you said average but I like to flex that sometimes lol

How did you get a call to deploy? You shouldn't self-deploy. The rest of the information, like the stuff about neighbors contacting you on FRS CH2 is very good, reinforcing the concept of the layered command-net, but most people (ID10Ts) will be screaming at the cell phones or into a ham radio, which some know-it-all told them to buy for emergencies. I would also suggest you strongly or repeatedly recommend people monitor commercial radio (NOAA, AM and FM) as you did, because they probably already have one. You or someone ought to develop this stuff into a simple, but informative, guidebook that (citizens) could read to be prepared, so they can get information from better-prepared or knowledgeable people (hams) who can advise them or deploy (if it's safe.)

I wish I had neighbors that told me to buy radios rather than just offer me food/drink/entertainment haha

Wow... CERT team... the one around here is almost impossible to get ahold of.

Thanks for the video! Was that a real recording of something that took place in Hollywood? I think it's important you mentioned trust would be needed in the government to believe what they're saying. Sometimes it might be better to The pair of uniden radios are pretty affordable and it makes sense to have a pair on hand. I'm a little skeptical about the audio output generated by it. Do you think it's adequate, or would someone basically need to clip the radio onto their shirt collar to listen to it? Baofeng indicates the UV-3R is discontinued, although still from sale on Amazon. Is there a different Baofeng radio you'd recommend for emergency communication purposes, or is it still a reliable radio and you're not bothered by it being listed as discontinued? Lastly, talk about the antennas on the Baofeng radios you have. It looks like you're using a different antenna than what's shipped with the radio. Have you noticed better reception with this antenna? Can you link to it? Thanks for the video and I'm looking forward to the final part!

Is part 3 available?

I need a hardhat and matching vest. Maybe then people will take me seriously. Although... I think it's only after a dirty bomb that neighbors would take a guy in a hardhat and matching vest seriously.

I’ve been monitoring two of my local nets. I’m not planing to getting licensed but want to be prepared and knowledgeable on use. Is there a way to legally practice other than just monitoring?

If you have the uv-3r why carry an FRS radio is it just more handy to have them both because the UV3R can listen and transmit on FRS frequencies you know this forgive me if this sounds stupid but I'm just wondering

With UV-5R hand held radios only costing £20 $35 everyone will be a ham radio enthusiast soon, just like mobile phones they are now so cheap everyone will get one for Christmas,

what about EMP?

Great video! Thanks for sharjng it! 73's KD9JEO

I’ve got a general question about how to contact someone in a non life threatening emergency. I was recently off roading in an area with no cell phone coverage and snapped an axel shaft. Thankfully, I was able to recover and get down the mountain with limited issues. However, it was eye opening that I need better communications in situations like this. Would you recommend a Ham radio for these types of emergencies? If so, how would I know who to contact so I’m not getting medical emergency responders involved. Specifically, are there frequencies dedicated to vehicle breakdowns to get help off-road? Thanks for the help!

If I am 150 miles from my kids, what is the best way to communicate in a Grid Down event?

Why wouldnt you just put frs channels in the ham? I have simplex, repeaters, uvf, frs, gmrs, noaa in mine.

Since the radio announcement said biological danger wasn't ruled out, should you be walking around the streets with your arms and legs exposed?

What is the name of each radio are you on.