You can support the channel and help us with the cost of repairs from the damage caused by Helene Here: www.patreon.co... E-mail me here: Farpoint.farm.survival@gmail.com
Maybe, but in this instance, the 1000's of crews that came up here to help all used analog gear. Tree crews, power crews, volunteer crews, search and rescue crews, red cross and local groups as well. What I found was that Police, fire and EMS all started to chat on analog with these groups to coordinate. That info was priceless! I feel the same would happen no matter where you are in the country. Sure Police may need to use encrypted comms from officer to base or officer to officer, but they also need to talk with the 1000's of People who showed up to help or needed help.
@@FarpointFarms Thanks for the info - now I understand who was using analog in your area. I'll be sure to keep my analog scanners!. Also our county's Emergency Management Office sponsors RACES and those amateur operators would deploy to the local fire stations to set up a communications net covering the county. They practice this a couple of times each year.
@@FarpointFarms Hi Erik, hope things are improving. Can I ask what your thoughts are on Starlink? I am not affiliated with them just curious if that would help in the current situation. Take care, Bill
As a Canadian I am furious Bell Canada FORCED us to have go from good old trusted and virtually indestructible copper cable , to expensive ,easily damaged fiber optic cable . I had 3 incidents when cable did not work and U had no phone service everytime it occurred I had no service for 7 days . I was informed by Bell customer service to detach a box and return it to nearest Bell store . We'll I told them on 3rd incident to get a Bell tech to repair it immediately. I get a $300bill a few days later .
My Daughter lives in the Tampa area and for years I have been telling her to get at least an emergency AM Radio. She finally got one a few years ago, with a hand crank to charge the battery. She just let me know that getting that radio was one of the best things she ever got for emergencies. It was the only source of info for the first three days after Milton hit and she was able to charge her phone with it.
Modern tech is great, right up until it quits working. Always good to remember the old ways. Analog radio, how to navigate using a map with no GPS, etc.
Hi from Asheville. Cell went down first, then power, woke to no water...those first days of silence and being cut off from the rest of the world was surreal.
Lots of people don’t realize that cell service depends largely on landline copper/fiber cable to provide service… if the poles survive the storm damage without widespread damage then a power outages will also occur…in this case the towers and central offices depend on generators and batteries to maintain service. In these extreme circumstances it’s almost impossible to maintain cell/ internet services throughout the duration of the rebuild process. I know that you know what I’m talking about but it’s amazing at how many people think that cell and wi-fi are magically manifested out of thin air . I work for AT&T and I can say for our men and women are working can to can’t to help restore all services in these areas , God Bless y’all from Alabama ✝️🇺🇸🙏🏻👆🏻
That’s a good observation ,sir . Telephone does relie on copper . But as far as I know , radio is still a good connection , at least for short distance . Recently I aquired a CB with FM capabilities , but no digital . Let law enforcement have it . I don’t need to know what they are doing . I have a thought I would like to share though . What if congress was to implement a use of CB while in session ?
Thank you- Some of the main fiber lines piggyback on the main power lines to some areas. When those poles went down, so did the internet. Cell service here is poor on a good day, it was non existent after the storm
@@jamesbeemer7855 I agree totally…I’m a avid fan of radio in all aspects… I wish that more young people would get into short wave, CB and Ham radio simply due to the benefits they provide in natural disasters that seem to be occurring more often than ever.
We’re all only 1 wayward backhoe away from a major outage. With all the buried fiber cables running across country, it’s an easy target. I was in the IT industry for 15yrs and I’ve seen some pretty bizarre human caused outages. Just sayin..be prepared folks !
Out in the country everyone needs to realize the phrase You’re on your own always proves to be true. Glad to see you and the family made it through without injury.
That is a very true statement, but I will say, the local fire department was going from door to door to check on people. They were bringing water and food to those who needed it
I tell my friends that my scanner is my “ situational awareness machine”! I’m shocked sometimes how much my old Uniden keeps me informed of things I would have otherwise not known.
Fiber isn't just broken, it's GONE. Miles of fiber and power lines don't exist. Roads to get to cell sites are now canyons and unusable. No access. Certainly no way to tow up a generator. I work for a major carrier doing microwave and fiber backhaul. Covering a Saturday shift supporting DR. Many people are doing a lot of cool stuff to get cell coverage up.
Hi Erik. RU-vid recommended that I watch your video and I'm glad I did. My heart goes out to everyone who was impacted by the flooding. North Carolina is not a place that I was very familiar with before this hurricane and all of its devastation, but after having watched so many videos of the people of your state, I have to say that I just love you all. You have a grit and determination like nowhere else!
I love my shortwave & CB radio. I’m studying for my ham license here in Piedmont NC. So glad to here you all are doing well. Our church has sent several trailers of stuff up there & we have men working up there doing carpentry work.
Beginning the study for HAM down here in Charlotte NC. I've had phones go out in the past but didn't worry about it, but with children being grown and having gotten older it is a little different.
Good to see you're ok, I'm from the UK and have been following the various world problems over the last few weeks and obviously the last few days have been loads of coverage of the US storms. It's been interesting that between them and the two major wars (Russ/Ukraine conflict and the troubles in the middle east) just how many people have been reliant on older tech, be it world band receivers or hand held two way radios, once all the modern amazing digital stuff gets shut down, it's impressive how many have had to go back to old Comms and have realised how useful it really is. I commented on another YT channel (Fred in the shed) about PMR radios (licence free in uk and Europe) here in the UK, I'm not far from Sherwood Forest and it's a real dead spot for cellphones, and we've had people laugh at us or carrying "old fashioned" hand radios, then they've lost their kids in the woods, can't reach them on a phone, and we've found them and reported on radio Comms ... All of a sudden "it's a good job you had radios" 🤨 Anyway, hope it all regains normality there soon, all the best to you and yours, and above all stay safe !!! Andy
Thank you. The Emergency responders had to install the older tech because all the new stuff just did not work. Cell service here is poor on a good day and after the storm, it did not work just about anywhere.People tend to forget that in an emergency modern stuff is no good.
We are lucky where I live in Scotland that we don't get weather like you do but I do have my CB radio in the car and little handsets also a couple of scanners. Some folk think I look daft with the big whip on the car roof but I really don't care. Stay safe and hope everything gets back to normal for you really soon.
Here in east TN and western nc the local 2 meter repeaters were invaluable. Lots of people were saved and a lot of recovery help was and still is being done via the 2m repeaters... there was a time right after the storm when everything was down even 911 was coordinating evacs via the repeaters. It's been crazy
I've heard reported that some states (CA?) have been removing repeaters, anyone know if true & if true who has the authority to do this(so we can have a chat w/ them)? Seems to me repeaters r valuable in SHTF situations
@@Rox600601 I've only heard of a couple, years ago, losing their sites since they weren't the primary site owners but the local counties emergencies services were. Repeaters are only as good as their resiliency. The Mount Mitchel repeater lost power and another club opened their repeater to their traffic for the emergency.
Lol that’s what stopped me early on as a kid from getting my novice class was keying. I practiced and practiced on my mentor’s test rig but never got beyond 10 wpm. Probably should relearn it, though I know that it’s no longer required for many license classes so I do need to get licensed. Those written tests were easy even at 12 years old. Morse code, a bit harder lol
I have found Radio to be absolutely key in any disaster. A difference between life and death for sure. It's also widely accessible without a monthly cost to access it.
I’m in Tampa bay, tried you several times on your channel..: no luck, but this hurricane Milton I had multiple people local we all kept in touch with.::
At the height of the pandemic, one of the things that really kept me going (I especially liked falling asleep to it) was listening to police/fire/rescue scanner channels from around the country (through an app) What you said about “what they say to each other” is exactly why. When you listen to rescue teams communicate you will hear people who excel at one of the few jobs that REALLY matter: saving others. You will also hear them being polite to each other, and totally professional as they handle some of the CRAZIEST shit going on in the corners of our world.
Between my Uniden 125xlt scanner and the SDRTrunk software I have installed on my laptop, I'm kept in the know. I hope you and your family continue to stay safe and that power is restored in your area very soon. Thanks for the time and effort you put into the videos you post Erik. Sending prayers and positive energy from Toronto Canada.
Please, all, contact your representatives in the Federal Government and express how important it is to preserve, encourage, and grow this hobby. It has been a source of technical and emergency talent for generations -- yet many in our government think that it is outdated in the age of the internet. Natural disasters always prove otherwise. Cuts in FCC funding used to support Amateur Radio are always a problem, and our representatives need to be educated on how unwise defunding is. We should be promoting Amateur Radio in our school systems, and in homeschooling -- it is an ideal curriculum for supporting STEM and creating that next generation of engineering talent.
when we got hit with a dercheo in WV a few years ago..my house was without power for 34 days..the daytime temps were near 100. I had no gas as the gas stations didn't have power..we had NO emergency supplies or water until 2 days before power was restored..I never saw FEMA or ANY govermental agents in the entire county..I look at your hurricane damage and sigh..Do not count on your governmental services to help you..band to together and survive.
FEMA MANAGES response. They call people who contract repair services. Just because they aren’t wearing a FEMA jacket doesn’t mean they aren’t there because FEMA called them.
Much of the local efforts to relieve the human needs are under the control of local, county & state levels. Who elected those officials & what did the voters demand from their officials?? Federal relief efforts typically fix the infrastructure-- roads, hospitals, schools, buildings & residences...
@kaythegardener I really appreciate your comment and I might add that if we are asked to evacuate we should. It isn't right to expect someone else to risk their lives to rescue us when we didn't follow common sense guidlines for preparedness. And then blame someone else.
This is something that's been on my mind a LOT lately (and has been for a while)! I was big into CB back in the day. We're talking mid-seventies. Back when you needed a license for CB I had KRK-#### (so by a three letter four number call sign you know it was fairly early). I had a fairly large local group near me that hung out on CH 14 (for whatever reason, I know it was the "default" channel for cheap walkie-talkies). Spent many hours "Ratchet Jawing" with folks with handles like Cabbagehead, Spitfire (she had a Triumph), Packrat, and many others. Met and became friends with a few along the way. Dated one girl I met that way for several years... Went to many "Coffee Breaks" the whole thing. Got involved with REACT. I started out with a cheap 23 channel car TX/RX and then moved on to 40 ch and SSB. Put a Rat Shack "Crossbow" on the roof (their version of a "Big Stick"). Discovered D-104s (I still have two) and Turner Super Sidekicks. I still have it too along with several RS handhelds, some newer stuff like my Midland 75-822 handheld/car CB, and a RS 40ch SSB rig in one older car (custom mount in the console). I'm sure a LOT of people also have their gear laying around from back then and are dusting it off like I have been. With all the Natural disasters lately (and some Manmade ones) I've been thinking about emergency preparedness, and so on. I'm 1/4 mile from the nearest substation but I'm still thinking about getting a small Generator "just in case"). Glad you're OK in NC I'm in Atlanta and I've been watching all the coverage of Helene and now Milton and there may be more coming... Well, that's all got for now. 3s&8s and I'll catch you on the flipside. "Graystone" out...
Thank you for taking the time to post these videos . So important unbiased info . FYI and I am by no means paid to say this , ready wise is the best emergency food . I keep it at home and use it on expeditions . Unlike mre’s they are made for all ages . Good luck and keep up your pro active positive thinking .
I appreciate that! I have a few wise things and they are decent. I have a video coming soon on some emergency food (sent long before the Hurricane and I was glad to have it)
A friends mom back in the very early 70's had a Bearcat and I would say, was an absolute addict. She listened to it all day. She had a cops ear for when it was important, or interesting to her. She'd be talking and tune her ear into what was on the scanner at the same time.
@@Maxid1 my mom has a digital/analog scanner now. The old analog ran from the 70s till it died. She and her widow buddies go to court everyday it is running and take notes. A couple of months the judges paused a trial and had her bring her notes up. "Mr. &&&&, you were convicted on &&&& and you are back?". He hands my mom her notes back and asks the next widow if the notes were correct. LOL!!!!
@@Bob814u our town was kind of in the boonies. I'm not sure they had court proceedings in town. She was doing elder care in the mans home or she may been interested in going to watch trials. I haven't heard from her in a long time. I fear the worst.
2:25 So what I advise everyone to do is. Download all the useful information pertinent to their homestead and community. Download that information to separate hard drives. Then keep a laptop and those drives in a Faraday bag. Thank you for your time.
I have a Baofeng which i use for weather. Once I saw the devastation of Helene I ordered a pair of Tidradio H-3's. I'm getting a license and going to be prepared. When I was a kid I was into CB. i had a Browning radio with a 500 watt kicker. I ran a "Big Stick" antenna which was 100 feet up in an old oak tree. Talked a ton of skip. Neighbors got so angry when I was transmitting I had to shut it down and sell it all.
Thank you for your continued efforts in making videos that cover whats been working for you and your family in a dire situation as this. This is very useful information people really need on what works, we all have our preconceived notions on what will work in situations like this but we have to put those aside and really listen to the people that have been in actual disaster events! Being a Ham radio operator i have radios but I now will be adding a scanner to the list, I ve been a subscriber to your channel for many years now and have always found good and useful information here,thanks again farpoint farms and best wishes to everyone down there!
Erik, you used a good expression the other day when you referred to all this stuff as insurance. I live further up the east coast in the burbs and, thankfully, hurricanes typically weaken by the time they get this far but still knock out the power here and there. In watching your videos, I have picked up a coupe two-way radios, a GMRS(not too popular around here), a shortwave that I fiddle around with now and again, and a handheld CB I found on eBay. None of them are bad to have and we appreciate your insight even if we are not as tech savvy as you are.
Excellent view. Saying that these are the radios that I want is one thing. Having experienced a disaster and seeing what REALLY is needed is very helpful to those of us that haven't. Prayers are with you and yours. Take care and God Bless you and your's. 73!!
Information coming into a cell tower (your calls) are back hauled from the Tower to The cell Phone office via fiber optic cable (internet), then goes across the country on Internet cables…
I live in the UK where disasters like this are incredibly rare, but it doesn't stop me being prepared. I have solar panels in the back garden charging high capacity battery packs that can charge my wide band comms receiver (also modified to run for up to 50 hours on its own internal battery), charge my 144/432MHz 4W ham radio handheld and PMR/LPD handheld, and power my 80 channel AM/FM CB rig that can be (illegally) modified in a matter of seconds to pump out over 15 Watts if necessary. In an emergency, it's always better to have something and not need it than to need something and not have it. 👍
ALWAYS good to see an upload from Far Point Farms!!! I'm in Asheville. Got through relatively unscathed but many of my friends and co-workers did not... I've had that same X-Files poster that you have in the background for years lol. Hang tough Eric!!
@@FarpointFarms Thanks Eric!!! I was super fortunate. I'm on two acres, and I had two huge oaks the size of mini coopers come down on my property but they didn't hit my home, luckily... My Simple Pump auxiliary manual hand operated well pump was able to help many of my neighbors stay hydrated while we went without power for a week. Especially the elderly...
I can see where a scanner would work best for getting info! Never thought about having to switch back to an analog system after all the damage that was done. I’ll have to program em back into mine. Good to see cb being utilized in a situation like that!
I use to work for ntelos/lumos in 2012 when a derecho nocked out power for 2 weeks In Alleghany/ Botetourt county Va. we powered 3 of the major cell towers with massive diesel generators. But the other towers were out of power for the two weeks. My guess is most phone companies are not equipped, prepared for such a long-term powder outage. I know the phone company here still only has the same 3 pull behind generators. Stay safe out there 🤙🏻
@@FarpointFarms yes there night and day disasters. The point was the “grid” is not prepared for such events. and truly, I don’t know what you would do to prepare for massive flooding like this other than have a safe place in an elevated position with supplies there.
Yes, scanners are a great source for info. I have two 1,000 channel scanners, one is a desk unit that works on 120 volt ac or 12 volt dc and the other is a handheld which runs on 4 AA batteries. Living in Houston, TX I have been though may fair share of disasters, the worst was hurricane Ike in 2008. No power for 7 days and some folks went as long as 3 months with no power. I also have CB radio which is a Realistic TRC-465 but I am down for now do to a lightning strike fried the antenna. Glad your doing well and continue what your doing. Love the channel!
Hey, Bruce here again in Murphy NC. My big surprise was Cell service going down 2 or 3 days....Once again, here in Murphy we were very lucky, not much damage at all. Those who lost electric got it back pretty fast. That being said, I never lost electric, water, fiber optic...But we lost cell service ?? It appears, or I am guessing we are tied into one Hub only and not cross connected to the network. Good luck over there, the groups here are sending propane, fuel and winter clothing at the moment...
So glad you mention the analog scanner and AM radio, Erik! I recently started in the radio hobby with a Uniden BC125AT and a Tecsun PL330, and they are my favorite radios for info. I also like that they are lithium powered, and highly portable. It looks like your radios pulled you through the roughest of times. Thanks for sharing this valuable radio info!
I’ve been an amateur radio operator for 27 years. When everything goes down I can still communicate CW at 35 WPM if there is someone on the other end to receive. Thanks for posting, all the best to recovery there. 73, W5EJC.
After the Camp Fire (2018)here in Butte Co CA, my Neighborhood Watch group @ the help of amateur radio club, got a GMRS radio system going @ repeater. 40 + families just here. We do weekly netcalls to keep us on top of equip and community. It was picked up @ other areas in county, including Sheriff's comm. During the Park Fire ( Chico), the GMRS saved lives - all other comm GONE in fire zone. Awesome
Greetings, Eric! I'm very glad to hear that you and your family are safe and doing well. Thanks so much for sharing these videos with us while you're going through this whole mess. It's really helpful to get an honest insider's view of the situation on the ground. Also, the beard looks great! 73.
I know you are speaking more about amateur radio, but living in south Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina, I realized how important AM radio is during emergencies. At the time WWL-AM created a network and broadcast over several AM and FM frequencies to disseminate information. While people were stuck in there attics without water, I recall them reminding people over air that there is fresh water safe to drink in their water heaters. I am sure just this little fact going out over their radio saved lives.
@@FarpointFarms Looking forward to it. By the way, my comment was not a criticism of your video, which I found to be very informative. I was just adding how important all analog radio is.
Good report, Erik. I was having issues with HF propagation. I could hear hear most of the time on 40 and 20 meters but was limited to 100 watts and 15 feet elevation. I did hear more local local stations completing relays. I felt powerless just listening and not being able to do much. I hear that vhf/uhf comms were effecrive locally. GMRS would work well for local family comms as well as CB. Live and learn. Regards. 73.
Great update Erik! Stay safe! I would love to watch a video about what to look for when shopping for a used analog scanner. (When things get back to normaal) I have a BHD436 digital scanner and was drooling over the SDS200 also, but now I think an older analog one might be good for the arsenal.
Great video. That’s real lived experience of hardship and how the various types of radio have played a role in keeping you informed. I’ve given you a hard time in these comments in the past for some of the radio reviews you’ve done. I don’t take any of that back 😅. But I’m also here to extend kudos for making a good video as well. Thanks Erik. I watch all of your stuff.
Thanks for pointing out the value in your scanner, we hadn’t thought of that because of 1st responders going encrypted digital. Here on the west coast several years ago we lost over 400 cell towers from all carriers in my half of my state during an extreme wildfire season. Both the FCC and state PUC nailed them for lack of redundancy to provide power to towers. Interestingly enough the GMRS, 2m, & 70cm radio repeaters mostly had solar backup, and those that didn’t were updated within a year by the various ham clubs.
We went without electricity for 38 days. It was during 2000 ice storm here in Southwest Arkansas. We live in the Ouachita mountains. Cell service wasn't a thing, land lines were out, and the police radios were down too. The internet were down too. Everything was down. It was three weeks until even half of that. The fire department was using a phone tree when the phone lines finally got mostly back up. Where we live cell service and electric is sketchy on a normal day. We just came to terms with not talking to people. We survived.
@@barneymm2204 good thing we had a hand pump well and a wood stove. We put the contents of our fridge and freezer in a plastic tote in the shed. The temperature never got above 32 degrees for 30 days. We had a coyote try to sleep on our porch under the swing for two days at the worst of the storm. I saw him when i went out for wood one night.
We are in Buncomb County and just north of Asheville. In 2012 the creek here flooded pretty bad per my daughter. I was still in southern California. For whatever reason it didn’t flood much this time. We could also usually see the yellow line down the middle of the road. That has disappeared quite a few times during regular heavy rains. We did lose power and internet. It took about a week to get power. A day or two more to get cell service. We got internet after that but it now goes away for up to 15 hours each day. We had water and had to boil it but then they cut off the water to do temporary repairs. We had bought a portable radio that could be charged by solar, through a charging device, or hand cranking. Took it out of the box after we were in the dark. It took awhile to find a station that came in clear and stayed. Shout out to whatever station “I ❤️ radio” is on. We are fairly new to this region and not familiar with most of the communities. It dedicated itself to the disaster and the people in it. The only reason we had any idea what was happening was because of them.
Stay safe and best wishes for a speedy return to normal. I suspect that ordinary people need to learn from these events and organise how to communicate because the government sure does not seem interested in helping them plan. 73
Radio World said 48 AM/FM stations reported being knocked off air due to Helene. Then, a couple days later, they were reporting how resilient radio was through the storm.
Eric wright Don Curtis he sleeped at the radio station for two weeks straight. He was running a 2 meter/ 40/ meter cw/hone net. Using the radio station to conduct health and welfare checks, as well as search and rescue traffic nets. Clay Travis helicoptered home and interviewed him on his nationwide radio program. Don's wife had to evacuate their home do to mountain flooding to a nearby gas station convenience store. She is fine he had a scary 24 hours before he got in touch with her again.
After 9/11 they pushed digital everywhere. Local to me, the police department's Dispatchers use analog, but switch to encrypted digital for sensitive information. The local sheriff has stated he believes the public knowing what is going on is on the whole good thing. The local fire departments do the same thing. They get dispatched to a situation on analog, then switch to digital once they are on the scene.
@@laser31415 I can understand it with sensitive info. I remember when everything was 10 codes and different places had different meaning for each 10 code. Then, one day, everybody stopped using 10 codes and started speaking plainly. The high end scanners have stuff onboard to decrypt the "approved" (read old) modes, but you're right, we're not gonna get it all back.
Glad to see y’all are ok. Good thing you were prepared for something like this! Analog scanner here is somewhat hit and miss. They’ve gone digital, police and some others are encrypted as well. In Dec 23, we had a tornado rip through our city. We didn’t have power or cell for several days, sure was glad I had 2m radio. God bless all those affected by this storm.
The damage is going to forever change the mountains. A lot of lives are changed and not for the better. I am so sad for many of my friends. They lost so much.
We continue to pray for ya'll everyday. Thank you so much for relaying your lessons learned from this horrific event. I just hope everyone listens and makes their own preparations that much stronger. What will you add/upgrade from what you've learned?
I have a few things that are on the short list for considering- Solar shower, we were able to warm water on the stove, but that only went so far for hygiene. We will look at power packs that are quick charge and pass through features. We will be adding on to our solar. If the storm happened during cold weather, we might have to consider other items.
It's amazing how we evolve together, thousands of miles away from each other. You can receive useful information from just about anyone, and relay that information to just about anyone. Good stuff, Eric 👍. Scanners are very important, especially if you're locked on important freqs on your transceivers. Scanners are fast enough to keep up. One cheap, great radio I can recommend for BOTH is the Retevis RT-95. Unlock it to mode 02 and plug in all the freqs from FRS/GMRS in the first 30 channels, then add any additional GMRS/LMR and ham repeaters you want, MURS channels, Marine channels, or even the old color dot and star channels. Set to scan. If anyone digs one of these radios out of the closet or old work truck, you might be the only person that can hear them and get them help. Sort of a neighborhood EMCOMM. It's clear we must be ourvown saviors, and let the "officials" go help the helpless.
stay Steadfast sir, Farpoint farms has been a pinnacle of me going to college! keep up the fight over there , our thoughts and Prayers are with you!!!!
Those bridges that washed out ripped up a lot of fiber that fed cellular towers. So even towers that had power and were intact would not be able to provide service as they were connected to nothing. What a horrible disaster visited upon our state.
I would not wish this situation on my worst enemy. Everything can be fixed given enough time and money.- I just hope that peoples spirits can be fixed as well
It would be awesome if you and some others could present the issues with communication you had to your Congressional Representatives and Senators. Clearly, we need something old school for getting critical information out to local households. I had a hand crank powered radio for weather, but it was annoying as heck. It gave alerts for every thunderstorm, so I dint want to leave it on, but it was good during the hurricanes to track them. But the weather people do not provide the information on stuff like where to go for shelter, where to get gas, where to get supplies, or when services or roads would be restored. And as I learned in the military, when you present a problem, present ideas to fix the problem. Your knowledge and your experience in this crisis make you uniquely qualified to speak for us.
@@FarpointFarms People are people…they like to look like they’re doing something good. And being politicians, if you hand them a good idea they can use the problem and the fix as leverage in negotiations. You can already discuss the issues you had clearly. You’re a good communicator. So something small like a walkie talkie, but with a crank generator, and/or integrated solar. I know there’s a name for what I’m thinking, but can’t recall…like internet that goes house to house, using the equipment at each house. Information would pass along like phone service used to be…a party line. Rural areas and small towns especially would benefit.
Here in South Carolina, right after the hurricane i turned on my emergency radio.... nothing, all stations AM/FM were playing music. I went to my truck and searched... no news on any stations
Back in 1992 when Hurricane Iniki hit the island of Kauai in the middle of the Pacific Ocean , the entire island lost power, water and telecommunications for a long time, CB and ham operators stepped up and were the communications links to the neighboring islands and the the lower 48, one local retired radio station deejay was big into DX and did lots of USB/LSB communications to the neighboring islands and communicated the situations during and after the hurricane, he was highly recognized by the mayor for his efforts at that time.
Good information.. Out here in the northwest of the country we have been blessed and not had many disasters at all.. Though we do get some bad fires in the mountains and the deserts of eastern Washington and Oregon.. And that is very devastating for the locals in those areas.. Well stay safe and carry on!
Every area has their thing, Fires do really scare me. We had a threat of wild fires a few years ago and it was scary- not knowing where or what direction they were going was the worst part.
Glad your ok and hope life starts to return to normal for all of ya. Anyway you hit some points and being in New Hampshire in the last two ice storms, I found a scanner and in particular AM radio beneficial. I have had my amateur license for 35 years, started with 11 meter stuff earlier and have a commercial license. The thing that makes AM is it can be received with 4 parts and one can find all kinds of information on foxhole radios.
Eric yes almost of communication should be open we need to get Congress to open up a little bit on the a.m. keep it going it's a.m. is AM radio is might be the past but still the future cuz you never know what will happen
Hello Erik, I am deeply sorry that you are having to deal with this. Having been in almost all major disasters, including the Texas Grid Outage, I am in the process of strengthening my Self-Reliance Preparedness. In the past couple of years, communication technology has made fantastic advances. Satellite data communications is a thing, and during the power grid outage in Texas, Directv plugged into a generator and gave us all the information we needed to stay informed, and now I have Starlink. Love or hate them; you get two-way information. Even TravlFi with an extended 10dB antenna can be extremely effective in these kinds of situations.
We are now looking at Starlink as an option. Every time something like this happens, we learn. This event really made me realize how far I've come over the past 20 years!
I live in a city of 600,000 people and ALL police,fire,EMS,hospital,county and city went to 800mhz simulcast and the only scanner that works is the Uniden 200 and it works really good.
I live in the desert Southwest, so while hurricanes generally will not affect us we do have other weather related events and of course wildfires and and drought and heat to contend with. I bought a couple of crank radios several years ago too able to get info in an emergency. I also had been thinking about the capability of heating and cooling our home during an emergency such as a power failure event. I finally pulled the trigger this year on a system which can help us in the event of an emergency. In the Southwest we generally use evaporative cooling because it works fairly well, but it depends very much on the environment and if you have any humidity or if the air is thick with smoke from a forest fire then it can be detrimental to your health, and of course it doesn't work in a power failure. We decided to upgrade our home to refrigerated air and I ran across solar powered mini-split units. I installed three in our home and they work fabulous. These units are ultra efficient heat pumps so they heat and cool all in one package. The units also came with solar panels and as long as you have sunlight during the day they can run 100% off of solar power so no grid required. They also run off of electricity at night if you need them to. This has been a game changer for us as it has lowered our bill from $260 a month to around $94 a month. Also in the case of an emergency they can heat and cool our home during the day. At night people generally wrap up and go to bed so you generally don't need much in the way of heating. Since these units are ultra high efficiency they consume very little power and can be easily powered by even small generators because they use 120 volts AC and up to 390 volts DC so you can connect several solar pedals to them if you want. The kit comes with four solar panels which powers them even on cloudy days.
It took many months before cell phone service & power was restored to Lahaina, Maui. You all are progressing better in this election year- far from perfect, but better.
So glad to see you are doing well through this catastrophe! Which scanner would you recommend I buy? Why are you not using a starlink? Would a starlink be better? Sending prayers 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I bought a used Radio Shack Scanner on eBay. Look for something made in the 2000's. We are now looking at starlink. Internet was never an issue until it suddenly was.
Thank You,Your wearwithall Through Our The Years And The Information You Have Taught Us Has Be Priceless. Real World Experience Seems To Be The Baseline During Emergencies. God Bless😅
Everyone in our household is licensed to operate amateur radio. Folks who don't consider radios really have no idea what kind of piece of mind can be achieved in the middle of a tornado warning when we're seeking shelter and the Skywarn storm spotters on 158.805 are telling us exactly where the tornado is....when it isn't in our area. The whole county will be seeking shelter but the tornado might be on the opposite side from where we are, but without radio we're sheltering in uncertainty and nothing but hope to give us any piece of mind. Radio is a blessing.
I’ve been wondering if the other reason cell service has become more fragile is simply from the immense load it has to support since everyone uses it so heavily. In the last couple winter’s here in the Dakota’s if we get one bad snowstorm we’ll lose cell service for 12-24 hours minimum. Whereas a few years ago that wasn’t the case. Glad you’re doing well, praying for all you folks down there.
If you wrap a coil of wire around the radio and attach the ends to long lengths of wire you will be able to receive MW AW signals in the evening from great distances - 2,500 miles. You need, of course, to point the broadside of the antenna towards the stations.
Oh yes! I love to listen to the clear channels at night. In this case though local news is what was needed The local station was off line for 2.5 days, but when it came on it was critical info.
I remember during the deep freeze of 21' here in texas that i was shocked at how fast gas and groceries were completely out across travis county(trucks couldn't make it in it cuz of the roads). It was about a day and a half before everything was gone.
I lost power, cable, and internet here near Tampa, what I used for info was connecting an over-the-air TV antenna to a small TV operated off a power bank. I knew exactly what was going on with several local stations to pick from.
Here in Texas. I knew Cell comms would be down as most internet (unless you were starlink and had power). I wondered about CB and AM . Your suggestion of the scanner is Great !
CB is always great for local chat. AM is critical in these events and as I said, The real surprise was the scanner. It was great to hear from all sides of me on what was going on.
People are buying CB radios again and GMRS. I remember going through hurricane Irene in 2011 and hurricane Sandy in 2013. It was hard being without power for days in each hurricane. I had a Sears generator with 5500 watts that got us through them
Me and my family are getting cb radios with Ssb. We decided when the cell service and things go down atleast we will be able to communicate with others. We’re trying to learn the lingo.
Having those types of radios is so important- Cell services will go down pretty quick and they will have no way of communicating. CB might not have a huge range, but you can still get an idea of what is going on locally
Glad to see you and your family are doing well as can be expected, thanks for the report, I've been waiting for this one. I agree with your comments about scanners. We've had a few power outages in our neighborhood recently not due to any major storms or big events, it's always good to practice with the scanners and shortwave during an outage. I monitored radio traffic mostly on the Uniden AT124 and SR30C during the night on batteries, the shortwave just to see what I could hear. It's amazing how much I could monitor on the SW radio without electricity and RFI from various sources. My lesson here is the only radios of any use in an extreme emergency will likely be the scanners and the GMRS handheld. The beard looks good, keep it. GMRS WRZE723.
Am a ham / ARES member here in N.H. As other areas the pd , fire have gone p-25 digi.. BUT most local , State DOT's have stayed analog so a lot of useful info during a event can be had.. Monitor your town DOT..
2 days ago the NOAA’s SWPC issued a G4 storm warning. This has been the second g4 warning issued in 2024. Bright red Auroras were visible in New Jersey and parts of northern Pennsylvania. Have u experienced any radio interference within the past 2 days?
