The right set-up doesnt need to be a financial drain or collect dust.
Why Bother with Backup Comms?
The sheer volume crashed the system for roughly two hours.
Other recent incidents include Atlantas E911 center losing power for the second time in two weeks in November 2021.
Fourteen states suffered sporadic outages in September 2020.
Some areas didnt have service restored for 8 hours.
None occurred when Mother Nature was in a foul mood, either.
Things get much worse during a natural disaster.
Phone outages compounded the situation.
It was a weeklong unauthorized release while evacuated homeowners were away.
Californias 2018 Camp Fire claimed 86 lives.
Panicked calls inundated the 911 system and many never got through.
Torched cell phone towers went dark and Internet access died.
Theres another consideration if cell phones are your exclusive means of staying in touch.
Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 included massive cyberattacks that took government and bank websites offline.
Modern two-way radios fill the role nicely, in some unusual ways.
Its operated on General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) frequencies and has a voluntary weekly check-in for participants.
The scheduled event allows residents to build familiarity with the radio and ensure operational readiness.
The main advantage, however, is the Neighborhood Early Warning system the ham operators programmed into radios.
The walkie-talkies remain silent, like high-end weather radios do, until a code is transmitted to wake receivers.
For the average person that means simply leaving the two-way radio on and in the charging cradle.
In rugged terrain that is problematic for low-lying homes.
Keep the radio on and it will remain silent until the code wakes the receiver.
There are other times when it can be a lifesaver as well.
A disruption in cell phone service followed the Boston Marathon Bombing on April 15, 2013.
Failure to punch that message through could cause someone to risk their safety in a fruitless search.
What Radio License Do I Need?
The stuff for making long-distance contact is big, expensive, bulky and prefers to wear annoyingly long antennas.
Its hit and miss, though, and not predictable or frequent enough to rely on in an emergency.
That makes them noisy, crackly and overpopulated with Rubber Duck fans from the disco era.
Expect 5 reliably, maybe 10, if you learn to tune the antenna.
Bonus distance if you run a single-sideband version.
MURS Radios
MURS operates on VHF, which pushes it into line-of-sight territory.
Its underused, despite having only five channels.
Its transmissions are frequency modulated (FM), which makes them quiet and intelligible.
MURS does a better job punching through wooded areas than FRS and GMRS, and worse than CB.
There are not a lot of handhelds commercially available and what is out there is reliable and built well.
Prices reflect that fact.
Do yourself a favor and ignore claims of effective distance, which are usually gross exaggeration.
Unless youre standing on Everest and talking to a peak in the distance, youll never witness it.
These run license-free on 22 channels.
The difference is significant, so be sure to check before you buy.
Unlike CB and MURS, so-called privacy codes are standard.
When programmed it keeps the radio silent, even when someone else talks on the same channel.
When a radio with the same programmed code starts to transmit it wakes the receiver.
Operation is FM, making it easy on the ears and understandable in most conditions.
FRS radios are inexpensive and readily available, but quality varies widely.
Operating a GMRS radio requires a license, but dont let that scare you away.
Its $70 for 10 years a price thats about to drop and it covers the entire family.
These radios operate in UHF with FM transmission, which means static-free conversations and improved distance.
Power limitation raises to 50 watts on several shared channels with FRS a decided compatibility advantage.
External antennas are legal and extend the range significantly.
Five-watt handhelds are common today and some of the distances reported are shocking from the tiny units.
Plus, GMRS has eight channels reserved for repeater use.
If youre unfamiliar with how that works, its almost identical to the privacy code, but much better.
A radio somewhere on a hilltop or building receives your signal with the right tone or digital code.
The tone/code is never heard by the human ear.
Repeaters open for public use are sprinkled across the country and using one effectively doubles the range usually more.
Pre-program the radios youre all set up to stay in touch when the grid goes down in your vicinity.
Many repeaters have battery backup and solar power.
When its time for tactical talk up close, change to another channel.
Its the route I took after Hurricane Florence.
There are two repeaters in my area.
Here are a few things to improve performance.
The higher the antenna, the better you’re free to hear and be heard.
If nothing else, stand on a truck tailgate or rock.
The difference it makes can be huge.
Why do most serious operators have their radio equipped with an external microphone/speaker?
For one thing, it makes it a lot easier to carry.
It also lets you hold the radio high above your head when sending a signal.
Its wise to select a model that accepts a combination mike/speaker.
If legal, add a better antenna.
Get an external one for your vehicle.
All that metal blocks signals.
Factories peak and tune good two-way radios before they ship.
Thats not to say there are no bargains.
Put the pair in adjacent rooms and they dont work.
Separate them by a half-mile and its fine.
Its not exactly ideal if the radios primary purpose is in and around the house.
Working on a steep roof and need to summon to hold the ladder after the lengthy task is complete?
Backing a trailer or RV and the spotter is hard to hear?
Caravanning to an event, fishing trip or campout?
Use the codes to keep things silent until needed.
And, we all know cell phone service doesnt exist everywhere.
The system is similar to GMRS repeaters.
If you dont know the code to turn on the transmitter, good luck sending that SOS.
You may hear them, but odds are even first responders in the field wont hear you.
The approach allows alerting an entire precinct or, when needed, sending a departmentwide bulletin.
Many first responder radios even jump frequencies to avoid transmission pileups when calls flood in.
If nothing else it will certainly attract the attention of Federal Communications Commission investigators.
Thats the only way to learn the limitations, double-check prefs and like your Springfield Armory firearms maximize performance.
