Emergency Communications Packs

[Robert Stewart]

Theres alot of threads in this forum subject about which types of communications would be useful in a SHTF disaster which knocks out all communications leaving only a select few systems that would be useable for relaying messages

In my instance living in rural SA where were prone to bushfires and potentially megafires as i've mentioned in the first 2 posts i did yesterday after signing up radio communications is essential to coordinating and combating bushfires but in the event of STHF scenario or perfect fire storm all conventional forms of 2 way communications even including Ham radio are likely to be disabled due to repeaters being burnt down or power failing

Faced with this scenairo being in the High-Extreme range of likelyhood i put together 3 communications packs

Pack 1: 2 x 27 MHz radios (1 portable and 1 base)

Pack 2: 1 x UHF CB radio with remote head microphone

Pack 3: 1 x 23 Ch Kraco ssb radio

The beauty part about these packs is that i can deploy them instantly when needed and either run power supply via a generator or my car's batter using the lighter plug

 

[Graynomad]

I used 27MHz CBs in the 70s, it can have a long reach if you get skip but is not reliable in that regard.

Why would HAM fail I thought that was like HF and doesn't use repeaters.

 

[Robert Stewart]

A valid point Graynomand it all comes down to skip with 27 MHz, as for amateur (ham) radio here in the SE they use 2 metre and 70 cms which run rely on repeaters the reason why i say that amateur radio is likely to fail in event of a megafire like Black Saturday or Ash Wednesday is because the repeaters are located on a hill right close to pine plantations which have a high flammability which can take out towers if the right fire conditions are there

 

[Graynomad]

Ok thanks.

Coming from a 4x4 background I'm used to using UHF but that's line of sight, CB (27MHz AM) might be better in many ways I think because it will go around corners. Also as almost nobody (in Oz at least) uses CB these days you may find that you have the channels to yourself, in that regard it might be a good OPSEC choice. I have a CB in the truck but nowhere else, can you get hand-held 27MHz units? Your photo seems to show that you can.

 

[Robert Stewart]

I found that 27 Mhz handheld on ebay and just did some minor repair work and it was good to go... you might be able to find 27 MHz handhelds on there as they appear on ebay all the time

Another idea i have wanted to play with is putting single channel walkie talkies into my communications packs as the advantage there is one single channel that can be used even if its person to person communications

 

[Graynomad]

Just looked on eBay, nothing right now but I'll keep an eye out.

If they are old units they would have a crystal to control the frequency, it would be easy to swap that crystal, I wonder if that would give you units that nobody else could listen to.