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Think about this scenario:
Television and radio news programs play a vital communications role in keeping you and I informed. Recently, many of us have spent much more time than in the past, with our eyes glued to our favorite television news anchor. Suppose for a moment you are watching Monday night football and suddenly the lights go out..... and they don't come back on. You do the temporary lighting thing, with battery-powered lanterns and a few candles. After an hour, still no lights. You rummage around and find your old portable radio, but the batteries are dead. In a moment of brilliance, you remember your car radio. In a flash you're in your car, and the radio comes alive. Your local am station is on-the-air. There is a news alert being broadcast admonishing everyone to stay calm. Suddenly fear grips you. A single thought captures your mind, "The bastards have done it!". You listen as the announcer conveys sketchy but scary reports of wide spread power outages. He/she says more reports are streaming in. The word explosions suddenly come through your speakers as he/she brings you word of terrorist attacks on the US power grid. Without warning, the station goes dead. You frantically search the AM channels for a clear signal. There are several barely audible stations. No luck, "shit". You race into the house to tell the family.

If you think that story is unthinkable, I agree. But, so was the attack in the WTC. I tell you what, if it does happen, only the prepared will be able to be kept abreast as the situation develops. Remember, if you are outside a major metropolitan area, your local radio stations may not have auxiliary power. Even if they do, they may not be able to get the news feed from the Internet, telephone and various satellites.

Seriously, what would you do in that situation? Suppose you hear from reliable sources that the authorities have no idea of how long it will take to patch things up. The phrase "it'll take weeks" is whispered.

If you do not have a "Communications & Information Plan" in place, it can be a very scary wait. It might even be a scarier wait if you do have communications plan. Maybe you don't want to hear what comes over your emergency communications equipment.

What do you need to know:
Current Situational Reports will be very important. There may be nearly normal television and radio news broadcasts. However, even if you have a generator, how long will the fuel last? Chances are the larger and more powerful AM radio stations will be On-The-Air. Forget the FM stations, their reception range is very short. If your local FM stations are down, you won't pick up distant stations. Now of course, the possibility exists that local people will jury-rig a local station with a generator. Before long there "may be" a local station to listen to. Wouldn't it be better if you were prepared and were able to hear a 50,000 watt station 800 miles away?

How's the family? Some members could be far away, such as mum and dad, your daughter away at college? How will you find out if they are safe? Oh, you think snail mail will be working. Let's hope so. Maybe the Internet and email, right? I don't think so, even if the net is Ok, you have no electricity remember? OK, you say the phones may be working. Well, I sure hope so, but with a power outage like the one we're talking about, who knows. Suppose it is, with no one going to work, and everyone trying to use the phone system at once, well, remember Y2K warnings? Remember Virgina Tech? Cell phones were worthless, all lines were jammed - no getting through. Some parents drove hundreds of miles just to find out if their son or daughter was safe. In our simulated energency described here, surely the phone systems, both land lines and cells would probably be brought down because of overload. What if Martial Law is imposed? It might take you days to get through to your daughter's dormitory. Suppose it goes like this: You finally get a ring and the person on the other end says......"who, I don't know her,,, i i i gotta go", click and the phone is dead. I can sense your heart pounding already.

Well there is no perfect solution to all the communication problems an emergency like this could generate. But we can review a few ideas:

AM Radios: Being able to bring in distant stations might prove to be exceptionally useful in this situation. There are a number of products on the market. The ideal product would be a high quality portable radio, designed to bring in stations from a great distance. It's quality would not rely on the atmospheric signal skipping phenomena. The unit would run on NiCad rechargeable batteries. There would be a solar accessory adequate to recharge batteries and or to power the unit. An exhaustive research proved beneficial, as the author has found and bought one himself. Heck, where I live, there is fledgling of an AM station. I'm 15 miles away and sometimes with my old radio I could not get good reception. Plus, I listened for years to NYC talk shows and missed them very much, when I moved. I don't miss them anymore. The heck with TV.

Short-wave Radios: There are hundreds of short-wave scheduled broadcast stations around the world. There are thousands of "HAM radio" operators. History has proven; short wave radio can be an extremely valuable assistance in time of war and crisis.

If you only want to be able to tune in and listen, then a good quality receiver is all you need. A handbook listing stations, frequencies, time of broadcast along with subject matter would be very handy to have also. Any Radio Shack will offer you multiple choices at affordable prices.

HAM Radio: If on the other hand you would like to have live contact with HAM operators around the world, then you need a transmitter station and a license. HAM radio operators need to apply for a license, which includes being, assigned a "Call Sign" It's your licensed name as a ham radio operator. It would be a very good idea to learn as much about ham and short wave radio as you can, in order to maximize it's usefulness in time of emergency. You can learn on your own with the aid of a self-help course. You can look around your local area for HAM operators. Most are very happy to help new comers. Or, you could investigate an appropriate course taught locally. I suppose there is even a HAM radio course available on the Internet.

Your humble author is a licensed HAM operator. I'm the type of guy who wants to know what's happening. I like to be in charge of my destiny. Being a HAM operator gives me the best chance to know what I need to know, in order to endure and survive. Learn about HAM here

Satellite Cell Phones: Now you talk about technology. This is technology at it's best. Imagine, you are on a sailing vessel in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and you want to call your brother who lives deep in the Amazon jungle. You pick up the phone and in minutes you are talking to your brother. Remember though, satellite cellular phones need working satellites to function. In the event of a massive solar storm, the kind that would create wide power outages around the earth, would also put the world's satellites at grave danger of being cooked.

As you can see, even when a loss of electricity prevents you from receiving television and or radio news, there are a number of viable alternatives. Being prepared is the key factor.

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Last edited on ... March 15, 2007
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