Posted on 09/21/2013 6:43:48 PM PDT by PinkChampagneonIce
Am looking for information about how to communicate in emergencies. I live about 20 miles from where I work. I am an attorney, and need to get word to the Courthouse if I am not able to get where I am supposed to be due to a combination of physical obstacles plus no phone service. I am on dial-up internet, so if there's no phone, there's no Internet. I am 1/2 mile from a paved road, so if there is no vehicle, there's no way out. There's no cell phone service in my area - have to drive about 10 miles to get a cell phone signal
One of my clients suggested that if I get a CB radio I could call into the Sheriff's station, which is in the Courthouse, to alert the Court to emergency situations. This sounds like a good idea. The client also said that I could install the CB radio in my truck and then I would be able to take my communications with me.
I don't know anything about CB radios, and am hoping my FRiends can tell me if this is a viable solution and, if so, the cheapest way to do this.
THANKS!
Breaker one-nine, this here’s the Rubber Duck...
Ham radio?
Satellite Internet?
Carrier Pigeon?
get an amateur radio technician class license....info at www.arrl.org/home
Can get satellite Internet with a VoIP phone from Hughes net, dish, wild blue, via sat, whoever is in your coverage area; or you could buy a globalstar or Iridium phone; gives you more mobility.
If I were you, CB radio would be the way to go.
i concur - get your ham license. On 5 watts I can hit repeaters 30 miles away. At 25 watts I can reach even further.
What do the old timers at the courthouse suggest?
Surely your problem isn’t new.
Satellite internet and VOIP may be a solution.
Good luck.
Where are you that there is no cell service? CB radio is relatively low powered, and your local sheriff may or may not monitor the emergency channel 9.
Ever since the FCC eliminated the code requirement, a ham radio license on the 2 meter band, along with a local ham radio club that has set up a repeater station with a phone patch, would allow you to make a phone call from a mobile radio.
It will take just a little effort on your part to get a 2 meter license, but since you are a lawyer, I think you can handle a little study.
Look at the Ranger brand. Get one equivalent to 10 meter capabilities and have a qualified cb technician tweek it out to 45 watts. It should be able to easily carry 50 miles with upper and lower sideband.
my inexpensive baofeng radio at 5 watts can hit a repeater 12 miles away and more reliably than CB for clarity of signal.
Amateur radio...You can have both base, and mobile...and you can have comm with town....any town....in the Phillipines....or anywhere else.
CB is pretty much worthless. Ham radio is the way to go, but you will need a minimum of a “Technician” license.
de W4EX
Look into a satellite phone, as opposed to a cell phone? There are large swathes of Australia, among other places, where a satellite phone is the only real option.
Sorry, Hughes net is in the area, but no VOIP available. During bad weather, satellite is no better than dial-up. Everything goes down. Wild Blue is also in area, but so unreliable that no one is interested.
general info in Wikipaedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_phone
and do searches on satellite phone, satellite internet, etc for more info in addition to the previous links I gave you for specific companies.
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