There is no Ham club at our level. The major city is over 100 miles to the north.
I suppose if a EMP weapon was used, it would cut us off from the system, but that is what it would take. If that were the case them we would use direct communications via mouth since no power and no radio comm would be likely for some time. There are one or two Ham operators, but they are not very common here. The one I knew well has passed on and the other moved.
We have a small airport and someone is organizing a Air club. But other that that, we would likely have to build something from scratch.
There is no backup that would survive a EMP anymore than a hamm radio would but they would likely be the first to be repaired and up and running should that occur.
Like I said, there is some integration in areas where it is available in any sort of dependable way. Like clubs and such. We don't have any here in my little city that I am aware of. We did several years back, but no longer.
IMO, government would destroy Ham radio if it extends it's reach because of full integration into the Federal and State systems. The business of amateur radio would be sensitive to excess regulation due to cost and inconvenience. The spectrum needs to remain free to survive, and effort to incorporate it on a non voluntary level would most certainly destroy it.
Romney's comment was correct. We don't need to do that. Hamm radio as a assist, or even a replacement if required, will work just fine as it is.
“There is no backup that would survive a EMP anymore than a hamm radio would”
Tell that to my Halicrafters SX-71, with Johnson Adventurer transmitter...
Yes, I STILL have my first Novice rig, and it was ancient when I got it!!
If so, if you don't mind me asking, what type communications are they using to communicate with the citizens? And what type of communications are the citizens using to communicate with your local government during massive shutdowns and big time disasters?
We have a small community. The city is only 30K. The county is about 70k.
So the short answer is you have no means to communicate with the citizens in your region for immediate status reports and other vital information in the event of a major disaster.
OK.
“There is no backup that would survive a EMP anymore than a hamm radio”
An old tube ham radio, say a Hallicrafters, will survive an EMP burst of frightening intensity. It’s the solid-state wonders that fry. Tubes are quite hard, if a bit power hungry due to the filaments.
Hard to melt vacuum, yano. Silicon melts much better.