I agree with what has been said about the pitfalls of relying on cellular phones in an emergency. Many of us can remember Randy explaining at the following CRIME meeting how the service was slammed in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Public circuits with finite capacity are inherently subject to unavailability during congestion in unusual circumstances. I can even remember not being able to make a business call on a regular phone shortly after the OJ criminal verdict was announced. I also agree with those who have mentioned the potential usefulness of Amateur Radio. So does anybody know how robust Nextel's walkie-talkie system is? At face value, it seems like an interesting backup communication system. Greg -----Original Message----- From: Brian Varine [mailto:witchdr@private] Sent: Friday, June 06, 2003 12:26 PM To: crime@private Subject: Re: [CRIME FW: Wireless Communications during disaster?] First you need to figure out what type of communications you need to begin with and what the mission is. Cell phones are great if they work but in a disaster the network has a habit of becoming overwhelmed. I'm not aware of an entire cellular/PCS network going down over a large area so they seem to be robust enough to stay online. If you get the digital systems they are secure enough for tactical information. FRS work for short range tactical comms. The Coast Guard should have some type of VHF radios correct? Don't forget you also have considerable comm's assets within the Air and Army National Guard. The beauty of Guard units is they can be tasked by the Governor and deployed rather quickly. FEMA has an incredible about of Comm's gear that you might be able to tap. They have everything from satellite uplink trucks to portable trunked radio systems. As others have mentioned, HAM radio is a great asset for comms. During the floods of 96/97 HAM's did a considerable amount of patching messages. I believe the Civil Air Patrol even has the ability to provide communciations in emergencie.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Jun 06 2003 - 15:43:58 PDT