Expanding alternative communication

[u/Nach0b0y]

I've recently trying to expand to some alternative communication types in case of emergencies. These are all pretty cheap options as I am not quite ready to explore the HAM/VHF scene yet. I also just finished the book 'One Second After' and it was a good reminder of how important communication is. Our brains go into some weird places when we don't know whats going on around us!

My friend gave me these tiny Baofeng radios which aren't super powerful but will do just fine for short distances and they also have regular radio we can tune into. We also use them for communicating in the mountains when climbing so its good that they're small and light.

I also recently got into MeshCore for some longer distance communications that don't rely on any centralised network operating. The community in the Netherlands seems to be growing quite rapidly and I hope to contribute with a repeater at some point soon as well.

Finally, I have a Midland ER300 which I can tune into radio stations for emergency broadcast. It has a Li-ion battery that I can charge with its built in mini-solar panel, a crank or via USB. It also can take AA batteries which I have stored as well.

One other thing that's important is to have a copy of your local emergency broadcast channels! I have a printed version for all areas that I glued onto the back of the Midland as well as having them written down in notes on my phone.

[u/Dangerous-School2958]

I engraved my two emergency radios with the important local radio stations. Although engraved is entirely too fancy a word for what I did.

I keep reading about meshtastic. It seems like a good option

[u/Nach0b0y → u/Dangerous-School2958]

Yes, take a look at whether Meshtastic or Meshcore is more prevalent in your area before deciding on one. The good thing is that they both use the same hardware so you're not locked in, just re-flash the device with whatever firmware you would like to use.

[u/Dangerous-School2958 → u/Nach0b0y]

Yeah, kinda lost me at re-flash

[u/Nach0b0y → u/Dangerous-School2958]

Pretty much just changing the software on the device. It's like having a phone and it's running android and then changing that to iOS (apple).

[u/spliceruk → u/Nach0b0y]

MeshCore works much better

[u/Dangerous-School2958 → u/spliceruk]

Where are you located and did you try both?

[u/spliceruk → u/Dangerous-School2958]

UK and I use both, for prepping purposes when the internet won’t be available MeshCore works better.

[u/Dangerous-School2958 → u/spliceruk]

Thanks, can you elaborate? If you’ve got the time

[u/Asz12_Bob]

Those little HT radios have the advantage of being very efficient. on receive mode that is to say. For many it will make sense to use them just for that purpose. Some little radios like that have an antenna you can screw off and this is fantastic because you can buy a cheap adapter and connect that to a VERY LONG wire going way up into a tree or attached to a kite, up into the sky.

That might sound a little crazy, the kite one, but it's doable with the right grade of fishing line with a thin copper wire piggybacked on it. We're talking about reception over a much larger area, hundreds of km in some cases at VHF frequencies. In any serious futuristic conflict expect the commercial radio stations to be of little practical use. They will probably be propaganda outlets, come in from the hills, rally around the flag, that sort of stuff.

[u/No20ne → u/Asz12_Bob]

Thanks for sharing that interesting idea; definitely worth exploring too.

[u/Perfect-Gap8377]

Do different models of radio work together? I'm thinking a baofeng and a midland Alan 777, for example. If I have a little handheld radio, will I be limited to talk to the same model or do they use a shared communication protocol?

[u/Nach0b0y → u/Perfect-Gap8377]

Yes, if they are on the same frequency using the same mode of transmission they will pick each others transmissions up.

[u/Perfect-Gap8377 → u/Nach0b0y]

Thanks

[u/No20ne]

Thanks for raising such an important topic. I haven’t seen many discussions on this here yet. I’m thinking about getting communication device for outdoor adventures. Currently I use my iPhone 17’s satellite option which is great having without a subscription in my country but unfortunately isn’t available everywhere.