Post SHTF communication alternatives

[dragon5126]

Field phones are eaasier than most think, and hiding wires isnt that hard in metro areas since there are poles full of wire everywhere you look, so even the wire is there if you can ring it out. Bells and smoke are not normal comms but alarm type broadcasts so at that point your position usually is known. What nobody has hit on yet, however is message security. Anyone know how to build an enigma machine? We cant depend on computers to encode a msg as they may be fried along with the radios we can't use... so cyphers will be necessary for security if it comes to that. Also an alternative place to route field phone wires are storm and sanitary sewers....

[Dropy]

couple of tin cans and a piece of string ?

[izzyscout21]

is there any way to send short data bursts post SHTF?

[bacpacker]

What are you wanting to send? Some digital traffic can be sent with ham radio, email for example.

[izzyscout21]

look at it this way. I KNOW that the whole meltdown/ mad max scenario isn't going to happen (I cold be wrong), but it the comms grid goes down for whatever reasons, I for one would want to be able to communicate with, for starters, all of you. All of us are in different areas and have the ability to paint a bigger picture for each other. I just figured that traditional radio/ cell/ voice comms probably wouldnt be working, so I settled on the data transmissions.

[Dropy]

look at it this way. I KNOW that the whole meltdown/ mad max scenario isn't going to happen (I cold be wrong), but it the comms grid goes down for whatever reasons, I for one would want to be able to communicate with, for starters, all of you. All of us are in different areas and have the ability to paint a bigger picture for each other. I just figured that traditional radio/ cell/ voice comms probably wouldnt be working, so I settled on the data transmissions.

I agree here. Info is gonna be worth SOOOO much more than guns and bullets and food. A solid line of comms, for those who are interested, is well worth the cost and effort to do it.

If for no other reason in a shtf situation person A is in a bad area but person B is not. A can find this out and maybe get on the move with solid info instead of just picking a direction and HOPING it pans out for em. Plenty of scenarios and i KNOW you ex-military folks will back me up on this.

SO if we can find some way to do this i am in. Even if it is only doable in a group buy (to reduce costs) format.

[bacpacker]

Izzy the digital comms I was speaking of for sending e-mail will work station to station (me to you, or me to RJ) as long as we both have the same capabilites. It can also be used to send e-mail to the general public as long as the internet is up. I don't count on that being the case if SHTF. It may be even be taken down before then for various reason's.
For local digital comm's, depending on distance digipeater (basically a digital repeater may be needed. For long distance, from say across state to across the country or around the world you have to have HF capabilities including radio and TNC (terminal node controller, this unit converts the radio transmission to digital and back again when recieving a message.
There are many other digital modes for both VHF/UHF and HF bands. they all have their own pros and cons. A set up to be able to work all this, local and worldwide, could be had for under $1500 up to as much as you want to spend.
Currently I am set up to work 3 different digital modes on VHF/UHF. I will be able to do voice comms on HF once I get an antenna up. But I would need to get a TNC for HF before being able to work any digital.

[Dropy]

I need to learn this stuff for when we move to alaska.

[bacpacker]

The one for e-mail I was referring to is called Winlink 2000.
Check it out at

http://winlink.org

You have to have a ham license to use it, but other than that it works well. A ham buddy of mine set his RV up for HF comms and he and his wife took a 6 month trip up the left coast to Alaska back down thru Montana and the Dakotas. They had email at just about every stop. Stayed in contact with freinds and family the whole trip.

[dragon5126]

simple ham packet will work and can be used to send secured info through encrypted codes, but in all seriousness do not underestimate the plausability of an EMP. While on a national level it's a scifi event in all probability, it is a very real threat with in regions of several hundred miles in diameter. Now I'm not one prone to conspiracy theories but recall the cruise ship situation earlier this year and the socalled missle test by the chinese, the time frames were just too perfect, and the complete failure of all electrical and electronic systems on that ship just wasnt plausable but it happened...

So we really do need to consider pre 20th century otions as well as the digital age