Would CB radio be the only way to communicate at long distance in a disaster?

I have heard that CB radio would be the best way to communicate during a disaster,but what about if a solar flair took out communications like,cell phones,and satellites? Would CB radio still function in a electromagnetic disturbance? Just looking for some thoughts and opinions.

cb typically does not work over long distance....ham radios can go quite far....don't know if they could survive EMP

reply to post by CASH69


no CB radio uses electronics which would be fried in a solar flare.

Cant answer about the electromagnet disturbance but can say that years ago I was an enthusiast of CB radio and found that if I put my aerial into water, it was a canal then I spoke to people the other side of the world on a regular basis. We would exchange what we called Q cards that we posted to each other as proof of our locations so maybe yes it would be a good way of long distance communication.

I was in Katrina, and of all things, Text Messaging was the only way I was able to communicate. lol

As far as solar flares though, I have no idea.

You may find this site helpful: www.cbradiomagazine.com...

The truth is no one knows what will be left working if disaster strikes. We may be left with string and soup cans. Hopefully we never find out!

reply to post by squizzy


I have talked to people coast to coast on what is referred to as "SKIP".When the atmospheric conditions are just right.

reply to post by CASH69
Well if a CB radio is able to work, then surely a Ham would still be in operation and it can reach alot farther than a CB radio can.

With that being said, I'm not a guru on EMP's or solar flares but I beleive if the electrical device isn't turned on at the moment the event occurs then it won't be damaged, but please I beg you not to take my thinking as fact on this topic. I'm sure someone will chime in who actually knows something about that stuff.

Now if everything is knocked out electrically I would suggest pulling out your history books and learn how they did it before electrical devices started delivering our messages to one another... i.e. letters in bottles, carrier pigeons, pony express, etc...

The problem would be getting all the people to actually have CB radios. I guess we would revert to the smoke signals and drums on a relay system.
I also agree with the previous post about the skips as I too experienced them.

My boyfriend is a Ham/CB operator - he lets me know when he's getting skips from the solar flares. However if if all power grids go down - Hams and CB's will not work. Certain locations may be alright, that would be a wait and see situation. We do not want M or X flares.

reply to post by OatDelphi


I was kind of thinking along the lines of CB Radio being a little more accessible to the average Joe. Ham Radio's may be a little more hard to get a hold of during a disaster.

reply to post by CASH69


Shortwave radio for sure. While ham radio is not as big as it once was, it is still a great system and the units can be shielded from EMPs because many were designed in case of a nuclear attack.

reply to post by AQuestion


I didn't know that. I wonder what would be the best way to shield a Radio?

CB Radios are also available in a hand held version that uses battery power. To cover longer distances with these you just need to earth a decent aerial or put it in a river and you can get quite exceptional distances with it,

For answers, go to the ARRL.

Study up on propagation of electromagnetic waves, faraday cages, lightning arrestors...

reply to post by Chakotay


TY,Good idea. Guess i better have a back up Radio too.

Hams put alot of emphasis on emergency communications and often test their field rigs in emergencies like earth quakes in other countries.Alot of ham radios are designed to run directly off 12vdc.Older sets still have vaccuum tubes, are very rugged, repairable and probably would not be affected by emp. I ththink it'd be a valuable survival skill to have.most levelsof ham licensing are now "no morse code required". though its still used among operators A side bar of the hobby is "QRP" low power transmission: You can "work the world" on 5watts with the code. I can envision a ham operator in every smaall group of survivors passing on newsand information for their town.

reply to post by CASH69


During bad solar storms long distance “skip” will be sporadic to totally unusable, CB included.

CB is only reliable on short range communications, and that is something that solar flares will not affect.

Solar disturbances increase the noise floor, and push up the attenuation in the upper atmosphere. It gets worse the lower the in frequency you go. I have tuned through the HF bands more than once to find the place deserted, save for a local ham or two.

In general, you should not rely on CB for long distance communications. The CB band only opens up to long distance communications every 11 years, at the peak of the sunspot cycle, and when it does open up, everyone and his brother is on there yelling “hellooooo skip land helllllllooooooo skipland” During the non peak years, you can use it for reliable local communications, and during the sunspot peak years, it is best to just turn the thing off and find something else to talk on.

And in reply to another poster, NO a CB radio will not be fried by a solar flare. An EMP on the other hand may be a different story, if you have it hooked to a big antenna.

Realize if you transmit( ham/cb/gpmrs etc.) you can be found fairly quickly by anybody whos interested.

reply to post by squizzy


I googled CB radios and water and didn't come up with a thing.... do you have any links to verify this works?