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

Originally posted by gringoboy
During solar flae maximum the signal of most CB radios travels further and infact you can speak to someone around the otherside of the globe,so if the sun goes crazy for several days and fries all other electrics,satelites Etc you can rely on a CB radio and antenna

You are getting two terms mixed up. Sun spots and solar flares.

During the sun spot maximum, the 11 meter band will open up to long distance communications. Solar flares will kill all propagation if they are bad enough. They cause the attenuation in the upper atmosphere to go off the charts. That causes the radio waves to be absorbed before they are reflected.

reply to post by Mr Tranny


Not really as HAARP is to modify ionisphere for global and greater frequency bandwith ,simulating what your speaking of.Not so much spot as fluxwww.acma.gov.au...=PC_1691
I hope the second answer from SPAZZ answers it all for you,don`t believe all you read on here,heres the fact
www.totse.info...

Are you working for the military passing dis info

CB radios can be modified to transmit several hundred miles. This is, of course, illegal. There are guys who will modify your CB at truckstops. This is a low cost alternative to ham radio. These illegal cbs are in use all over the Carribean.

Originally posted by earthdude
CB radios can be modified to transmit several hundred miles. This is, of course, illegal. There are guys who will modify your CB at truckstops. This is a low cost alternative to ham radio. These illegal cbs are in use all over the Carribean.

True but you better have some good heatsinks fitted or it will overheat and fry,Keeping them cool is best and when flares propagate wire in your signal gets carried with the movement and is scattery but travels for miles .Thus HAARP,wake up folks your on line..No amateur here

reply to post by earthdude


Ground wave or skip?

If you are referring to ground wave, not going to happen. I can get on 10 meters with a KW and can’t get two hundred miles.

If you are talking about skip, you don’t need to modify any radio, 4 watts is plenty, you just have to have a clear frequency. I regularly talk to people in California, Europe and Russia with 15 to 25 watts on the 10 meter band when it’s open. That is just up from the CB band. That isn’t much above a legal SSB CB. The only reason it is hard to do it on CB is the band crowding and noise from all the junk operating on the band.

You can work can work any part of the globe with under 5 watts. People do it all the time.

Solar flares, EMPs...will toast your electronics...Well....How about saving them, maybe by putting them in a led casing, maybe putting them in the basement of your house in the safe, I mean there are ways to save your electronics for EMPs and solar flares !!!

Originally posted by Fox Molder
Solar flares, EMPs...will toast your electronics...Well....How about saving them, maybe by putting them in a led casing, maybe putting them in the basement of your house in the safe, I mean there are ways to save your electronics for EMPs and solar flares !!!

exactly and they will be the first communication used after a event,common sense.Mr Tranny you obviously did not read the comment from SPAZZ the second on this link clearly defining solar flares for maximum UPhhh..do read again as I say I`m no Amateur
www.totse.info...

Originally posted by Fox Molder
Solar flares, EMPs...will toast your electronics...Well....How about saving them, maybe by putting them in a led casing, maybe putting them in the basement of your house in the safe, I mean there are ways to save your electronics for EMPs and solar flares !!!

A lead casing may be a bit much. Putting them in a metal cabinet, or metal box of any kind like a computer case should be fine.

Hmm…… Never done an accounting of how many CB’s I have got in storage……

On a quick count, My total stock is over 37 working units. I only use two units myself. The rest are ones people gave me, or I seen for sale at such a low price that I couldn’t walk away. ($1 to $2) The non working ones were fixed, or scraped out for parts a long time ago.

simple,
just store your cb or ham radio in a faraday cage
this should protect it from any kind of emp

Originally posted by gringoboy
Mr Tranny you obviously did not read the comment from SPAZZ the second on this link clearly defining solar flares for maximum UPhhh..do read again as I say I`m no Amateur
www.totse.info...

edit on 18-1-2011 by gringoboy because: (no reason given)

His explanation is incomplete and wrong.

www.qsl.net...

Unfortunately, if the sun is active (i.e. solar flares and storms) then the noise floor is increased, diminishing the effectiveness of the increased atmospheric ionization. In this case, even though the ionosphere is in better condition to propagate waves far, the noise floor does not allow the ham to hear those signals.

Sun spots, and solar flares put out different types of energy. Sun spots put out uv and X ray radiation. Solar flares put out charged partials. The affect they have on the ionosphere is totally different.

Solar flares will ionize the same parts of the ionosphere as sunspots, but they will also ionize other parts that cause an elevated noise floor and higher attenuation of the signals you want to hear. So sunspots help propagation. Solar flares kill propitiation. I have been running the HF bands for 20 years and have seen it time and time again.

as others have posted cb and ham radio would work. ham can travel much further but u need a big antena. dosent need satalite to work.

reply to post by Mr Tranny


yes but when a total wipe out occurs after the event ,and there are numbers of sunspots then propagation will be at its best and be useful for communication,surely you can see that

reply to post by gringoboy


A solar flare does not generate a sun spot. The sun spot will be there if the flare happens or not. The presence of a sun spot is what usually helps create a solar flare. You can have plenty of sun spots but not have a single solar flare.

I prefer to take my HF propagation without any solar flares thank you.

about 30 years ago when my dad was into ham radio.
You had to take some classes that were pretty tough.
And as far as i could tell, would let you build a radio from parts after learning the material.

In any case with a ham radio you can talk with anyone around the world.

It's pretty amazing.

Originally posted by Mr Tranny
reply to post by gringoboy

 

A solar flare does not generate a sun spot. The sun spot will be there if the flare happens or not. The presence of a sun spot is what usually helps create a solar flare. You can have plenty of sun spots but not have a single solar flare.

I prefer to take my HF propagation without any solar flares thank you.

Once the flare has passed then ,breaker ,breaker through haarp.

A lot of people here are confusing a solar flare with an EMP event. They are NOT the same thing. A large solar flare can cause fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field. These fluctuations can induce large currents in the lines of the power grid, frying transformers and melting the lines, etc., basically knocking out large sections of our power grid. A solar flare DOES NOT 'fry all electronics' like a nuclear EMP does. Solar flares usually cause a disturbance in shortwave propagation that lasts 1-2 days. Propagation then rebounds and communications resume. There are ways to shield a radio from the effects of an EMP but their effectiveness is questionable. Old vacuum tube type radios are not as vulnerable to EMP effects but only if they have absolutely no diodes in them (meaning tube rectifiers in the power supply). A large EMP fries everything with a semiconductor in it - diodes, transistors or IC chips. I've been a Ham operator since 1976 and have researched this topic before.

Originally posted by CASH69
reply to post by AQuestion

 

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

The best way is to have a radio in storage, unpowered, and any decent metal box (preferably fire proof and dry) will do -- it will shield out the EMP by a significant factor.

Of course, you need to provide a power source. There is a variety of options there.

reply to post by Wires


Thats the reality CB will be the first communication device utilized by any military force its known as the redundant systems,which are redeployed for country wide use after a mega solar burst,to maintain and communicate the civility left if any.

I must ask. To whom would you think you could communicate in a disater? Is it a simple explosion locally? A massive fire in your area? A large earthquake? An act of war with bombs?

If it ever gets to the point you'd need to communicate by cb-ham...its probably pointless. The ones who hear you...probably cant get out anyway either, nor send help...because there wont be any.

In a very SIMPLE (if there even is such a thing)LOCALIZED disaster, yes, you could call for help to someone somewhere who might hear you on Cb. But where are they located? Next block? Next county? Across the country? In another country all together?

The real question becomes...will it matter and can they even get any help to you?

reply to post by mysterioustranger


There is far more to radio communications than “getting help” If you only get on the radio to scream “come help me” then you are wasting your time.

There is a thing called situational awareness. It is very important to know what is going on outside of your direct field of view. To know what threats may be coming at you from afar is priceless.

Yes, you may be sitting there crying over your house that has been leveled, but if you hear over the radio that the dam if failing up stream, then you will know that the time for crying is long past, and it is time to get moving to higher ground, and to tell everyone that you see to spread the word and do the same.

To spread the word that a section of a city has been taken over by a gang, then other people can avoid that section. If you can get the word to the militia or military then they can come in and neutralize the problem.

There is also message handling. To help convey messages between distant parties that doesn’t even involve you, so that they can coordinate rescue efforts and logistical solutions. Where bulldozers are needed to clear roads. Where you need chainsaws to clear trees. Where people are actually trapped and need extracted. Where generators are needed to keep critical infrastructure running.

Person #1 “We have a diesel generator that we can’t get started! It is the backup power for the local radio station, we can’t get a hold of anyone that knows how to fix it, put the word out that we need a diesel mechanic!!!!”
Person #2 “The local radio station is needing a diesel mechanic!!!”
Person #2 that hears # 2 “I may know someone that can help. My brother worked at for Detroit diesel as a mechanic, I will send him down that way.”
Person 2 tells person 1 that they may have located someone that can help….. on and on.

That is normal disaster response communications.