Thriving The Future Ep. 47 – Community Comms

Choosing the type of Communications based on your Community

Mike from Paratus Radio joins TTF Podcast to discuss emergency communications.

We look at communications based on several community scenarios (size, location, and needs):

Cul de sac – FRS (walkie talkies)
Group of farms (0-2 miles) – GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service)
Group of intentional communities (5-10 miles apart) – GRMS with repeater.
Group of farms or communities (farther than 10 miles) – GRMS with repeater, HAM, or HAM with repeater, if necessary.
Farther – CB Radio

Why can’t we just use our phones?

If power goes out, the cell towers only have 1-2 days of backup power. If the outage extends past this then the cell tower will not function and it won’t come back on its own. This may seem unlikely, but it was seen in the ice storm power outages in Feb 2021, and in the power outages due to Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Also, during emergencies the phones frequently cannot make calls or drop connections.

You can also use these radios to hear National Weather Service and Emergency stations. So these emergency comms should be part of your emergency planning.

GMRS has 22 channels and can use 8 repeater channels. The 22 GRMS channels overlap with FRS walkie talkies.

Repeaters are basically base stations, like booster antennas, that you can transmit to/use to extend your range. You transmit on one frequency and receive on another frequency. Repeaters are maintained by radio clubs, local governments. You can even setup a repeater yourself.

It is often more important to listen than to transmit. 90% of communication need is in the 5 mile range.

We also discuss licensing:

FRS – no license.
GMRS – $35 license for the whole family. No test.
HAM – test for technician license (to use local and repeaters

Helpful links:

Paratus Radio – ParatusRadio.com

Radio 100 Quick Start – What You Need to Know about Radio – PDF

MyGRMS.Com – Licensing, Repeaters, Maps

Ham Radio License Quickstart PDF

Repeaterbook.com – Lookup for HAM Repeaters. (Also available as a phone app)

FCC.Gov – Universal Licensing System

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