Disaster Comms

[@TheOldManPrepper]

Great video from someone ON THE FRONT LINE! I'm licensed in both HAM and GMRS. I am leaning more GMRS these days, but HAM does have it's place in ECOMMS. It is CRITICAL to your emergency plans regardless of what kind of emergency to have a Comms Plan that the whole family understands and can use. This is where those dumb practice drills come in!! If you don't know how to use the tool (radios or otherwise) it will be useless when the adrenaline kicks in!! New sub here and new to the You Tube world.

[@RANTStrategies]

Hey sir, glad you found the channel and definitely appreciate the comment. You are spot on in your assessment and that’s one of the goals of this channel, to get your exact message out and build that mindset. Glad you enjoy the content, lots more to come. Stay safe!

[@phl_knives]

Great breakdown without it being too much jargon. It's wild this was a video from a few months ago and hits dead on for much of Helene response. I have been working on getting a PACE plan for comms. GMRS is on the list. I've been working on learning and getting a MESH system in place for myself and the people who I'd be looking to meet. I like the option of being able to use ATAK and encryption network depending on the deck you build out. Testing the gear is high on the list. It's like owning a 🔫 and never having fired it, just waiting til you need it isn't when to find the failure points. I have a buddy who evacuated from Paradise. He said it went from be aware of the fire to wind changing direction and needing to leave immediately. His place was a foundation when he came back to recover anything that survived. Hearing his story was a big wake up for my comms plan but also having a go bag handy for everyone. Adjusting those for winter and getting vehicles setup for winter in the next week or so. Thanks for the knowledge drop.

[@RANTStrategies]

@@phl_knives I will definitely weigh in about ATAK and ITAK as I’m a somewhat regular end user; burning short, I’ll tell you, there are much better systems out there that are much simpler to use. You are spot on with the need to train with your equipment first sure. Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for the comment!

[@GUERRILLACOMM]

If I remember correctly, MURS 1-3 are narrow banded, MURS 4-5 are exempt and still wideband. I know from converting hilltop repeaters to the mandated narrow band we lost quite a bit of range. it would be interesting to see if that test in the real world when you compare the services. Digging your channel, good stuff.

[@RANTStrategies]

@@GUERRILLACOMM I didn’t know that about MURS 4 and 5….. yes, definitely not a fan of narrowband and certainly appreciate the intel and thank you for the compliment, glad you enjoy it, from checking out your channel insane quite the history with radio! 🍻

[@P-dawg21]

It was but I need more…..this is rocket science to me

[@SubVet1984]

PACE planning for EM COMM. Ham has a place along with FRS, GMRS, Disposable phones and cell phones, and even CW.

[@RANTStrategies]

@@SubVet1984 yesssss!!!!! 🙏 absolutely! 💯

[@SoCoguy]

As mentioned gmrs now 35. Good video. Licensed both, I'm all in GMRS. Reasons: radios most people will have and understand is this band. Most gmrs RX ham and can TX frs, which are conveniently same frequencies. Easier to say "move to channel 7" if traffic. Always thought HAM had better distance ht to ht. I live in so Colorado forest. My reach is better than 2 meter unless line of sight. Working fire here in steep hills it's the way we go. DMR is a no. It isolates. Understand it needs to be there at command level however. Thank you

[@RANTStrategies]

@@SoCoguy hell yea man, thanks for the comment and you are spot on in your assessment. Stay safe out there.

[@HardcoreFourSix]

GMRS and Amateur licenses are now $35 for 10 years, even a better deal than before. Also, during a wildfire a few years ago (withing 4 miles of me) I heard firefighters using MURS for intra-squad comms.

[@RANTStrategies]

@@HardcoreFourSix oh yea, I wouldn’t doubt you heard them for a second…. That’s pretty commonplace, especially amongst the shots

[@MotherClucker1]

been trying to renew my ham license! Website is a mess to navigate.

[@tomedgar4375]

I have a home that sits between the recent line and bridge fires. Media was useless for useable information. 2 meter ham was the best source of info to keep track of the fire progress

[@RANTStrategies]

@@tomedgar4375 local intel from locals is always best, stay safe

[@bobmcnelis3648]

Pick yourself up a scanner if you don’t already have one. You can keep track of just about everything and your local frequencies are available online

[@RANTStrategies]

@@bobmcnelis3648 absolutely! Forget waiting for the news…… What better way to get what is actually going on and what could affect you

[@KF0NNQ]

Head to head tests. A lots of ARES and RACES exercises have operators going to IC and first responder base locations. If public comes are down, how isnthe public going to contact ECOMMS? FRS and GMRS in neighborhoods are the missing link. No one, in my area, ever considers this. Thoughts? 73, Bill.

[@RANTStrategies]

Hey Bill, yes I actually have had a lot of thought on this exact scenario and I’m going to be doing a pretty thorough explanation on my ideas in an upcoming video! 73s

[@marlawhite3682]

yes you should try other eradios beside your comercial work ones.

[@RANTStrategies]

@@marlawhite3682 I think it’s going to happen for sure, it needs to be done lol

[@daleurban4059]

This is where ham radio shines, during hurricane Helene. VHF repeater supporting emergency and recovery comms kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGaym3SNfap2adEsi=oaFNFIXwPBiLsjEr Simple analog vhf comms.

[@RANTStrategies]

@@daleurban4059 absolutely! crazily enough… this was filmed about 2 months ago….. I’m kind of amazed about how accurate and relevant it is to current events.

[@RickFinnstrom]

We have HF which does not require a repeater. Spoken by an ego trip mental. Ham radio has generations of providing communications during disaster since ham radio started. and and governments have relied on ham radio

[@RANTStrategies]

@@RickFinnstrom no doubt about that, with HF is always the issue of portability

[@tannerwarf3471]

@@RANTStrategies Not at all. That used to be the case, but these days you can have an HF radio the size of a deck of cards that runs off a 9 volt battery and can reliably be used for regional comms using email and digital modes.

[@RANTStrategies]

@@tannerwarf3471 what’s the antenna on that look like? Or is it internet based?

[@SteveHcutabovehost]

@@RANTStrategies actually it can be a roll of wire, if you ever attend a ham radio field day that is what it is all about, quick deploy, in the field rapid communications. VHF and UHF.

[@RANTStrategies]

@@SteveHcutabovehost I’m well aware….. and how well is that going to work for the people I showed in these videos trying to escape in order to save their lives?? 🤔

[@Pops_607]

$35 for 10 years for a gmrs lic that covers your whole family.

[@josephkigar3271]

so cal fire freq. are best on a scanner??

[@RANTStrategies]

@@josephkigar3271 not sure what you mean there…..

[@SteveHcutabovehost]

Your video shows you aren't a amateur radio operator and haven't learned what it is about and what it can do. VHF/UHF isn't the limits of radio communications. HF was used as well not just VHF/UHF for the last two hurricanes. Winlink was a resource used as well around the affected areas. People outside of the impacted zones help relay information to local EOC and the rest of the world as well. I have the ICOM IC-7000 as well as other radios, the ICOM can do HF/VHF/UHF as well, so it is a mobile radio that can really communicate all over.

[@RANTStrategies]

@@SteveHcutabovehost 🤔 well you couldn’t be more wrong about be not being a ham, but that’s ok 👍….. you also missed the target as to what this video was about…. If you are caught in a disaster, it’s going to be a little tough to keep comms with your group if you’re trying to run winlink on HF…. It was targeted for people within the affected zone, you also must have missed the part for this video where I specifically said I wasn’t limiting comms to “ham” radio.

[@SubVet1984]

Actually I believe he shows alternative views. All of radio techniques is viable for emergencies.

[@baronedipiemonte3990]

Exactly. Immediately following Hurricane Katrina, every type/mode of comms was employed to reintiate & supplement every type, from public safety to distress to neighborhood to long distance... 27mhz CB AM & SSB, GMRS, Amateur, FRS, Marine,..... I don't recall the internet address, but there was a website dedicated to the use of FRS for net training for disaster/emergency comms. From what I saw of it a few years ago, it was well conceived and seemed quite ordered.

[@bobmcnelis3648]

Well, he’s “ a cut above the rest”, so there’s that.