What To Do If C*%mun$ca#io@ Goes Down

[AKman]

Ok. I have thought about this too long and want to know what others may be thinking on this subject. I did a search and couldn't find anything on this but let me know if there is. In the case of O man's communications czar Mark LLoyd and his own words on shutting down the internet I began to wonder. What would happen? The claim is to shut it down in the case of an emergency. What constitutes an emergency? With the POTUS I have learned not to listen to what he says but rather watch what he does. I'm watching, the people are watching, and our country is being dismantled! At some point very soon the scale will tip and people could do the unthinkable. Could this be the emergency? Two questions come to mind..If we needed to organize for any reason and the internet is shut down how do we accomplish this? That would leave phone (if they go as far as shutting down the internet I'm sure they'll shut down all Phone Co Central Offices)or snail mail. Any effort to organize would die in it's tracks. We communicate daily with millions of viewers through all types of internet forums and take it for granted we'll be doing it every day. Do we start right now and come up with a "peoples plan" if this does happen? Think about this for one second...What would you do if you woke up and there was no internet, no tv, or no phone of any kind? What would you do? None of us are prepared for this. It's time for a plan. Stop me if my tinfoil is wrapped to tight but this could be a real concern to every one of us. I also wonder about planning on a public forum. Any Google search will bring up forum discussions using the title and a couple of sentences of the text body.

 

[Bob J]

Ham Radio is the classic communication when all else is down.... Part of the reason I got my license....

 

[KBCraig]

They'll never shut down the Internet, because it's bread & circuses for the modern age. It's a pacifier.

 

[AKman]

Great tool that did come to mind. Ham operators can communicate between themselves but how do messages get relayed to us regular people? In any given town how many operators are there? We would almost need a list of all operators along with locations or go back to CB or even walkie talkie relay system. Sounds primitive but may be an idea. I'm sure all ham operators don't want hundreds of people converging on their homes either. Wouldn't the gov have someone monitering the radio waves?

 

[Marcus5aurelius]

Great tool that did come to mind. Ham operators can communicate between themselves but how do messages get relayed to us regular people? In any given town how many operators are there? We would almost need a list of all operators along with locations or go back to CB or even walkie talkie relay system. Sounds primitive but may be an idea. I'm sure all ham operators don't want hundreds of people converging on their homes either. Wouldn't the gov have someone monitering the radio waves?

Hundreds of people wouldn't converge on your home unless you told them about your communication link, like you said the "regular" people wouldn't know

 

[T3andme]

Ham Radio is the classic communication when all else is down.... Part of the reason I got my license....

This, this is also why I am starting to read and learn about ham radio. I do recall after 9/11 trying to reach family members who were flying that day. Nothing worked. My family member was waiting to board. RIP to the 3k others.

 

[bullseye]

If the big O is willing to shut down the internet, would there not be jamming also going on. If the goal is to make it difficult to communicate amongst the people that are willing to take their constitutional rights into organized ways and means, how hard is it to jam pretty much all communications, cell and shortwave, except for the government run networks already in place that will disseminate information big brother wants us to hear and only hear.

 

[hminsky]

Shutting of the phones and Internet would destroy the government itself. Even the North Koreans have telephone service.

 

[Jaxon]

Ham Radio is the classic communication when all else is down.... Part of the reason I got my license....

+1

 

[AKman]

In this scenario with no communication other than ham radio how does information get relayed to us sheeple aimlessly wandering around? I understand hams can communicate back and forth with valuable information but If the SHTF tomorrow I personally wouldn't know any ham operators nor where to go to find out what the hell was going on. Skip the government as this scenario also states it would be they who took communications away. Remember the emergency may be created by us. They obviously have their own plan for this. What is ours? I must read up on ham radio communication for one.

 

[tele_mark]

In this scenario with no communication other than ham radio how does information get relayed to us sheeple aimlessly wandering around? I understand hams can communicate back and forth with valuable information but If the SHTF tomorrow I personally wouldn't know any ham operators nor where to go to find out what the hell was going on. Skip the government as this scenario also states it would be they who took communications away. Remember the emergency may be created by us. They obviously have their own plan for this. What is ours? I must read up on ham radio communication for one.

There's an organized traffic handling system in amateur radio -- here's a summary.

 

[terraformer]

What To Do If C*%mun$ca#io@ Goes Down

Read a book? Really, communication is nice and all but it isn't required to survive.

 

[AKman]

If the big O is willing to shut down the internet, would there not be jamming also going on. If the goal is to make it difficult to communicate amongst the people that are willing to take their constitutional rights into organized ways and means, how hard is it to jam pretty much all communications, cell and shortwave, except for the government run networks already in place that will disseminate information big brother wants us to hear and only hear.

It's easier than you think. Our communications via phone whether hard line or cell run through switches and trunks centrally connected. The government in most cases has dedicated trunks and lines. It's easy to shut down a whole city. Find the offices where the trunks connect and shut down a state and so forth. There are hard connections for cells also so don't assume they's still be cell service. As far as cable goes it works in a similar way. Most of our phone and internet comes to us in these two ways. In 2007 Hugo Chavez began the nationalization process of securing communications. He did so by nationalizing Venezuela's largest tlecom company CANTV and then buying out Verizon. It can happen here.

There's an organized traffic handling system in amateur radio -- here's a summary.

Thanks for the link. After reading the example on communicating Aunt Mary's birthday I'm still left off at the last step. The ham operator closest to Aunt Mary phones her to wish her a happy birthday.

Read a book? Really, communication is nice and all but it isn't required to survive.

If it all went down for some BS reason I would read a book, but this is uniting with brothers and sisters for a specific cause where we'd be needed in numbers. You'll have to read between the lines on this one.

 

[ochmude]

In this scenario with no communication other than ham radio how does information get relayed to us sheeple aimlessly wandering around? I understand hams can communicate back and forth with valuable information but If the SHTF tomorrow I personally wouldn't know any ham operators nor where to go to find out what the hell was going on. Skip the government as this scenario also states it would be they who took communications away. Remember the emergency may be created by us. They obviously have their own plan for this. What is ours? I must read up on ham radio communication for one.

If you type your zip code into http://www.qrz.com/ you'll get a list of all the licensed hams in your area, just fyi. Once you get licensed you give up a bit of privacy in that regard, unless you associate your callsign with a P.O. box instead of a street address.

 

[AKman]

If you type your zip code into http://www.qrz.com/ you'll get a list of all the licensed hams in your area, just fyi. Once you get licensed you give up a bit of privacy in that regard, unless you associate your callsign with a P.O. box instead of a street address.

Thanks for the tip! I find there are five listed operators in my town. Several on the same street. Not knowing much about ham I'll have to say I don't see any antennas around. This also brings up my point. I used the internet to locate them. You used the internet to help me find them.

In implicating a plan would it be wise for us to make it a point to locate and introduce themselves to a nearby ham operator?

 

[n1zfg]

Thanks for the link. After reading the example on communicating Aunt Mary's birthday I'm still left off at the last step. The ham operator closest to Aunt Mary phones her to wish her a happy birthday.

If the phones were down, the idea is that the ham would then have a note saying "Happy Birthday from <relative> <name>" personally delivered to Aunt Mary. (I'd probably wind up contracting that task to my local boy scout troop)

 

[Twigg]

...

 

[ochmude]

Thanks for the tip! I find there are five listed operators in my town. Several on the same street. Not knowing much about ham I'll have to say I don't see any antennas around. This also brings up my point. I used the internet to locate them. You used the internet to help me find them.

In implicating a plan would it be wise for us to make it a point to locate and introduce themselves to a nearby ham operator?

Honestly, I think it would be more beneficial to just get licensed yourself. Even if you have no desire to do anything with the hobby at all, it would make it much easier to strike up conversations with other hams in your area. The whole "like-minded people" concept and all. Besides, a Technician license is extremely easy to obtain. In another thread I posted about a 6 year old that passed the Technician exam and now licensed. I look at it like this, in an emergency you aren't going to need any sort of license to try and communicate. No one is going to give a fig about FCC regs under such circumstances. However, prior to such an emergency, having a ham license is the only way to legally practice anything you may read about in the field of radio communication...other than enlisting and becoming a radio operator. You build/buy all sorts of equipment and read heaps of books on the subject, but until you're properly licensed you can't legally key the mic and see if any of it actually works.

 

[Mike-Mike]

The test is $14 and the license is good for many years. (I think 10-12)

 

[ochmude]

The test is $14 and the license is good for many years. (I think 10-12)

And renewal is free unless you have a vanity call sign. I'm starting to think that every shooter should have both a C&R FFL and a tech license (at the minimum).

 

[AKman]

If the phones were down, the idea is that the ham would then have a note saying "Happy Birthday from <relative> <name>" personally delivered to Aunt Mary. (I'd probably wind up contracting that task to my local boy scout troop)

That was the question I needed answered. Not that I don't have more!

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Delete this part due to content

 

[ochmude]

Just hit F5 repeatedly. That's what I do when NES goes down.

 

[whatluck]

There's an organized traffic handling system in amateur radio -- here's a summary.

Awesome! I learned something new today!

 

[Bob J]

Also worth noting that it could be useful in other than SHTF situations.... Was talking with someone at the class who was relating how useful it is to be able to communicate in situations like last years ice storm or even when they are running a big event (Boston Marathon etc) where everyone is trying to call out and the system is overloaded.... If there is an emergency during that time, having the capability can be a lifesaver....

 

[tele_mark]

Also worth noting that it could be useful in other than SHTF situations.... Was talking with someone at the class who was relating how useful it is to be able to communicate in situations like last years ice storm or even when they are running a big event (Boston Marathon etc) where everyone is trying to call out and the system is overloaded.... If there is an emergency during that time, having the capability can be a lifesaver....

Last year's ice storm was what got me back into ham radio after 16 years out. Having all the roads out of town impassable, and all electricity, phone lines and internet down kind of drove home the point.

 

[Dirtypacman]

Any HAM operators in merrimac valley want to take on an apprentice
What is the cost to get a system?

 

[ochmude]

Any HAM operators in merrimac valley want to take on an apprentice
What is the cost to get a system?

Check out the NES Amateur Radio (HAM) Club. I'm sure you can find some answers over there. The thread's over 140 pages long, but there's a lot of good info to be had.

 

[n1zfg]

That was the question I needed answered. Not that I don't have more!

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Let me explain the scenario in more detail... It may help. This is just a scenario! There has been civil unrest for weeks within the country directly relating to government takeover. The people have had it and the government internet spies find out there is an organizing of millions ready to unite and march. You yourself would like to be involved and start to prepare except you wake up in the morning to go on NES or wherever else to find out what everyone else is doing, where they are meeting and so forth, and you find no internet..no tv...and no phone. Without a prearranged plan for all of us we'll be left clueless as to what to do. Wouldn't it be best to figure it out beforehand?

Any insurrectionist that openly tries to use on NES to organize a revolt will likely get rhetorically bitch-slapped by Scrivener (if he spots the post first), and shut down by Derek.

The internet is a system that was originally designed to be resistant to the disruptions of unrestricted nuclear warfare. Good to them if they try to shut it down before it is too late.

Oh, and anything you transmit on the internet can (and usually does) pass through some 20+ routers, including a one or just outside DC, in Vienna, VA (now where did I leave my spare tinfoil hat)

 

[Dirtypacman]

Check out the NES Amateur Radio (HAM) Club. I'm sure you can find some answers over there. The thread's over 140 pages long, but there's a lot of good info to be had.

On it and thanks

 

[AKman]

Any insurrectionist that openly tries to use on NES to organize a revolt will likely get rhetorically bitch-slapped by Scrivener (if he spots the post first), and shut down by Derek.

The internet is a system that was originally designed to be resistant to the disruptions of unrestricted nuclear warfare. Good to them if they try to shut it down before it is too late.

Oh, and anything you transmit on the internet can (and usually does) pass through some 20+ routers, including a one or just outside DC, in Vienna, VA (now where did I leave my spare tinfoil hat)

Thank you for the heads up. I am only trying to come up with a worse case scenario strictly to magnify the severity or complications involved in no communication.