A Case for Amateur Radio.

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Although strong winds can sometimes threaten cell towers, most are strong enough to handle the worst that even a Category 5 hurricane can bring.  Fire, however, complicates the issue.

When the fires get too close to cell sites, they will obviously burn equipment, antennas, and feedlines.  In extreme cases, they will also weaken the towers, leading some to collapse.  The smoke and flames can also attenuate signals because of the particulate density in the air.

If a tower collapses, cell networks could take months to restore.

Power outages are also a threat to cell phone towers.  The Maui disaster has already wiped out power to at least 14,000 homes and businesses in the area, according to PowerOutage.us.  Many towers have backup power generators, but they have limited capacity to keep towers running.

Cell towers have back-up technology built in, but this is typically done through optical fiber cables or microwave (wireless) links.  However, if something extraordinary happens, such as interaction with rampant fires, these links may experience catastrophic failures and leave cells without a connection to the rest of the world.

And, in an emergency, a spike in call volume can overload the system -- even if people are able to get reception.  Even cells that have a good service may experience outages due to the sheer volume of communication happening at once.  Everyone in these areas may be trying to contact relatives or the authorities at once, saturating the network and causing an outage.  This is easier to correct though and network operators may put in place additional measures to render them operational quickly.

Source:  This CNN Article 

So okay, it is night-time.  You smell smoke.  People are screaming.  Is it a fire?  A volcano eruption?  World-War III?

You have no bars on your mobile device.  Your land-line is dead, and there is no power.  What do you do?

Shelter in place?  I hope you have planned for a slow and painful cremation.

Instead, grab your ID, your go-kit, and your portable Ham Radio and get the hell outta there!

Once you reach a place of safety, access the National Simplex Frequency (146.520 MHz on 2 meter band), check for traffic, and report your situation.

What?  No Ham Radio?  Good luck trying to find out what is going on, where to go, and how your loved ones are doing.  You may also wait days for rescue, and if you are injured, you may not survive very long on your own.

Join your local Amateur Radio community -- the life you save may be your own!

I've been a licensed amateur radio operator for 48 years, and part of that has to do with Asperger's.

I figured at age 13 that if I found a hobby that involved talking on a radio, I could learn how to carry on conversations with people. At the time I had no idea what Asperger's was (like most people) but I knew something was going on, and it needed work. Plus, it was technical, it involved studying and test-taking, and it was fun. It led to a career in electronics.

Ham radio has been good to me.

strongly agree on the benefits of Ham radio...but sometimes gov over reach feels so severe that you might not want anything registered with the Government...just alittle frightened .Some very bad people i have known for a fact are
on the aire .Typically on the 440 mhz range Including one person i believe to have committed capital crimes . And understands using codes
as cues for preplanned actions . But I have also know some Ham folks that , i might trust my life with RIP R.H.
And throughout history have provided much benefit to the world,not just one country. Perhaps one day will have time. To take the course and test, and learn antenna theory .Qr codes..?Which would be very handy to me these days in
Electronic signal transmission, mainly regarding antenna theory And see if my learning ability is still working .

I'm not afraid of the government at all. Not afraid of being tracked either. I have APRS ham trackers in my personal and work vans sending my position out to the internet. And I've been stopped by the police, and they usually ask me to fix their radio. One time a state trooper pulled me over with his flashing lights and said "Can you fix my siren? I had to use my lights because my siren is broken."

And then there are the "radio criminals." Legitimate ham radio operators don't like them, and we will track them down and report them.

Very similar here. You won't find me striking up a conversation with a stranger in person, but on the radio, the only ones who are on there are people who want to talk. So I don't have to worry about "bothering" someone.

I have also been licensed 48 years. I added a GMRS license to my toolbag about 5 years ago. I also used to have a Marine Radio license until they dropped the requirement in the US for pleasure boaters.

Electronics/radio has been my main special interest since I repaired a 1920s era AM tabletop radio when I was 6 years old.

My main concern about government tracking me is that the agent(s) involved will die of boredom and I will be blamed.

Oh.. Yummm... Ham.... with all , the fixin's .... ....

and the right time of year for both kindsa ham.

What does one need to get started with ham radio?

brush up on your math skills, basic electronics, antenna theory, FCC regs.
https://hamradioprep.com/how-to-get-you ... made-easy/

ham radio info . maybe available from Fnord about Ham Radio.. As i believe he is our resident expert on Ham Radio
As it is my understanding he is a licensed Ham Radio Operator. Sometimes there are very affordable classes in some places . And I had wanted to take this class but poor circumstances & tradgedy, caused me to have to move away, before I got the chance to take the class.
Overall they seem to be nice people the world over..And I do not believe you need any special licenses just to listen
in.

 Here is a link to the ARRL website 

American Radio Relay League

And Thank You Fnord for posting thst Link , handy bit of info .