Community Emergency Communications Planning:
Proposed

Discussion

A community may be “on its own” in the event of certain disasters, with emergency responders either incapacitated or preoccupied with other populations deemed more critical than yours. First responder policy is to concentrate resources where they will do the most good, which will usually be in locations of high population density.

Such emergency conditions may also mean that phone (including cell phones) and power are out, as was the case with the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. Even if regular and cell phone services are available, they may be jammed with traffic, or they may be intermittent.

Therefore, it seems prudent to develop a plan for an efficient alternative means to communicate both internally within the community and with the “outside.”

Obviously, radio communication is most feasible, as opposed to (heheh) smoke signals or morse code by boat horn.

First, The Upshot:
What I Recommend

Before I go further and possibly bore you to death before you get immediately useful information, let me tell you the upshot of what follows:

For local communications, with varied users who may or may not want to learn enough material to pass tests for Amateur Radio, I recommend GMRS. FRS radios can talk to GMRS radios if the frequency you operate your communications network on is channels 1-7 (high power for GMRS) or 8-14 (low power for GMRS). I recommend not to use GMRS channels 15-22, since FRS users will not be able to communicate on those channels.

For distance, or for all radio communications (if everyone in your community is willing and able to obtain an Amateur Radio License), the Amateur Radio Service operating “40 meters” is king.

Reasoning is presented below...

Selection Of Radios/Service

The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has divided up the so-called radio spectrum for different uses. Each usage category, with its rules, is called a service. Selecting the right service is a key to successful community emergency communications.

Considerations: Range

For local communications, radios need enough power to communicate reliably at least a mile away, preferably through tree thickets and walls. Range is affected by radio power, frequency, antenna type, terrain, intervening structures (including forests, etc.) and atmospheric conditions.

Other Factors

Ease of setup and use, portability, affordability, and license requirements.

Emergencies and the FCC

In a genuine life-and-death emergency (or emergency relating to serious property damage), FCC (Federal Communications Commission) rules allow use of any radio available (just make sure your emergency is for real). But in those radio services that require a license, obtaining necessary practice is illegal without a license. And practice is a necessity.

Support FCC rules and follow them. If you will use one of the services that requires a license, make sure that everyone in your community can afford it and/or pass the test. Otherwise, you’re already breaking down your community’s ability to effectively stand on its own when necessary.

Practical Choice of Service

Therefore, for community internal communications, it makes sense to use a service that doesn’t require a license, or whose license is easy to obtain. Two of the services mentioned below require licenses, the other two don’t. Of the two requiring licenses, one requires an examination and the other just requires money.

The main services under FCC regulation that best fit the model of community emergency communications are: ARS (Amateur or “HAM” Radio Service), CB (Citizens’ Band), FRS (Family Radio Service) and GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service).

A Tiny Bit of Radio Theory:
About Range

Frequency’s role in radio communications is important because the different radio services use different frequencies. Here are a few general rules that make a difference in selection of which radio service to use:

As frequency rises:

Generally, as frequency increases, radio signals travel in an increasingly straight line and bounce less or not at all.

They also improve as to penetrating walls and other obstructions.

But when higher frequencies hit something they can’t penetrate, they’re done. And rather than “skipping” off the ionosphere, they tend to go right through, if they even get there.

Another down side: as frequency rises, radio waves are more dangerous to the body.

As frequency drops:

Radio waves at lower frequencies tend to form to terrain—to travel along the ground as it rises, falls and curves. This is called groundwave propagation.

Also, lower frequency signals bounce better, especially off the ionosphere. This is called skywave propagation.

They are also safer, as implied from the above. For the same reason they’re safer, they don’t penetrate buildings as well as higher frequencies do.

Thus:

For local communications, higher frequencies are generally better. In varied terrain (hills and valleys, etc.), they lose some value, but with their structure-penetrating qualities, they remain a good compromise, all things considered.

For long range communications, lower frequencies are generally more useful.

These are not absolute conclusions, but the tendencies described are useful nonetheless.

The Available Radio Services:
ARS, CB, FRS And GMRS

ARS (Amateur Radio, “Ham” Radio)

The Amateur Radio Service (ARS) is the best all-around solution, technically. The ARS allows a wide range of frequencies and “modes” of communication. Examples of modes are: voice, data, Morse code, and television (yes indeedie!). It also allows a quite high power output, increasing range.

Thus, ARS is the perfect solution. Right? Well, there is a down side... it requires a license. The license doesn’t cost anything (only a very small test administration fee), but it does require passing a test.

The test covers radio law, radio practice, radio and electronics theory, and safety. Complicating matters, some frequencies require more tests, for a total of three, increasingly complex tests, if you want to maximize your flexibility.

Don’t let that throw you too badly. There are easy-to-read study manuals, and the questions that can be asked on the tests are available: you can practice these tests online. For a motivated person, it’s really a do-able thing.

The tests are all multiple choice tests, too, and the questions that you study on are the EXACT same questions that can be on the tests, even the “alternate” (wrong) answers are the same!

However, not everyone is motivated to that degree. Therefore, for local communications, it pays to use an easier, more accessible, radio service.

Actually, there are two more down sides to ARS: it is more costly, in general, for equipment than other services, and it is more complicated to set up and use. Nevertheless, if you’re motivated enough to take the license, these seem relatively small down sides vis-à-vis the advantages.

Heh, if, by some wonderful turn of events, your entire community is willing and able to go ARS, the “40 meter” band is usually a good all-around band for day, night, local and distant communications.

CB (Citizens’ Band)

CB might seem an excellent choice, because of its relative popularity and lack of license requirements. But I don’t recommend it.

The frequency band that CB operates in is high enough that it generally has a line-of-sight transmission, but not high enough that it penetrates walls or even forest very well, unless you could increase power substantially from the legal limit of four watts. It doesn’t bend very well or travel along ground contours well.

On the up side, CB does allow, as does ARS, antennas that are separate from the radio and that can be elevated above a house or attached to the exterior of a vehicle. These antennas can be directional. All of these factors improve range, but increase the complexity of setup and usage in a way that defeats the “simplicity factor” for people who aren’t that motivated.

CB isn’t the cheapest equipment to buy, but it’s not the most expensive, either.

Overall, CB does ok for short distance communications when circumstances are more or less ideal, but... emergencies usually don’t have ideal circumstances! During some years and seasons, CB can get quite a distance using “skywave propagation” (see above), but that’s basically for a couple of years of each decade. Not useful!

FRS (Family Radio Service) and
GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service)

FRS could be thought of as GMRS’ little brother. GMRS utilizes all 14 frequencies (channels) that FRS uses, plus an additional eight. GMRS allows considerably higher power than FRS on shared channels 1-7 and on GMRS channels 15-22, but is restricted to lower power on channels 8-14.

Thus, if you choose channels 1-14 (preferably 1-7, because they allow full power for GMRS users), people using cheaper/no-license-required FRS can talk legally to people using license-required GMRS. Setting up a formal communications network, messages can be passed from one user to another, thus offsetting the disadvantages for lower power radio users.

FRS and GMRS operate in the UHF (ultra high frequency) range, and are therefore pretty strictly line-of-sight. Again, that means it doesn’t follow ground contours and doesn’t bounce much, if at all. This can be limiting for hilly terrain, but all in all, its ability to cut through walls and forest (etc.) makes FRS/GMRS a good compromise.

FRS does not allow for external antennas, separate from the radio, and its power restrictions are quite limiting. I have, nonetheless, been able to communicate up to two miles in the city, from inside a car, with this lower power service.

FRS is by far the least expensive of the radio services, in terms of equipment cost. And GMRS isn’t far behind. I’ve seen FRS radios for as little as $10, and you can usually get a pair of GMRS at 5 watts for under $85.

GMRS allows for external antennas. Most GMRS radios you find range from one watt to five, but, depending on your application (and your location—FCC rules limit power in some locations in the U.S.), you can buy radios with up to fifty watts. All of this greatly expands range.

Another capability that GMRS has (not available to FRS) is repeaters. These are radios that sit somewhere (preferably elevated, as on a mountaintop) and automatically forward communications, usually utilizing the GMRS 50 watt power capability. However, these are expensive (a couple thousand dollars) and may require skills beyond many users’ motivation level.

The real downside of GMRS is its license requirement. It’s easy (just send money), but it’s expensive: $80 for a five-year license. Not awful, if you consider that that is about $16 per year, but some folks will just go with FRS and hope for the best!

With all the up sides and despite a couple of down sides, I strongly recommend GMRS (and the lesser FRS) for local emergency communications in any community, unless everyone in the community is motivated to use ARS.

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