TO: ALL WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS AMATEURS
ALL NON-WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS AMATEURS
FROM: KEN HARRIS WA8LLM
WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED
WV ARES BULLETIN NR 09.23 DATE: June 7, 2009
SUBJECT: CORDLESS PHONES AND COMMERCIAL POWER
Do you use a cordless telephone? Do you have a regular telephone also? Have you thought what would happen when the commercial power goes off?
Most cordless telephones use the commercial power in your home to power the base station which is connected to the telephone service, and keeps your handset battery charged.
Some cordless telephones have a set of batteries in the base station that are kept charged by the commercial power. The batteries will keep the base station powered up, so when the commercial power goes off, you won't lose your cordless telephone service.
Check out your cordless telephone before you need it in an emergency. While you still have commercial power, unplug the cordless telephone base station from the power outlet and see if you still have cordless telephone service.
If you can still use your cordless telephone, then you'll be okay for a few hours after the power fails, but if you lose the cordless telephone service as soon as you unplug the base station, then you need to have a regular telephone handy.
This is not always a sure test. Some cordless telephone base stations rely on the electrical power wiring as an antenna. This is the case in some of the older cordless telephones. The newer cordless telephones which operate on the UHF frequencies have their own antenna.
It's hard to report an emergency if you don't have telephone service, even if it's just relay an emergency for someone you are in communications with over the radio.
Ken Harris WA8LLM
Wood County WV
WV ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
WV ARES District 3 Emergency Coordinator