TO: ALL WOOD COUNTY ARES MEMBERS (OFFICIAL)
ALL ARES AND NON-ARES AMATEURS ANYWHERE (INFORMATION)
FROM: KEN HARRIS WA8LLM ARRL DISTRICT 3
EMERGENCY COORDINATOR WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INC.
WOOD COUNTY ARES BULLETIN NR 20.29 DATE: July 19, 2020
SUBJECT: A CACHE OF CHEAP RADIOS
Have you ever had a dream that you were in a large building like a business, a motel, a hotel, or other large area, and a severe damaging storm took out all of the power and communications, and you were the only Amateur Radio operator around. What would happen if it actually happened. What would you do? How would you communicate with others in the building or area? If the storm was big enough it would probably do a lot of damage and there would be a limited amount of Rescue and First Responders available.
If you were going to help those in the building or in the surrounding area, how would you communicate with them. Since you are the only Amateur Radio operator, using Amateur Radio wouldn't be feasible. How about keeping a cache of cheap low powered FRS (Family Service Radio), or GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) radio on hand. The radios could be passed out to key people who are helping in the disaster so they could communicate among themselves. FRS/GMRS radios are cheap enough that several of them could be stored in a safe readily accessible location. Of course, you need to make sure there are batteries with the radios. You don't want to keep the batteries installed in the radios, but keep them close by.
These are the kinds of events that you want to think about, and prepare for. Next week is how to store your cache of radios.
Ken Harris WA8LLM
WCEC
Wood County WV