Can You Make Emergency Calls Without a Signal?

smartphone outdoors

You will hardly find anybody these days that will part with their cell phones, and completely contrary to the notions of bygone decades that includes preppers. The modern smartphone is a technological marvel that crams all kinds of useful tools and even life-saving functionality into a form factor that will, quite literally, ride comfortably in … Read more

Emergency Communications from A to Z

Having an emergency communications plan is an essential part of being prepared for short and long-term disasters. The ability to network and transmit information about changing situations and new threats is invaluable. Establishing and maintaining communications with members of your group, your family, and emergency response personnel might just be the factor that makes the … Read more

Post-SHTF Communication and Information

by Eric One of the most important things post-collapse is getting information. If you don’t have the right info, a slew of bad things can happen. You may not know in tine that that wildfire is getting near your house, or that invading forces have taken over a town or have blown up a bridge. … Read more

Amateur Radio and DXing

antenna

by Shannon If there’s one thing about the world that we’re completely sure of, it’s that change is constant. We’ve seen fashion trends differ from the decades before today. We’ve seen our planet evolve from flat land and rising mountains to plain fields and tall buildings. But most of all, we’ve seen change in how … Read more

Satellite Phones for Preppers

I spend most of the year out in the bush, well beyond any cellular coverage. I have been living this way since 2013, and though I usually try to get indoors during the harsh winters of the Rockies. I have even spent a winter this way also, living in my RV away from it all. … Read more

Review: Midland ER102 Multi-band radio

I recently posted about 5 radios for emergency preparedness. I own several of those radio’s including the Midland ER102. The Midland ER102 Emergency Radio has a lot of bang for the buck and Midland has long been a big name in communications for years. On with the review – First – a quick summary of the … Read more

5 radios for emergency preparedness

The morning after Hurricane Hugo devastated my community there was one thing in common most everyone was searching for – information. Many were without power thus they could not turn on the TV. I jumped in my 1983 Ford Escort POS and turned on the radio. Reports were flowing in on wide spread power outages, destruction, … Read more

Re: Building a Bucket Ham Repeater

The following letter is in reference to the article – “Building a Bucket Ham Repeater” Mr Rourke– I’ve given it some thought and here’s a potential way to improve the antenna — and still meet the objective of storing it in a bucket. To make a reasonably efficient ground plane, it doesn’t have to be … Read more

Review: Baofeng GT-3 Handheld Ham Radio

baofeng GT-3 handheld ham radio

The importance of communication in preparedness cannot be overstated. If it all comes crashing down and normal methods of communication are thrown out the window Ham radio is one solution. Ham radio has been as mystifying to me over the past several years as trying to read hieroglyphics off an Egyptian pyramid wall. Talking to … Read more

Building a Bucket Ham Repeater

by ALC Like you, I’ve been reading about the problems Rourke has been having getting his homemade radio repeater working recently.  Owning only a single Baofeng I wasn’t able to do any testing to offer any advice.  I have been tinkering with my own repeater solution for the past month or so though, but you … Read more

MAT-Mods: Enhancements for the Dakota Alert MURS Alert Transmitter

  Unless you’re new to survivaldom then you already know about the “Dakota Alert” MURS products and their uses for home and retreat security, both before and after the SHTF.   This article focuses specifically on one of the Dakota Alert products, the “MURS Alert Transmitter”, and how it can be modified to expand its functionality … Read more