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| Ignored facts still exist |
I'm not sure you can get a new landline (POTS) service everywhere now days. Most of the newer neighborhoods around here are not even wired for them. It's all cable and/or FIOS with no new wiring for analog land-line. . | |||
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Member |
It really depends on your area, what repeaters are operating and where you are relative to them (distance and intervening terrain). Many handhelds have selectable transmit power levels, allowing you to dial back the power and battery consumption when you don't need the full output of the radio and then kick it up when you get into a more iffy area. Of course if the repeaters go down due to wind damage or power outage, the whole system fails unless there's a backup repeater designated. There are simplex frequencies that don't rely on repeaters, but they're strictly line-of-sight transmission. | |||
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| 10mm is The Boom of Doom  |
Also copper line service is the last to be repaired as it is considered a low priority legacy system. God Bless and Protect the Once and Future President, Donald John Trump. | |||
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| Member |
I'd say that San Juan has way less pull than an enormous metro areas like Houston and Corpus Christi. Read that some Verizon cell towers went down because the above ground fiber lines were cut.. Verizon went about putting in direct microwave links to towers than still have fiber access, and quickly brought those towers back online. Whether Florida cities pulling same weight as Houston remains to be seen but I would imagine that while not as bad as San Juan, it won't be quick like Houston because many of carriers' resources are still repairing structures in Houston. Crews and resources must be spread real thin by these successive storms. | |||
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| Member |
Thanks. One of the reasons I have had landlines for my office since 1980 has been the fact that they functioned through numerous hurricanes. We were without essential services for weeks after Katrina, but one of my office lines worked without fail. On the other hand, cable service for the internet and tv was out for months after Katrina. My DSL service was essentially intact. My office was not subject to the incredible 27 foot storm surge so that made a difference. The repairs in flooded areas took months with the exposure to salt water. Thank you Sig Monkey for the information. I am hoping they beefed up the strength of the cell towers and infrastructure here. | |||
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Cynic |
Last year here in Louisiana with our historic flood AT&T cellphones went to hell. We used our 2 meter repeater. _______________________________________________________ And no, junior not being able to hold still for 5 seconds is not a disability. | |||
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Telecom Ronin |
They all do, due to coverage I am looking at Immarsat, they have started to run deals like cell phone companies. You can get a phone under $200 with a yearly plan, the cheapest is around $100 a month. I am going to rent one first to see if I have LOS from my living room. Kinda doubt it as it faces NE. | |||
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| Telecom Ronin |
I called Spectrum (NE Texas) and they only offer VOIP. | |||
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| Telecom Ronin |
After being in the business for just shy of 25 years I can tell you...never depend on cell coverage. Even if they have generators you will not get more than 72 hours from a tank of fuel more like 48. And most sites are now fed by fiber which is more fragile than copper. The only carrier that has generators at most of their sites is sprint the other carriers only install them in areas of high importance of places that lose power often. Also remember all the carriers have reduced field staff so even if they can get all the generators they would need they do not have enough personnel to connect them. And getting vendors in can be difficult especially with companies like AT&T which are Union. Also the amount of tower teams are finite and the amount of GOOD tower teams are even more finite so if you also lose an antenna or the coax getting stripped of the tower you are SOL as none of the carriers have organic teams. Also towers, depending on jurisdiction are designed to withstand winds from 100-140 mph, if the structurals are updated properly....a couple of rogue ant or mw dishes and that goes out the window. I am moving to one of the largest tower companies on the 18th....I expect my first couple of months with be spent in recovery as Houston falls squarely in my Region and the company is HQ'ed out of Boca. Disaster recovery can be exciting....just get sites back on air and move to the next, money is no object and it is an all hands on deck operation.....maybe they will even let a Director out of the office  | |||
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| Do No Harm, Do Know Harm |
I've been threatening to take the technician license for a bit. I've got two ham books that I've been pursuing for a few months, and have looked up the test dates a few times, but...inertia... At the technician level, if I wanted to communicate to Florida, say 500 miles, would I be limited to Morse code over HF unless I upgraded to General? Or do technicians have access to any voice transmissions that would reliably make that? Barring some miracle alignment of repeaters. Knowing what one is talking about is widely admired but not strictly required here. Although sometimes distracting, there is often a certain entertainment value to this easy standard. -JALLEN "All I need is a WAR ON DRUGS reference and I got myself a police thread BINGO." -jljones | |||
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| Member |
They don't even test Morse code anymore.... | |||
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Drill Here, Drill Now |
My friend posted this on FB today:
I've personally never used it, but if it works it sounds like a great solution post hurricane. Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer. | |||
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| Member |
Apparently you have to have internet or wi fi for it to function. | |||
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Tinker Sailor Soldier Pie |
Well obviously. Not sure how this is a solution if there is no cell service. ~Alan Acta Non Verba NRA Life Member (Patron) God, Family, Guns, Country Men will fight and die to protect women... because women protect everything else. ~Andrew Klavan | |||
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| Do No Harm, Do Know Harm |
Correct, but at the technician level license you can only do Morse code on most or all of the high frequency frequencies that allow long distance communication. Knowing what one is talking about is widely admired but not strictly required here. Although sometimes distracting, there is often a certain entertainment value to this easy standard. -JALLEN "All I need is a WAR ON DRUGS reference and I got myself a police thread BINGO." -jljones | |||
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| Ice age heat wave, cant complain.  |
It's been sold (figuratively) as a way to communicate without service but the developers clarified the fact that you do need cellular or wifi. I think some folks are still confused about it. NRA Life Member Steak: Rare. Coffee: Black. Bourbon: Neat. | |||
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| Drill Here, Drill Now |
Y'all are too quick to poo poo this app. During Hurricane Ike, I had landline and DSL service the entire time after the hurricane so if this was available it would've worked in my 2 story house and yard. I never lost cell service during Hurricane Harvey, but I didn't know about the app. However, countless people used it during and in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey including the Cajun Navy and Harvey Animal Rescue.
Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer. | |||
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| Ice age heat wave, cant complain. |
Tatortodd-I'm not poopooing, just pointing out the fact that people thought it worked without cellular or wifi. NRA Life Member Steak: Rare. Coffee: Black. Bourbon: Neat. | |||
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| Ignored facts still exist |
GETS card with *272 priority access  Still depends on at least some of the infrastructure working. . | |||
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Member |
With a technician license you can do SSB voice on a small part of the 10 meter band and Morse on limited parts of the 10m, 15m, 40m, and 80m bands. You can't transmit at all on 160m, 60m, 30m, 20m, 17m, or 12m. Technician license holders are also limited to 200 watts on all the HF bands while higher licenses can use 1500. The general license test is not much harder than the technician one. Of course, in an emergency, I guess all that goes out the window. | |||
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