Communication possibilities??

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I have a question. You know all the if's that surround Y2K. If the power goes down, if gas is tightly controlled or available only to the military/police... how will the powers that be communicate with the general population? How will they let all the DGI'S etc., let the general population know where they have set up shelters (excuse please, believe PC is "warming stations" or some such). Will the major stations be allowed on the air for people who have gens or battery powered TV 's to get the message out? Ditto radio stations? Does anyone know - how do the satellite dishes work? If CNN can get a signal out, will the home receiver pick it up providing you can get power to your set? How was the old civil defense network supposed to work? You remember - "this is only a test" stuff? Those of you who have been in hurricanes/tornados etc. - how did they let you know where to get food and water? And what about the rest of the world? Just wondering...

-- Valkyrie (anon@please.net), July 02, 1999

Answers

Find out which radio stations in your area have been designated as the "Emergency Alert System" broadcast stations. Purchase lots of batteries for your radio or by a wind up radio.

And hope/pray they stay on the air.

'Hope this helps.

:)

(Lurking. . .)

-- FM (vidprof@aol.com), July 02, 1999.


FM

Do radio/TV station have generators as a rule? And how much fuel would you guess they would have stockpiled as a rule? Hours or days? Anyone work at a station know?

-- Valkyrie (anon@please.net), July 02, 1999.


Valkyrie, this is exactly the reason I am so angry that our town selectmen can't be bothered telling us the details of the town's emergency response plan ahead of time.

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), July 02, 1999.

Don't know if this helps, but here goes-- our area was cut off by floods a couple of years back. The local fire department was our lifeline. They sounded a siren to alert residents for the daily information meetings at noon. They distributed potable water. They had a cell phone at the station for emergency calls, and could arrange to airlift medical emergency patients. People did pull together, nurses & doctors set up a small clinic.

Radio staions do have generators, it's a good idea to put the call letters and number of your local emergency broadcast staion on your battery operated radio. A piece of masking tape works well for this.

Check with your local fire staions about their neighborhood emergency response teams. I'd mention emergency prep, not the dreaded term Y2k [might raise a few hackles with that].

-- flora (***@__._), July 02, 1999.


Fer cripes sakes, don't you have a shortwave with upper and lower sideband capabilities yet? The Hams are having excersizes to warn of trauma in their areas, and you can pick up their frequencies on the shortwave. That is probably all we are going to have, folks.For starters try 5085mghz Friday nights, this is WGTG which stands for "With Glory to God" (whether you like God or not)Personally I thank Him for this blessing.You need no special training to listen.

-- Betty Alice (Barn266@aol.com), July 02, 1999.


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