Communication in a medium-term emergency situation

Radio broadcasts

• AM/FM radio is pretty cheap and ubiquitous, so there's no reason not to have it.
  • There are lots of stories of AM/FM stations becoming lifelines in the middle of major emergencies, when cell networks become unavailable. [1] [2] [3] [4]
• A 📔NOAA Weather Radio with 📔alerts is very useful, especially if it supports the area-specific 📔SAME
• A 📔shortwave radio is the obvious thing to use here, because of the long-distance propagation.
  • For an antenna, a PK loop antenna is one of the nicer options, though kind of pricey.
  • Con — Shortwave broadcasts are 📔a dying thing since everyone is switching to satellite.
• 📔Satellite radio makes a lot of sense, though it requires a subscription.
  • Because of the higher frequencies (smaller wavelengths), antennas are simpler to handle.

Radio two-way

• It might be worth considering getting radios that do 📔CB, and maybe FRS/GMRS [📔2], even if you're interested in receive-only.
• Ham radio was practically invented to support during times of emergency. [1] [[2]](https://chelegance.com/archives/amateur-radio-to-the-rescue-in-emergencies-the-power-of-aprs-and-2m/]
  • 📔2 meter — Used for a lot of local and emergency traffic, mainly voice.
  • 📔6 meter — Some digital traffic.
  • 📔10 meter — Some digital traffic.

Mesh networks

• Meshtastic [reddit]   [🔍hackaday]
• MeshCore [🔍reddit]   [🔍hackaday]
• Reticulum [🔍reddit]   [🔍hackaday]

Internet access

• satellite internet
  • Starlink
    • You can't use an antenna indoors.
    • The best option is to attach one of their smaller antennas to your vehicle's roof. Probably only use it while stopped. There are lots of mounts available for a vehicle roof.
    • Starlink in a box