How to communicate when cell towers are down?

I have lived out here in the Alaskan Bush since '91, and during the summers since '77.... There are NO Roads to get here... The only way IN or OUT, is by Boat or Bush Plane.... The nearest Road that connects to anywhere is 250 miles away, in Haines. Alaska... We have Cellular coverage here locally, but it takes External High Gain Antennas and BiDirectional Booster Amplifiers... Our Cellsite sits at 3500' and is 16 miles away, all over water... My usual RSL is in the -88db range, with a 15db Antenna. Anywhere near a City, Cell coverage is usually available, and also anywhere near an Alaska Highway... Some Villages will have Cell coverage, depending on if there is enough traffic to support the Investment... I have been a Ham Radio Operator for 6 decades, and have Tx/Rx coverage from DC to10 Ghz... My wife is also a Ham Radio Operator, and we take care of ALL of our own Comm issues, ourselves... I have extensive experience in Marine, Aircraft, and Bush Communications, as well as Regulator Experience with the .GOV....

 

And yet, it also has its attraction with being able to securely transmit data without need of a license and utilizes smartphones, which is something pretty much everybody already has. Granted, I agree HAM radio is what it is, nevertheless.

 

The issue here, as I see it, is about SECURE Comms..... This is my primary reason for interest in such devices... It is why I brought the SECURE Phones to the attention of our Monkeys, and looked at the GoTenna, and BearTooth, products... as extentions to the SECURE Comms for local AoO operations... It is true that the ISM Band leaves something to be desired, as an RF Link.... That said you do not get to use Spread Spectrum on ANY of the other License Free Bands with Frequecies below 1Ghz, in the USA... MURS, FRS, and CB have their uses, but NO Security of Comms... The New Digital Radios available, can provide SECURE Comms, in many different Frequenciy Bands, but also require Licenses... and are considerably MORE Expensive... So far, this prospective Product, has the most capability, of all the License Free SECURE Comm Systems... The thru-put is fair, but drops by 50% every Hop it makes, thru a MESH Network... So MESH does increase Range, at the expense of Bandwidth... This isn't WiFi, but it does use industry Standaed Protocols, and no proprietary encoding schemes... I have covered this before but it bears REPEATING... Spread Spectrum modulation brings the added bonus, in that it is not easily decoded, without a Truck full of Hardware, and it also is very hard to Direction Find, especially when used in SHORT Burst Mode... This makes for VERY SECURE Comms... even if for local Comms, only...

 

That is ALL very good News.... and also very innovative Improvements to the Design... I really like the SMA Connector redesign, as this will allow Ham Operators, to add Power Amps, up to 10Watts, to the devices, and extend the Operational Range, considerable...

 

Except ALL those FRS/GMRS Devices are Scannable, and DF-able... Where a Spread Spectrum Devices are NOT.... for Security in Comms, these have that covered, well.... not to mention Encryption is possible with Digital Comms...

 

Theoretically you could repurpose the larger dishes. Bear in mind that the current types of dishes are really a bit small for lower frequencies as in say 6M and longer. The key part of the dish is the emitting element, and if it is bigger than the dish -
Might be those older 14 footers would be more easily jiggered with.

 

The 18" Tv Dishes are designed for 14 Ghz and work well above that, but less well at 5 Ghz and lower... No matter what the uninformed tell you.... For WiFi the Pringles Can Antennas work well as a Feed Horn, but if you want better Gain than that, you need at least a 1.2 Meter Dish, and the Pringles Can at the FocalPoint... There are TONs of uTubes, for building this stuff, but very FEW, actually document just how WELL they work with REAL Gain Figures, because it takes Good Instrumentation to get those numbers, and 99% of the UTube Yahoos, don't have access to that kind of Stuff... The Rule of Thumb for Parabolic Dish Antennas is the Dish Diameter needs to be 10 - 20 Times the Wavelength... So for 2 Meters, you will need at least a 20 Meter Dish, and those aren't cheap, or easy to come by....

 

That is why the one of the first EME Transmissions, on 2 Meters, was done with the Aericibo Dish, in the PR... it has a Moveable FeedHorn and can change the FocalPoint of the Dish....