It’s hard to imagine life without telephones and Internet until it happens. Fortunately there were no emergencies during this time of vulnerability. Until the line was bypassed and repaired, the only reliable form of communication was radio. Internet as well as land-line and cellular telephones went down. As an illustration, we recently experienced county-wide communications failure when the main fiber-optic communications cable in our valley was severed during construction. In a world of ever-advancing technology, our reliance on that technology for something as fundamental as communications leaves us all vulnerable should that technology fail us. “When All Else Fails… Amateur Radio Works”
We also touch on NVIS, FEC and a few other acronyms related to digital, emergency and disaster communications. Next, a short intro to ARRL’s NBEMS (Narrow Band Emergency Messaging Software) which features fldigi. In this article we take a quick look at PSK31 and MT63, two popular digital communications modes and what role each is best suited for with respect to emergency communications.
What’s all this about PSK31, MT63, FEC, NBEMS and NVIS?
