What kind of equipment do I need

EMTLovell · #1 (**permalink**) 10-03-2009, 05:07 AM

I am currently trying to start up a non-profit agency called N.E.A.T. (National Emergency Assistance Team) My investors want to know what kind of communications I will have in place, as more than likely the area's we will go to (such as the after math of katrina or 9/11) all communications will be out of service, down, or just "full".

What kinda of equipment do I need to get radio service from a Search & Rescue team to Base, which may be 50 miles away?

fineshot1 · #2 (**permalink**) 10-03-2009, 07:06 AM

Since you will never know in advance what the local terrain will be like
and simplex vhf/uhf will generally not cover 50 miles distance I would
recommend satellite phone service as your primary need. You could
also carry either a vhf or uhf portables with you with simplex frequencies
programmed in them for local on site communications. They would
most likely be MURS or FRS frequencies since again you never know
in advance where you will be going. I am sure other posters will give
some other ideas.

KS4VT · #3 (**permalink**) 10-03-2009, 08:14 AM

For intra-team communications FRS or MURS would be a low cost option, but you would have some limitations on equipment choices and their ability to withstand working in "disaster mode". You might want to contact a real frequency coordinator to see about licensing a nation-wide frequency, even if it was on a "secondary basis". That way you would be able to choose a broader line of radios and have better frequency protection.

As to the 50 mile communication requirement, I'm going to assume that your envisioning a NIMS style base camp configuration and I would reccomend low band (50 MHz) for this communications. It would be fixed at both ends with the distant communicator being responsible for being the relay from the distant team back to base camp. It would require a bit more set-up but I think that the lower cost and reduced chance of congestion that you could see with satellite is also a good choice.

Also there are many websites that could assist you, with one of them being the DHS SAFECOM website. SAFECOM

Good luck.
Mark