simonandCursor
1e1111c90f
Safety snapshot of mobile work before merging upstream chat-v2: - Qortino AI: QDN pack discovery/download (Q-Share ids), external app storage, install validation, teach/report Q-Mail, PDF thumbs+zoom - Android share target "Quitter" with native ShareReceiver plugin - Categorized device saves (Images/Videos/Audio/Documents/Apps/GO state) - createNamedFile helper: cordova-plugin-file clobbers global File Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
64 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
64 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
# Grid-Down Communication and Information
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*Educational information. Transmitting on amateur (HAM) bands requires a
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license in nearly all countries; licence-free bands have power limits.
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Listening is legal almost everywhere.*
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## The layered comms plan
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When mobile networks and internet fail, information flows in layers:
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1. **Receive-only baseline (everyone):** a battery/hand-crank/solar AM-FM
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radio with shortwave coverage. Official emergency broadcasts, foreign
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broadcasters on shortwave, and (with SSB capability) even amateur traffic.
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Cost is trivial; keep one in the kit and one in the Faraday bin.
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2. **Family short-range:** licence-free handheld radios — PMR446 in Europe
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(0.5 W, ~1-5 km real-world terrain-dependent), FRS in North America.
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Agree on a channel + backup channel and check-in times in advance.
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Real-world range is line-of-sight: hilltops help enormously, forests and
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buildings eat signal.
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3. **Regional (licensed):** an amateur radio licence unlocks VHF/UHF
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handhelds through local repeaters (tens of km) and HF rigs that reach
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across countries with no infrastructure at all. Repeaters may run on
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backup power; simplex works when they don't. The licence exam is
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modest and the community actively trains newcomers — this is the single
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biggest capability jump available in comms.
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4. **Data meshes (the new layer):** LoRa mesh networks — Meshtastic devices
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and Reticulum (RNS)-based systems — pass short text messages device-to-
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device over kilometres on licence-free bands at milliwatt power, with no
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towers, no internet, and optional encryption. Nodes are cheap
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(ESP32+LoRa boards), run for days on small batteries, solar-repeat from
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rooftops and hills, and the mesh heals itself as nodes appear. Reticulum
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in particular is transport-agnostic: the same network stack runs over
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LoRa, packet radio, WiFi, or serial links — infrastructure that
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individuals, not carriers, own. (Qortal-Hub mobile ships with RNS
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support, so a phone can participate in such a mesh.)
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## Local-first information
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Assume no search engines: keep printed and offline copies of the knowledge
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you'd need — maps of your region (paper + offline map app with downloaded
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areas), manuals for your gear, first-aid references, this handbook itself
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stored offline, contact lists on paper. A cheap USB stick with scanned
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documents in the Faraday bin, plus printouts in a waterproof folder, covers
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both digital and analog failure modes.
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## Family communication plan
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Agree in writing, before anything happens: where to meet if home is
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unreachable (a primary and a backup rally point), an out-of-area contact
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everyone reports to (long-distance links often work when local ones jam),
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radio channels and check-in schedule ("every odd hour on the hour, channel
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4, listen 5 minutes"), and who picks up which family member. Text messages
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often pass when calls fail — send texts, keep them short, and put phones in
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low-power mode immediately in a blackout.
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## Powering and protecting comms
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Radios and phones are the highest-value, lowest-consumption electronics you
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own — a 20 Wh power bank recharges a handheld radio several times. Standard
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batteries across devices (AA/AAA with adapters, or USB-C everything)
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simplify logistics. Keep spares of the cheap critical items: antennas,
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cables, chargers — and duplicates of the receive-only radio, because one is
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none when it breaks.
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