A CAP Radio Question

[Holding Pattern]

I was recently thinking (a dangerous pastime) about the cascadia rising exercise and the number of people in our squadron that do not have two way radios. In an event as big as the CSZ going boom, there is a good chance that we would suffer a cascade failure or an overload of our critical infrastructure, including phones for callouts to members without radios. With that in mind, are there receive only radios that can be had for a good price that can be programmed and locked down with the analog repeater frequencies/designated frequencies of a location?

What is your squadron plan for when primary comms go down and the members in question aren't issued a radio? (Or do you just demand radios based on quals for members in question?)

[Eclipse]

Receive-only radios would be scanners (I assume), while I'm sure some here would suggest soldering Juicy-fruit
wrappers to iron pipes and powering it by stirring coconuts, a digital scanner is probably going to cost as much
as a used compliant HT (or close), which would be a better option.

If they go encrypted because the dead are listening in, then you're probably cooked.

If you're really concerned, get everyone in your unit an iCUT (easy) and then spend some money.

Also, you can buy and program a POR to receive CAP traffic, just can't xmit w/o the proper license,
and in an Apocalypse, no one is checking 101 cards.

What is your squadron plan for when primary comms go down and the members in question aren't issued a radio? (Or do you just demand radios based on quals for members in question?)

There isn't one - in that case, and assuming you're in the affected DA, your mission is self-care, and let people from
areas outside the DA establish comms and come to the rescue.

In a real-world SHTF situation, the cell companies will have mobile infrastructure up fast, assuming what's there
doesn't self-heal.  Beyond that, CAP isn't going to be doing anything in the first week+ anyway, so non-issue, by then things
will have either stabilized or gone so far South as to CAP being a non-factor (beyond dividing the survivors between breeders and feed stock).

As to "demanding" radios, that's not a thing, at least in my wing.  Radios are issued based on the TOA, and that's
generally one per squadron and GTLs.  In my wing, if you're not active as one of the other, you don't generally get
radios issued (with some exceptions).

[Spam]

Then the politics enter.  My unit has eight qualified GTLs (three are GBD or above) and we formerly were issued six hand helds - and used them all on AFAMs.  Then we were directed to turn in all but one, to be "fair" to the other units.

In the four years since, have we heard any of these units on the air, or showing up at SAREXs?  (crickets... nope...)

Sometimes, the 1 percenters get that way because they work their behinds off to get qualified, and then the wealth envy kicks in to be "fair".


V/R
Spam