Hate to be a doom and gloomer, but I couldn't imagine living in CA without amateur radio... What do you do when the communications network goes down in an earthquake? How would you let your loved ones know where you are, or if you're ok should the bridges go down and you can't get home??
In severe emergency situations the cell phone network is handed over to emergency responders and civilians are locked out...
http://www.radiowrench.com/pilot/cares/careintr.html
http://www.hamdepot.com/states/ca.asp
Priority Cell Phones for First Responders
Verizon has announced that is has activated the Access Overload Control (ACCOLC) system, allowing some cell phones to have priority access to the network, even when the network is overloaded.
If you are a first responder with a Verizon phone, please visit the government's WPS Requestor to provide the necessary information to have your handset activated.
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Priority Services for Emergency Responders
The National Communications System (NCS), part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Preparedness Directorate, offers priority communications ser- vices to emergency personnel at the local, state, and federal government levels, as well as to industry personnel in support roles, to ensure ongoing communications under all circumstances. NCS priority offerings include the following:
Government Emergency Telecommunications Service
Wireless Priority Service
Telecommunications Service Priority
These priority telecommunications services give the communications of first responders, emergency workers, and other key NSEP personnel priority status over calls made by public users.
Government Emergency Telecommunications Service
The Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) is a nationwide landline priority telecommunications service currently serving more than 110,000 users. GETS is designed to make maximum use of all available telephone resources if outages occur. GETS facilitates NSEP communications by providing emergency personnel access and priority processing in the local and long-distance segments of the public telephone network.
After Hurricane Katrina, for example, the communications infrastructure throughout the affected states was devastated. Many cellular towers were damaged and some local telephone systems were no longer functional. Michael Paterson, emergency disaster services director of the North and South Carolina Division of the Salvation Army, was deployed to the Salvation Army's divisional headquarters in Jackson, Mississippi. There, he supervised all Salvation Army operations in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. In addition to communicating with his own response personnel, Paterson's responsibilities included communicating with representatives from other organizations. "In many instances, using either of my two cell phones, each with a different provider, would be prohibitive due to a circuits-busy message," Paterson said. "Even when I was using a landline phone, some of the same issues prohibited making calls. These were the times that I would pull out my GETS card from my wallet and dial the access number, code, and destination number. My calls always went right through. My GETS card is part of my personal preparedness equipment and is with me at all times."
A recent report from NCS regarding GETS use during Hurricane Katrina documented more than 32,000 calls completed during the first 12 days of the disaster period, with a 95 percent call completion rate.
NSEP personnel can apply for GETS through the GETS Web site at (
http://gets.ncs.gov). Once approved by the NCS, GETS subscribers receive a calling card that provides access authorization through a unique dialing plan and personal identification number. There is no initial sign-up fee or monthly recurring charge associated with the GETS program. The cost of a GETS call is typically 10 cents per minute or less.
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If you live in any kind of disaster prone area, ham radio is a great tool... Having it for offroading is just a bonus.
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