I can almost see it now. First there was health care, now the government will require us all to have a smart phone or some other device, in the name of national security.

"Haha, ham radios. They do serve a purpose, but the general public doesn't even know what you're talking about. They barely remember CB radios. Bartmeister"

Well Homeland security knows about the Amateur Radio service especially after Katrina. Besides some of us would rather be a little more self-reliant.

Super, yet another way to panic the public. I bet this was pushed by the retail market lobby.

"Haha, ham radios. They do serve a purpose, but the general public doesn't even know what you're talking about. They barely remember CB radios. Bartmeister"

Ha Ha! Thats a big 10-4 Good Buddy!

Haha, ham radios. They do serve a purpose, but the general public doesn't even know what you're talking about. They barely remember CB radios.

It's another good tool to inform people during a disaster. We don't have any TVs at our office. Maybe someone would catch it if they had a radio on, but a third of us would find out on our smart phones and let everyone know. And we'd have more than just voice telling us what's going on.

Durring the traffic disaster mentioned, if I could have seen where the ice line was, I could have gone another 5 miles south, headed farther east and then come back north to get home in 2 hours instead of 8. There was simply to much going on for the radio to convey the info. And yes, I could safely watch while I was at a stand still.

I remember the one inch snow 'disaster' back in 2005. Clogged roads, cell networks equally clogged. The ham radio was very usefull, I got all the info I needed, even got a fellow ham to call my wife and let her know where I was. Folks are too reliant on cell phones it seems.

Yet another un-needed item for something that is already out there. So while Emergency Management officials applaud it - generally, the folks who it is aimed for will likely look at it below the shout of fanfare.

nomorethanthat, I assume this alert system would not require an app running on your device. Basically, you register (sign-up) for the alerts and that's it. I am already registered to receive emergency alerts from another system and it comes straight through...just like if someone called your device or sent a text. The device just has to be on, but in standby mode you should have many hours of battery life on a fully charged system. It's always a good idea to have battery backup in any case...or charge your device using a car charger.

It's true that not everyone has these "smart" devices but they wouldn't be clogging the cell towers anyway. The idea is to give people another option who wouldn't otherwise be able to make a cell call.

how does this help me communicate with others?

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