Cell Phones

[azsnowman]

I don't quite know how Frances will effect the cell phone communications, I would guess the towers will be overloaded with calls??? During our evacuation 2 years ago, ALL land lines were down and you could NOT get through on cell phones, the message "All circuits are busy" played for days on END! Anyone have an alternative way of communication?

Dennis

[alicia-w]

how about those new broadband phone systems. if you have a wireless laptop, would that work? Is that capability in big cities in FL peninsula yet? Here in Hooterville, I KNOW we probably dont have it.

[TxAggie]

Nextel and Verizon "push to talk" works on a different bandwidth than cellular calls. When cellular circuits are jammed, this bandwidth is generally available. (This was the case in New York on 9/11 and in the days afterward) All of this assumes that the towers are still up and operating, so this is more of a case during evac than after landfall.

[NCECOM]

During any major event cell phone systems become overloaded with family members checking on loved ones, EM officials making arrangements, as well as the normal area use.

Many local government agencies have enlisted the aid of the Ham Radio community to provide reliable backup communications between agencies, shelters, hospitals, etc.

Check with the Hams in your area to find out how you might be able to communicate "when all else fails."

Mike, KD4MTT

[JPmia]

(I work in the wireless industry) The capacity of our wireless phone system should hold up pretty well before and even during the storm. Afterwards, assuming all the land lines are down, the capacity might be too much for the system. However, you shold know that every cell site has at least 1 emergency power system and most have two; towers are built much stronger than many homes and buildings. If you got to see the footage of the Lowe's HIRT guys during Charley you will notice that the tower they were taking shelter next to survived the 127mph+ winds they had...that is probably why they could continue broadcasting weather data from their wireless laptops/phones.

[skysummit]

I'm a Cellular Operations Field Engineer for Verizon Wireless, and believe me, storms are my worst enemy. For any emergency situation, we usually bring in mobile cell sites. They're called "COWS" (Cell On Wheels). VZW is pretty much capable for the most part to handle an overflow of calls. Most of our cell sites have a second frequency for calls to get on in case the first gets full. Now, if that second frequency gets full, let's just hope the site has a 3rd and/or 4th.....most of the larger cities do.

About the Push To Talk, they use the exact same cell sites as regular cell phones. They also use the exact same frequency. They also use 1XRTT data which is the same data that wireless laptops use. This data takes up A LOT of room on the T1s that keep the sites up. I would not recommend relying upon Push To Talk as a means of emergency communication in a hurricane.

[debbiet]

I'm paramedic with local FD in James City County, VA...we use Nextel as a means of communication off radio. During Isabel the Nextels were the very first to go...EARLY in the storm Very disapppointing. Verizon went out late, but came back up really quickly. Not trying to push one brand or another here, just stating facts...but the PTT feature had nothing to do with whether or not you had communication. Once it was down, it was down.

[JPmia]

Yes skysummitt....I forgot to mention the "COWS!"

[KG4HPN]

Yeah, what Mike said. There's an active group of hams in just about every county. In Brevard county it's called BEARS. In Volusia it's VARECS, webpage http://www.varecs.us
Provided any of us admin type people have e-mail after the storm, you can email us with your "We're ok" messages and we can deliver it to anyone in the CONUS so long as you provide the address and telephone number.

If you have any other questions about how this works, or how to get involved in ham radio, feel free to e-mail me at jlcb -at- cfl -dot- rr -dot- com.

Jet
KG4HPN
Assistant Emergency Coordinator, VARECS

[SeaBrz_FL]

Post Charley, in Orlando, most reported cell phone outtages, and also couldn't use their cordless home phones because of no electricity. However, people with the regular old plug-in-the-wall phones had the best luck of service, and those units ($10 or less) flew off the storm shelves immediately after.

[jacindc]

Would text messaging be affected by overload? Or does data get through more easily than voice calls?

People might want to learn how to use their phones to send text messages to loved ones--on Sept. 11, BlackBerries were about the most successful means of communication....

[frankthetank]

well..if one were so inclined... you could purchase yourself a satellite phone....but thats out of the reach of many....



this one even has 9600BPS data speed

[Robert]

A few years ago I was in a windstorm and lost power for about 6 days. I had 4 telephone lines, 3 went out and one stayed on. I was told that the ones that were out were run thought a local switch that had lost power (and battery back up was done after about 36 hours). The one that stayed on had a line to a different station that had power.

Would not hurt to bring your old phone around to your neighbors and try their lines also, someone in your neighborhood might have an old line to a different station then where yours go to (and they did hookup generators to some of the stations).

Robert

[skysummit]

Would text messaging be affected by overload? Or does data get through more easily than voice calls?

People might want to learn how to use their phones to send text messages to loved ones--on Sept. 11, BlackBerries were about the most successful means of communication....

Text messaging could be a good idea. I does use a little less bandwith than anything else (no voice, small data). Plus, some phones you can set your messages to keep on trying until they are sent.

Now, if the storm takes out the local Mobile Telephone Switching Office, you're out of luck no matter how you look at it. Chances of this are slim. When I was in deep south La., our MTSO had walls 3 feet thick of solid concrete. They're usually a little more beafy along the coasts.

Verizon is sure not taking Frances lightly, nor paying much attention to the current forecast track. They've made hotel reservations from North Carolina all the way down to Miami for people like me to get dispatched to. Should be fun....

[JPmia]

In addition to Verizon, all the carriers I have contact with are preparing with backup generators, contractors, extra staff, temporary cell sites (COWS), etc...Should be an interesting event for the business down here, since Andrew we have not had something like this effect our market.