Articles · Topic
Articles about Communications
44 articles across 6 sections
Section
Community
Accessible Church Emergency Services
Make your congregation's emergency services work for members with disabilities: the four access links, service-animal rules, communication and a review sheet.
Church Continuity and Succession Plan
A continuity guide for houses of worship: what must keep going, who takes over, which powers to delegate, where the records live and how to return to normal.
Church Emergency Communication Plan
How a church or other house of worship shares emergency information people trust: official sources, one approver, a five-part message and backup channels.
House of Worship Emergency Plan Guide
Write an emergency operations plan for a house of worship using the six federal steps: team, hazards, goals, actions, a basic plan with annexes, and practice.
Wellness Checks That Protect Privacy
Set up a voluntary check-in call program for your faith community: what to promise, what to record, the caller script and when a volunteer calls 911 first.
Being a Good Neighbor Across Differences
How to maintain working relationships with neighbors you disagree with. Practical ground rules, shared projects that build trust without requiring agreement, and scripts for when conversations go sideways.
The Four-Door Introduction: Meet Your Closest Neighbors
A practical guide to meeting the four households closest to yours. Scripts for the first conversation, what information to exchange, and how to turn awkward introductions into a genuine preparedness resource.
Section
Self-Reliance
Family Communication Plan
How to build a family communication plan that works when cell networks are degraded. Out-of-area contact, meeting points, school pickup protocols, the paper contact card, and the check-in schedule.
Paper Preparedness, Critical Documents in Physical Form
The documents you need in physical form when screens are dark. Insurance policies, medical records, identification, property records, contact lists, and the paper emergency binder system.
Antennas and Radio Installs: Height Beats Watts
Why antenna height beats transmitter watts, which coax to buy, how to read SWR, what the FCC and your HOA allow, and how to ground, mount, and install radios safely at home and in a vehicle.
Communication Layers: Building Redundancy from Cell Phone to Signal Mirror
Build layered communication redundancy using the PACE framework. When your phone fails, what is next? Radios, mesh, satellite, and zero-power fallbacks for every household.
GMRS Radio Guide: Licensing, Repeaters, and Neighborhood Networks
The complete GMRS guide: $35 license walkthrough, repeater access, vehicle and base station setups, channel planning, and how to build a neighborhood radio network.
Listening: Scanners, Shortwave, and Knowing What You Are Hearing
Receiving is half of communications. NOAA Weather Radio done right, local broadcast, what a scanner can legally hear, shortwave and SDR, and how to verify what comes in.
Mesh Networking: Build Your Own Communication Network
How to build an off-grid text network with Meshtastic and LoRa radios. No license, no subscription, no cell towers. Hardware from $25, neighborhood range and beyond.
MURS and CB Radios: The Other License-Free Services
MURS for wooded rural property and CB for the highway: channels, power, antenna rules, realistic range, when each beats FRS or GMRS, and how to set them up.
Powering Your Radios When the Grid Is Not
How long handhelds, weather radios, and 50-watt bases run on batteries, what to stock, how to size a 12-volt LiFePO4 battery or power station, and how to recharge from solar or a vehicle safely.
Radio Etiquette and Household Drills
How to talk on a radio so people understand you, the FCC identification and conduct rules for FRS, GMRS, and ham, how to run a household or neighborhood net with a log, and six drills with pass marks.
Communication When Phones Fail
A scenario-by-scenario protocol for when cell service degrades, fails, or goes down for days. Texts vs. calls, out-of-state contacts, kids at school, radio fallback, and a printable reference card.
Communication, Agreements, and Conflict
How to state a request clearly, verify understanding before reacting, write a one-page shared-living agreement, and resolve ordinary household disagreements without escalation.
Communications & Information
Two tracks: what to do when communication systems fail, and how to build reliable communication capability before any emergency. Nine practical guides.
Disability and Access Needs, Medical Preparedness
Medical preparedness planning for people with disabilities and access and functional needs. Equipment, evacuation considerations, service animals, communication supports, and pre-registering with loca
Emergency Alerts
Set up every emergency alert channel before you need it. Wireless alerts, NOAA Weather Radio, FEMA app, local systems, school and utility notifications, and what each alert type means.
Family, Relationships and Shared Living
The operating mechanics of living with other people: communicate expectations, divide responsibilities, resolve ordinary disagreements, clarify money, coordinate parenting, set boundaries, and recognize when conflict crosses into a safety problem.
FRS & GMRS Radios
Walkie-talkies for household and neighborhood emergency communication. Licensing reality, honest range numbers, what to buy, channel plans, privacy codes, and GMRS repeaters.
Ham Radio for Emergency Preparedness
The Technician license is approachable and worth it. What ham radio unlocks, how to study and pass the exam, first radio recommendations, emergency nets, and how to find your local club.
Information Hygiene During Emergencies
How to verify emergency alerts, evaluate what you
Landlord Communication
What needs your landlord's permission and what does not. How to request preparedness modifications, document maintenance issues, and keep a communication trail that protects you.
Power Outage Action Plan: Day Two and Beyond
What changes when a power outage passes 24 hours. The freezer decision at the FSIS limits, refueling while stations still have power, generator fuel budgeting and the charging-window model, light discipline, hygiene and sleep, the neighbors, and the thresholds that mean it is time to leave.
Radio Basics
Every radio option for emergency preparedness, AM/FM, NOAA, FRS, GMRS, ham, CB, scanner, satellite, and mesh networks. An honest overview of what each one does and who it
Satellite Communicators
Garmin inReach, SPOT, Zoleo, and Iridium GO. Who actually needs a satellite communicator, what they cost, two-way vs. one-way, SOS functionality, and urban vs. rural use cases.
Section
Preparedness
72-Hour Apartment Kit: Three Days Without the Grid in a Renter's Space
A 72-hour kit built for apartment renters: compact water storage, closet-sized food supply, stairwell 72-hour bag, and everything sized for a space without a garage, basement, or generator option.
Civil Disruption Preparedness: How to Keep Your Household Safe
Civil disruption can disrupt access to food, fuel, and services for days. Learn practical, household-level steps to stay safe, stay informed, and stay connected to your community.
Family Storm Kit: Thunderstorms, Tornadoes, and Multi-Day Power Events With Children
A family storm kit for severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and multi-day power outages with children. Helmets, shelter bedding, weather radio, safe lighting, food kids will eat, and activity supplies tha
First 72 Hours
The critical first window after a disruption. What to have ready, what to do first, and how to keep your household safe when outside help may not arrive for days.
Senior Check-In and Communication Plans
A communication plan designed for reliability, not technology. Daily check-in sequences, emergency alerts, backup communication when phones fail, and the contact card that goes everywhere.
The 5 Top Communications Items for Every Household
Five communications items centered on the family contact plan: cards, two-way radios, a broadcast receiver, and the prepared phone.
Tier Six: Documents, Emergency Cash, and Family Communication
Items 51 through 60: printed records, off-site backup, emergency savings, contact cards, FRS radios, paper maps, and a bag per person for the evacuation that looks like a hotel stay.
When Your Household Isn't on the Same Page
How to start preparing when a partner is skeptical, indifferent, or resistant. No ultimatums, no manipulation. Just the practical path forward for a divided household.
Who Will Check on You? Building Your Personal Support Network
Building a three-person support network, establishing a daily check-in system, and creating the human connections that provide more resilience than equipment.
Section
Courses
Family, Relationships & Shared Living
Name and divide the shared work, back up the jobs that cannot wait, run a household meeting and one calendar, clarify shared money, write a conflict process, hold the safety line where conflict is not conflict, keep morale on purpose, and assemble the Shared-Living Agreement. 8 guided modules across three tiers.
The Meeting and the Calendar
Set a short household meeting people can stand and one shared calendar everyone trusts, and decide how schedule changes and urgent messages travel.
Working an Ordinary Friction
Write your household's own steps for working an ordinary disagreement about work, money, or space, starting from a proven six-step process.