PMR446 Radios: Civilian Comms When Networks Fail
When the phone network dies, cheap licence-free radios give a household or a street the one thing it loses: the ability to coordinate without being in the same room.
Comms when the network is gone
When mobile networks fail, short-range radio keeps a group coordinated. PMR446 (446 MHz Personal Mobile Radio) is the common civilian standard across the EU — licence-free under ETSI harmonisation. Realistic range: 0.5–2 km in a city, up to 5–10 km in open terrain.
Stay legal
Transmitting on non-PMR446 frequencies — amateur/ham, military or emergency bands — is a criminal offence across EU jurisdictions, with fines reaching tens of thousands of euros in some countries. Outside the EU, allocations and licensing differ: verify your national rules before transmitting.
Use it well
- Agree a channel and a schedule. Radios off to save battery, on at fixed times (say, on the hour for five minutes) so you're not transmitting into the void.
- Keep traffic short. Plan what you'll say, press–pause–talk, then release. Brevity saves battery and avoids stepping on others.
- Assume you're overheard. Anyone with a radio can listen — never broadcast your address, numbers or supplies in the clear; use simple pre-agreed code words.
- Carry spare power. Rechargeables plus a way to charge them, or models that take AA cells you can feed from your power system.
The point
A handful of cheap PMR446 radios, a shared channel and a check-in schedule give a household or a street the one thing a dead phone network takes away: the ability to coordinate without being in the same room.