After the General Club Meeting this month, I decided to reevaluate my
emergency plans, particularly in preparation for an earthquake. The
pandemic and related shortages early on also pointed out some weaknesses
in my preparations and now seemed like a good time to addresses all of
this.
Garmin makes a fairly inexpensive satellite communication device called the
InReach Mini that uses the Iridium constellation to connect users to text
messaging around the world. This seemed like a good way to augment amateur
radio, particularly for establishing reliable communications with non-hams
outside of a disaster area.
I purchased the device early last week and it arrived on Friday. However, I
have been unable to activate it because Garmin was hit with a Ransomware
attack last week. Hackers have encrypted nearly all of the GPS giant's
computer systems and are demanding payment for the keys.
Garmin's entire ecosystem (aviation, marine and arguably the largest and
most consumer-facing smart watch system) has been affected since July 23!
As a result, satellite communications in ma y sectors have been crippled.
Pilots have been unable to file flight plans or update navigation
databases, mariners have lost access to chart updates, and runners are
losing their minds in online forums as they are not able to track their
daily workouts through their smart watches.
Again, new technologies may offer easy, pushbutton solutions but no
communication system is more reliable and more resilient than amateur
radio. Truly, ham radio works when all else fails 😉.
LCM