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