I’ve been kicking around thoughts on various forms of useful communications for those rare occasions when all else fails. Why am I thinking about these things? Take a good look at the global news and then re-read this post. The planet is obviously convulsing with geopolitical dry heaves and I have concerns about what comes next.

A robust digital packet network comes immediately to mind though I’m frequently reminded that’s a 20th-century concept that exists these days in scattered dribs and drabs across a plethora of protocols. Winlink works, but feels constrained. APRS can be used for short messages, but honestly, it’s become a book with missing pages to me and I have doubts about its present value, though that could be because there is no activity in my local area. It feels like another 20th-century technology propped up by eternal optimists in search of a 1200-baud renaissance.

I’m taking a deeper dive into MeshCore technology, having ordered some license-free LoRa gear. I want a way to exchange text messages with my kids (and neighbors) who don’t have a ham radio license. That would keep me in touch with my family even if Elon buys all the cell networks and then pulls the plug like he did with Starlink when it suited him.

Then it occurred to me in the midst of these mental gymnastics that I’m a seasoned radio telegrapher with dozens of working transceivers. In a pinch I can be on the air in minutes with a 19th-century relic: CW with a battery and a wire antenna. That covers me talking to the world; MeshCore is for my family talking to me. I may be deluding myself but CW feels like a healthy dose of immunity from the broligarchy as it’s independent of commercial networks, satellites, computers, and software.

Unless I just want to get entangled in all that.