4 ms·

Is there a realistic scenario where cell phones are down and there is meaningful coordination being done over SiriusXM? I don't particularly expect that there

Is there a realistic scenario where cell phones are down and there is meaningful coordination being done over SiriusXM? I don't particularly expect that there would be any effort to lean on AM either.

ajsnigrutin 2y ago
Maybe not meaningful coordination, but if the whole citys power shuts down, you'd still like some news about what happened, why is there no power, no internet, no nothing.... war? farmer plowing too deep? ddos attack on the infrastructure? In such cases, having long distance broadcasting service is great.
- ta1243 2y ago
  AM radio then. If you want internet, get a starlink.
- maxerickson 2y ago
  So a localized total outage? Weird that the farmer had no idea everything was in the one spot.
  - ajsnigrutin 2y ago
    Yes, wouldn't be the first time https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/06/georgian-woman-cuts-web-access https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/06/georgian-woman... (not a farmer but still)
    - maxerickson 2y ago
      That doesn't say that power is out, which is what is described up thread and what I meant by "total".
      - ajsnigrutin 2y ago
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003 No power, so no internet, cell service was overloaded and didn't work because of that, and well.. all that was was left was the radio.
        maxerickson 2y ago
        I lived through that. I don't remember how I found out what was going on, and the university I was near still had their power station up, so I may have had better local comms (it was small and not real tied to the grid, mostly used for heating). I certainly didn't spend time huddled around an AM radio.
heavyset_go 2y ago
Evacuation notices can be, and are, announced on AM radio during emergencies. Having lived in disaster prone areas, people tend to be glued to the TV and radio before, during and after to get updates on the situation. TV and the internet are the first to go with the power, and even if you have a generator, that doesn't mean your internet connection will work. Radios will. I don't think the OP's point was that SiriusXM was being used for emergency coordination, but the lack of a traditional radio in the car forgoes the existing emergency radio infrastructure.
- vel0city 2y ago
  Having lived in (and still do) disaster prone areas, people often don't even own radios outside of that thing they get annoyed by when their car turns on before bluetooth/Android Auto/Carplay connects and don't bother with any way of watching TV that doesn't involve the internet. Pretty rare to have people actually listen to AM radio or OTA TV for a massive chunk of the population.
  - _hyn3 2y ago
    I was in a disaster zone without internet (or electric, except for my car) for two weeks. You are right, but neighbors end up sharing information pretty quickly when their preferred means of communication (ie internet, mobile phones) stop working. (AM radio still worked and could be received from a great distance, and TV might have been working, but I'm not sure because I didn't have a generator for the first ten days and after that it was for refrigerator and clothes washer.)
numpad0 2y ago
Backup powers on cell towers lasts hours at most. After that they have to be individually reconfigured for generator powers and regularly refueled. TV and radio stations are centralized, there's no millions of AM cell towers distributed throughout regions. You tow the power car or a fuel truck next to the station and it'll be good for multiple days minimum.
evanjrowley 2y ago
The scenario you ask about is exactly why I subscribed to Sirius XM in the first place. During the time I had Sirius XM, the entire point for me was to continuous radio coverage as I drove across remote parts of Appalachia where cellular, AM, and FM coverage inconsistent.

ajsnigrutin 2y ago

Maybe not meaningful coordination, but if the whole citys power shuts down, you'd still like some news about what happened, why is there no power, no internet, no nothing.... war? farmer plowing too deep? ddos attack on the infrastructure? In such cases, having long distance broadcasting service is great.

ta1243 2y ago
AM radio then. If you want internet, get a starlink.
maxerickson 2y ago
So a localized total outage? Weird that the farmer had no idea everything was in the one spot.
- ajsnigrutin 2y ago
  Yes, wouldn't be the first time https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/06/georgian-woman-cuts-web-access https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/06/georgian-woman... (not a farmer but still)
  - maxerickson 2y ago
    That doesn't say that power is out, which is what is described up thread and what I meant by "total".
    - ajsnigrutin 2y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003 No power, so no internet, cell service was overloaded and didn't work because of that, and well.. all that was was left was the radio.
      - maxerickson 2y ago
        I lived through that. I don't remember how I found out what was going on, and the university I was near still had their power station up, so I may have had better local comms (it was small and not real tied to the grid, mostly used for heating). I certainly didn't spend time huddled around an AM radio.

heavyset_go 2y ago

Evacuation notices can be, and are, announced on AM radio during emergencies. Having lived in disaster prone areas, people tend to be glued to the TV and radio before, during and after to get updates on the situation. TV and the internet are the first to go with the power, and even if you have a generator, that doesn't mean your internet connection will work. Radios will. I don't think the OP's point was that SiriusXM was being used for emergency coordination, but the lack of a traditional radio in the car forgoes the existing emergency radio infrastructure.

vel0city 2y ago
Having lived in (and still do) disaster prone areas, people often don't even own radios outside of that thing they get annoyed by when their car turns on before bluetooth/Android Auto/Carplay connects and don't bother with any way of watching TV that doesn't involve the internet. Pretty rare to have people actually listen to AM radio or OTA TV for a massive chunk of the population.
- _hyn3 2y ago
  I was in a disaster zone without internet (or electric, except for my car) for two weeks. You are right, but neighbors end up sharing information pretty quickly when their preferred means of communication (ie internet, mobile phones) stop working. (AM radio still worked and could be received from a great distance, and TV might have been working, but I'm not sure because I didn't have a generator for the first ten days and after that it was for refrigerator and clothes washer.)

numpad0 2y ago

Backup powers on cell towers lasts hours at most. After that they have to be individually reconfigured for generator powers and regularly refueled. TV and radio stations are centralized, there's no millions of AM cell towers distributed throughout regions. You tow the power car or a fuel truck next to the station and it'll be good for multiple days minimum.

evanjrowley 2y ago

The scenario you ask about is exactly why I subscribed to Sirius XM in the first place. During the time I had Sirius XM, the entire point for me was to continuous radio coverage as I drove across remote parts of Appalachia where cellular, AM, and FM coverage inconsistent.