Depends how the apocalypse happened.

Good point

Morse code- that is if any one is familiar with it

Smoke signal - there will be a lot of smoke from the buildings

Megaphone - possible and yes

If its a zombie apocalypse, then megaphone = suicide though.

not if it's L4D type zombies and you aren't Fr(backwards e)d from youtube.

Yes that to


What would you pick ?

Air horn. n.n

LOUD NOISES >8U

GUNS.

It depends on the method. Nuclear war? No chance. Airborne diease? You'd have power for around 8 hours, which you could use to access places like Twitter and Facebook. Global diaster like in 2012? No chance. The Second Coming? See Airborne diease.

To be honest, the Internet would be the only way to communicate in any world wide disaster scenario that left the world untouched. After that, it would be a matter of leaving signs as you travel. Or holding up somewhere and making signs there.

It also depends on if there are certain places that are uneffected.....how did you survive? If it's because of where you were at the time, its possible there are survivors right near you.

I'd assume short-range radios would still work unit to unit, CB and the like, with a power source. would make the most sense

Agreed, but you're forgetting something. Shortwave. You can call someone on another continent with a shortwave radio. it's what they used in WWII

Probably the best bet, if the pockets of survivors got their shit together and got/made shortwave radios to coordinate things between each other and find survivors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortwave_radio

fair enough.. I figure start out with CB/walkie talkies/other short range, then move up to those once people get a little more organized

Amateur radio (ham radio) exists and persists because it is a means of portable long range communication with minimal power and equipment requirements. Depending on the end of the world scenario, one might need to contact the far side of the planet or one might not want to. Thankfully there's different bands for different ranges.

You'd need a number of methods. But generally putting up signs, trying to broad cast over radio, run stuff over a loudspeaker, set off fireworks/flares etc. Just.. do what ever would draw a lot of attention.

Unless it's a zombie apocalypse. Then they'll just try to eat your ass.

Drawing attention to yourself in any kind of Sh*t hit the fan scenario would be bad, at worst, you'd be letting looters know where you are and that you have supplies enough to worry about trying to communicate. at best you'd attract wandering people that will want some of your supplies.

Depends again on the situation, immediately post incident, unless it was nuclear war or something, there should still be plenty of supplies around. And you can survive better in numbers than alone generally speaking.

Yes, not everyone would turn into psychotic mutants from Omega Man just because of some catastrophe. We don't even know what it was. Maybe everyone who ever ate broccoli suddenly vanished when the stars aligned, leaving trees that grew Spam in their wake?

There'd be no inherent advantage to going around being an asshat in the long term of almost any catastrophe. Eventually, you'll run out of supplies and need to grow food, repair houses, draw furry porn, et cetera. The more people you're working with, the easier that gets to split up those tasks.

I'd say, if it isn't the Zombie Apocalypse, find your local radio station and use that to send out a message on whatever frequency you can. ZA, Morse code with lights from a high building (ala 28 days).

http://www.EncaseofApocalypse.com

Yeah, we're screwed

Link is broken

That's the point

That was also the point of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

I don't remember that movie

that'd ruin the joke though

It may be best NOT to contact other survivors (they could be thewielder).

grab a gun and shoot yourself, the bang will alert the other suvivors ;)

I'd be all 'HELLO' and they'd be all 'BLARGH I'M A HORRIBLE NUCLEAR ZOMB' and I'd be all "HOLY BALLSACKS YOU'RE ALL DISGUSTING NUCLEAR ZOMBZ' and they'd be all "Yes, that's what we said" and I'd be all, "Whoa now, don't you be getting all offended you called attention to it first," and they'd be all "Dude, that's not the point," and I'd be all "Well what is the point, exactly. Are you trying to paint me as some kind of prejudiced fucker because you described yourselves in your own terms first?" and they'd be all, "Look that's not the issue here," and I'd be all "Well what IS the issue here?" and they'd be all "BLARGH" and I'd be all "Oh you crazy zombz tricking me like that now you're eating my face."

True story.

best story

+1

Planning ahead?

Radio would probably be your best bet (or morse)...Although, does anyone have a set that can pick up non-digital radio anymore?

I've got some small radios that work.

I imagine that if you survived, anyone local to you would survive too...

Sit in a stockpiled supermarket. Kill the first other to find it. Move on. Do so until you are the last alive. Look in a mirror and talk.

harharhar xD xD

Roam the english countryside, avoiding Triffids, until you find a woman to obsess over. Encounter various societies as you go on your journey. Rinse. Repeat.

Right up until the point where I'm leaving a farmhouse and the story just kind of ends.

What you'd need to do is too do one of two things :
1) Find a television broadcast station and broadcast a repeating message.
2) Make us of the phone networks to contact people

Assuming there is still power. Otherwise battery operating radio is only the best way to go for long distance communication.

Facebook, duh.

you're going to need 20 gay homing pigeons, some lube, and a freak bolt of lightning.

wat

smoke signals!

hmm...

The survivors will probably be clustered geographically in most Armageddon scenarios, so a short range communication method would be effective.

I'm thinking creation of large drums a'la Dragon Riders of Pern. The point would be to attract the survivors in an area to a central location. One you have 50-100 people to work together you have a chance of survival; once you get your own group surviving, you could begin attempting to contact other groups by sending out scouting parties of 4-10 people that could range outward to contact other surviving groups.

People in my area are pretty much screwed in case of the end of the world; we would all die of thirst. Lesson learned: don't build a city in the middle of a desert where you need to pipe in drinking water from hundreds of miles away.

Ironically that's what the Internet was invented for (before porn) -- some method of communication that could survive nuclear holocaust.

So forget Facebook or Twitter, check all the porn sites you can think of, that's where the survivors will be.

People overestimate this somewhat. It was a 'research project' (coupled to the desire for a practical inter-site network) to create a network that could potentially be resilient by not requiring single points of failure.* The original ARPA network was small and maybe not all that redundant, but had the advantage of using cable laid by The Telephone Company to national security standards. Thing is, circuit-switched voice had roughly the same level of resiliency for the same reasons.

*Until someone invented DNS. But if you managed to find anything still alive (sniffing traffic, port scans) you could start tediously rebuilding your own DNS. IPv6 may make this slightly more complicated.


When the world blows up you're at the mercy of how many routers you can reach and whether they were actually configured to fail over gracefully to alternate routes [the big ones are, but how about the ones between you, the CO, and the peering center? and how far away is that point?]. There are Really Not So Many long-haul cables around, and the endpoints might still be somewhat hardened for legacy reasons but most cable is now strung with less concern re: nuclear oblivion and more towards maintenance-accessibility and hanging it out of the reach of idiots with backhoes.

But since IP is a logical construct that can run over anything (pigeon RFC etc), this means any surviving computer installations have a good chance of being able to communicate over whatever channel can be brought up without having to rewrite the application layer every time [Firefox works whether you're on dialup, broadband, radio or cup-and-string].


Radio is definitely the most foolproof as long as you can find power [batteries, solar] and stick your head above-ground and EMP didn't kill everything electronic in the world.

Proceed slowly to the Alamo, Arch, the Mall or the Golden Gate if you're in the USA.

Don't you guys get the memos?

We probably need to get NYC back on the list, but hey.

if i survived i probably wouldnt bother getting into contact with anyone.
i would find a nice farm spot, set up shop...and live the dream baby.

Actually if power is still available somewhat, then i would most likely suggest finding a Ground line, the old Transatlantic telecommunication and fiberoptic lines should survive just about anything close to a GIANT rock smacking into them, and that line is a link to the rest of the other continents, so grab an old dialing phone and a telejack and head for the east coast XD

WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING. >:|


But seriously, my idea would be to set up some kind of shelter system with maybe a signal fire, depending on circumstances (like, if the apocalypse allows a large, continuous fire). Then, this would allow local survivors to band together and rebuild small communities. Initially, other locations would exist as word-of-mouth only, but once telecommunications or a mail / runner / courier system is set back up, long distance contact will exist again.

In theory.

Begin singing "Always" and see if any /v/ browsers respond... either you'll get shot at or joined in your heavenly chorus :3

Pigeons.

Short wave radio. IE setup a small transmitter, and get a battery powered tape recorder to keep playing a message of where you are at and have it broadcast to all the local radios. Because look at it this way. Main power will be gone, onyl things that will run on batteries will work, and radio is pretty much the only thing that you can setup with a car battery to transmit something electronic for a few miles. THAT and battery powered radios are incredibly easy to get hold of, and seeing as how all the other stations would be dead, all you have to do is turn the dial until you hear something besides static.

short wave radio, breaker breaker come back

Is contacting people really a good idea would be the question. Without law weighing over them people are likely to become even more dangerous and stupid.

Also I would have to say a megaphone or flares (assuming you can find some)

The guys who said radio signals are correct.

radio but i would rather not contact others unless you arent alone...scavanegrs could just wait to kill and take your stuff away:/

Just go to a wal-mart. People will still be going there after the apocalypse and prob be complaining cause nothing is in stock and there aren't enough cashiers.

Telepathy!

Depends on the dispersion of the population, and the type of disaster. In one in which electricity's knocked out:

The phone system would last for about 24 hours, less in sparser areas where infrastructure isn't the most developed.

Lots of people have two-way radios in their cars. CB band radios would be easy to come across, and some more complex systems would also be available. As long as fuel lasted, people would be able to use them. Same thing with solar/wind generators.

Visual aids tend to always work, especially if people are stuck somewhere without access to equipment. Flare guns of various sorts, fireworks, and smoke signals are good, provided you know how to use them. On sunny days, grab a small pocket mirror and start shining the sun about. The flashes can be seen a fairly good distance on clear days.

Sound is good, since in most apocalypse scenarios most sound sources are gone, leaving man-made sounds sticking out like a sore thumb. Guns work well, and are used today in search and rescue situations where proper equipment isn't available.

As for regular radio, once again if you can get the power to transmit, AM's your best bet. Receivers are dead simple to make. If you have a diode, some wire, and a piezo earpiece you have an AM receiver. Transmitters aren't so bad, either, and if you go with Morse code they're even easier. However, very few people know Morse Code nowadays. And, like before, most have receivers in their car.

And the last-ditch one would be signs. If you move on, leave a sign where you went and why you left. You may save other peoples lives by pointing out trying to find food or shelter in an area is worthless, or that it's an otherwise dangerous place to stay.

free food! :P

maybe some search lights in the sky

Find an airport, learn how to fly, find a sky writing plane, write your address in the sky.

Ham radio powered by the old fashioned hand crank generator, pigeons, CB as noted above and...oh yeah... pony express, like in the movie... "The Postman".

Giddy up! }:=)

This isn't the most immediate method, but I'd imagine given time, hobo signs might make a comeback, only now for everyone, not just hobos.

Anyone who's lived in the boonies can tell what smoke means, and fire is easy to see at night. A campfire in the woods is easy to see. So if we're in a woods setting, chances are people will find you unless you're trying not to be found.

Flare guns are useful, although the ammo is limited. I suppose fireworks would also be helpful, but these don't last long - a one shot deal. These would be good for flagging down a ship or plane, but little else. A good distraction, perhaps, if someone is trying to kill you?

Guns are extremely loud and alert everyone around to your position, but unfortunately ammunition is probably going to be very precious. Best not to waste it firing randomly. Also, people may take gunfire to be a sign of hostility - especially rapid fire.

In an urban area it may be more difficult to make yourself found, but something like a large, noisy windchime would be effective at short range. Like it was said before, in an abandoned city there is no sound. If there are sounds, there is someone there. Build a machine that uses wind to make a loud banging noise and do your best to get used to it. If you're the only person left in the city, you might make yourself found with light sources - those hand crank flashlights are AWESOME for apocalypses and you could flash it from a rooftop. (Wide angle + high brightness = great signal. Wind the bugger up and then flash it in all directions like a lighthouse. This will let people know that it's not just a light, but it's a person holding a light.)

Smoke signals sound corny, but they are still effective. The thin trail of a smoky fire can be seen from a long way away, and fire is something any survivor would watch for. If you put the fire out and start it again (smother it with a wet blanket for about ten seconds, then give it air again. Don't expect the blanket to survive), that's a signal to anyone watching that there is somebody there, tending the fire. (Smoke signals would be noticed more as society breaks down - expect it to be most effective after 2 to 3 years of apocalypse, when people are survivalists)

Radio signals are effective, but people need to be tuned in to the right station in order to get them. The only ones left would be the ones remaining in working vehicles, so CB radios from semi drivers (many of them would likely survive an apocalypse, they're mobile and communicate with each other well) would probably still be in use. If roads in your area are bad, though, there might not be any traffic within range. CB radios are not very effective past 10 miles, and they require a good antenna.

If this happens, there's a 98% chance you won't have to worry about it.

cb radio

This is an easy one -- ham radio. It's low power and it doesn't require any intermediate equipment (just transmitters / receivers).

2%...

assuming it's 2% everywhere, the nearest big chain supermarket will have people who need food.

If it's "oh shit, all the major cities are gone leaving a rural 2%"... night time signals with fire in a high place or loud noises.

My cock!

Battery powered radio transmitter.
Scavenge batteries from cars and stores and keep broadcasting on as many frequencies as possible.

I think instincts would kick in a little bit and we'd go out to hunt for survivors, all the remaining breeders could start the populating process. With no technology we'd pretty much start over. Welcome back to the bronze age ya?

Morse Code is known by HAM radio operators worldwide. If you can get on a HAM radio or other transmitter, that works. Or just a radio transmitter, see if you can raise somebody.

Next would be to try and commandeer those electric signs along the freeway. Put up a message. Chances are the control box for those are at a police station, so head to one. That's usually a good move is the police in most any emergency.

If needs be, head downtown to the biggest building with the biggest electronic advertising sign and commandeer its advertising computer. Get it to display your message on auto repeat. Then just wait for the messages along the freeway, downtown, and broadcast radio to bring survivors together wherever you told them to gather.

Gather water and dry goods food in this place. Heat, light, and shelter will be necessary to accommodate potential thousands, with toilet facilities, and possible medical attention.

Depends entirely on the precise nature of the disaster.

if it's "98% of people randomly vanish/die suddenly in perfect distribution", finding other people would be easy with visual or audio signals in any relatively dense area.

if it's "OMG! nuclear war! all the major cities are glowing craters!", most likely, same as above for dense areas and the population around here would likely be unaffected, as i'm nowhere important.

for communicating outside the local area, internet (if local infrastructure is intact), phone, or CB/HAM radio would be the best bets.

A couple people already brought this up; Amateur (HAM) radio is definitely a good bet on emergency communication. Even with 2% of the population left, many, many HAM operators would be communicating rather quickly, most likely via shortwave frequencies.

Plus. with radio communication, your not giving your location away to too many people, which is never a bad thing. >=P

SATELLITE INTERNET FTW

Best way to communicate with people is through internet meme expressing a preplanned meeting place. There's a collection of post-apocalyptic short stories called Grants Pass, where the general premise is that a journalist posts on her blog, "When the end of the world comes, meet me in Grants Pass, Oregon." This becomes a rallying point for many people after the apocalypse does come, where the survivors all try to make it to this remote town in order to start over.

Internet meme before the apocalypse, I mean. Better to have a silly plan in jest or as a thought exercise than no plan at all.