What remains as the best radio methodolgy to communicate with distant parties? Anyrhing aside from Simplex?
As usual .... HF frequencies for long-haul communications (yes, its "simplex"). VHF/UHF for local communications (simplex, too). CW, SSB or even digital (at low rates) is useful on HF, especially during the rising solar cycle we are now in. Brian - K6BRN
Don't forget grid-independent repeaters. My club has two repeaters that are 100% solar powered. They will be up even if the electrical grid goes down.
All disasters are local. So, what would your communications needs be beyond your immediate neighborhood/community?
You guys have definitely lead sheltered lives. Many emergencies are not local at all - at least not in the sense that a handful of solar powered repeaters will cover them and their comms needs. HF has routinely closed the gap when that happens. Just off of the top of my head.... in the USA alone ...
1. 1965 and 2003 East Coast blackouts
2. 2011 Hurricane Irene, which took down much of the East Coast infrastructure for up to two weeks
3. 2017 Puerto Rico in which Hurricane Irma and Maria simply blew away much of the electrical and comms infrastructure on the island. ARRL was shipping emergency kits out to PR and quite a bit of health and welfare traffic over HF between mainland and PR families happened..
The list simply goes on.
And if you'd like the best option - try a modern satellite phone that supports data as well as voice (Thruaya, Inmarsat, Iridium, etc.).
VHF/UHF repeaters can help - but during weather disasters on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts they are often down, so point-to-point picks up the slack in many cases.
For local disasters, like the 1992 L.A. riots, VHF/UHF repeaters - especially those that interconnect with the phone system via patches, can be very useful. I used one during that emergency to jump around overloaded/collapsed phone networks and into a working one to contact my XYL on her cellphone. She and her staff then moved out of the direct path of rioters, just in time.
Glad to hear you've never been involved in a broad area emergency, or just a local area one requiring a phone patch. It's no fun at all worrying about loved ones in the path of destruction or trying to contact relatives outside (or inside) the weather area via HF and friendly hams just to say you're "OK" and to see if they are, too. I'm happy my own personal experience has never gone beyond that point.
Brian - K6BRN