Scenario:
It’s dawn on November 4th.
The Internet is down; TV talking heads claim it is a “massive cyber attack all across the globe”.
What did you do in the weeks before the election to secure both your team’s info access and their security in a full “reliable-comms-down” situation?
Specifics (without breaching your PERSEC/COMSEC) will be more helpful.
Go!
Test 1 2 3
after the latest ‘BOOMER! scumbag’ poaching event, every one of my neighbors(7 homes) on the road have a CB radio and a Baofeng uv 5r set to the same channels. we all also have some type of foghorn device as a back-up. of course, i have a dedicated radio room that is being set-up in my shops loft area that will serve as a command post. we have the capability to see and control who approaches and enters our road. between all of us, we know pretty much everyone on the island- who belongs and who doesn’t… the only other road before the shoreline and Canada is inhabited by their relatives who have been here for over 100 years. the ferry crew keeps the islanders informed about any “unusual” passengers via fakebook…
right now it’s 28 degrees and a first snow dusting overnight and this morning…
A tfat comment that doesn’t make me throw up in my mouth a little bit! Know your neighbors–there’ve got to be a couple who’ve got the normalcy bias beaten out of them.
if anything tfA-t says upsets anyone, it only demonstrates how not ready they are for reality to begin and this artificial politically correct society to finally cease to exist. the world is a hard place- harden yourselves… and coronascam is nothing more than the damn flu brah… the thing is this, the vast majority of murkins are fat shits who are unhealthy as hell. “you are what you eat” DcMonalds, taco squirt, burger crap, windys.. no wonder they are so worried about catching a fatal cold.
HA HA HA
tfA-t hath telleth the way it is- again
I have planned for this for 6+ months now.
I bought 10ea uv82hp ht’s w extra batteries and programmed them with frs/gmrs/murs/and various uhf/vhf freqs and have assigned them, given actually, to various mates of mine locally and training on how to use w cheat sheets on various, basic report formats. They all have generic call signs assigned too.
I have another box uf uv5r’s ready to program and hand out to folks in neighborhood i deem worthy.
My own shack is online with 100w Alinco HF radio, and long wire antenna strung thru trees, tested and verified contacts via nvis operation
My 50w Kenwood tmv-71 dual band vhf/uhf radio, with the frequency mod done, and pre programed for above and other freqs/repeaters and such, to allow for wider range of tx/rx, is under desk, connected to j-pole in attic and ready to act as local/regional commo toc. I get 100+ mile repeater range, and up to 25-30 simplex, i also have a tilt up mast i can attach a yagi too and go further if need be.
I have various analog and digi scanners, along w pc running skywave linux and an sdr app, connected to wide band discone in attic for rx purposes, then to disseminate that info to teams is ready.
I have alternate power options standing by, from portable power packs, to solar and 12v batteries to a small genset that is designed for sensitive electronics and several cans of gas handy.
My suv is equipped with the same kenwood rig, and hi gain diamond antenna, and a mobile discone antenna for mobile scanning options using bubba scanners and/or handheld analog/digi rigs.
In short, i have my kit and systems in place, ready to be activated and go live.
More importantly however, is that i am a licensed operator, and have been actively using and practicing my comms skills, so that i am NOT behind in the OODA loop of operations..
It’s gonna be a bitch of a learning curve for those folks that have not bothered to learn about, and practice with their kit, just thinking they can buy shit, toss on shelf or ammo can, and say, i got comms.
Not gonna happen…
\nnnn
DITTO except we have a defend the area.
No bug out but all regularly scheduled nets / activities are available as back ups.
Not available (for me) at that link, CA. Try this one instead:
https://www.riares.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/USMC-Antenna-HandBook.pdf
When it’s dawn on November 4th, I think a much more realistic scenario will be massive social unrest in the Blue Hives should the Golden Golem/Mango Emperor pull it off. My initial plan will be to plug in the police scanner to hear what Dispatch is instructing all the Orcs and Orcettes to respond to. Then, I will plan accordingly. While I have a Ham transceiver, my go-to for tribe and neighbors will be FRS radios scattered around our OP’s to watch the lines of drift. The local Boondock Saints in CDA will take care of the small, noisy contingent of Marxist whiners, Karens, and Beta cuck males. The real threat will be coming from Spokane County. Bleib ubrig.
Sandpoint? Lots of Biden/Harris signs. I wish I knew you. Good luck and pray for us not yet ready.
Retired: Western Kootenai County, outside of PF. Head about 40 miles south of the bridge which goes across lake Pend Oreille into the Hideouts of the (((Hollywood Marxists))), then west on Prairie Avenue. We’re close to Stateline.
The Tactical Supply store at Seltice Way and Greensferry Avenue has cases of 9MM ball-Turkish manufacture-$22.00/box and .223 77-grain match ball- RUAG at about $480.00/case. Also, several cases of 7.62X54MM and 7.62X39-FMJ. They are open M-F, 10-5. Contact me through hushmail. If I’m not working, we can meet. Bleib ubrig.
I’d be happy to meet too. I’m in Missoula; have a client in Post Falls. @hushmail.
The Yagi Antenna is great for directly beaming comms to assets at a known point location from a known location.
The Moxon Antenna is great for if you are running around in the woods, and you might have a general idea of where your boys are, but neither of you really “know” where you are.
The Moxon is a little bit more durable. The Yagi needs a bit of TLC. Both are invaluable.
Straight from the mouth of NC Scout.
Thanks, Johnny-I‘ll have to get a few.
Also: Sweep the leg.
We don’t have everything I’d like but we have something at least. We have some pretty good VHF/UHF capabilities. We have an excellent base station and antenna setup. The TYT TH9800 has 50w power and is ‘opened up’ outside the ham bands out of the box. I can Tx/Rx on FRS/GMRS for example, I can monitor those frequencies with enhanced capabilities vs just having an HT. We have some backup power capability. We have some super simple ‘channelized’ FRS radios that can be distributed to trusted neighborhood npt members. I’m on the local AmRRON net so what we lack in HF and scanner capabilities is at least covered by other local net members. I was out patrolling the neighborhood (ok walking the Dingo in actuality) and playing on the Baofeng UV82 the other night with just the rubber duck and it was working really well! I’ve been tech licensed for a while now so I’ve got a lot of frequencies programmed and I understand the scan functions, I understand that ‘privacy tones’ are NOT encrypted, everything radio is out there for anyone with the right equipment to detect. We definitely are aware that Rx is way more important than Tx so mostly we will just be listening.
I live in Kansas City area and have no idea how to even find like minds to have this level protection in place.
Gotta go out and build it, brother. Getting out and meeting/talking to neighbors (not about this stuff initially) is absolutely invaluable.
Jay
I too am in the KC area. I can help get you up to speed on coms. There is an excellent radio store in Overland Park that has all the hardware a person needs. There are many hams in the area who are like minded.
Our group of about 30+ all have the hand-held Baofeng units (max 8w power) with most members being licensed HAM’s with pretty powerful ancillary set-ups.
At least twice a month we power up and chat for an hour. Yesterday our chat covered the entire county of 420 square miles: locations, weather, goings on, potential threats, food, ammo, water, for post 3 NOV, etc.
We requested a few members to travel the local Interstates during our chat with their mobile units and they came in very clear (el: 1066 ft) Boogers were the deep valleys and canyons, but once they ascended and got back to “line-of-sight,” areas with the various repeaters around, we’re gtg.
We’ve also got a private list of encoded rally-points for distribution of food, water, meds, ammo for members in need. Ya really don’t want to broadcast in the open (public): “Meet me at the local Homo-Depot for some ammo in an hour.” DUH! You have gang-bangers and worse listening in.
Example: we would transmit: “Mongoose, meet me at the Boss’ House at 0900 for what ya need.”
We have previously encoded as:
Mongoose: Eddie Smith, local plumber in our group
Boss’ House: local Church’s parking lot
You get the idea; local rally points ID’ed by names/handles ONLY your group knows. Breach of security of handles/places encoded–very bad, VERY bad. Consequences.
BTW, for all those using comms, ask yourself: “How am I gonna re-charge my batteries or power up if the electric grid is down?” Valid question. Yeah, yeah–ya got the genny, sure and the back up genny. Got enough gas?
The Baofengs have the usual 120v charging station which drops it down to 10v to charge. Get you the cable to power up your Baofeng using your vehicle’s cigarette lighter or ‘puter port. Most of the guys in our group have the simple solar power stuff to work the recharge station. Easy peasey.
Commies gotta commie, and you know that big ‘ole transformer station down yonder will get ventilated one of these days. Presto! No household/farm juice. Think ahead–comms, water pumps, etc.
‘Nuff said with comms, but this is kinda on topic: ever been in a home with the power off at -23*F outside? I have–truly not pleasant–especially if you’re trying to use your comms. I had been thinking about a full house “transfer switch” when the power goes down, so I just plug in one of my gennys and “woila!” But–the cost and re-wiring are not in the budget.
As long as you have heating oil, propane, or NG–all ya need is electricity! With NG, trust me–all ya need are a few oz of pressure in the line, and you’re gtg. The NG suppliers transfer/pressure stations use (ta-da!) NG generators to back them up. You’ll always have NG in the lines.
Enter: the EZ Manual Generator Switch for one circuit (your furnace!) Even a jackass like me can install it; plenty of YouTubes and instructions with the unit, or call “Kevin” there at the factory, and he’ll walk you through. Best $80 I’ve spent–and I’ve tested it already–it’s in the 20*F here already. Hint: use AT LEAST a 12 ga extension cord from genny to switch and furnace–works like a champ. I have no skin in this, other than to keep you and yours from freezing to death, like I almost did!
Yeah, yeah…you old-timers and electrical wizards will say: “BS! I don’t need that. I’ll just ‘hot wire’ my three wires coming into the furnace with my cord from the genny.” Be my guest, but know the potential issues: you get a genny surge and wind up frying your furnace’s control board–then where are you? Or, worst case, somebody/something (try a pet or kid) causes an arc fiddling with an uninsulated stripped wire and causes a fire which burns your house down. That homeowner’s insurance adjuster who comes out is just looking to deny coverage based upon “homeowner’s negligence or fault.”
Moar: power out, its 0300, and you’re trying to ‘hot-wire’ your furnace with BLUE FINGERS and a cloudy brain from coldness. I lived it and am here to tell the tale.
The EZ Generator Transfer Switch is UL and CSA approved; built and produced by licensed electricians who know of what they speak. If you get one–one minor issue–figure out how your genny is grounded first–they have a video on this at their website.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71huSRWDwrL._AC_SL1161_.jpg
Baofengs are now like $25 per–ya gotta be nuts not to have at least one. They are a double-PITA to program. Get the CHIRP app to program your frequencies; our HAM pros do it in like a minute or two on their dedicated ‘puters. We have like 87 different channels now.
A lot of your Police/Fire/EMS have gone over to digital transmitting. so your Baofeng won’t pick these up, but ours is still analog, so we can eavesdrop on them, so sweat.
PS –
> You get the idea; local rally points ID’ed by names/handles ONLY your group knows.
I was a Counter-Intel voice interceptor back in the late 70’s early 80’s. While I understand the limitations of the tech we have available, any serious, longer-term threat can break Hollywood callsigns in pretty short order – think hours not weeks.
Much appreciated, LKS! Will do–good, straight dope you give us.
We’ll change/rotate/reconfigure IDs, rally points accordingly. Thanks!
C_C
In regards to your NG supply:
https://www.fox9.com/news/over-150-princeton-residents-without-heat-due-to-natural-gas-interruption
That was at -30°F, right around where LP doesn’t vaporize enough to produce pressure.
Now think of someone deliberately knocking off a couple of pumping stations, or holing a pipe.
Better have some wood and at least the plans for a wood gasifier as well.
Yep–Good point, MN Steel! Plan #B of much seasoned cordwood is on hand, and Plan #C a few gasifier stoves are ready to roll as well. An old Kerosene-wick heater might fill in, but with all:
VENTILATE PROPERLY! – HAVE CO2/Smoke Detectors on board everywhere people/pets are.
When heat is at a premium, remember to ISOLATE said space/room by hanging plastic sheets, Visqueen, blankets, etc. at windows, doors, openings to trap in the heat, while letting combustible nasties out.
73
This is good motivational question, but no time for more than a brief comment. Gotta go pick up another AR in a parts box, and have other gun parts to purchase. Prepping is a balancing act. I’m not just a commo guy. Fortunately I live in my Ham shack, and it is a matter of switching on scanners. We already are on 2 meter, but will as the situation evolves, migrate to more secure means. We will only use the ham bands for the repeaters on rare occasions. The enemy will naturally monitor the Ham Bands, so we will not be there… Locals without licenses have a dedicated frequency on where to meet up. Keep it simple and evolve with the situation. Most will have to be brought along. Their interest in radio is not as keen yet. Have a plan for the less sophisticated. Even my Hams are not up to the speed where will need to get to, but they will naturally fall in.
Their radios are already programmed for a secure system they are not fully appreciative….yet. Fortunately in this part of country, radio is still very much apart of the way we live out here, especially where there is no cell phone coverage. The enemy may cut off the rural regions earlier that we would expect, so we should be good to go with a simple plan, even if it is only one frequency to meet up on. Get off the Ham bands as soon as possible, so that your call sign does not give you away. Many mobiles are capable of transmitting on MURS. If not, get one. It is a good place to start. Then look at the business band and other quiet places. Quickly switch to alternate call signs, directional antennas, and more secure means. Have at least one directional antenna for the base station. The base station should not be transmit on an omni directional antenna unless it is using only 1 watt. Low power is your friend. Low power on a directional antenna is easily had, and the first step toward a more secure commo. Arrow Antenna can make custom yagis to specifically for your frequencies. If you must stick with the Ham bands, directional antennas are even more valuable. 1 or 2 watts on a yagi will hit a repeater and give you an omni directional signal….. Gotta go pick up some parts now…Tunnel Rabbit out.
We have a bunch of BoaFeng 888S radios all programmed and ready to go. It’s part of my normal everyday sort of disaster planning (like a hurricane, etc.). A very simple radio I can hand out to neighbors. If one is lost I’m out like $10.
Bought half dozen Baofengs for those in our group (all within 4 miles of each other) several years ago, programmed each with a laminated card showing simplex talk frequencies we use. Have several more stored in a steel box with a spare HF rig just in case. An Icom 7100 HF go rig in a box with raspberry PI for digital modes with battery and small foldout solar panel. An Alpha 10-80 meter antenna goes with it and a couple end feed antennas in the same bag as well. Home rig is a Yaseu 957D and icom 8900 paired with a laptop with a 5BTV in the yard and comet GP-15 on the roof. I still need to work out the one time pads system with the group and come up with a method of frequency hopping based on the top of the hour check in and some type of code wording like what Centurion_Cornelius has mentioned above then practice, practice, practice.
Good man, Ohio Galt! Our group are all “Buckeyes” as well–Connecticut Western Reserve Fire Lands.
Our groups’ names/handles are on an 8 x 10 sheet of paper given to each member in person (never on-line.) This also includes the encoded rally spots’ names and places. We’ll change and rotate these each month, as LKS suggested.
You are gtg! You need anything, holler.
C_C
Northern part of Union County here (Go Bucks!).
Thanks Centurion_Cornelius, appreciate that. We’re just west if you in the middle of the black swamp and a place in the NE corner of the state , probably in your neighborhood. Card idea is good and add that to the list along with LDKs ideas. . Ever consider using an odd FLDGI digital mode like hellscriber or AMRRON for local stuff? Set for probably two winters with firewood, west side of the state can be brutal with the winds. Good talk here with like minded and similar preparedness.
AmRRON’s Signal Operating Instructions: https://amrron.com/webstore/?product_cat=comms-s-o-i
Yall act like you’re going to be chatting it up on your ham radios about how bad it is everywhere. You won’t be if (((they))) do their job right. I guess we will soon see.
RTL-SDR running along with FLDIGI to listen to AMRRON’s emergency net on 40 meters.
UV5R listening to my local police dispatch and HAM repeater using dual standby.
CB (a Midland 75-785 with a Tram 300 antenna) monitoring the 3 most popular channels in my AO (19, 3, 17 in my case).
If shit gets crazy I’ll pass out some throw away radios to my neighbors (Baofeng BF888s).
For us comms idiots (I would call commo guys to do our loads and freqs on way out of wire):
What’s a good vehicle based CB and antenna?
What would be next step from that?
I am in fetus stage of crawl, walk, run. Yeah, I know in this area I am late to the party.
Entirely possible and we know from history they will control the normies with food and water, electricity and communications.
General ticket holder. Stopped buying because it’s all going digital and SDR. I would describe what I have as bare minimum.
Two “one hung low” BF-F8HP units, would like to have more tuned to common FRS/MURS frequencies for now (sounds like OPFOR may operate on these in the clear according to intel, but that won’t last.) One for “base” ops and one for LP/OP. I know I need more and better (Thinking 6M as Brushbeater suggests.) Only so many hours in the day and so many dollars.
Yaesu FT-897D base station but it’s not hooked up yet. I also have no antenna set up yet. No real battery backup but some genny capability. Would appreciate any advice for good improvised antenna solutions for my “shack in a box.”
MC,
For portable use I recommend wire for HF. A good aftermarket antenna for your HT is a must for better performance and/or look into making a “tape measure” 2M yagi. It’s pretty darn cheap and bandwidth is very good. A good 9:1 Balun or 49:1 balun will come in very useful for an HF end fed wire which is pretty easy to set up when portable in the field. I know more than few guys who have great signals with end-feds for their shack. A little searching of the net with your favorite search engine will come up with lengths that are good to use. Your antenna dope should have lengths you want to use in case you need to make another from all the spare wire you bought at Lowe’s. Good luck and hope this helps.
/r
Grey Ghost
Feels like I’m drinking from a firehose with this. Is there a good starter kit/receiver for the 40m band? I’ve got the AMRRON pdf, and tried picking them up with my UV-5RE, but couldn’t pick up crap.
Your UV is a VHF/UHF rig, and you’ll need something different for 40M/7MHz. Try searching for used ham gear from online vendors. While specialized 40M gear is out there, e.g. MFJ’s CW and SSB rigs, you don’t want to be stuck on 40M when operations have moved to 80 or 160, for instance.
A very good SDR receiver here:
https://airspy.com/airspy-hf-discovery
A very good antenna here:
https://airspy.com/youloop/
You’ll need a computer and SDR# software to “operate” the radio, but you should be able to pick up a lot of the spectrum in your local area (including 40M). The above radio will not xmit so if you want to xmit on 40m I leave that as an exercise for you.
/r
Grey Ghost
In the dark on how to set up an antenna. So far, all I can pick up is NWS🤷🏻♀️ I have a couple of Baofengs always charging, but how to make them useful has suddenly moved way up my priority list. Where’s a good starting point, and considering my budget, can this be done inexpensively, and considering time is short – do I have enough time to learn the basics? Thank you and good luck 🙏
https://www.hamradio.com/
See also:
https://observer.wunderwood.org/2020/03/11/usmc-antenna-handbook/
Can folks help this person?
Appreciate the help, thank you.
Not available (for me) at that link, CA. Try this one instead: https://www.riares.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/USMC-Antenna-HandBook.pdf
Got’em boss.
Find a local Ham club that is giving classes. Not only will you learn the basics you might find a mentor (called an Elmer) that can help you out. That is really the best way. I didn’t have anyone around to learn from and had to rely on books and the interwebs; which is sub-optimal.
HRO (aka the candy store) (linked below) is a good site for equipment, and if you are near one of their stores stop in. Most of their folks are pretty helpful, but they do seem to have the occasional asshole working there (at least the Woodbridge store was like that, IMHO, YMMV).
Used equipment is a good way to get started at a lower cost. Stop in at a local Ham club and get to know folks, a lot of Hams have “extra” stuff they are looking to sell.
Finally, I got this from a club meeting a while back in a talk about getting a station up and running:
* The Rig: about 1/2 your budget (shoot for 100 watt output and a 25amp power supply)
* The Antenna: about 1/3 of your budget, including feed line and connectors
* Accessories: about 1/6 of your budget. This includes interfaces, switches, cables, and so on.
For listening, almost anything will do. Get two pieces of wire. Same length, different length, doesn’t matter much. A good length is about 20 to 40′ each. This will cover 6 to 20 mHz pretty well for receive; transmit is a different deal.
Solder one end of each piece to each of the two conductors of a piece of Coax long enough to reach your radio from wherever you are going to set up your antenna. 50 ohm, 70 or 75 ohm, doesn’t matter much. Try to string the wire out more or less straight with the attachment to the coax (the feedpoint) as high as you can get it, consonant with Opsec and Persec. The ends can be up in the air or anchored just above the ground.
Attach the other end of the coax to your radio, and listen!
For more information, try Brushbeater’s site
https://brushbeater.wordpress.com/ Check out his “foundation” article which has a wealth of “how-to” for comm newbies.
LadyBuck,
First your Boafangs are for the VHF/UHF bands and are referred to as an HT (handie talkie). If you don’t have the operating manual then download it from the net RIGHT NOW. You can manually tune any VHF/UHF frequency but this is slow and error prone. Best to program the frequency info into one of the “memories” of the HT. IF you still have the operating manual their should be instructions on how to program frequencies into memory slots. Probably not the easiest way to do it BUT programming frequencies is only half the problem. You can program frequencies all you want and you still may not hear anything. From what you said you are not in a community defense group so I recommend you seek out your local ham community to help you out with programming the HTs. It will be the fastest way to program them with local repeaters and other frequencies of interest in the local area. If you don’t have a Tech Ham license you won’t be legal to transmit using the boafangs but you can listen all you want.
Finally, IF you are good with computers, you can use CHIRP (a free programing “app” on the internet), a radio specific programming cable and your computer to program frequency info into the radio memory slots. You’ll need to get with a local ham for that frequency info or ferret it out on the internet. However you proceed don’t delay, the time is getting late.
Hope that you helps out… somewhat.
/r
Grey Ghost
And lady buck pick up a Nagoya NA-771 antenna for that baofeng if you don’t have it hooked to an outdoor antenna, it will definitely help the range . And like other have said, find a ham club , most are very accommodating and love to add members to the hobby. Some will whine about the ChinaCom radio but it’s perfectly fine for starting out and learning. And Grayghist is right, get the Chirp program, these radios are almost impossible to program by hand unless you’ve done it a few times and have the book in front of you. Plenty of you tube videos out there too how to use chirp.
https://www.americanpartisan.org/2019/05/directional-antennas-for-the-small-unit-part-1/
https://www.americanpartisan.org/2019/05/directional-antennas-for-the-small-unit-part-2/
https://www.americanpartisan.org/2020/04/three-simple-home-brew-2-meter-antennas/
Work now. Clock is ticking. Read Every Article WORD FOR WORD. Good luck brother.
First read this, and then everything else NC Scout has on comms:
https://brushbeater.wordpress.com/signals-intelligence-resources/
I’m not sure what the purpose of the antenna is. If you are trying to hear something go to https://www.radioreference.com/ and find your local .gov frequencies +FRS/GMRS etc.
For better VHF/UHF reception then look at one of these styles of antenna:
https://arrl-ohio.org/SEC/GndPlane.pdf
https://www.alpharubicon.com/elect/jpolejaden.htm
If you don’t want to build an antenna a mag mount will be fine, just put it on a cookie sheet (and get the right adapters.)
https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-008176
If you can be more specific about your goals we can be more helpful. If you aren’t sure what your goals should be read Brushbeater.
Don’t forget the utility of GMRS mobile units.
40W Tx, powered by your car’s battery and minimal licensing requirements.
https://midlandusa.com/product/mxt400-micromobile-2-way-radio/
Get a GMRS repeater, which can be mobile, and you’ve got yourself and your team a nice little comms network.
I’ll not get into my kamaraden’s local group setup; others seem to have addressed bits & pieces of the handheld commo scenario. The notion of a handheld signalling device is cool, whether flare, or airhorn. At any rate, not to be a jerk but it’s a bit like stocking ammo when we had 3-1/2 years of cheap buffet salad bar prices to do that.
Review stuff (a BUNCH of it) present over at both American Partisan and NCScout’s place over at Brushbeater, that relates to setting up a signal plan that is workable and that will survive the first 15 minutes.
For those that have an HF station already up, or that have a good shortwave receiver, they have their shortwave news listening needs taken care of. However, the key (and sad) thing is that there are so few stations broadcasting English language news now. So it’s worth your time NOW to find them, should you decide you want that capability. The BBC World Service used to broadcast in the Americas but quit. If you have a good station and superb antenna you may still pick them up via a foreign area they’re transmitting into. BBC World Service is still heard in the mornings on stations that carry public radio, FM or AM.
Also, there are quite a few other stations that will broadcast some English language news at a few select times per day. Many of these function primarily as Christian ministry stations, so search out their schedule. And, of course, many of the Communist nations still broadcast at us, but their news feed is unlikely to be the unvarnished version you’re looking for.
Good HF station w/antenna and/or a Tecsun PL-880 receiver are nice things. Too bad the old SW traditions have faded. If hothing else, you can find some diversionary salsa music from many of the stations south of the border. A couple of links for finding frequencies and times (UTC, aka ZULU):
https://www.primetimeshortwave.com/america.txt
https://hfradio.org/english/
If, at this point, you are literally JUST starting out, don’t scurry around the internet picking up this & that molecule of knowledge hoping to marry them together. Find a local ham via a nearby radio club or organization; search with increasing radius to your location. Even if there isn’t a ham club per se, there may be a SKYWARN group in the area that spots weather for the nearest weather service office. Contact them & inquire how to reach that group, contact them, rinse/repeat, but get after it.
Damn formatting & absence of hard carriage returns for paragraphs. Grrrrrr.
Has anyone tried the book printing on demand services?(Example https://www.thebookpatch.com/)
I would like to have EMP proof copies of out-of-print books. Would I be better off printing them myself and using 3-ring binders?
Listening to the local VHf and UHF traffic is important. I have several dedicated scanners plus an SDR with various antennas ranging from discones to LPDAs to do just that. That is a bare minimum capability; being able to use NVIS for local and regional comms may become just as important, due to the LPOI and LPDF inherent to the mode.
But what can be lifesaving, is being able to know WHERE these transmissions are coming from. That can be literally priceless. Even if you cannot decode new digital traffic in your AO (you *do* regularly listen on the various LE local channels, right?) or perhaps ESPECIALLY when you hear new encrypted signals, knowing where they come from can make a huge difference. Knowing where these signals come from can allow easier on the ground infiltration and ID of the newcomers.
If you do not have a simple Adcock array setup for at least two of your HTs, you are wrong. It takes less than an hour to build one of these, and with two, you can send out 2 sigint teams and quickly triangulate a new signal. A simple H-Adcock cut for the 2 meter ham band will cover from CB (27 mHz) all the way to 500 Mhz; cut one for 440 and it will work from the air band all the way through 800 and 900 mHz to 1296.
There are better DF setups, and I have those too, but the Adcock is compact, simple, cheap, easy to build, extremely broadbanded, and once you know how to use it, surprisingly effective.
Having the ability to send encoded traffic can be very useful too; I use the AMRRON One Time Pad (OTP) generator, and have been extremely satisfied with it. I’d recommend that you have a way to charge the 18650 batteries outboard of the unit, and that you have sufficient thermal paper for it.
https://www.americanpartisan.org/2018/05/amrron-dark-labs-adl-1-otp-generator/#comments
If using these on one of the license free services, having a directional antenna to reduce your POI is useful.
Good points keypounder, I never messed with foxhunts and never heard of an adcock array until now (I’m an extra class and still, always learning). So I went looking for info on adcock arrays and ran across this:
https://spench.net/drupal/files/SoftwareDefinedRadioDirectionFinding-BalintSeeber.pdf
I like the SDR version simply to listen and direction find.
For those of you with “handi-talkies” such as the Baofeng are good for within your neighborhood up to 1+ mile line-of-sight (LOS) the best thing about them is that they make for an inexpensive scanner and work with VHF/UHF repeaters. You need to get your technicians license first to transmit with any VHF/UHF radio. Frequencies for your AO can be found on Radioreference.com
FRS/GMRS – gotta experiment with them local area – within 1 mile LOS otherwise a waste of money.
MERS is a little bit better. Bang-for-buck get a group neighborhood buy with the Baofeng types.
CB radios can be had for cheap and with a decent antenna work well for local, but limited to 11 meter band.
Best bang for buck – make a dipole antenna out of ordinary 12-14 gauge wire and put it up as high as possible – for any kind of radio. There are all kinds of wire antenna configurations. Use as much as your property will permit. Instructions are easy as pie and can be found on-line.
Study to get your Technicians License. It is not hard and you can work VHF/UHF. Decent radios such Kenwood, Alinco, ICOM and Yaesu can be had for under $200. Antennas for these frequencies you can DIY a vertical as high as you can get it using RG58 coax. Good VHF/UHF antennas can be had for even under $50.
HF lately is in the mud with propagation. Start small – crawl, walk, run with VHF/UHF. At the very least get a radio that will program local repeaters (like the – Baofeng) to listen to what’s going on.
Find a “ham” radio operator in your local area to be your “Elmer”. There are many local amateur radio clubs around you who would be delighted to help you out.
My apologies since all this has been posted before – but bears repeating (pun intended)
It’s important to point out that the licensed HAM operators who decry the unlicensed user. The former WILL sell the latter out for 30 shekels of silver given half an opportunity.
These are the same type people who’ll turn in fellow gun owners, food “hoarders” and anyone else not following Gubbermint POLICEy & procedurrrr whilst waving a Trump flag and yelling, “Freedumb!”
License to Communicate.
Let that sink in.
Having all the latest “comm” toys is nice….but isn’t going to do much to fill the lack of REAL INTEL
available if the postulated scenario occurs where those in power shut down the internet and the
media whores start parroting predetermined lies. The need for REAL and ACCURATE information about
what is transpiring will be foremost…not gabbing with the guy down the road. Finding a way to learn about what is happening in the next time zone instead of the next street will be imperative. HAM radio
is a start, CB with the ability it has for atmospheric ‘skip’ might be useful. But likely the best source will
be if people can maintain telephone comms with people OUTSIDE the USA who still have internet and access to less biased reporting. All the tools and toys in the world aren’t worth much without information.