TEOTWAWKI Radio - Your Expectations?

Started by RadioRay, December 10, 2012, 02:24:58 PM

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cockpitbob

Of course, when TSHIF I don't think we'll be too worried about busting FCC regulations.  We may be more worried about a totalitarian force confiscating their subjects' ability to communicate though.

KC9TNH

Quote from: cockpitbob on December 11, 2012, 04:16:46 PM
Of course, when TSHIF I don't think we'll be too worried about busting FCC regulations.  We may be more worried about a totalitarian force confiscating their subjects' ability to communicate though.
True, but I posted that relevant to the topic pulling back a bit from the leap to Mad Max, and also to clarify for those who actually might not know. It is worth noting that it's also the basis for the legitimacy of many NETS, which one might want to participate in BEFORE the event, as a training venue. YMMV.

My $.02 adjusted for the Drachma.

WA4STO

Agreed.  During a true emergency situation is one thing.

But the equally important part is to practice.  And for that, we can't claim "EMERGENCY". 

Doing it, as in a QSO, obviates that particular difficulty, methinks.

73 de WA4STO


gil

For the unlicensed, the is also of course CB.. Still a lot of experimentation possible with antennas and portable stations.

Gil.

White Tiger

#20
First: what a great thread!

Second: from the newest, non-techy guy here - this exact topic is what led me to get my license. I suspect there are oodles of folks out there thinking the same thing I was thinking..."food: check, water: check, means to protect food & water: check, garden: check...hmmm...what if I need to know whats going on outside when the net goes down? ...doh, I need a radio..."

I had bought a CB/10m radio - thinking that it would cover all my needs (CB for local, 10m for distance). I wouldn't need a license, as I'd never be on the radio  except in an emergency...that's when I happened upon someone on another forum who knew better. Fortunately it led to a friendship, a license, and a hobby (...with an agenda). As I studied & asked questIons, I began to develop my understanding of the capabilities of the bands - and how I could use them in my Prepps. Today, I do still have that 10 m rig...but more importantly, I have a HF rig to listen to the information from the world...I have a multi-mode 2m rig to help with local information dissemination.

I listen a lot, I have made some contacts...but mostly I listen to the nets on 40m and 80m. I hear how many have staked out a particular frequency and have honored a traditional net start time for so long, they hold a timeslot on that frequency (band health permitting). I reasoned that this is an excellent system. I have heard (and helped) relay information as folks drop out of earshot of others on the frequency due to band problems. I have begun to enjoy picking a weak signal out and trying to work them to get the pertinent information...this is what I wanted from amateur radio...by cracking open the door to information on our terms - radio is becoming (for me) a perfect inoculation against the virus of tyranny.

The format I am using is to listen twice as much as I hear - and hear what is be communicated and to find likeminded folks, sharing useful information, in a routine way, before the problems begin. It also helps develop my network of community. That way I will know where (what frequencies) to go to and how to facilitate getting and giving information to others just like me.

I would like to bolster the radiopreppers net - especially SSB - and I probably see the benefit in learning code...(I still just don't want to)!

My next step is to get this 2m rig operating - so Gil and I can start shrinking the distance between us on a regular basis! Then...on to kick-starting my local group into fulfilling their end of the bargain regarding comms...
If you're looking for me, you're probably looking in the wrong place.

KC9TNH

Quote from: White Tiger on December 12, 2012, 01:23:46 AM...inoculation against the virus of tyranny.
Nicely said. A whole series of shots to get but this is one of them.
:)

WA4STO

Quote from: KC9TNH on December 12, 2012, 03:56:37 AM
Quote from: White Tiger on December 12, 2012, 01:23:46 AM...inoculation against the virus of tyranny.
Nicely said. A whole series of shots to get but this is one of them.
:)


Well, exactly guys.  The spread of information (vs typical media and gummint disinformation) is something that we can do nicely.  And frequently.  And accurately.  Good.

73 de Luck, WA4STO

ttabs

I got up and started with radio coms not as a function of information gathering and dissemination from afar, but rather as a primary force for security.  It will be very important that long range transmissions be used as information sources, but think about very close transmissions ... in or around your neighborhoods!  Anyone with a CB or FRS/GMRS/MURS can coordinate activities that could impact you directly (and immediately) not to mention other bands that are privy to some.  Also, my security plan will involve handhelds to coord activities locally. 

I have a Uniden scanner that will stop the scan mode and relay any 'close call' hits in my immediate area.  In an emergency situation, I'd be especially interested in these transmissions - so much so - that I'm considering playing around with a DF antennas (including mobile DF for triangulation). 

The second goal would be to establish coms regionally between nearby communities for information dissemination and coordination.  Finally - long range coms will be great for big picture stuff.  Everyone will be interested in 'what's going on' in a national emergency so collecting and relaying that info locally will be huge should things become ... isolated.   

I've beefed up my handheld inventory and scanning capabilities. 

KC9TNH

Quote from: ttabs on December 12, 2012, 10:15:52 AMwhole post
I happen to agree that, at the extreme local level (which is where tribe is) the lowest common denominator is what you start building on. It doesn't mean you don't try to get more versatile/capable. But battlefields of history are littered with the bodies of those who were waiting on "perfect" before executing something. It ain't elegant but I can reach mine, without touching a wire or traditional grid-based thing (x2 different capabilities). They are pretty caveman-simple* & we're talking nearby but it works, and is testable regularly without a whole lot of effort. One has to start somewhere.



* if you're an actual caveman and got your sensibilities offended, this is the internet. Get over it.

White Tiger

Quote from: WA4STO on December 12, 2012, 10:06:22 AM
Quote from: KC9TNH on December 12, 2012, 03:56:37 AM
Quote from: White Tiger on December 12, 2012, 01:23:46 AM...inoculation against the virus of tyranny.
Nicely said. A whole series of shots to get but this is one of them.
:)


Well, exactly guys.  The spread of information (vs typical media and gummint disinformation) is something that we can do nicely.  And frequently.  And accurately.  Good.

73 de Luck, WA4STO


Luck, do you have any stories relating why someone with your background doesn't think ARES/RACES is a good thing for folks who are looking to develop their personal EMCOMM skills? Or is it more of an issue regarding the goals of each being so different?
If you're looking for me, you're probably looking in the wrong place.

White Tiger

Quote from: ttabs on December 12, 2012, 10:15:52 AM
I got up and started with radio coms not as a function of information gathering and dissemination from afar, but rather as a primary force for security.  It will be very important that long range transmissions be used as information sources, but think about very close transmissions ... in or around your neighborhoods!  Anyone with a CB or FRS/GMRS/MURS can coordinate activities that could impact you directly (and immediately) not to mention other bands that are privy to some.  Also, my security plan will involve handhelds to coord activities locally. 

I have a Uniden scanner that will stop the scan mode and relay any 'close call' hits in my immediate area.  In an emergency situation, I'd be especially interested in these transmissions - so much so - that I'm considering playing around with a DF antennas (including mobile DF for triangulation). 

The second goal would be to establish coms regionally between nearby communities for information dissemination and coordination.  Finally - long range coms will be great for big picture stuff.  Everyone will be interested in 'what's going on' in a national emergency so collecting and relaying that info locally will be huge should things become ... isolated.   

I've beefed up my handheld inventory and scanning capabilities.

Good point - maybe my "gifts" this year for my group will be 2m Baofeng UV-5R's - just to get them refocused on their commitments and prepps?
If you're looking for me, you're probably looking in the wrong place.

WA4STO

Quote from: White Tiger on December 12, 2012, 11:54:38 AM
Or is it more of an issue regarding the goals of each being so different?

Oh!  I did NOT mean to indicate that EMCOMM preparation wasn't of value.  It most certainly is.

It's the goals that matter to the majority of preppers, methinks.

My goal, maybe and maybe not shared by other preppers, is to be able to communicate the messages that local folks here would want to send post-shtf.  And to provide bulletins of information.    To my mind, that requires practice.  The radiograms are a fabulous way to start that practice.

There's a huge difference between becoming EMCOMM capable and developing the means/paths toward accurate text gozintas and gozoutas from the local area to the outside world.  personally, I have a fair amount of disaster preparedness (food, batteries, radios, etc) well in hand, and I'm just now REdiscovering all the networks that our fellow radio amateurs have made available for us to use.  Good.

73 de Luck, WA4STO

KC9TNH

Quote from: White Tiger on December 12, 2012, 11:56:43 AMGood point - maybe my "gifts" this year for my group will be 2m Baofeng UV-5R's - just to get them refocused on their commitments and prepps?
If that's in your wherewithal to do that it's not a bad idea at all. You can field a workable "system" for $1,600,000,000 less than Uncle Sam and faster.
Caution: You will by default become the 'guru' so get the programming/cloning cable(s) too, whatever that h/t uses, so you can wargame FIRST what to cram into them (more is mo' better the first time if it's thought out), and then clone with the appropriate piece of Commander software.

Remember though it's less about the hardware than what's between your ears & fulfilling the needs of you & your tribe.
Nice start.



RadioRay

#29
"Remember though it's less about the hardware than what's between your ears & fulfilling the needs of you & your tribe."

AB-SO-LOOT-LEE korrekt-o-mundo !
This is the #1 reason for getting the ham license.  It is so that those who want to prepare have the opportunity to LEARN, to DO and eventually to "OWN THE SKILLS" for competency in radio communication, whether tactical (around the neighborhood), Area (in State) and long range (continental and more). The ham ticket provides am excellent path toward leanring that DOING this and more - quite legally. The biggest flaw that I see is the 'I'll just buy the radio and when TSHTF I'll just talk."  Three words: "No You Won't" (four words, if you count the expanded contraction.) The example: is like me owning a fine U.S. Army kit of field surgical instruments and learning while I go - in the field - extracting your appendix. (Gee - I wonder which one of the wiggly things IS his appendix?) Quit squirming and let me look around in here . . .  :o   .... Not the best way to learn - eh?


Time for me to go split some wood and wire in an electrical socket next to the wood stove.


73 de RadioRay ..._ ._

"When we cannot do the good we would, we must be ready to do the good we can."  ~ Matthew Henry