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Messages - White Tiger

#16
VHF and Above / Re: VHF Utility in TEOTWAWKI
October 20, 2013, 04:26:02 AM
Unless of course you're building a solar charging station and have set up a network for coordination of a team or group. My HT's operate off of "AA" batteries. My HF and VHF/UHF rigs operate off a battery that is charged by the solar panels. The digital modes "sip" juice. It's why I believe it has some merit.

It seems to me - and unless I greatly misunderstood a great many conversations on the topic with a bras pounding friend - if you know how to pass a message to a friend, now, via HF of VHF - you should still reach those same groups after TEOTWAWKI?

I will not deny that your CW will be king (eventually), but as I have been giving this more thought - how many amateur operators are really capable of CW, maybe a third of all of HAM's in this country? Thats less than 300,000 (at best), spread across a giant swath of land.

How many of them have been prepping, a quarter to maybe a half of that number? Thats 75,000 to 150,000 people - across a HUGE landmass.

I have heard many military folks tell me - never become a refugee - build a network of people, then support one another. As I recall, the French Underground in WWII were made up of some strange bedfellows, united by a common cause. It worked because they relied on one another - and only trusted those they knew. In that way, we humans are similar to wolves, we're pack animals. The TRUE strengths of the pack you build will help you survive whatever may come. It's what made us a more efficient hunter - the ability to use superior communication skills and operate together. Not coincidentally, when a wolf is banished from the pack, it starves. The term "lone wolf" is meant to be a bit of a cautionary tale. We will need whatever mode survives - and I'm betting that the ease of digital will give it some benefit and the low power will rival CW. There may be a mad rush to learn CW..."One Second After"...but it will take time and access...




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#17
General Discussion / Re: Bitcoins
October 20, 2013, 04:01:31 AM
I have a rough understanding of how bitcoins work - and you may have a point that they may have more merit now, than later.

What I mean is, it seems as if the whole system is being wired. Like we are very close  to the marketplace, the entire marketplace, being completely controlled. The means of how a transaction is conducted doesn't matter - and while I agree with you that the world is going cashless more "now" than later - I see all of this as a steady movement towards something. More than ever, the system is set up to dictate who can buy, what can be bought, and when you can buy.

I think back to what history tells me of how Roosevelt outlawed the ownership of gold & silver - the government needed to save itself from consequences of their massive spending/stimulus. He passed an executive order, confiscated PRIVATE gold reserves (of course making a big deal of paying "fair market value for it - in paper dollars), they gained from the soaring price of gold, while the previous owners were left holding paper dollars that devalued.

Instead of doing the same today - and causing MORE panic - they sell you certificates of deposit for most of the gold being bought. This is simply paper, issued for what you are supposed to have in a a vault somewhere in Canada, New York, London, Shanghai...etc., In reality, there is over 100 times more certificates being printed than there is gold above ground.

They have effectively controlled the price of gold.

You buy something with a bitcoin - the same inflationary dynamics apply - because you buy what is for sale in the physical market.

The game is being gamed.


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#18
General Discussion / Re: Bitcoins
October 19, 2013, 10:38:04 PM
Yes, I simply see it as a means if control - if you control the market place - and can manipulate the value - then you control everything that can be bought or sold.

The ONLY means of transacting "off-grid" is by barter. Since I have what I need, I am going to set about acquiring common items of need for that purpose. For instance - I don't have a .38 - but I stock .38 special, I don't drink - but I'm learning distillery techniques and I'm buying Vodka...and, there's always technical skill, and..well...food.

That plan is for the stabilization period - after that  - COG kicks in.
#19
VHF and Above / Re: VHF Utility in TEOTWAWKI
October 19, 2013, 10:11:06 PM
Was the "old" traffic system set up in a way that used each radio as a "node"? If so,!why did it change?

If not, couldn't you send a digital message along from radio to radio until it reached the appropriate destination?

I'm sure I'm showing my ignorance here. - but it is a question I'm interested in and have spent a lot of time discussing privately regarding TEOTWAWKI . It seems like the digital modes via HF/VHF/UHF offer quite a bit of stealth EMCOMM promise!?
#20
General Discussion / Re: Bitcoins
October 19, 2013, 09:47:58 PM
I have always been skeptical of this - could be that my belief that this is another step towards a cashless society - but I am now dubious as well as skeptical.

Anything that is resident on a server, under a users name, is centralized.

It seems to be a way to push back against "the man" and his devaluation of our savings and income - in reality - it seems like "the man" has it ALL wired...

To me anyway.
#21
Hey - it's been quite awhile since I've posted (been a lot of changes at work), but as usual I see the topics are exactly what I'm thinking about!

I too have a UV-5R - so this thread is relevant to me. I'm not technically savvy, so I thought these struggles with my radio were JUST due to operator error. I have YET to even hit a local repeater near me!? If you are an experienced operator, or IT pro - and like low-priced gear - the problems are minor annoyances for you - but for a non-tech individual - the difficulty factor of working this little radio is also very high. I have not had much luck with it.

After reading about folks who LOVE this radio - I decided to give it another try. I recently ordered the programming cable and have rekindled an interest in figuring it out - glad there are others here I can bounce questions off when I get to the point of trying to program it for operation!

Additionally - I was recently induced into a subscription to CQ Magazine - mostly for the calendar (pics of vintage rigs and Hams in their shacks). I don't know if anyone gets this magazine - and if they do - ordered/saw the calendar? "Miss November" 2015 (tongue planted firmly in check)? It shows her operating digitally via an IC-80AD HT! She uses a laptop with a small sound card interface kit running  FLdigi and EasyPal software!!

I immediately began googling for a similar UV-5R setup, found it & bought it.

Then Ibasked my friend Luck, WA4STO who opened the door to digital/TNC - planning to run the UV-5R with a PakRatt data controller as well!

So - questions - A) anybody here actually do this? And B) what are your experiences?
#22
Digital Modes / Re: HSMM-MESH
July 19, 2013, 10:58:13 PM
Quote from: cockpitbob on July 19, 2013, 09:39:58 PM
I just read the getting-started page at HSMM-MESH.org.  I have to confess that I'm still not sure what you would actually do with one.

This is a topic Luck and I discussed a couple weeks ago - due this being the lead article in QST.

Luck sent me the link to the mesh.org website (mentioned above) - this is the stated goal from the website:

"Broadband-Hamnet? (formerly called HSMM-Mesh?)  is a high speed, self discovering, self configuring, fault tolerant, wireless computer network that can run for days from a fully charged car battery, or indefinitely with the addition of a modest solar array or other supplemental power source. The focus is on emergency communications..."

I'm interested in it because you can use it to send email with full video - I'm interested to see if I could use it as a security measure - even if the grid goes down. I'm also interested to see if I could deploy a small, secure, network.
#23
New To Radio / Re: 10m radios
July 19, 2013, 02:48:44 PM
My 10m/CB just-in-case radio "go box" is in my car, in each of my cars actually, but it's not for mobile operation...


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#24
New To Radio / Re: 10m radios
July 19, 2013, 10:50:28 AM
I have two 10m radios - ironically, my first one is what got me into amateur radio.

...imagine one "box" that lets you go local, and global, at the same time!? Perfect for preps [he thought, before he knew anything about radio], check comms off my list of prepping needs, cool!

Then I met some one who knew what they were doing - that showed me:

A) While 10m IS an amateur band, it's not always,"there"...so it's not a good idea to use it as the backbone of any communications prep.

B) Even if you never use the CB until the SHTF/emergency - there's only 40 channels and several million people surrounding me on the only part of the radio that is "there".

C) The radio is extremely limited in power in its current configuration (15w) - so even if the band is "there" I could never be sure anyone could hear me!

I have two in a couple of metal ammo cans, along with two 10m dipoles, a coil of coax in each and some rope - and each ammo can also has a 2m HT. It is literally an item to be used as a "last resort" now.

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#25
General Discussion / Re: Tapatalk update.
July 19, 2013, 10:28:30 AM
Ever since I began using my iPad for work (rather than my laptop), Tapatalk is almost exclusively how view RP content! I lose some visual aspects...and some functions are limited...but not enough to matter!


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#26
Quote from: WA4STO on June 10, 2013, 10:00:48 PM
Quote from: Geek on June 10, 2013, 08:17:34 PM
  Is your reference in Perry an error?  Rick Scott is the Governor of FL.

Whoops!  yes, it was certainly an error on my part.  I meant Governor Scott.

It's ok, from what I understand, they're good friends...

Rick Scott is a complete confusion. Get this: he ran as a Tea Party Republican...but it didn't take long to morph into JohnRomneyMcSame.

Sometimes he has a backbone (anti-tax), mostly he's got round heels....

"...Rick Scott, doing all he can to get the other guy elected......


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#27
General Discussion / Re: Tapatalk update.
July 16, 2013, 01:30:46 AM
Yea Gil...I have full mobile functions restored!


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#28
In order to finish a revolution, you have to have money. My bet is, if you could follow the "shorts" you'd know what happened.

The stock market was ginned-up, getting every poor Slob with a 401k, money market fund, etc.,to go "all in", and siphoning off the wealth these folks invested - by betting against the market and the dollar.

Someone - or more precisely, groups of someone's - made trillions...in 2008.

It's my belief, that after running the market back up in 2013 - without any statistical economic data to support the "Dow15k" - its about to happen, again.

It's just supposition on my part - after two previous "market corrections" which found me losing all of my 401k, we made a decision to invest in stuff that was easier to understand...I didn't get hurt the last time (unless you count the resulting loss in  equity in my home, 40% price increases on everything we need for our daily existence over the past 5 years) - as I've decided the real financial security is not to hold any debt.


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#29
Quote from: Geek on July 09, 2013, 02:30:50 PM
My point was that referring to "Bailouts" and accusing bankers of controlling the government, when what actually happened was using a crisis as an excuse to fleece the banks, is not only incorrect, but leads one to desire the exact opposite of the changes needed.

Hence the governmental response to the "crisis" which actually creates so much regulation that only the folks intended to profit from fleecing - profit from fleecing.

While Caveat Emptor springs to mind (as does the line my grandmother used to repeat often: "if something is too good to be true, it usually is")...I cannot tell you how I marveled at the unbelievable sight of:

Tim Geihtner - President of the NY Federal Reserve - the regulatory body in charge of behavioral oversite of the Wall Streets trading houses at the time of the financial meltdown - was named Treasury Secretary immediately after Obama took office.

Geihtner put forward a name for his top aid for congressional approval - Gary Gensler, a former Goldman Sachs executive - with the appointment, Gensler was put in charge of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Jack Lew - current Treasury Secretary - was the COO of Citigroup during the financial meltdown. Citigroup got bailed out after it's investors lost $65 billion in write-downs for troubled assets and charges to account for future losses. More than half of that amount stems from mortgage-related securities.

The deeper you go - the more "regulators" that were supposed to warn the public about any looming financial crises - completely whiffed during the meltdown - are all over the economic advisory councils and the treasury. They've written or advised On the policies that became law.

...so following the money on this thing kinda drove home the point that folks - who are betting their life's savings on the rise & fall of some etherial stock portfolio - either aren't paying attention, or are completely ignorant about how the stock market actually works.

Quote from: Geek on July 09, 2013, 02:30:50 PMI am not as familiar with the other industries mentioned similarly, so I restricted my comments to banks.  However, I suspect those industries are no more in control than the banks.  Looking at BP and how their horrible accident has been used to take money out of the company looks to me like another government extortion scheme, but as I said I am less familiar with that industry than banking.
Exactly, with the exception that - while I agree it wasn't the "little" private banks that caused this - the culprits are banks. Central banks - those that were built to manipulate cash to fight inflation. The Federal Reserve's accumulation of power caused this - and since they have all this power laying around...its a good bet that they're still at it...
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#30
Of course, a large portion of the largest 4 year increase in new FCC licensees in the past 40 years - may also coincide with the retirement of 'Baby Boomers'.

I have heard it said, that whatever this generation did, it affected markets - the explosion of products - and the explosion of the marketing of products - all along the path of this generation has been punctuated by "trends"; from disposable diapers, to toys, television, drugs-as-entertainment, entertainment...whatever this generation was into, was done in an intense manner. I have heard entire marketing corporations were tailored to sell products to "Baby Boomers". All of the marketing for this generation was constructed on teaching folks to like something, then creating some hysteria for it, and then moving onto the next age-related product development.

I'm not sure if the current "zeitgeist" is a reaction to the growth of government (I would like to think so) - or if it is programming. For instance; the government now has the ability to decide who receives what kind of care - for the first time in history - at the exact moment the largest group of retirees in US history begins using Medicare and social security. The only way to cut costs in a government-managed healthcare system - is to ration who gets access, and what types of treatments are recommended.

Every once in awhile we surprise them. I'm thinking the dependence on the internet is as much a weakness for the minders, as it is for the sheeple.




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