It's the little things that will kill you.. Problems that would be quickly solved by a trip to the pharmacy or the doctor can quickly turn into life threatening ones without the support of society. I recently had an infection that would have quickly killed me had it not been for antibiotics and a dentist. Things went from perfectly normal to "real bad" in two days. Of course it was over a week-end, as all tooth aches happen on week-ends. Fortunately I did have antibiotics at home. I read a story of a young man who a similar problem and was prescribed antibiotics and pain killers. He didn't have enough money for both. He picked the pain killers, and... Died. If you want to survive doomsday, take care of your teeth. They are too close to your brain for comfort.. Have some local pain killer swabs in case you get a tooth ache.I am convinced a bad tooth ache could push someone to blow their brains out.. Antibiotics are a must, so do your homework on that. It is well known that all preppers have fish tanks: http://www.calvetsupply.com/category/Antibiotics, so take care of your fishes...

Another killer is diarrhea. Of course nobody wants to talk about that, but it will kill you. Not the diarrhea itself of course, but the dehydration. Children are even more at risk. Store some pills for that.

Check out The Patriot Nurse on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/ThePatriotNurse

Without society or some kind of support system, life expectancy quickly drops to about 40yo. Most of us here are past that... Keep that in mind... So, yes, learning about medicine is excellent advise. Thank you.

Gil.

Hello, yes, ARRL General book... You only pay for shipping via Paypal.. If you want it, PM me your address..

Gil

I'm using this one right now:

It's not great but it works. I got it off Ebay. It's a "Ham Key" made in St. Louis. I know nothing about it.
Not sure what I'll get next, but I am probably too slow right now to appreciate anything better...

Gil.

The last few nights, I was going to sleep at 2-3am after hours of reading.. When I got to the exam session, it felt like I had forgotten most of it! The first two went well, but the last one, I thought I had failed. The thing is, I think that my reading helped me make a lot of educated guesses... The first key is to read the questions entirely, slowly and precisely. The second key is to not care about the results (gee, I sound like I'm teaching martial arts students) ;D If you don't get Extra, no big deal. Just make sure you DO go to the next session!

Gil.

LOL!
Gil.

Ah, sorry, the Extra manual has been donated. I still have the General one..

Gil.

Well, it's simple really... If you want to shorten an antenna, you place a coil somewhere on the wire(s). Of course there is a bit of math involved there, as to where to place the coil, how many turns, what diameter, what type of core, and wire diameter.. Stuff I don't ever want to get into.. I usually browse the web until I find someone who has done the work for me and published it! Note that coils mean losses.. The bigger the wire diameter the better in that regard..

Tim, read the book I traded that hot chocolate for with you and just give it a shot, you never know.. I didn't think I would pass all three exams, honestly. Do a lot of practice exams on QRZ.com, that will help you memorize the most difficult answers. A lot of the stuff is common sense. The cool thing is, you also learn a lot of stuff and you'll be ahead for the next session.

Gil.

I'll just have to try and post a review then  ???

Gil.

I use the DCP paddle from American Morse; works just fine when affixed to a base.
The K1 is not all that hard to build. The manual is exemplary, it's just a matter of following directions. If you get one, DO get the backlit option, trust me on that!
You'll see one come up on Ebay once in a while. Mine will NEVER be for sale, that's for sure!
The Weber Tri-Bander is also a good option: http://qrpkits.com/tribander.html
Not as many features but much cheaper!


Gil.

WA4STO, what's your take on magnetic return paddles. I've been wanting to buy the VibroCube "standard upgraded" model, but the $220 price tag has kept me away. That's why I'm looking at the magnetic "Code Warrior Jr" for $110. I don't like the transparent finger pieces, but those can be replaced..

Gil.

You can't get much from a thermopile... Sure, they work, but 15W? I doubt it... I could be wrong though... A solar panel might serve you better, for the same price.

Gil.

Tim, that's the vertical antenna itself here that has the coils, not the mast. You shouldn't have any coils for a dipole, except if it was shortened, and then the coils would be on the radiating wires...

Gil.

Hello Nick.

Great, first, Morse was, and still is very hard for me. Don't despair, stick to it, you will see progress soon or later.
I used "Ham Morse" on my iPod, as well as http://lcwo.net, great resources.
As far as paddles, check out http://www.vibroplex.com and http://www.americanmorse.com
They both have very good affordable paddles.
As far as radios, in my opinion, nothing beat an Elecraft K1! http://www.elecraft.com/k1_page.htm

Gil.

Probably true, but if the EMP is strong enough, like: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859
it won't matter.. Everything with transistors, chips, etc. will fry if not protected.
Here are my two EMP containers. I hope it is enough!

I plan on doubling the protection with Faraday bags anyway..

Gil.

Quoteif you ever want to get in QSO with me for training purposes

I will take you up on that! CW, any time you're willing  :)
I need to get from 8wpm copy to 20...

Gil.