ShopTalk Sunday: Digital Humans, Food 59 Notes

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It was terribly busy around the homestead this week.  So I don’t have a specific article (or pictures).  No, the dog didn’t eat my homework. Just there were no pictures that really made sense.

For example, I tossed my Skil 20V jigsaw in the trash barrel Friday.  Went to use the damn thing and it wouldn’t turn on.  10-minutes of monkey-motion later, swapping batteries, banging with mallet, debating whether to tear it open or just accept that it was ready for replacement.  Replacement was a Black n Decker and it runs fine.  Bought the bare tool only.  Way cheaper. Thanks to having several battery choices I decided that whoever has the most reliable tool (BD or Skil) gets the next purchase order.

Also Saturday, I was up on a ladder (don’t tell G2, lol).  I timed it so he couldn’t be watching the surveillance cams online.  Put in a 2-foot wide, 3-foot high piece of sheet plastic to keep the cats from crawling around the end of the railing and ripping open the porch screen to make a stealth entry. Lexan beats cat claws.

“I Knew We Could Do This…”

WmoRR and I finally connected on the 3806 group this morning on ham radio.  Signals were not perfect, but we could hear each other.  North Carolina to north Texas. Both with 100-watt class radios. Bill was on his EFHW (end fed half wave) antenna while I was on the K4TR version of the W5GI Mystery Antenna – double-sized for 40-meters.  Needs an antenna tuner but works OK.

Meanwhile, the conversation (rumor mill on the ham group) has it that Ronnie Milsap (also a ham) has gone from touring the bands with his Kenwood TS-990 to using a TS-590SG.  Lot easier radio to use if you’re sight-impaired and it does voice announcements of parameters right out of the box.  So, if you have a visual impairment, I think it’s four of us on the 3806 group are “sight limited” in one form or another.  Bad to completely blind.  With ‘only’  8 eye surgeries under my belt, and still able to drive, I’m barely impaired in comparison.

The Hallicrafters SR400 I wrote up recently got good omn-air reviews.  Still has one tweak to go:  Needs the filter caps in the low voltage system replaced and the voltage regulator tube needs a look, too. The Morse signals aren’t perfectly pure.  Tiny bit of hum so another small soldering adventure is ahead.

The group liked the Ten-Tec Omni VII sound better (and it was stronger) but the processing is a bit rough.  The Kenwood TS-590 sounded fine in comparison.  Just not as punchy which means I need to dial in the equalizer on the transmit side of that. Which is somewhere down below “learn to walk on hot coals:” but ahead of “learn to walk on water.”

News stories making the ham band chatter: USAID (pissing away money) and Mexican insurrectionists in America now. Woman takes down US flag, replaces it with Mexican flag at California park: ‘This is Mexican land’  Um…no.  Hell no.

Digital Humans

Another (ham radio reader) Mike, suggested that we set up a low-speed CW (Morse code) net  – low speed – so people interested can get in some practice.  Thinking 13 words a minute.  In the meanwhile, you might want to jot down the daily code practice schedule from W1AW which is available online here.

True flavor of the South will show up, now and then.  “We were living up in Yankee-land for a while when…” began one story.  One of the greatest things about America is the cultural texture of “The Melting pot.”

Does get us to the topic of disaster/emergency communications (EMCOM).  And two thinking points on this:  If/When the grid is ever attacked, or the internet goes down, there are ham radio tools to move some minimal traffic around.  See the write-up here on the National Traffic System.  My interest is promotion of Morse code, and being a member of FISTS and SKCC  is that it’s down at the lower rungs of bootstrapping a failed society back into operation.

That’s always been the part of emergency planning that has bothered me.  Once you have the PSTN (public switched telephone network) back up, recovery is about to rock ‘n roll on its own.  The real problem is what it takes to get there.  How do the first crews get dispatched and things like that, especially if the cause of a disruption lasted more than a week, most radio systems will either be done or running lower of diesel if they are running a gentes for power backup.

Even our own preparedness plans – which is why there’s all the solar panels around here – has a modest dual-fuel noise generator if need.

I just sit around wondering “How long would power need to be down to really get (and keep) a country “kicked to the curb?”

Expanded Q-Codes

Another part of ham radio is the little “sub-language” that goes with the hobby.  One part of which is Q-codes.  The American Radio Relay League has a list of the most common ones over here.

But Q-signals don’t end there.  There’s a much more comprehensive list here.

Thing about it is that Q signals sort of “end at the radio room door.”

I always thought there ought to be a series of “health and welfare Q Codes” that could be taught globally.

You know, in the aftermath of a global disaster, I figure you could run into people from any culture you care to name.  But there may not (in that admittedly low probability) event, be a way to ask “Do you need water?”  “Do you need food – are you hungry?”  “Do you need medical aid?” “Show me where it hurts?” – things like that.

So far, only one Morse Code sequence as jumped to global adoption: SOS (Save Our Souls).

“S, when it was first agreed upon by the International Radio Telegraphic Convention in 1906, was merely a distinctive Morse code sequence and was initially not an abbreviation. Later a backronym was created for it in popular usage, and SOS became associated with mnemonic phrases such as “Save Our Souls” and “Save Our Ship”.[2] Moreover, due to its high-profile use in emergencies, the phrase “SOS” has entered general usage to informally indicate a crisis or the need for action.”

A procedural point:  Most people – even radio ops – don’t seem to remember that there is NO SPACES when sending an SOS message.  No yo be picky, but…

Plans for a dedicated ham radio page are coming along.

Food 59

Another radio buddy (John) who saves homeowners at a big box hardware joint, says no, they won’t get hazardous duty pay.  Seemed to me it he ought to get it.

“No, we’re going to sell a lot of BBQs today….”

But who is so unskilled at planning they didn’t pre-flight their BBQ, I insisted.

So Geoff bought up the case “What happens if their BBQ crapped out just today?”

OK, maybe.  But I’m not convinced.

Meanwhile, Elaine and I haven’t been using the BBQ or propane grill much lately.  We did melted crab and cheddar sandwiches last night in the air fryer (on broil) and they were amazing.

Ham radio group was also kicking around animal control this morning because mice are most active in the spring and fall when the weather is warmer and food is more plentiful. Concensus was glue boards with cheese is the best deal out there – put out lots of ’em.  Work better than mechanical traps. Work best above 50-55 F though.

OK, off to work on Peoplenomics for Wednesday.  Going to do a write-up over there about how to optimize life-extension (and diet plans) using AI platforms.  Really useful stuff.

I may have to watch the game opening (free on Tubee I was told).  Trump will be the first president ever to attend a game.  Yet another first…

Write when you get rich, and when the Chiefs wipe the floor with…

George@Ure.net ac7x

56 thoughts on “ShopTalk Sunday: Digital Humans, Food 59 Notes”

  1. George. Can you give us the benefit of your pilot experience? The small plane crash in Philadelphia last week was straight down nose first at high speed. The plane crash in Alaska 2 days ago looks like the plane just dropped straight down like a rock. Ice? Stall?

    Reply

    • Yeah – when a pilot is trying to recover from a stall, the first thing you do is put the nose down (hard) to make sure that air is flowing over the wings again. Then, when you get air moving, you can begin to slowly pull up watching the air speed.
      But you can get air moving and then panic and over pull up and get into secondary stall and then you’re really screwed. No altitude left, but in most stall related accidents the recovery begins too late to get the air flow moving.
      The most effective pilot training emphasizes the important of nailing airspeed. In 90 percent of stall crashes, the stalled condition – which could have been corrected easily is allowed to progress…and that’s how you go bad to worse.
      Adding vortex generations is cheap insurance (we added them) but even then, I nailed the published airspeeds and so I had a great deal of margin to play with in event of engine out. Never let a stall develop. the longer the a/c is in a stall before the nose is dropped, the more altitude you’re going to eat on the way to recovery or planing.

      Reply

      • Wordslinger : “How long would power need to be down to really get (and keep) a country “kicked to the curb?”

        I’m afraid the process would come unglued very quickly, like faster than most imagine. We The People have about (4) days before JIT food stocks refill what would be stripped grocery stores … or not. Food shuts down then you have anarchy. People gotta eat …

        I have been fortunate to spend a lot of time in the second seat. No idea how many hours but a lot. I flew with a few total gem cracker jack kewl pilots. Think a flat stall would be bloody awful. On counting planes lost don’t omit the F35 which looked to be in a flat fall, zero lift, before unplanned rapid disassembly …

        A couple years ago, to celebrate with E2 and his soon-to-be bride, I chartered a de Havilland Beaver to overfly Duluth harbor and run up / down the North coast of Great Lake Superior. Cooked into my arrangement was to conduct multiple take-offs and landings (it being one type of aviation few experience).

        Not sure landing #1 counted since, on achieving sight seeing altitude Mrs. E mentioned over the comm. set that her door was open. I tried to close and latch. Nope. Co-pilot (trainee grade) tried too. Nope. I hung onto my wide-eyed girl ’til splashdown. Pilot went on the Port pontoon, hard latched the door. Check.

        SOS – my guess is nautical routine went from Save Our Ship to … Save Our Souls … before radio shack abandoned ship. Not a good radio call (Morse or otherwise).

        ATL: more quiet than usual. Prolly lots of slow Lakers after the lovely winter party. Miss my people …

        IceMan Egor

        Reply

        • (“How long would power need to be down to really get (and keep) a country “kicked to the curb?”)

          hmm.Here comes the broken record rant.
          we totally depend on modern technology.. the constant flow of resources..Our grid is NOT designed for security.. where my decades old rant on solar towers.. at every substation and handing g out grid tie systems to every home owner willing to have one installed.
          Here’s what chat gpt says about this morons fifty year rant..

          (“Benefits of Solar Towers at Substations
          Reduced Transmission Losses: By generating power closer to where it is consumed, solar towers at substations can reduce transmission losses that occur over long distances.

          Enhanced Grid Stability: Solar towers can provide localized power generation, which can help stabilize the grid by reducing the load on central power plants and transmission lines.

          Increased Energy Security: Diversifying energy sources with solar power can enhance energy security by reducing dependence on a single source of power.

          Cost Savings: Generating power at substations can reduce the need for extensive infrastructure upgrades and maintenance, leading to cost savings for utility companies.

          Environmental Benefits: Solar power is a clean, renewable energy source that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps combat climate change.

          Scalability: Solar towers can be scaled to meet local energy demands, providing flexibility in energy production and distribution.

          Working Back to the Power Plant
          Complementary Power Generation: Solar towers can complement traditional power plants by providing additional power during peak demand periods, reducing the strain on conventional power sources.

          Backup Power: In the event of a power plant outage, solar towers can provide backup power to maintain grid stability and ensure continuous electricity supply.

          Energy Storage Integration: Solar towers can be integrated with energy storage systems, such as batteries, to store excess energy generated during the day for use during peak demand or at night.

          By combining solar towers at substations with traditional power plants, the overall energy system becomes more resilient, efficient, and sustainable. This approach can help meet growing energy demands while reducing environmental impact and enhancing grid reliability.”)

          similar to the events of a nuclear event..the grids survival I believe depends on how close to the epicenter it is.
          cheaper alternative to the large wind..we would still need the large wind turbines.. retail for the solar equipment is about a million per megawatt each tower twelve million for twelve megawatts and the cost of the tower and install..so just a rough guess for the cost of each tower against the cost of the big wind turbine.. one could get for the same money somewhere in the range of 3 – 4 gigawatts if power per hour. the way that our present system is set up.. A simple five emp events would shut the country down .. there was a ten year backlog on replacement equipment..all made in china..biden administration sent our strategic reserves to ukraine..
          A professor friend and speaker for tedtalks.. has been working with various Indian tribes. they are in the process of handing out a grid tie system to every residence on the various reservations every tenth unit will have battery backup along with I believe he said a 2 megawatt solar array to act as amino grid.
          our system is designed for the business model not security.
          A good example was the freak hundred year storm in Texas that almost took out the core grid..
          in the end its only about profit. the cheaper alternative is strongly discouraged..
          China on the other hand has been busy..building backup factories and power plants ghost cities.
          how long would it take to run out of essential pharmaceuticals or replacement medical equipment?
          we destroyed our industries dumbed down our kids..just so some over paid schmucks could get million dollar bonuses huge houses .. its our own fault.

        • The way I broke my wife (and a few others) of their fear of a door coming open in flight was to unlatch MY door and tell them to push it open. All responded with a gentle nudge, at which point I said, PUSH! They couldn’t push the door more than an inch. The air rushing past at 100+ mph just won’t let the door open far enough to fall out. Not to mention the fact their butts were firmly strapped into a seat.

    • The crash of the Lear 55 in Philly is rather mysterious. It was not a departure stall according to the flight track. It could have been pilot disorientation, and IMHO could have been some kind of mechanical failure. Apparently the engines were at full power.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4UcsNpSrak

      I don’t know much about the Alaska crash other than the aircraft was holding for runway clearing at Nome. If I had to guess, it probably ran into icing conditions beyond what the aircraft could handle. That’s just a guess. Sometimes it’s best not to guess.

      Reply

    • I would highly recommend watching blancolirio (current 777 captain as well as small aircraft pilot), pilot debrief (former F15 strike eagle and current A320 pilot), and vasaviation on Screw Tube. IMHO, they are far and away the best educational aviation channels I have found.

      Reply

      • Agreed. I can’t spell the name of the Italian guy, so I didn’t mention it. Mentour Pilot is good too. He’s a 737 pilot who is now a pilot trainer and certifier for an airline. His videos tend to come out later and go much further in depth. The NTSB may put out their report before his video on these crashes gets put up.

        Reply

    • As yet I have not ruled out the possibility of a rival cartel hit. Being from Tijuana, that would seem a fair guess.

      Other than that, a gurney coming loose and rolling to the rear of the plane would cause a serious change in center of gravity. Two adult men rushing to secure the gurney would likely make the plane uncontrollable.

      Reply

      • According to the track, the aircraft remained well above any normal stall speed. It should have plenty of control authority since the minimum speed on the track after initial climb was 222 knots(per Air Safety channel). I’m guessing that something on the aircraft failed unless it really was a cartel hit. A slightly aft CG with sufficient speed should not be a problem.

        Reply

  3. Dude G,

    The wryrony this morning is off the charts, off the frigging charts! You posted that you are a member of FIST. What a cowinkydink G – Elanor used to live in a Monastery full of members of FIST.
    You “Guys” are hard core, as FIST is known for NO LUBE-RAW Dogging, and more, so much Moar..
    like a foot.
    Ure an animal ! Who knew ?

    Here I thought all that pent up frustration came from missing the BTC Boat. Well you didnt miss it Per Se, no you just chose to belittle it. The only “boat” in port during massive World engulfing finnacial wild fire, Ure’s standing on shore still bitching & complaining about hull design and engine specs..

    A new gayer kinda of Urban Survival sign off; write when Ure FISTed!

    Reply

  4. “Does get us to the topic of disaster/emergency communications (EMCOM). And two thinking points on this: If/When the grid is ever attacked, or the internet goes down, there are ham radio tools to move some minimal traffic around.”

    G.A. STEWART: Donald J. Trump’s team are moving with impunity at the present moment. I expect that to end with some spectacular news headline.

    The first thing to go will be the Internet and easy access to information.

    The shutdown of global communications has been a prediction on this website since its inception in 2007.

    https://theageofdesolation.com/nostradamus/2025/02/08/when-the-comet-runs/

    Reply

    • Thanks for the reminder. I need to go back and read that new article again.

      Just a few minutes ago I read that the Dims are threatening to “shut down the government” to stop Trump. The current Continuing Resolution runs out on 22 March. I was thinking “Go ahead and show people just how much government they don’t need.”

      Reply

  5. Had a monitor once. I try to repair everything , I cant stand the throw away society.
    So this monitor one day wouldn’t turn on. Everyday you would push the button to turn on the monitor on. It wouldn’t and I noticed the button felt different to push.
    I took the unit apart. Behind the 3 buttons on the front of the monitor are 3 switches. You push in the button ,a straight piece of plastic directly behind the button pushed in and contacted the switch.
    Out of the 3 buttons 2 had the switch directly behind the part of the button you push, except the power button, the one you push every day. behind this push button was an L shaped piece of plastic that when pushed in contacted the actual button just of to the side of the part you push. Guess what part broke to stop the monitor from turning on.

    Thats right the plastic L. It was designed that way, the plastic L was tested to allow for so many pushed before it would break. Most would toss it in the can because they dont know how to fix things, they would if they tried.
    The solution easy I drilled a tiny hole directly in front of the button and would use a push pin to trigger the power button. Display still works although its now been set to the side

    Another time a vacuum I bought from walmart failed in a bout a week. I took that sucker fully apart down to the bearing that was on the motor, Found it! bad bearing. Took the flippin vacuum back to walmart in a bag and showed the woman the tiny bearing. My wife stayed in the car as I walked into walmart with the vacuum fully apart in a bag. lol good times

    Felt a bit of ramble starting

    Reply

      • A simpler solution might be to instaglue the two pieces of broken plastic together, then blob the entire thing with JB Weld a couple of times and let it set hard. That should last for the remainder of western civilization.

        Reply

        • Good advice – The super glue works to stabilize the fracture & JB weld resists lateral, vertical & angular shearing forces which super glue can’t. Apparently first applying a very small amount of a paste made of baking powder and water hastens & strengthens the SG bond – Won’t know until tomorrow when I try it.

        • I’ve stocked a good supply of Super Glue and JB Weld with my “emergency preps.” Amazing stuff, both of them.

    • At least your dismantling of the faulty vacuum eliminated the likelihood of them putting it back on the shelf for the next sucker to be stuck with it.

      Reply

  7. Yo Chief,

    Heads up on the Peptide news front..”SLOOP” – 4 Ure next installment on Longevity practices.

    What is “Sloop” ? Glad you axed, it is being called a work out in a pill. Actual name of this miracle; SLU-PP-332

    Can you get Ure hot little hands on this stuff right now – NERP!

    4 once again the early adopters have snatched up all the available supply. Now youse got 2 axe Ureself WHY!

    * Did youse hear about feel the “earthquake” in the Caribbean last night ? Neither did I, thought I was really “performing” well went it struck..ya know Earth moved under her feet” kinda thing.. : D
    * See Denver Colorado Luxury Magazine – Winter edition for nice write on BCNs’ beach town, Placencia, Belize..Weather is Here, Wish You were Beautiful ! bwahahahahahahahahahah

    Cheers, and lets go Burds!

    Reply

  10. Here are a couple of links that may be important for some of us:

    Covid vaxx psychiatric effects and personality changes – note the source:

    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-024-02627-0.pdf

    This is an impressive study using half of the population of Seoul! It effectively rules out lockdowns and similar effects as causal.

    For those concerned about Alzheimer’s:

    https://media.mercola.com/ImageServer/Public/2025/January/PDF/dale-bredesen-alzheimers-pdf.pdf

    I won’t vouch for this other than as a data point, but it can do no harm.

    Reply

  12. (“If/When the grid is ever attacked, or the internet goes down, there are ham radio tools to move some minimal traffic around. “)

    speaking about that..we had a power surge a couple weeks ago..Cut the power off for a few minutes.. the generator didn’t kick on.. the test last Monday and it never kicked on..A quick phone call to the electrician he mentioned that this was something that they had discovered from others that had the same backup power system.. reset it ran a test.. the electrician when he comes back from traveling outside the usa is A power test.. my curiosity is ..did they install a spike disconnect?

    Reply

  13. Crazy lucid dreams last night..I kept dreaming about the solar tower that I had ranted and raved about for decades..

    Reply

  14. Finally got approval for a “sort of tower” so a 35′ prototype was put up using fence top rail. With a yardarm at 30′ just a tiny peak is visible above the house from the road. Hung a random wire for the heck of it and fired up the ATS-25 MAX. Very impressive results. Baby steps.
    When we got home from church this morning Diana was rattling around the kitchen sink getting ready to fix breakfast when she shrieked “Come here quick”. She was looking towards where the pet semetary is about 40 yards away. Sitting on top of the flat rock I put at the head of Recon’s grave was a young Tuxedo cat that looked a lot like Recon himself. She went out the patio door but it saw her and was gone before she got far. She was alll a twitter about it and gave me that look when I said it was not surprising since he had probably hooked up with every female cat within a 5 mile radius. She stopped to tell the boys not to scare off the new cat. He might be staying around.
    Stay safe. 73

    Reply

  15. (“You know, in the aftermath of a global disaster, I figure you could run into people from any culture you care to name. But there may not (in that admittedly low probability) event, be a way to ask “Do you need water?” “Do you need food – are you hungry?” “Do you need medical aid?” “Show me where it hurts?” – things like that.”)

    my whole life I have had lucid dreams.. where a young blonde comes wakes me up then escorts me into a huge room with windows… in there she points..at a window …Anyway..I one of those lucid dreams I have table set up at the parking lot and a big pot of soup and home made bread and crackers.. people lined up ..
    in another lucid dreams I look through a window and see a city..people burning money in trash cans to stay warm. men in tattered suits sores on their bodies and ones of people walking as if they are searching..
    one dream enemy soldiers walk up to the door..see an emblem in the window showing the vitues.. the one points at it ..they turn and leave.. I ordered that window emblem and put it in the doors windows..
    but then its just a dream.. I have had them from time to time my whole life..

    Reply

  16. 1) For practicing Morse Code, I think receiving ARRL’s “W1AW” off the air is best. One gets a sidecar of learning to hear the signal with some interference on the side, which improves one’s brayne filter. One also begins to learn to deal with propagation. Local Code Practice Oscillators are too removed from the Real World. See ARRL.org for the W1AW scheduke.

    2) Best bait for rodent traps by far is peqnut butter. They are all Coo-Coo for it.

    3) If you think you might want to get a ham license, a very good book is the black and yellow, “Dummies Guidea to Ham Radio,” by Ward Silver. It’s much more than a dry guide. It’s a great beginner’s handbook.

    https://www.amazon.com/Ham-Radio-Dummies-Ward-Silver/dp/1119695600/ref=sr_1_1?

    Strongly reccommended.

    4) The ICOM IC-718 is a good beginner’s radio. It has everything you need in a not-too-complex.package.
    Good for AM Broadcast, Shortwave, and all the “HF” ham bands. EXCELLENT Value.

    https://www.rigpix.com/icom/ic718.htm

    Dealers have them as “New Old Stock” for around $500. it’s a radio you’ll never sell — it;s too handy as a backup or a #2 rig. Runs on 12 volts. Personally, I would not buy one off eBay. But I WOULD buy a used one from a dealer who offered a warrenty. There are lots of other good choices, too.

    5) Mine has had “the blue wire clipped.” All my radios are thusly modified, where possible.

    7.295 USB by day
    3.999 LSB by nigh.

    73
    KW1B sends…

    Reply

      • I have a very nice key — I sent you a pix a while back. It’s a paddle type mde from two J-38 keys, bolted bottom to bottom

        My SKILLS are another question. Largely atrophied from dis-use.

        You guys have fun, I’m benched.
        73
        KW1B

        Reply

        • I made one of those as a kid!!!. I had picked up a homebrew version of the TO keyer from K7SZL and I nabbed a couple of gold Japanese made hand keys (like J38’s) from Rat Shack. Cut down a 3″ hunk of 3 inch steel angle and bolted them on. worked great and lost track of it when I was in muy 20s… great keys, those!
          Yeah, Mike’s a vy good CW op and it was a please to work him.
          But don’t bench yourself – gt back on the air on CW – reclaim your digital humanity/!

        • I got it as a novice with a batch of old gear, I believe donated to me by a local ham at the time. Only years later I learned the significance of my old brass key. The shorting bar is worn half thru, showing years of regular use. I discovered the markings on the key: ‘W.U.Co.’ and the NY manufacturer stamp that dates to approximately 1920. I have a REAL Western Union key from the telegraph age! Mounted on a nice piece of wood now on the ‘trophy’ shelf.

  17. Good to hear you George!

    14022 was owned by some DX guy so I called on 140225 and 140215 or so and you heard me on the lower freq. It seemed to me.

    Reply

  18. “How long would power need to be down to really get (and keep) a country “kicked to the curb?”
    .
    About 72hours – for most cities.., the panic will arrive when they learn “why” the power is out. If it appears., or even hints at not coming back anytime soon – that’s when the chaos will ensue. That’s when it will get nasty. And when the populous realize that help isn’t coming., because the help doesn’t have any power – it will explode into mayhem. You ain’t got enough police – and they don’t have any electrical either. [ What police officer will leave his family to go protect a grocery store?]
    Not so much that it happened – but “why” it happened. If there is a rather large mushroom cloud – right over there – then all bets are off and the panic will begin immediately.
    If you are in, or right next to, a large metro area – you best have a plan in place. Already mapped out. Don’t wait ’til it happens.

    Reply

    • Just remember- the fuel you have is the fuel that must take you out, and possibly back, regardless of the scenario. This is the argument for rotating fuel constantly.
      Let’s say you convert a smallish storage building or a patio box into a fuel storage bunker. Don’t put gasoline in anything but a dedicated storage area. You want to keep it as far away from the house as you can but still access with a vehicle or tractor. Diesel is safer to store and handle, but most will need gasoline.
      Rotating the gasoline so that you change it out every 30 – 60 days, and putting a half treatment of storage treatment each time you refill will insure that you don’t mess up your vehicle. I would advise paying a little extra and always use ethanol-free in your storage cans.
      Rotating 4 each 5 gallon cans filled to the 4.5 gallon mark gives you 18 gallons on hand. I would pull a small trailer, so I would figure maybe 20 miles to the gallon conservative fuel consumption. The gas you have in the car tank is your reserve. 18 x 20 / 2 = 180 mile range. Go ahead and fill up your tank before you leave, and if you get a chance to top off the cans en route, do it, but be armed and very very frosty.
      With diesel, storing twice that amount is no issue, provided you put a full measure of diesel treatment in each can, and rotate completely within two years. Finding a diesel vehicle that will get 20 mpg that can tow a trailer is a tough find in the current clean air environmental.
      An evacuation range of greater than 200 miles requires that you have prepositioned equipment, and are prepared to make it a one way forever and a day.

      Reply

  19. I am continually amazed at the ingenuity and persistence of the hams out here in the jungles of East Hawaii, at the end of the string of civilization. Great repeater coverage. But now we (yes, they got me roped into this too) are deploying 900 mHz ‘Mesh Networks’ to cover the area with basic digital communications… texting. Each node is low power, solar and battery power independent, and find their own paths for relaying messages. The Medical centers boys are particularly interested in getting this deployed for backups. A simple pocket node will bluetooth relay messages to your cellphone on the system. Investigate “Meshtastic” for more information on the system. One great aspect of Meshtastic is that it can work, by choice, in the ISM bands and NO LICENSE is needed to set up and use the system, so it is open to the general public. Portable nodes can be used to keep a group of hunters in communication on their cell phones in areas of wilderness where there is no cell coverage at all. It’s your own backup network for when things go down hard. Astronomy workers on the mountains have set up wide coverage nodes that reach the neighbor islands also, so it will be able to reach networks on Maui and all the way to Oahu.

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    • I bought a Heltec V3 that I haven’t been able to set up yet. My Linux laptop doesn’t want to gee-haw with the little guy. My old Win laptop will communicate with it, but the Windows has exceeded its life expectancy and moves at the speed of sorghum on a cold day. I ordered a new disc with Win 11 on it, but not having much luck getting it installed on the old machine with 4 gb RAM.

      We have a local node set up on a tower on a “mountain” (650’msl), but I’m not sure this thing will get there through 10 miles of pine trees.

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