There you are. One morning, America is going along all normal (like) and then suddenly flick. With nothing more than the eerie sounds of silence (with a nod to S&G) we pass back into the 1800s as a space-based weapon of unknown origins takes down the grid and the internet.
Calmly, you survey the panic building around you. Your checklist is complete.
- You have a little stash of guns, grub, gold, God (and Grey Goose – my aren’t you prescient?) stored at that retreat of yours, 150 miles away.
- Fishing, hunting, trapping gear, homesteading books, basic hand tools and the two “fresh survival seed packs” were updated 2-months back on a schedule.
- You have water, sanitary plans, and medical supplies for all.
- Your gas tank is full and not by accident.
- The car is prepped – always ready for a 2,000 mile drive with no squawks for the mechanics.
- All your family members think you’re nuts for getting everyone to pick up Technician class ham tickets and keep a charged Baofeng in their purse or school bag.
- You have a meet-up place (the home) and everyone knows which ham repeater to use “in the event of an actual emergency.”
- Why, there are even a couple of 200 watt solar panels and a cheapo charge controller at the cabin.
- And most of all, you have an AMAZING radio bugout bag. A reliable receiver and – if you have $300 bucks – a great portable transmitter and receiver (transceiver). With this, you have comms while the world doesn’t. Putting you one-up on everyone not so prescient.
Technician class licenses allow for HF Morse code. See the HF Band Plan here for license classes an privileges.
If It All Works?
The meet up goes as planned.
You will stay that way = ahead of the pack/mobs – for a simple reason: You will have (in a massively chaotized world) information first.
Your family knows it, too. You used the software program CHIRP to preload your VHF ham gear with local fire, police, regional weather NOAA channels, and even state patrol dispatch. You know sites – like this one – where all the basic data can be found.
As you get on the road, it will be a worrisome 3-hour drive to the country, but you leave at 3 AM knowing the criminal class is usually lazy. You reckoned the safest time of day (based on road rage risk sudies) would be 5 AM to about 10 AM. Safest time to avoid fatal traffic wrecks is 6AM to Noon. You’re thinking 9 or 10 AM, though, since the power’s off…
Arrival at Cabin 8:30 AM
Having the police and state patrol frequencies pre-progrmmed more than paid for itself on the way up. You avoided some “crazy’s” who were already getting into the Thunder Dome mood of things.
While the spouse gets the stove fired up for some Krusteaz and all that maple syrup you stashed, you review the work plans.
- Get a perimeter established.
- Set watches
- Check and count battery inventories.
- Go to the Comms bag and start working magic.
- Survey the AM, FM, and shortwave bands.
- A tune around the 40-meter ham band is eye-opening.
- Pull down NOAA Weather. Which, being “all-hazards radio” will have the latest official news and public safety reports. Give it tonight before the National Guard and curfews go into place.
- Hold a short family meeting.
- Plan the work.
- Work the plan.
WHY a Manpack HF Radio
VHF 2-meter and 440 MHz radios are dandy. But they have some shortfalls, one of which is they require either a) a repeater or b) line of sight.
For your shortwave information-seeking, an ATS-25 (widely available on eBay) is a great receiver for the money. They antenna for receiving is literally nothing special. A piece of wire over 15-feet long, insulated, and tossed up over a tree branch will be dandy. Noise floors will be amazingly low with the power off. It will get even quieter with the 48-hour cell tower backup batteries cascade offline, too.
Thing is, you want to go hunting and fishing. For this, you will be away from the cabin and all they will have is the shortwave receiver. You may be 3-6 miles away on uneven land. Line of sight isn’t an option and repeaters don’t all have backup power.
Fortunately, you attended the UrbanSurvival.com Manpack School!
Manpack Radios 101
A manpack radio is generally a backpack equipped with a radio and an antenna. Lots of additional accessories will be included. But first, let’s get a basic manpack set up.
As I described in a couple of previous articles, there are several very serviceable small HF transceivers on the market.
- The one shown in the build today is a USDX. $170.
- As good, or equal: the (tr)USDX that runs about $150.
- Up the food chain, see HF Signals.com for the uBITX 6+ series. Assemble it yourself (just basic tools and a handful of solder joints) for $209. It’s a fine radio (I have one and use it on the big antennas)
- Several entries for Chinese maker Xiegu are on Amazon and eBay. Popular (with slightly more power input) is the G90 model. Go for the one with the built-in antenna tuner, but don’t expect change from a $500 bill, lol. One up? Try on the specs of the Xiegu X-6100 which is just over $600 on the Zon.
- Going deeper into the wallet, the Yaesu FT-818 is on Amazon for a shade over $720.
- Absolute top of line would be the Elecraft KX-3 but they start in the $1,800 range and go to over $3,000 depending on how you “option it out.” Oh, they are also back ordered and one of the best receivers in ham radio.
On any of these radios, the ham radio community at eHam is great at posting reviews on almost anything. Google format is simply “eham,net review [radio model]” and you can sample other ham’s views.
Not All Radios Are Alike
Read, read, read. Does the radio have a special charger required? (USDX does need a 12.6V charger. Lithium-iron batteries are finicky. But with a switch it can run on 13.8V off a battery/solar panel combo.) See the specs on all the other radios for internal battery specs.
Charging and power levels are important. The more power, the more range under poorer conditions. Well, EXCEPT that also means more battery suckage. For short voice work, more power (10 watts) is good (depending on range). For longer distance conmms, less power and better antennas is the answer.
Speaking of Antennas: The connector which comes with your radio matters. Big Radios come with SO-239 female antenna connector which accept a PL-259 plug. Easy to crimp and solder if you have the tools. ($50 laying around?)
BNC connectors have always kept me at bay. I don’t like putting them on coaxial (coax) cable. So, I use a lot of PL-259 to BNC adapters (male and female depending on use case).
Things I love about the USDX? Well, a built-in Morse code reader so Elaine can see what is being translated from Morse in my head. Also Iambic keyer modes A and B are both supported.
In theory, I suppose, Iambic B mode might be faster for higher speeds (remember, I can still copy and send 30+ words per minute). But don’t worry about that until you bust 20 words a minute and master ANY keyer and can smoothly transition between a keyer and a semi-automatic key.
Or (screw it!) just use voice which is our focus here.
Remember lots of us “old-timers” are gear snobs. What will work? Doesn’t take much.
Class #1: Basic Manpack
The radio used this morning is the USDX set down to 4-watts to reduce strain on the final amplifier , a High Peak Simex Day Trekking pack, and the Harvest 2000 antenna. When an antenna is not perfectly “matched” (resonant at the right impedance) the radio final amplifier transistor(s) will generator more heat. Result is? Higher failure rate.
Remember when “doing radio” in an emergency that reliability is more important than raw power or even unit specifications. USDX specs are OK, but compared to higher-priced Kenwood, Icom, and Yaesu gear? Not even close.
The exercise this morning is not to build ultimate performance. That’s something far beyond this class. We’re making a backpack to talk over 1,000 miles, do it on less than a big flashlight worth of batteries and give change back from $400-bucks.
This is a COTS build. Old radio guys who may have prepped HF radios for places (in south Asia, for example, um…) all know this means a “Custom – Off The Shelf” configuration. Or as some operators I know call it “Buy and fly.”
Let’s begin by taking the radio, basic OB2000 antenna, and the backpack to a bench.
We will need to order a 10-inch so-239 bulkhead fitting. See this vendor on eBay. About $27. (So-259 – female and the corresponding plug PL-259 were developed for early UHF work and are commonly called UHF connectors.)
Step #1: Beginneth to Maketh
The first part of making a manpack is to connect the 10-inch bulkhead in the vertical position to the left side rail of your backpack. (If you are right-handed). You don’t want any interference with your (purely defensive! LOL) aiming arm. Like so, using back-to-back metal cable clamps.
The idea is the backpack holds the radio, spare batteries and a whole list of crap which we will get to. The top (on the right) is where the antenna plugs in and the bottom is where your PL-259 to female BNC (yep, another connector type) is plugged in.
You will also need a good quality 2-3 foot BNC male to male jumper coax (*at the bottom of antenna) to the BNC male plugging in to the radio…
Now, if you don’t have cable clamps, or all the tools be pend them up, this way and that, you MIGHT do the same outcome with three hose clamps, but it will not be as strong.
I tried various combo’s of hose clamps, but nothing was as good as 2 correctly sized cable clamps at each end of the bulkhead.
Step #2: Mount Antenna
Connecting backpack and antenna fitting (bulkhead connector) isn’t that hard.
Once the 10-inch bulkhead is in place, you will need a male-to-male PL-259 adapter. This one has the cover on it (save these since they keep dirt and rain out of things when hiking). One end goes into the bulkhead bottom and the other goes into the SO-239 antenna bottom: *View is of the top – use the other end – our photographer is an idiot!
Feeling like we can see daylight, already?
Step #3: Confirm Spacing
(Optional, coming article)
We are planning on building a ground system under this beasty to improve how it “gets out” or “talks.”
All this will be is a 4-5″ round piece of aluminum plate (6061 or firmer) with some holes in it. This will put “ground rods” under the antenna.
A 5/8th’s hole in this plate will go between the top nuts at the top of the bulkhead connector – about 3/4’s of an inch down so the antenna screwed on doesn’t hit the plate:
Step #4: Admire Your Work
I’m a “positive reinforcement” guy. Love to do part of a project then lean it up against some shop furniture and just admire it and think about whether there are ways to improve on what’s been done so far.
Step #5: Set Antenna Length
The Harvest OB2000 antenna has a wire with “banana jacks” which are plugged in for the appropriate band you’re using.
This length is adjusted by a “slip fit with Allen set screw.” So when you go schlepping about the woods, you DON’T want to lose the Allen wrench. Put it “snuggish” into the end of the bottom part of the two-piece whip that mounts over the coil.
Of course, it will fall out anyway at the worst possible moment. Add tape. You do trek with duct tape, right?
But, at least you will know where the “trail begins” on your quest to find it.
Step #6: Set Whip Length
Late at night, pouring down rain, you need to contact someone 25 miles away. Mountainous terrain, so VHF is out. Repeaters are down. What should the whip length be set to?
The Harvest (OB2000) instructions offer good starting points. But they do so in centimeters, so before packing up for a radio walk- about, see the marvel stolen from the wife’s sewing gear?
Just in case, consider what I did: Convert the manual sheet to an Excel and then do an inch’s round-off to go in the pack, too:
Alternative Antenna Tuning
You can set an antenna to the correct length by “estimation and interpolation.”
Steps are as follows:
- Transmit on the desired frequency. (An agreed-upon frequency is called a channel – got it?)
- Look at the SWR (antenna transmitter “standing weave ratio” meaning lost power and efficiency) reading which the USDX provides (set up ahead of time in the menu system).
- Say our “channel” is 14.200 MHz. We transmit and notice an SWR of 2:1. Means Transmitter – which is looking for a 50-ohm )impedance is AC requivalent of resistance) and has found a 100-ohm antenna.
- Not good enough? Transmit on a lower frequency, say 14.150 MHz.
- If the SWR is better, it means the channel frequency may be improved on the 14.2 MHz operating channel by shortening the antenna.
- If the SWR is worse, it means the channel frequency can be improved by lengthening the antenna.
So far, so good.
Step #7: Charge Everything
Yeah, no one wants this part, but short-cut charging time means shortcutting operating time, too. So we do it.
Step #8: Line Up to Load Out
This is going to look convoluted and out of order. There is a reason.
You see, something I picked up from flying airplanes around the country is that when people do the “same thing” each time, they skip, shortcut, and cheap because “rote” is not what high-functioning humans do, am I right?
Randomizing for Success, I call it:
Let’s go through the minimal packing for real comms:
- A – RADIO
- B – ANTENNA MOUNTED TO MANPACK
- C – CHARGER FOR RADIO (12.6v)
- D – MICROPHONE
- E – BACKUP FEEDLINE FOR HIGHER ANTENNA
- F – 1.5 KW BACKUP OCFD ANTENNA 140 FEET LONG
- G – ANTENNA TUNING LENGTHS
- H – CHARGER FOR JUMPSTARTER
- I – JUMP STARTER
- J – JUMPSTARTER TO BATTERY CABLES
- K – MASON’S LINE (HI VIZ) (In covert ops, use black or camo). Kevlar or paracord is better for other than on-the-move use.
- L – ANTENNA SHORT AND LONG BNC JUMPERS (1.5 AND 3 FT.)
- M – MEASURING TAPE FOR ANTENNA
- TO THE RIGHT OF THAT SPACE MALE-MALE PL-259 ADAPTER
- Spare antenna band jumper cable.
Step #9: Optional and Useful
The ATS-25 (or ATS-20) general coverage receiver is not shown. Toss this in if you’d like. It’s worth it to have a second radio.
A copy of the ARRL black and white printed Band Plan which you can download here. Official Observers aren’t keen on people getting out of bounds.
On the backside of One Second After the survival strategy will be 99% listening. If you do transmit, being a half mile from camp potentially is a smart thing to do, depending on direction finding teams and killer drones coming to a neighborhood near you.
Not shown is a double battery clamp 10 feet long. This is used to clamp on the top of the bulkhead connector (ground side of antenna) and may be run to anything nearby that will act as a better counterpoise. I have used fence wires (barbed is good) but don’t use electric fences!!!~!~
I have also used railroad tracks which are the most kick-ass ground there is!
You can wind up 35 and 70 foot lengths of “horse fence tape” with fittings to use as additional antenna counterpoise. Hell, just laying it on the ground works.
Step #10: Pick a Morse Key
Obviously, if you’re one of those puny “non-digital humans” who can’t copy Morse Code in their head north of 2o WPM, this part is not for you. But a good bit of the joy of manpack low-power HF radio operations is picking the code key for the occasion.
Let’s step into Ure’s office and look at a corner of the collection, shall we?
By the numbers:
- 1 – Nye-Viking “regular hand key.” This one has a really nice – almost velvety touch to it. Not unlike the “clackety” Lionel J-38 series. These last were “the standard” in WW II.
- 2- The Vibroplex Lightning series. This was the first dit-making key. The Major got the Standard, but the Lightning has always been reasonably light and quite good.
- 3- This is a custom-made “cootie key” – also called a “side-swiper.” Don’t use it much, but there is a non-automated way to send with a side-swiper that’s really fun. Use it when making SKCC contacts now and then.
- 4- Finally, a Vibroplex paddle-type keyer. This one was put out to pasture when I bought the 6-pound behemoth Vibroplex The VibroCube.
The reality of prepping – if you want to try digital modes in a global catastrophe – has not sunk-in. You NEED Morse – which is “digital in your head.” At “one second after” computers, bitcoins, financial markets, and life in the 2020s will be gone. Frontier comms.
Now you’re ready: Stuff the rest of the bag with Mountain House beef stroganoff and trail jerky plus a LifeStraw. 9 MM on the hip, good boots, tent, and a 2-meter rig for the weather and local comms if available. Magnesium fire-starters or char cloth. Insect repellant, inhaler…trail med kit…yessir. Good for a couple of days. Spare P38 can openers just in case. Field knife and first aid kit, trauma pack.
It’s a long walk to Dayton Ohio for the Hamvention this year. May 20-22 this year. I won’t make it.
Still, any damn foot can spend $50K on high end towers, Step-IR antennas nearly the size of parking lots and they are marvelous. Oh jeez are they ever! How about $16,000 competition-grade radio (Icom 7850) and $10,000 linear amplifiers? I know many who do.
But, low power – manpacking – it’s like the difference between a 5-speed in a Porsche and a high-end Lexus 4-series. One takes skill to time shift points from a corner entrance (braking) in and smoothly power through a long twisting turns 3-4-5 at Laguna. The other is posing for dinner and a show.
The former is a kick in the ass and what driving is all about in “performance mode.” The latter is stately and just always works. Ham radio lines out the same way.
Radio Operator Skill Measurement
If you really want to know who has high operator skill, ask them what their “Best Miles per Watt” level is.
My personal best is 2,500 miles and 4 watts. Over 500-miles per watt. Anything over 100 miles per watt on HF is “working” while 300+ miles per watt moves into “not an idiot” country.
This is the electronics versioni of Big Game Fishing.
Ought to think about that code and joining the Straight Key Century Club, too. Who knows? You might do well as an already-digital human! We were all slow learners, once. Hell, I still am.
Does It Work?
Hell yeah. Even with the antenna tuned to 14,200 (swr 1.3) we were able to hit the Maritime Mobile Services Net up the band on 14,300 without retuning the whip length. (Voice, not code, lol.) 1,200 miles and the net control was an S6 with S5 noise here. This was before the improved ground radial system at the base of the antenna.
With the transmitter putting out 4 watts, that’s 300 miles per watt – respectable (on voice) but nothing for the record books (Morse or continuous wave (CW- Morse) rules) here. Still, imagine a zero-noise world and having a plan.
Get a couple of cheap Timex’s too. Radio batteries are saved by batteries. See any comment posting by “William and the Radio Ranch” for the UrbanSurvival meeting frequencies and timings.
Seem like a worthwhile exercise? Imagine talking from Seattle to Portland on a flashlight. That’s the skill set here.
Shut Up.
Listening draws only a fraction of the power that transmitting takes. Conserve energy. Use the big back-up wire antenna when possible. Locate 1/2 mile from your camp to avoid radio-direction-finding zeroing in on your makeshift home when transmitting.
Control any emissions – smoke smells can lead a team and baddies right to your fire (and maybe dinner!). Don’t smoke, same thing.
Buy a combat vet a beer (well, maybe not John Kerry, lol) and talk about real live or die. Or, talk to the grisly old NCO who looked after manpacks going up “the trail” to repair sensors…
Write while the batteries charge!
George@Ure.net AC7X SKCC 19433
“A dollar printed in 1913 is worth 3.65 CENTS of purchasing power today. Prices don’t go up. Your money is just watered down!
Chiselers learned long ago if done slowly enough, people won’t catch the con,”
We (NOT I, after passing 90 some time ago ;-) ) vote for a set of similar thieves again and again. Dressed in red or blue those Chiselers believe the public feels there’s is a notable difference among thieves.
Excellent build. What was the final weight fully loaded?
Do you have any concerns over these low cost Chicoms? The Beofeng’s I have seem to be solid enough even though they TX dirty and drift some but I can’t help but not have a lot of trust in them long term. I love my 818 and Icom 817.
Unfortunately as hard as I have tried I could not seem master Morse. I think a lot of it has to do with me not being able to sit for very long without getting antsy. My short time on the air anymore is as you said 90% listening.
You could have gone all day without mentioning Kerry. He is right up there with Hanoi Jane, both Traitors. I’ll be glad to share that beer with you.
Thanks for sharing your work. Well done.
Stay safe, 73
Jim in MO. AD0YQ
No need to sit long enough to get antsy. Do short sessions. Start with the simplest characters first, EISTMOANW. That’s dit didit dididit dah dahdah dahdahdah didah dahdit didahdah. Build the character set and speak the elements as I’ve spelled them out. Then add other characters, and soon you’ll be making words. Once you have all the characters down, practice with random 5 character groups so you don’t get in the habit of guessing at what word you’re receiving.
Get a free Morse training program (there are several free ones) and just take a few minutes when you have time to spare. It will soak in faster if you practice in your head, translating street signs, newspaper ads, whatever printed word you see. Just read it to yourself in Morse.
Try to have fun with it rather than making it a chore by forcing yourself into a rigid schedule.
Can we make it a hat trick – and remind about that “walk-in” Schit Romney” the Russian’s bitch..
Walk in ????? See Bush mass murderers… bush the evil, and jr evil. Where/who were they(bushs) prior to presscot/bankamerica, and the war to end all wars – ???? prior generations ? in europe?
another one of those weird “created” families…why/who/for what?
Once again you have surpassed yourself!
Excellent article!
I live in a deep narrow valley in a mountainous region and do not get any type of signals, so for me this is a great idea.
“The car is prepped – always ready for a 2,000 mile drive with no squawks for the mechanics.”
Hmmm.. back roads marked and plotted.. Car made before 1987.. limited electronics. extra tanker of fuel .. at least four hundred gallons or more..depending on which route you take to your remote hideaway…
well in reality it is similar to a nuclear attack.. where you going to go.. the mountains.. or just stay at home prep for staying in place.. you know your neighbors.. you know your environment.. you are accustomed to the daily drills.. now if your close to the epicenter.. then by all means get the heck out of dodge .. but plan on doing it on…. FOOT… a friend lives next door to a communications DUMB big enough to house a small city.. I laughed when I seen it.. all stocked prepped and ready.. the big issue.. is in a real SHTF scenario.. how would those that are special enough to have an invite.. get to them.. I told my friend.. well all you have to do is figure out how to get in them.. lately there has been a lot of activity around it.. but if they live three thousand miles away.. and have to walk.. can you carry all the crap you need to walk that far.. I know I had to walk back and forth to work twelve miles in the Reagan recession and froze my feet.. hands.. and it took hours to get to that twelve miles.. I wasn’t carrying a bunch of crap with.. ride a bike back and forth to work in DC.. that to was twelve miles.. but the bike wasn’t loaded down with a thousand pounds of crap.. all of this needs to be calculated and evaluated.. a truck that gets ten miles to a gallon or sixteen miles to a gallon .. now pop a camper on the back or load it up with the crap you would need for the long trip.. then add more for fuel that you didn’t estimate for..
the unknown of weather..
https://mrdeeteacher.webs.com/38_PATRICK%20BREEN'S%20DONNER%20PARTY%20DIARY_13.pdf
I knew and cared for a woman that was one of the wealthier class when the Nazi’s were herding the people to the ghetto’s .. her husband was a big named lawyer .. and the NAZI’s were gathering them to go to the ghetto.. they decided to flee in the night.. hiding in culverts and ditches..to get to safety….. the stories I heard were quite an event..not only did they have the Nazi’s to be worried about.. and the genocide that they subjected them to.. but the people in panic.. unseen events from an unfamiliar area..
what they went through was nightmarish to say the least.. going a thousand miles.. how long would it take to walk a thousand miles..
Take a moment or two to read some of the diaries of the Mormon movement to Salt lake etc.. and then realize.. they were being persecuted because of what they believed.. which is why you would want to shelter in an unfamiliar area.. if there isn’t fear of that.. then plan on staying in place..It is the area you know the people you are familar with….
https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/search/collection/Diaries!Biographies!OTImages!Maps!TrailGuides/searchterm/mormon%20pioneer
%20national%20historic%20trail/field/subjec/mode/exact/conn/and
as far as the Ukraine war.. I know what I have been told by people living in that region long before it became an event..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Ukraine#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20United%20States,discussed%20in%20the%20Ukrainian%20media.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-do-so-many-russians-say-they-support-the-war-in-ukraine
my biggest question on our involvement in ukraine is.. why are we there.. what is the real reason for our involvement in a country where the only ones that are wanting our help are those accused of being corrupt and abusive to their citizens ….
Just some deep thoughts on this.. if you plan on moving to the hills.. best to get there before a SHTF scenario evolves into a nightmare scenario ..
the link to the byu library of diaries was corrupted. I must have hit enter before I should have… I love college libraries..
https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/Diaries!Biographies!OTImages!Maps!TrailGuides/search
as for the Holocausts’ and the Nazi’s herding the wealthy jews into camps.. I am baffled at the sudden support of the same party that has been accused of doing the exact same things..anyway none of it is worth my being concerned over.. I am a simple nobody in the middle of the wastelands of the USA..
https://www.ushmm.org/m/pdfs/USHMM_DiariesLesson_DiaryPacket.pdf
Yo RM-G,
Pretty neat kit you are presenting this AM, lil bulky, but seems pretty f-ing dandy for a “shade-tree” field radio rig. One ? Where is Ure mini keyboard ? Ya know, the little one that straps to your lower leg…kneel down quick-tap out Ure message – keep moving, that keyboard? Tiny keyboards bee quite – er, than talking turkey bout the weather with Bubba over Lake Pontchartrain way…
Ned you bee like the fat lady working at Boeing plant up Mukilteo – she accidentally backed into a spinning prop and got a little behind in her work.
What about da BITCOINZ?
THE question still hanging out there like a nasty fart – How do you or can you Send and Receive Bitcoinz with a HAM rig ? mobile or stationary? Obviously we cant send or receive anything Physical without a handy dandy StarTrek “Transporter”, but Data ? Come on man WTF over?
Hell – They have the tech to remove Ure SOUL/Spirit NRG – and move it around in various different “vessels”/bodies. They have the tech to advance and regress said SOUL NRG..well at least the Corporate Fascists “Space Nazis” have had it for over 50 years…See https://youtu.be/CD-E-LDc384..
See Hollywood – ! dont agree & sell Ure “SOUL!”, they will collect over and over, night after night, and abuse the hell out it -for entertainment.. nuff to drive anybody crazy, right Brittany?
See also Moon base & Antarctic base for gruesome,nasty details..Beyond normal Imagination, so horrific..why memories are washed/stripped/suppressed during Ure review in the space fence/death traps- processing “centerz” – See slave race- grays wearing big black wrap around shades..nasty, emotionless bastards.
IT NEVER ENDZ…hahahahahahaha
No Bitcoin 4 da stockholm Syndrome types – NO You be Slaves. now go say 10 our farther and 6 hail mary’s and maybe just maybe you wont get abused by a corporation or Ure kids raped by a priest this week.
Got BTC ? !!! GOT SILVER ? https://youtu.be/Troxg3F-Du0
Yes U will…
The is NO mini keyboard
What I use in real life (our own ops) is a Lionel, spring steel mounted “knee key” which was issue for bomber radio ops. Key on knee is pretty slick. Will post a pic of it one of these days.
Which part of no computers didn’t you understand? We have charge controllers for the solar and some lightweight (read: cheap) AC inverters in the Faraday (garbage) can…
My only question why get a license? My Dad was a ham W4DNM. I understood why he needed one, owned and operated a few radio stations and did work for many tv stations also. When the SHTF who cares about a license?
Winnah winnah chicken dinnah
EXCEPT THAT a ham ticket gives you plausible deniability.
“Watchoo doing that mobile radio rig – listening to cops?” (legal but leo worry and it’s a flag since high end commercial burglary crews set a radio watch on everything from DC to daylight to know response times down to a gmat’s ass. You can bet that will become open hostility unless you are pre-plugged into the local emergency response systems and groups like Skywarn and Ares will get you their painlessly andyou’ll learn a lot.
Give you a chance to build the skills before, not during of after…
George – related to all this: So-called “modified sine wave” inverters are fine for old school loads such as brushed motors, etc., but how damaging are they if used with modern electronics? You’d mentioned this possibility in passing in a previous column. I can see having an inverter(and spare) in a vehicle mounted setup for radio, computer, and other gear. Obviously, there’s the interference angle, but is there a significant potential to actually damage electronics? I’ve not looked into this and don’t have good info on it. I’m sure it somewhat depends on the ruggedness of the device(s) power supply which we know little to nothing about.
Proper sine wave inverters are expensive even at low wattage – even more so for the backup units that would hopefully never be needed. I have no idea about their resistance to transients and EMP either.
Good questions Mike.
Simple answer: A older modified sine wave (like a Heart-Interface now Xantrex Freedom 20 was plenty good to run an 1100 watt AC microwave on our sailboat. Also ran the small 23″ TV and kept all the other gear going fine, too including a couple of laptops.
Where the sine wave rocks it is in more manageable electronic noise (sine wave have high swtiching frequencies) and it’s far easier with sine wave to make to a grid to sell power going the other way.
So for blocking and tackling in the after EMP world a 2000 peak and 2500-3000 peak modified sine wave is best bank for buck. Will run (and charge) power tools, keep the fridge and freezer going and so forth.
For the electronics bench and where grid clocking is required (since we are solar cogen) then absolutely need specialized pure sines (we have a pair of Outbacks with their mating Flex charge controllers_.
Help?
I have this in the faraday cage..
https://www.thesolarnerd.com/blog/sma-sunnyboy-inverters/
the issue I worry about is over night..
Reminds me of the time my brother got pulled over, dad had a scanner in the car. My brother pulled over before the police even lit him up, he had heard it on the scanner. Glad dad was a ham or it would be illegal to have a scanner. Lol
Yep. I used one exclusively in Greenland bouncing over the ice cap. Still have one just like it. I prefer mine on the side of my leg rather than on top. Seems more natural.
“Ned you bee like the fat lady working at Boeing plant up Mukilteo – she accidentally backed into a spinning prop and got a little behind in her work.”
Disaster?
George, what is your opinion of GMRS radios for those not ready to commit to HAM?
Inexpensive, line of sight, can augment with a repeater, but that just makes another RF home target for killer drones with radios…
I have GMRS radios and for their purpose they work great imo.
Basically the hand helds are “Line of Sight”. If there is nothing blocking you, say from a mountain top to a desert floor and they are decent wattage say 3 watts, if you can see the person you want to talk to with your binoculars, say 3 miles away, you can talk to them, same across water. If it is through the trees once you can no longer see them you probably can NOT talk to them. The biggest problem with the handhelds is their stubby antenna, an antenna that is about 3x longer would usually at least double your range. Under FCC rules that stubby antenna is NOT required on a GMRS radio, large ones are allowed, but that is how most of them come. There are a couple of GMRS radios out there that allow you to put on a REAL antenna and those are the best as a walkie talkie, but they are 3x to 5x the price.
The GMRS 15 watt units for vehicles if combined with a GREAT antenna will give you decent range from your vehicle if you are in the clear … say 6 to 10 miles depending upon the terrain. Across the desert or water and you can raise that to 12 to 15 miles assuming both ends of the conversation have the same type of equipment (I have a 15 watt Midland for my vehicle – everything is on the mike so the unit itself can be buried somewhere). Antenna is key there!! Bad antenna set up and you won’t get much range. For car to car communications, or say car to camper, they are GREAT.
There are GMRS repeaters, but those are all private (individuals or clubs) and you need a passcode to trigger them, much like many amateur radio repeaters. With a repeater however, it WILL BE up high, so you are talking 20 miles to up to 30 miles range if going through the repeater. Those are great for vehicle use (my Midland car unit has the repeater ability built in but I don’t have any repeater codes)
Another option that people usually forget about for vehicles is an SSB CB. From vehicle to vehicle you will get about 10 miles with a full size antenna (82″+- whip) and vehicle to base, if the person has a good base antenna, you will get 20 miles +-. Know a guy who lived on top of a mountain in Tenn and had a directional CB antenna at home and if the antenna was pointed towards where he was he swore his range was solid out to 75 miles and he generally had talked with good copy at 100 miles.
The problem with SSB CB is that the CB bands just have a LOT of static and clutter whereas the GMRS being at a very high frequency are quiet as can be.
GMRS radios are NOT long distance communications devices, but for short distances they are just fine. (note FRS radios are similar and don’t have quite the range, though now that they increased their power the newer more powerful ones are getting close to the range of most of the less expensive GMRS units – have to be careful here since MOST FRS radios do NOT transmit with the higher power they are now allowed)
FRS radios does NOT require a license
GMRS radios you have to apply for a family license and send some money to the FCC. No test required.
For both FRS and GRMS the quality is all over the ball park. Some are pure crap, others do a more than credible job. Even from the same manufacturer some models are CRAP and other models are GOOD! Figure out what you are looking for the radio to do and then research the units that are out there that do what you want it to do.
As an example: If carrying one while whitewater canoeing or serious camping Motorola makes a waterproof one. An OK but not great unit as a radio … but shines when it comes to being water proof (as an example of DEFINING what you want out of your radio) since a dunking in the water would destroy most of the other units on the market even if they are a “better” radio.
I guess for me the long and short of it is that if you are looking for a short range radio the GMRS will probably serve your needs, and even the newer higher powered FRS radios might do the trick.
On a truly sad note, Mickey Gilley, 86, is dead. And yes it is true. “All the girls get prettier closing time.”.
Things are bad enough already. Let’s all take a moment and chill out.
“On a truly sad note, Mickey Gilley, 86, is dead.”
Why “truly sad” when someone had the chance to go from this place to heaven? ;-)
“but you leave at 3 AM knowing the criminal class is usually lazy.”
Having experienced the riots in Nairobi, Kenya in December 2007, I can second this comment. The rioting, burning and mayhem would start just after dark around 7 pm. By 2 am, rioters (mainly males 18-30) would be lying in the street either drunk or spaced out on drugs. Police picked me up at 3 am and took me to the airport for a 7 am flight out. My last trip.
With open borders, tens of thousands of illegal males 18-30 populating the country and mega tons of illegal drugs entering the country, this is not a good formula for the days ahead.
“but you leave at 3 AM knowing the criminal class is usually lazy.”
Having experienced the riots in Nairobi, Kenya in December 2007, I can second this comment. The rioting, burning and mayhem would start just after dark around 7 pm. By 2 am, rioters (mainly males 18-30) would be lying in the street either drunk or spaced out on drugs.”
YES AND NO… having worked overnights at the 7/11 I can tell you the real creeps come out after 2 am.. to 4 am.. then the morning work crew heads out.. from two to four.. you have the drunk rush.. then the real evil bastards that scope the teller behind the counter… we use to and I am sure it is still true.. police get free coffee and doughnuts fountain pop etc.. hot dogs pretty much anything you can think of to keep them in the store or close by.. we also would call each other.. so one store would call another and we would talk back and forth.. the creeps come in you can tell its in their eyes.. the old terminology of the twinkle in their eyes is a dead give away.. had one creep come in.. I knew I was going to get thumped.. what saved me was a regular on her way to work stopped in and chit chatted.. ( she got her morning order for free.. on me) One time the manager decided I needed to do the count and the books.. not at those hours.. its your job.. ok.. I did it.. it was all there.. but it took them three days to figure out the book work.. and decided that maybe I shouldn’t do the books.. ( dam them anyhow..) switched stores.. the guy at one store lived in the apartments behind the one seven eleven.. I worked my other job at the store he was at.. the night we flipped.. he called and said .. I knew it I should have waited.. he was thumped in the head for twenty dollars.. LOL..Now days they have pumps that use Credit or cash cards so that is nice.. gas jumped thirty cents yesterday.. dam I knew I should have filled up the day before..
Great rig and love your key collection. I have also suffered from “Morse Key Acquisition Syndrome”. Even have a couple of straights in carry cases the pros used to bring ’em to work in.
May l suggest that a durable wide-beam flashlight with extra batts be included in the manpack? Murphy is always along for the ride and setting up in the dark can be a shitshow. Also, a magnet on a string to help find/retrieve the screws, connectors etc. that you’re gonna drop.
Won’t any info on the NOAA all hazards radio be coming from same the lying, thieving bastards that caused the bug-out event in the first place?
Yes the NOAA will be “taken with grains of salt” – by hold your friends close and your….
Regarding flashlights – yes, but headlamps(plural), preferably good ones, with cheap backups, are definitely worth it. When camping, a friend and I hiked from the bottom of the Grand Canyon starting in the wee hours and pitch dark to beat the heat of the coming day. It definitely helps to have both hands free when doing almost anything in the dark.
Sorry, I meant to say “bugs”, not “straights”. Fat fingers, slow brain.
I live out in the middle of nowhere in Indiana. The rich people
from Chicago already have cabins here. They drive here every
weekend to shoot their weapons. They act like they can’t wait
to shoot people. Every square foot of this country is owned
by someone, bring your bug-out bag here, and some
pissed-off farmer will be shooting at you.
The only places where there are no people, will not
support human life
Texas supports human life, but only east of I-45
Hrumpph! I thought all the rich Chicagoans lived between Michigan City and Benton Harbor…
George
I don’t know if the following info has been previously posted but it’s too important not to get it out so here goes.
HEAD LINES VANCOUVER TIMES
MAY 6
VP of Pfizer arrested after #pfizerdocuments gets released.
Rady Johnson Executive VP charged with multiple counts of fraud by Federal Agents in relation to the true risk of the Covid vaccine.
Paraphrasing the report:
1223 people died within 28 days of being inoculated during trials of the BioNTech vaccine – and it was still approved for use
The above fact was in the recent document dump by Pfizer.
The Judge in this case has granted a media black out and Google has been censoring the internet about it.
I was able to find the report on the Vancouver Times web site and nowhere else.
If true it is a Huge turning of events and heads will roll!
I know people don’t like snopes if they are moderate to thinking. However, in this case it IS important to keep your F-stops open.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/vp-pfizer-arrested-document-dump/
No, not true.
The big newspaper (Vancouner being old sailing grounds from our sailing days) is the Vancouver Sun.
Website is https://vancouversun.com/ and a very good paper. They get things right and have a very smart, international/BC audience due to Vanc’s high Chinese population. Like I said…damn good.
The infinitely small Vancouver Times is more blog than news (compare front pages) and the “story” is clearly posted in a “Satire” Section.
Lessons:
Don’t sweat the small shit. If it was real, even the quad-vaxxed mainstream media would fess up on this.
And yes…snopes is worth using.
And no, the goddamn government doesn’t need a truth squad. However removal of bot swarming to drive agendas in social, removing liability protections from social, and having an IQ test of 100 or above to HOST a website might now be a bad idea.
Even though I fly single engine a/c and drones (which do require licensing) a wild-ass, unsubstantiated War of the Worlds massively bot swarmed could be a hell of a lot more dangerous, especially if somehow Jill in Ukraine, nukes, and demented at the top plus neo=Nazis did the vax…yep, just as much Potential is the 1938 Original? Which is early in this Depression replay, since as PN readers know, the economics are still not to the actual crash date in terms of aggregated market performance.
But getting closer.
Now you’ve gone and ruined his day with facts. Buzzkiller.
“And yes…snopes is worth using.”
As is any “fact-checker,” as long as one knows and understands their bias, and knows how to fact check their “fact-checks” — Just like Wackypedia and the USGov statistics mills are valuable and worth using. Oft times a quick and dirty answer is “good enough.”
For critical information, the above are not.
If one deals in critical information (info which MUST BE prescient and accurate) they’d damn’ well better have a trusted source for accurate information in whatever field of endeavor they’re pursuing (or in the case of government economic statistics, knowledge of an asset like John Williams, who does a more-accurate rendition of certain financial statistics than our government has, this millennium…)
BTW, our host’s principal source for the financial data he provides is — our host, which is why it is never financial “advise.”
This is possibly the best article you’ve ever written. More of this! Thank you.
A lot of info. I downloaded the entire page.., and will go over it – several times. I have a pretty good set-up for home., but nothing fantastic for mobile. Thanks for all the work and info. Much appreciated.
I have been on the air for a couple of decades – have learned mainly through osmosis – I rarely, if ever ‘broadcast’. Listening, learning and staying in the shadows is preferred.
Like a flick of a switch, it all goes down. No one is going to care if you are licensed, or not.
* * *
7.299 by day, 3.999 by night
[RedCloud835]
Hi George
Really enjoy your page. Thank you for doing it.
Recently got into Qrp for the challenge. Picked up an ic705 and an FX-4c by bg2fx. Been having a blast. I started taking video of some of my contacts because i didn’t think anyone would believe i was working Qrp. Here is a video of 1 watt contact to Bulgaria
https://youtu.be/IohIuT6Tgt0
This one is 5 watts to Australia
https://youtu.be/ZhAqqf8uViY
When working Qrp i primarily work Ssb phone as I’m still learning CW. It’s been a fun challenge so far.
Mike
K4NYX
George I am just curious what meds they put you on please . I may help. Your mate
Today, Mother’s Day, the First Lady of America, Dr. Jill Biden, met the First Lady of the Ukraine, and together amidst a childrens’ setting they deplored the ongoing war.
Separately, the former drama teacher now Canadian PM visited the Ukrainian war theater. A photo-op image of the PM posed raising the flag at the Canadian embassy is available online at the CBC website. Apparently the venture was under media blackout until the mayor of a Kiev suburb that the PM met sent out a Tweet.
One imagines a busy Mr. Zelensky offered thanks for the gifted Howitzers that rain shells the price of a Porsche which are deemed to expensive for the Canadian army to fire during training drills. No matter, surely Mr. Z. sent his regards and welcomed Mr. T. as being on his A Team.
The author of “Common Ground” was not packing a tie nor a manpad from last week’s bomb factory visit as he toured destroyed buildings with soldiers in camo. The top button of his lavender shirt (It is Mother’s Day after all.) was undone. If I come across the suit jacket and loafer designer names, I shall be sure to advise so that we can all elevate our respective power wardrobes. Hopefully the fabrics will feature a high sweat and soiling resistance so favored by the Texas contingent.
And remember, fans of dits and dots, don’t bugout without the door key.
A couple of random thoughts on the pack. Instead of insulating the bulkhead connector length, remove the insulation from the pipe clamps and have the bulkhead connector firmly grounded to the backpack frame. Every little bit of counterpoise helps. But longish wires attached here would be best.
The ATS-25 is a fantastic little receiver. It hears DX signals with only the included little whip antenna. No need to deploy a longwire for just listening.
A small QRP antenna tuner could help with some antenna mismatch. This little one will handle up to 100 watts: tinyurl.com/ud7kr5d4
(Select: “Finished Machine” or you get kit parts).
You should pre-mark your whip antenna for setup. Could be a marker pen on the whip, or, my favorite, after the antenna is tuned take a small triangle file and put a tiny notch in the whip where it enters the collar. Something you can feel in the dark and set the antenna length easily and repeatable.
Look into Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries for longer duration operation. Very expensive, but will last a lifetime or two with thousands of charge cycles, and they are very lightweight. And get a small solar charger for the battery. I found surplus deals on 6 watt solar panels with a 5 volt USB output. Now get a small 2 or 3 amp ‘boost converter’ like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/125109204612?hash=item1d2116f684:g:6vQAAOSwVCJh6MCY
and you can set the voltage up to 12.6v or 13.6v or whatever your battery requires for a charge voltage.
And finally, for those with a novice license who cannot learn the code fast enough, there is Preppcomm. You can operate morse code without knowing morse code! Here is your portable keyboard & text radio:
https://www.preppcomm.com/
Dear Mr. Ure,
Thank you for the kind translation in measurement above from centimeters to inches. Of course your compatriots of 18th century revolution were so forward-looking as to leave the world the French metric system. Even the UK has been inching towards metrication gradually converting the imperial system measures into an anachronism of time.
It seems that the Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures (CGPM) first published the foundations of the planned global SI system in 1960. Surely the USA wishes to adopt the advanced metrication system SI? Just like Sesame Street, it features the numbers 7 and 22, as in “7 base units and 22 coherent derived units”. I think if Mr. Rogers were still among us, he would appreciate things coherent.
Let’s raise a pint to a world where apples are apples, and oranges are oranges.
You mean they are not Cotlets?
(For the less traveled – see here https://www.libertyorchards.com/category/Aplets_and_Cotlets)
“…not Cotlets…”
Sweet, measured by the piece at the Frederick & Nelson confectionary locum?
Ah, my heart leaps at F&NB Frango mint sodas back in the day. Had the Bay a comparable?
1) Single-LED, single AA batt mini flashlights on a neck lanyard. Very handy. They dangle and light your way as you walk and are easily pointable. Many, many hours on one AA. Headlights are good, too, but many LEDs just suck the batts dry faster. (“Plumber’s Candles” are at most old-timey hardware stores. About 3/4 inch diameter. maybe 6 inches long, smokeless — and bright enough to read by. Dirt cheap.)
2) In a Really Fierce Big Deal, the FCC won’t be worrying about hams, and using your Official, Legal callsign since it is listed in many public databases can bring you “guests.” Most of my group plans on using CB style “handles,” more properly thought of as Tactical Callsigns. When the paychecks stop, so will the FCC.
3) I prefer to have my radio at my base. I have extra low current drain radios, so lots of hours of monitoring is my method of intel collection.
4) Antennas made of cheap wire are… …cheap; and can be very efficient. Watts of transmitter power are expensive and suck your batteries fast. On HF, from 5 to 20 watts will work nearly as well as a hundred on SSB — if using a good antenna.
5) Generators make noise — attracting “guests.” Gennys aren’t really designed for 24-7 many days of use. They beat themselves to hell, and need maintenance. Rig for silent running.
6) 3.999 by night, 7.299 by day. Both are in use occasionally. Wait patiently for a quiet time. There are plenty.
7) Personally, we won’t bug out. (Unless it’s a meteor strike.) We’ll stay here and work the neighbor group for mutual support. We’re old and weak and adequately armed.
8) The ‘Zon has some wireless outdoor motion detectors. The receiver end can be set up for LED but no sound indication. Works on Possums and Raccoons, too. There’s a 4-pack model. Be careful, some of these are Krappe. Check the reviews. I have the receiver on my nightstand.
9) We (this group right here) have a marvelous support resource. We got us. Don’t laugh. We can (and do) advise each other smartly.
– 73 –
“Trapper John” (for Tactical use.)
“2) In a Really Fierce Big Deal, the FCC won’t be worrying about hams, and using your Official, Legal callsign since it is listed in many public databases can bring you “guests.” Most of my group plans on using CB style “handles,” more properly thought of as Tactical Callsigns. When the paychecks stop, so will the FCC.”
FCC as such, maybe. But not military or DHS. Both have sophisticated radio direction finding capability that can pinpoint you in a couple of heartbeats. When things get sporty, .gov will issue a “no communication” order and enforce it with firepower. Can’t have peons broadcasting disinformation, you know.
You’re right. And unless you actually really KNOW, you have no idea of just how fast and marvelously well these things work, battlespace awareness. They’re SO good and how integrated they are into total it’s creepy.
And it’s one reason I don’t emphasize transmitting over receiving. Stay quiet and just listen. You’ll get what you need.
“But not military or DHS. Both have sophisticated radio direction finding capability that can pinpoint you in a couple of heartbeats.”
Granted, but they’ll have to be in your area to do so, ‘lessen yer stoopid and jus’ haz ta have that kW linear powered up…
RedCloud835
RedCloud835 was a well-known [within a small group] Huey gunship assigned to CCN / 5th Special Forces group in ICorp/Vietnam. Pulled my bacon out of the fire a couple of times. Pilot was equally well known for his bright Hawaiian shirts [ Trapper John ] and seemingly endless supply of cheap stogies., and absolutely no fear of anything. Seeing that dragon come flying in low, spitting fire-n-brimstone is something I will never forget.
this is easy to make.. fun little project and all the gas you want…
https://youtu.be/wkgMkLHhSc8
I use to be a caver… so I have a few carbide lamps.. my grandpa was an engineer on a train so I have his lamp to.. and one for a bicycle..
Typical
NO HF communication or Shortwave reception for 3 days after a nuclear explosion.
That is the rule of thumb you should remember!!
A nuclear explosion, just a regular one, will seriously disturb the ionosphere and the rule of thumb is that it takes about 3 days for it to restabilize (the ionosphere is what the radio signals bounce off of for long distance communication, be it HF communications or just Shortwave Radio).
Just keep that in mind in case the worst happens. Do NOT expect to hear anything that is not direct nearly “Line of Sight” radio signals (ie: daytime AM type signals) for the first three days after some explosions.
Your radio isn’t broken … the radio waves are just not bouncing around yet to they can reach it.
I forgot about that.., thanks for the reminder.
Gold bulls my ass . Old salty and dagolio probably short . Creature feature
Big Yankees like everyone in ussa . Big prime rib and a gut full of piss everyday!! How good USSA