brushbeater blog post discussion

[Smurf Hunter]

It's a trick question.  If you had the right battle rifle, you can shoot the occupying forces and take their tier one common gear.   

[Alan Georges]

And answers to the latest question are up: https://brushbeater.wordpress.com/2017/03/29/radio-question-3-my-response-of-sorts/
Not that interesting in general, just sort of a "what would you do with this assorted pile of random crap gear" problem.  About all I can summarize that'd be of relevance here is (1) don't discount FRS, it sometimes fits the job; (2) SHTF+1year, odds are you'll still be able to find a few AA batts; (3) you can get some 12v off of scrounged batteries (abandoned cars?  unless they've been salt water flooded) if you have battery clamps w/PowerPole connectors; and (4) PowerPole the world.

(note to self: make up another set or two of clamps-to-PowePole leads.)

It's a trick question.  If you had the right battle rifle, you can shoot the occupying forces and take their tier one common gear.   

If it's that bad, I'd probably settle for raiding their food supplies.  Or maybe just eat their brains.  Brains?  Brains! 

[Carl]

  lead acid batteries would not survive a year of not being charged and discharged

[Smurf Hunter]

  lead acid batteries would not survive a year of not being charged and discharged

I don't disagree, but more moderate climates seem to extend that duration a small amount in my experience. 

[Alan Georges]

A downloadable book on NVIS: https://brushbeater.wordpress.com/2017/04/28/fiedlers-nvis-handbook/

On one hand, 144 pp. of geeky goodness.  Some info about NVIS operation during a sunspot cycle minimum.  On the other hand, it's probably better to stop over-thinking things and just string up a low wire and start talking around your region with it.

[Alan Georges]

Some discussions on working knowledge, mentoring, theory, practice, and the real world: https://brushbeater.wordpress.com/2017/05/16/making-things-work-in-the-real-world/  Wraps with an admonition to get out there and actually try using your radios.

Also down in the comments there was a mention leading to a blog about "Backpacking, Camping, Hiking and Radio Adventures" that may be worth a follow: http://www.backcountryjournal.net

[Smurf Hunter]

Semi related, I recently visited a fascinating alpine campground that would be excellent for portable ops.  It's at 2800ft elevation and is a rural air strip with free campsites on either side.  There is over 3000 level feet in a strsight line that one could run a 160 meter dipole if desired.

As a bonus, the elevation still has me within the range of metropolitan VHF repeaters, even though there is no cell coverage.

[Alan Georges]

As a bonus, the elevation still has me within the range of metropolitan VHF repeaters, even though there is no cell coverage.

This is really cool, Smurf.  I like the idea of backcountry adventures beyond cell coverage but within VHF repeater range.  It's a nice comfortable middle ground before having to halt, break out the HF rig, and string up a great big wire antenna.

Two new posts up yesterday.  The first is about making HF work in an HOA https://brushbeater.wordpress.com/2017/05/18/psyops-notes-on-practical-hf/.  Hats off to the guy for getting on the air under self-imposed adverse conditions, I guess.  The second is about an upcoming event in coastal NC, where ncscout will be teaching a beginner class in license-free off-grid comms https://brushbeater.wordpress.com/2017/05/18/heads-up-nc-patcon/.  With barbecue.   That sounds like a practical all-'round course for a lot of people.

[Carl]

Semi related, I recently visited a fascinating alpine campground that would be excellent for portable ops.  It's at 2800ft elevation and is a rural air strip with free campsites on either side.  There is over 3000 level feet in a strsight line that one could run a 160 meter dipole if desired.

As a bonus, the elevation still has me within the range of metropolitan VHF repeaters, even though there is no cell coverage.

At 2800 feet you should have even better luck with simplex as the line of site range would be 150 miles or so. Perfect place for 2 meter SSB with a modest yagi and horizontal polarity.

[Alan Georges]

New comms-related post up: https://brushbeater.wordpress.com/2017/05/30/the-motherlode-all-the-radio-pdfs-you-didnt-even-know-you-wanted/

Which is really mostly a link to this cache of pdf's: http://www.n5dux.com/ham/files/pdf/   Certainly a lot there, everything from shack grounding to SETI.

[Smurf Hunter]

New comms-related post up: https://brushbeater.wordpress.com/2017/05/30/the-motherlode-all-the-radio-pdfs-you-didnt-even-know-you-wanted/

Which is really mostly a link to this cache of pdf's: http://www.n5dux.com/ham/files/pdf/   Certainly a lot there, everything from shack grounding to SETI.

I have crawled and archived these locally.  Is there any interest in a single big *.zip file containing all the PDFs?  It's about 1GB in total, but I'm willing to post to my google drive and share the link to those interested.

[Alan Georges]

New post up: https://brushbeater.wordpress.com/2017/06/11/quantity-vs-quality-putting-the-handheld-radio-in-context/

It's something between a data dump of good general advice and a stream-of-consciousness rant – Baofengs are crap, some people are stuck on stupid, practice with your gear now, etc.  And of course, because it focuses on handhelds, it's only about VHF/UHF bands.  Worth a read.

[Smurf Hunter]

New post up: https://brushbeater.wordpress.com/2017/06/11/quantity-vs-quality-putting-the-handheld-radio-in-context/

It's something between a data dump of good general advice and a stream-of-consciousness rant – Baofengs are crap, some people are stuck on stupid, practice with your gear now, etc.  And of course, because it focuses on handhelds, it's only about VHF/UHF bands.  Worth a read.

I got a bit more from it.  Regarding the classic "license vs no license" debate that we often see in prepping circles, he brings up the salient point that even a technician class amateur is going to be a vastly better CB/FRS/GMRS/etc operator because of the knowledge about antennas and basic RF concepts.

I know the Baofeng rant is tired. I don't like dull knives, but I own a few. They are used for opening shipping boxes, or loading to teenagers who are likely to be careless. If you understand the technical details about receive sensitivity, and other concepts, you are more likely to appreciate a more expensive unit.

[Alan Georges]

Yeah, some worthwhile stuff there; sorry if it sounded like I was denigrating it.  It's just kind of hard to summarize an overall theme.  Or to put it another way, it's so chock full of content that it defies a brief summary.  I like how he spells out:

There exists a strong differentiation which must be made; Survivalist or Retreat Communications is a different animal from Tactical Communications.

There are lots of other useful nuggets of wisdom running around in that post.

• You have an unpredictable set of needs to address.

It’s super common to get confused, especially if all that you’re doing is snapping up and stashing kit without working through its bugs or thinking past plug n’ play.

Brother, that's the truth. 

ps: if you've got to go all tacticool like the HT setup in one of the pics, here's a Moxon beam calculator: http://www.moxonantennaproject.com/design.htm

[Smurf Hunter]

He writes rather "stream of conscious" a lot of the time.  As you noted, many wise nuggets, but it's not really structured like a non-fiction guide to communication strategy.

If we were sitting around a campfire, we could interact with questions, ask for examples or to paraphrase. Something I learned working with offshore engineering teams in different time zones, was to write concisely and unambiguously.  Too much could be lost if an email reply was sent to me at 3am asking for clarification.

On that topic, you likely have come across survival archives of PDFs.  Often they are old military field manuals, scanned articles on homesteading, bushcraft, etc.  I know several people who have saved this type of material off onto backup storage media, and even printed hard copies in some cases.  They one thing almost no one does is read the damn stuff before hand.  Some of that material is crap, and not really useful in practice.

[Carl]

He writes rather "stream of conscious" a lot of the time.  As you noted, many wise nuggets, but it's not really structured like a non-fiction guide to communication strategy.

If we were sitting around a campfire, we could interact with questions, ask for examples or to paraphrase. Something I learned working with offshore engineering teams in different time zones, was to write concisely and unambiguously.  Too much could be lost if an email reply was sent to me at 3am asking for clarification.

On that topic, you likely have come across survival archives of PDFs.  Often they are old military field manuals, scanned articles on homesteading, bushcraft, etc.  I know several people who have saved this type of material off onto backup storage media, and even printed hard copies in some cases.  They one thing almost no one does is read the damn stuff before hand.  Some of that material is crap, and not really useful in practice.

This is why one must work to separate the gems from the dirt.I have spent 40 plus years mining for high content ore and gems.

Cheap China radios do have a place in communications just as throw down phones...they work reasonably well and yet are expendable.

[Alan Georges]

New post up: Back to Basics: Data Books and What Should Be in Them.

Not unlike Jack's documentation package idea, with more emphasis on field and (of course) radio operations.

[Smurf Hunter]

New post up: Back to Basics: Data Books and What Should Be in Them.

Not unlike Jack's documentation package idea, with more emphasis on field and (of course) radio operations.

I read that, and it reminded me to print and laminate this for winlink wellfare traffic purposes:

How to Send a Text Message (SMS) Via Email:
To send a text message via email, you must use a SMS to email gateway. Just substitute a 10-digit cell number for ‘number’ for each carrier below:

Code: [Select]

AT&T: number@txt.att.net
T-Mobile: number@tmomail.net
Verizon: number@vtext.com (text-only), number@vzwpix (text + photo)
Sprint: number@messaging.sprintpcs.com or number@pm.sprint.com
Virgin Mobile: number@vmobl.com
Tracfone: number@mmst5.tracfone.com
Metro PCS: number@mymetropcs.com
Boost Mobile: number@myboostmobile.com
Cricket: number@mms.cricketwireless.net
Ptel: number@ptel.com
Republic Wireless: number@text.republicwireless.com
Google Fi (Project Fi): number@msg.fi.google.com
Suncom: number@tms.suncom.com
Ting: number@message.ting.com
U.S. Cellular: number@email.uscc.net
Consumer Cellular: number@cingularme.com
C-Spire: number@cspire1.com
Page Plus: number@vtext.com

[Alan Georges]

I read that, and it reminded me to print and laminate this for winlink wellfare traffic purposes:

How to Send a Text Message (SMS) Via Email:
To send a text message via email, you must use a SMS to email gateway. Just substitute a 10-digit cell number for ‘number’ for each carrier below:

That's a good one to know, Smurf.  As a side note, my carrier wants a "1" in front of the phone number; some do, some don't, so test this out ahead of time.

Brushbeater's data book is a good idea, but one more "mega data book" is the National Interoperability Field Operations Guide, or NIFOG.  FEMA has it for free download (here), and I would say that you can buy a nice spiral-bound copy off Amazon for $15 like I did last year, but all they seem to have now is used copies for $50. (!!)  Anyway, NIFOG is a little much to haul around in the field, but it does have everything – and I mean everything – having to do with comms, down to telephone wire stripe codes, ham bands, GMRS channels, and the like.

(Now that I see what they're going for, think I'll go magic marker my name & call sign into my spiral bound copy.  Holy cats, these things should be everywhere.)

[Smurf Hunter]

This past spring at emergency comms convention, I heard some presentations from FEMA region X about NIFOG.

FEMA, DHS seem to place a lot of focus on region X, as we have volcanoes and 3 seismic fault lines intersecting.  Alaska is also included and those dudes are hardcore. 72 hour kit for 20 below zero, and a much bigger area of operation place additional demands on their comms planning.

You'd think some prepper store would be selling USB drives loaded with reference material like this for $20.

[Carl]

This past spring at emergency comms convention, I heard some presentations from FEMA region X about NIFOG.

FEMA, DHS seem to place a lot of focus on region X, as we have volcanoes and 3 seismic fault lines intersecting.  Alaska is also included and those dudes are hardcore. 72 hour kit for 20 below zero, and a much bigger area of operation place additional demands on their comms planning.

You'd think some prepper store would be selling USB drives loaded with reference material like this for $20.

Man...and here I give such stuff away...

[Smurf Hunter]

Man...and here I give such stuff away...

If you've been to a "prepper" flea market, it's amazing how many vendors are reselling crap from Harbor Freight, packaged up in "tactical" molle pouches.
$20 in eBay grade Chinese kit sells for $100 at the gun show.

Willful ignorance? Laziness? Apathy? Who knows.

[Alan Georges]

If you've been to a "prepper" flea market, it's amazing how many vendors are reselling crap from Harbor Freight, packaged up in "tactical" molle pouches.
$20 in eBay grade Chinese kit sells for $100 at the gun show.

Toss in a Baofeng pre-programmed with GMRS, FRS, & MURS, call it a "Tactical Comms Kit," and charge $200.

[Alan Georges]

Late yesterday, there's a post announcing ARRL Field Day:
https://brushbeater.wordpress.com/2017/06/23/get-on-the-air/
Starts at 2pm Eastern time, ends 24 hours later.  Yes, it's primarily a ham event, but non-hams are welcome to show up at the local Field Day sites.  Many clubs will have a "get on the air" radio and a friendly helping ham, just for non-ham visitors.  Or if you want to practice receiving ham transmissions on your shortwave, there'll be plenty of traffic.

ps: More on the subject over at The SWLing Post: http://swling.com/blog/2017/06/its-field-day-weekend-2017-find-a-local-event-have-fun/

[Smurf Hunter]

This post is back to radio, specifically the 6 meter amateur band:

https://brushbeater.wordpress.com/2017/06/29/6-meters-survivalist-magic/

Virtues of the 6m band:
Privacy through obscurity.  Because there isn't a $30 chinese 6 meter handheld, you will have relative privacy.
FM and SSB options allow it to work in a variety of operating environments.

It's a good simplex band, also has some repeater infrastructure and doesn't have a lot of the unlicenses preppers with baofengs involved.

[Alan Georges]

This post is back to radio, specifically the 6 meter amateur band:
...
It's a good simplex band, also has some repeater infrastructure and doesn't have a lot of the unlicenses preppers with baofengs involved.

That last part may be the best part.  Another good point is that many (nearly all?) new HF radios are "HF+6m," so even if people aren't using it, the capability's there.  Maybe better or at least different terrain interaction than 10m, 2m, and some of the other VHF/UHF bands for local line-of-sight work.

There aren't any affordable new HT's or mobile units, at least nothing I could find for less than $300.  Saw one used Yaesu VX-7R on ebay for $220.  There's not a "6m FT-60" in the $150 range or any $120-ish monobanders out there.  That's kind of a hang-up.

The only people I know who dabble in 6m are hams who like to fool around DXing when the band gods smile.  It's the unpredictability that draws them in, which makes for a fun hobby band but detracts from serious communications.

All I've ever done with it is some town-to-town simplex LOS on SSB & FM.  Worked great, maybe a little better than 2m, maybe a little less prone to skip than 10m.  I could see using it as base-to-base comms in a SHTF situation, since most people's HF rigs have it.  Kind of like CB, but a little more VHF-y and with smaller antennas.

Anybody else out there using 6m?  Carl?

[Carl]

I use either wire or an old 3 element 6 meter beam and mostly use it during E cloud openings during the summer though it does do good for 'local' work and is much more private for one on one comms and does travel a bit better than 2 meters.Also NOTE that a 5/8 wave two meter antenna does work fine as a 1/4 wave six meter antenna. Many business radios and Motorola radios can also work on 6 meters FM is fine for local and DX when the band opens.

  I once used my Yaesu VX5 handy talkie to talk to Chicago and the other operator used a cherokee (looks like a CB HT) for some fun.

http://www.mtcradio.com/wouxun-kg-uv5d-vhf-plus-six-meters-handheld-sale-price/

[Alan Georges]

http://www.mtcradio.com/wouxun-kg-uv5d-vhf-plus-six-meters-handheld-sale-price/

The price is right on that one; thanks for finding it.  All kind of longer-ranges uses come to mind.

[SCWolverine]

This post is back to radio, specifically the 6 meter amateur band:

https://brushbeater.wordpress.com/2017/06/29/6-meters-survivalist-magic/

Virtues of the 6m band:
Privacy through obscurity.  Because there isn't a $30 chinese 6 meter handheld, you will have relative privacy.
FM and SSB options allow it to work in a variety of operating environments.

It's a good simplex band, also has some repeater infrastructure and doesn't have a lot of the unlicenses preppers with baofengs involved.

That's ALL it took to keep me from selling the pair of Wouxun's I have! (2m/6m) thanks Smurf!
*I notified Sparks31 a few years back of the MTC offering; he blogged, they sold out in less than 1 day and couldn't figure out why till I called to congratulate myself!  Every time I mention on the show, the sell a bunch 

[Smurf Hunter]

That's ALL it took to keep me from selling the pair of Wouxun's I have! (2m/6m) thanks Smurf!
*I notified Sparks31 a few years back of the MTC offering; he blogged, they sold out in less than 1 day and couldn't figure out why till I called to congratulate myself!  Every time I mention on the show, the sell a bunch 

Do not use any other software for this radio other than the software offered in our store. Using any other software or programming files from another version will damage the radio.

Telling that to a software developer is very dangerous - LOL


I would be happier if CHIRP supported it. 

Code: [Select]

Wouxun
KG-UVD1P/UV2D/UV3D
KG-UV6D/UV6X
KG-UV8D


I've got a sort of "code plug" for all my radios using CHIRP.
I commonly max out all the memories in my area, programming in public service, airband and other things depending on the radio and bands supported.
There are a couple of GMRS repeaters that I program into my chinese radios just for future reference, etc.