SHTF Communications
Post by gunsmith on Apr 17, 2010, 8:22pm
In a another thread I mentioned HAM radio and some asked what is HAM radio. HAM radio is Amateur Radio where you are your own radio station.
http://www.arrl.orgHAMs are people who are licensed to broadcast over frequency bands set aside by the Federal Gov.
http://www.arrl.org/frequency-bandsHAM radio is regulated under the FCC.
Under national & local emergency situation examples like hurricane Katrina & Andrew HAM radio operators were the first communications to be up and running after these events.
HAM radios can operate VHF, UHF, SHF, HF, etc using AM, FM or SSB modulation. HAM radios are also called "Rigs" you can buy Rigs that operate on 120v AC or 12v DC which is very useful if your only source of power is a car battery.
If you get your license you'll be assign a call ID. Mine is KJ4MDD (just like a regular radio station).
There are 3 levels of licenses, Technician, General, Amateur Expert.
If you get involved and gain the skill/experience you will be able to communicate with other HAM operators around the world. You can bounce your signal off of the moon and there are Satellites orbiting the earth specifically available to HAM operators. HAMs built a way to make phone calls over your rig. They built computer interfaces and there are forms of e-mail, internet connection, video transmissions, and good old fashioned Morse code is alive and well.
Many HAM operators and HAM Clubs have set up repeaters to increase the distance you can reach for the different bands.
Being a HAM radio operator is a bit geeky but its a cool form of geeky.
Re: SHTF Communications
Post by nolan on Apr 17, 2010, 8:33pm
Excellent, Gunsmith. Thanks.
Geeky? maybe, but next to firearms skills, growing food and water collection, it'll probably prove to be the most useful skill to have.
I'll cruise the links and annoy you w/ q's if I have any!Re: SHTF Communications
Post by johnflorida on Apr 17, 2010, 8:47pm
Apr 17, 2010, 8:33pm, nolan wrote:
Excellent, Gunsmith. Thanks.
Geeky? maybe, but next to firearms skills, growing food and water collection, it'll probably prove to be the most useful skill to have.
I'll cruise the links and annoy you w/ q's if I have any!
Hey Nolan they're in Connecticut only a couple of hours away from you.Re: SHTF Communications
Post by johnflorida on Apr 17, 2010, 8:49pm
Apr 17, 2010, 8:22pm, gunsmith wrote:
In a another thread I mentioned HAM radio and some asked what is HAM radio. HAM radio is Amateur Radio where you are your own radio station.
http://www.arrl.orgHAMs are people who are licensed to broadcast over frequency bands set aside by the Federal Gov.
http://www.arrl.org/frequency-bandsHAM radio is regulated under the FCC.
Under national & local emergency situation examples like hurricane Katrina & Andrew HAM radio operators were the first communications to be up and running after these events.
HAM radios can operate VHF, UHF, SHF, HF, etc using AM, FM or SSB modulation. HAM radios are also called "Rigs" you can buy Rigs that operate on 120v AC or 12v DC which is very useful if your only source of power is a car battery.
If you get your license you'll be assign a call ID. Mine is KJ4MDD (just like a regular radio station).
There are 3 levels of licenses, Technician, General, Amateur Expert.
If you get involved and gain the skill/experience you will be able to communicate with other HAM operators around the world. You can bounce your signal off of the moon and there are Satellites orbiting the earth specifically available to HAM operators. HAMs built a way to make phone calls over your rig. They built computer interfaces and there are forms of e-mail, internet connection, video transmissions, and good old fashioned Morse code is alive and well.
Many HAM operators and HAM Clubs have set up repeaters to increase the distance you can reach for the different bands.
Being a HAM radio operator is a bit geeky but its a cool form of geeky.
Where can I find equipment and info on all the costs for license etc. etc. ?Re: SHTF Communications
Post by nolan on Apr 17, 2010, 9:27pm
Saw that.
I'm immersed in the site right now. Lookin for the book for the tech. lic. on borders. I have like ten pages open on three windows and am bouncing around.
Equip. will be the next info to run down. Then the arm-wrestling w/ the CFO! I can't wait to lay this on her, we just talked about a genreator yesterday and negotiations are on-going!LOL!
Man, she's gonna' find out it'd be cheaper to divorce me before this is all said and done!
Last year, I was at a gun show and a vendor had protective masks (gas masks to you civilians) and I called her and ran it by her. She said I was ridiculous 'cuz everytime I saw something I liked or thought we needed, I had to have it! I explained to her that I haven't told her about half the sh*t we face because I don't want her to lose sleep like I am!
She approved the sale!
She has a good head on her.Re: SHTF Communications
Post by johnflorida on Apr 17, 2010, 9:49pm
Apr 17, 2010, 9:27pm, nolan wrote:
Saw that.
I'm immersed in the site right now. Lookin for the book for the tech. lic. on borders. I have like ten pages open on three windows and am bouncing around.
Equip. will be the next info to run down. Then the arm-wrestling w/ the CFO! I can't wait to lay this on her, we just talked about a genreator yesterday and negotiations are on-going!LOL!
Man, she's gonna' find out it'd be cheaper to divorce me before this is all said and done!
Last year, I was at a gun show and a vendor had protective masks (gas masks to you civilians) and I called her and ran it by her. She said I was ridiculous 'cuz everytime I saw something I liked or thought we needed, I had to have it! I explained to her that I haven't told her about half the sh*t we face because I don't want her to lose sleep like I am!
She approved the sale!
She has a good head on her.
Like I said to you before you go slow and you get it done. When you have this radio thing figured out let me know what you came up with because this I know nothing about.Re: SHTF Communications
Post by Pandora on Apr 17, 2010, 10:10pm
Apr 17, 2010, 9:27pm, nolan wrote:
Saw that.
I'm immersed in the site right now. Lookin for the book for the tech. lic. on borders. I have like ten pages open on three windows and am bouncing around.
Equip. will be the next info to run down. Then the arm-wrestling w/ the CFO! I can't wait to lay this on her, we just talked about a genreator yesterday and negotiations are on-going!LOL!
Man, she's gonna' find out it'd be cheaper to divorce me before this is all said and done!
Last year, I was at a gun show and a vendor had protective masks (gas masks to you civilians) and I called her and ran it by her. She said I was ridiculous 'cuz everytime I saw something I liked or thought we needed, I had to have it! I explained to her that I haven't told her about half the sh*t we face because I don't want her to lose sleep like I am!
She approved the sale!
She has a good head on her.
The ARRL "Ham Radio License Manual", Level I Technician, ISBN 0-87259-963-9.Re: SHTF Communications
Post by gunsmith on Apr 18, 2010, 6:51am
Apr 17, 2010, 8:49pm, johnflorida wrote:
Apr 17, 2010, 8:22pm, gunsmith wrote:
In a another thread I mentioned HAM radio and some asked what is HAM radio. HAM radio is Amateur Radio where you are your own radio station.
http://www.arrl.orgHAMs are people who are licensed to broadcast over frequency bands set aside by the Federal Gov.
http://www.arrl.org/frequency-bandsHAM radio is regulated under the FCC.
Under national & local emergency situation examples like hurricane Katrina & Andrew HAM radio operators were the first communications to be up and running after these events.
HAM radios can operate VHF, UHF, SHF, HF, etc using AM, FM or SSB modulation. HAM radios are also called "Rigs" you can buy Rigs that operate on 120v AC or 12v DC which is very useful if your only source of power is a car battery.
If you get your license you'll be assign a call ID. Mine is KJ4MDD (just like a regular radio station).
There are 3 levels of licenses, Technician, General, Amateur Expert.
If you get involved and gain the skill/experience you will be able to communicate with other HAM operators around the world. You can bounce your signal off of the moon and there are Satellites orbiting the earth specifically available to HAM operators. HAMs built a way to make phone calls over your rig. They built computer interfaces and there are forms of e-mail, internet connection, video transmissions, and good old fashioned Morse code is alive and well.
Many HAM operators and HAM Clubs have set up repeaters to increase the distance you can reach for the different bands.
Being a HAM radio operator is a bit geeky but its a cool form of geeky.
Where can I find equipment and info on all the costs for license etc. etc. ?
The ARRL website is the big web site for HAM radio news and information on testing etc. Another web site is:
http://www.eham.net/eHam also has reviews of various manufactures equip. The reviews can be brutally honest. eHam also has a section for HAM operators to buy and sell their used equipment.
Other places for HAM equipment, Craiglist, ebay and HAM radio shows (HAM radio version of a gun show). This site often has the best price for equipment:
http://www.hamradio.com/ Re: SHTF Communications
Post by nolan on Apr 18, 2010, 10:35am
Thanks PAn. I have a line on a used copy for $18 and will figure out which edition to get, b/c on 7/1/10, the test is different. Re: SHTF Communications
Post by irondiopriest on Apr 18, 2010, 10:33pm
My deceased uncle was WAY into HAM for as long as I remember. He had a whole heck of a lot of equipment when I was a kid. I used to sit there for what seemed like hours listening to him and whoever he happened to be talking to - and a bunch of squelchy static between frequencies. Sometimes a voice would be so faint and buried inside the static as to almost seem like a phantom summoned from the radio's speaker. He would contact people from all over the world. Sometimes we would come across people who were not speaking English, and we'd listen for a minute, and he would tell me what language he thought they were speaking.
I remember the smell of the room - his tobacco pipe, and the sound of his lips puffing it, and the tapping of it on the ashtray - watching him dialing, fine-tuning and tweaking knobs, and the glow of big ol' vacuum tubes. I remember him with a soldering iron, the smell of flux and solder, and him cursing when things weren't working how they were supposed to.
After he retired, he parlayed his love HAM and a one-time outlay of cash into a warehouse full of surplus vacuum tubes and a nice Internet business selling them to Hammies and guitarists (for their tube amplifiers). Finally, failing health made him liquidate the tube business, and then his son took the HAM gear.
Uncle Don passed away a couple years ago. Apart from how wonderfully he loved my mother's sister, it is his love for HAM radio that makes the largest of his life's impressions on me.Re: SHTF Communications
Post by Pandora on Apr 19, 2010, 10:06am
Apr 18, 2010, 10:33pm, irondiopriest wrote:
My deceased uncle was WAY into HAM for as long as I remember. He had a whole heck of a lot of equipment when I was a kid. I used to sit there for what seemed like hours listening to him and whoever he happened to be talking to - and a bunch of squelchy static between frequencies. Sometimes a voice would be so faint and buried inside the static as to almost seem like a phantom summoned from the radio's speaker. He would contact people from all over the world. Sometimes we would come across people who were not speaking English, and we'd listen for a minute, and he would tell me what language he thought they were speaking.
I remember the smell of the room - his tobacco pipe, and the sound of his lips puffing it, and the tapping of it on the ashtray - watching him dialing, fine-tuning and tweaking knobs, and the glow of big ol' vacuum tubes. I remember him with a soldering iron, the smell of flux and solder, and him cursing when things weren't working how they were supposed to.
After he retired, he parlayed his love HAM and a one-time outlay of cash into a warehouse full of surplus vacuum tubes and a nice Internet business selling them to Hammies and guitarists (for their tube amplifiers). Finally, failing health made him liquidate the tube business, and then his son took the HAM gear.
Uncle Don passed away a couple years ago. Apart from how wonderfully he loved my mother's sister, it is his love for HAM radio that makes the largest of his life's impressions on me.
I remember you mentioning that @ CT (I think). I remember telling you to grab his radio if no one else was.
Re: SHTF Communications
Post by irondiopriest on Apr 19, 2010, 10:43am
Apr 19, 2010, 10:06am, Pandora wrote:
Apr 18, 2010, 10:33pm, irondiopriest wrote:
My deceased uncle was WAY into HAM for as long as I remember. He had a whole heck of a lot of equipment when I was a kid. I used to sit there for what seemed like hours listening to him and whoever he happened to be talking to - and a bunch of squelchy static between frequencies. Sometimes a voice would be so faint and buried inside the static as to almost seem like a phantom summoned from the radio's speaker. He would contact people from all over the world. Sometimes we would come across people who were not speaking English, and we'd listen for a minute, and he would tell me what language he thought they were speaking.
I remember the smell of the room - his tobacco pipe, and the sound of his lips puffing it, and the tapping of it on the ashtray - watching him dialing, fine-tuning and tweaking knobs, and the glow of big ol' vacuum tubes. I remember him with a soldering iron, the smell of flux and solder, and him cursing when things weren't working how they were supposed to.
After he retired, he parlayed his love HAM and a one-time outlay of cash into a warehouse full of surplus vacuum tubes and a nice Internet business selling them to Hammies and guitarists (for their tube amplifiers). Finally, failing health made him liquidate the tube business, and then his son took the HAM gear.
Uncle Don passed away a couple years ago. Apart from how wonderfully he loved my mother's sister, it is his love for HAM radio that makes the largest of his life's impressions on me.
I remember you mentioning that @ CT (I think). I remember telling you to grab his radio if no one else was.
Yup. My cousin had first dibs.
