Radio - Stay In Touch

Hi Everybody, Frank here.

Hope all are well, and I hope everybody had a pleasant Thanksgiving. It's always nice to stay in touch with friends and relatives, and Christmas is just around the corner. 

There are some of us out there that see we're in perilous times. Let me explain. Have you paid attention to the Dow Jones lately? Record highs, right? And I know you're paying attention to crude oil, copper, silver and

Baltic Dry. One market's going one way, while other markets are going the other direction. And I know you've been paying attention to Ferguson, Missouri. A tragic event happened there. But the way the community responded, should have you seriously concerned. And I know you're paying attention to the amnesty issue. On the other hand, there are multiple issues, and if I take off my shoes and socks, I can count many, many more issues, seriously pushing the envelope. If you can't see what I'm talking about, then quit reading, turn on the football channel, and watch the cheerleaders jump up and down. Good. There went the vast majority of people to the football channel. Now we can talk without interruption. And, that's what you want to do. To be able to talk without interruption. 

As mentioned above, you want to stay in touch with your friends and relatives. Here are some ways that you can stay in touch without grid power. Because if you agree with some of the dark topics I mentioned

earlier, then you know that one day we're going to have some form of economic shutdown. We are in the process of it as we speak. Now. How are we going to stay in touch when the cellphones and hard line phones don't work? When the internet is not working? We're going to stay in touch the same ways hunters do when they're out walking in the woods, and the same way the military and FEMA does for longer distance communications. Okay. Let's go.

First, short distance communications. This is considered to be line of sight. If you're on water, it'll go a long ways. Hilltop to hilltop, a long ways, but it's still line of sight. Now I'm going to talk about UHF and VHF frequencies. The first little radio is a GMRS/FRS. You can buy these at any sporting goods store, big box store, or online. They have 22 channels, up in the 460

MHz range. This is the type of radio hunters use, kids play with, and for the most part they are good solid radios. But, what you have in your hand, is what you've got. Some advertise 50 channels, not true. It is 22 channels with slight variations. Some advertise 36 miles, not true, unless you live in a perfect world, and that's not true. I'm going to direct you to a previous post. But here is the GMRS that I recommend. These radios are not expandable and you cannot modify them. But if your buddy down the road, one mile, two miles or farther, depending on your terrain, has one, you can stay in touch. These are good radios, they'll last for years if you take care of them.

Next, I would like to introduce what is called a commercial radio. It is made by BaoFeng, it operates in the VHF/UHF frequencies. It can be modified and expanded. Let me explain what a commercial radio is. If you buy this radio, there are no pre-programmed frequencies in it, like the above mentioned GMRS. It's what is called open. The GMRS is UHF around 460 MHz. You can program in these same channels or frequencies into the 

BaoFeng radio. They are made for police department, fire department and ambulance type use. Some businesses also use them for commercial purposes, hence the name, commercial radio. Some big stores use these frequencies, Wal-Mart, Sam's, and drive through type restaurants may use these commercial frequencies. But, remember, you need to program these radios, and there are various ways to do this. At this site, if you scroll down you will see a programming cable. It comes with a little disc, you put this in your computer, use the programming cable, and you can program this radio via your computer. This is where you can put in your GMRS frequencies. This is where you can put in the police department, fire department, and VHF/UHF ham radio frequencies. This little radio will work perfectly fine on these ham radio frequencies. Here is a link to a broader explanation about these handheld radios. The good part is, this handheld radio costs about $35.00 to $40.00. It is not a sophisticated radio. It is two channel operation, but you can only listen to one channel at a time. Read the previous posts, and you will get a lot more information. But these little radios work. They cost about the same as the GMRS mentioned above, will do the same job the GMRS does, and a whole lot more.

Word of caution. To operate the GMRS radio mentioned, you are supposed to have a license to do so. I guess some people do, but I've never met one that did. To transmit on any ham radio frequency, you will need the appropriate level ham radio license. These ham radio folks are very serious about other folks using radios inappropriately. Police, fire and EMS are also very serious about unauthorized people using the police and fire frequencies. Do not under any circumstances broadcast on any police or fire frequencies. They will find you and they will shut you down. But for the other frequencies, like GMRS, that is your call. These handheld commercial radios can be connected to an exterior antenna, something like a magnet mount on top of your car, that will sharply extend your range. You can find this information mentioned in the previous posts.

Next, we're going to do a step up to another type of commercial radio. It will require an external antenna, an external power supply, and produces quite a bit more power. These are often used in automobiles, they can be used for home operations. For your home you will need a power supply and an external antenna. For your automobile you can use the same

antenna mentioned above and your car battery for a power supply. They have the same basic features as the handheld, except that you can listen on two channels at the same time, and you have much greater range due to the higher power. These radios also cost more, starting around $300.00, some a little more, some a little less. I would recommend the AnyTone AT-5888UV. The same laws and regulations apply to this radio that applies to the handhelds. For your ham radio operator, they're sharply cheaper than most dual band ham radios. If you do search and rescue with proper authorization you can use these radios on police, fire, EMS, and you can use them with the ham frequencies if you have a ham radio license. It is legal with proper authorization and with proper licensing.

All the above mentioned radios are either VHF/UHF or just UHF. These are considered line of sight communication devices. If you live in an area that has a ham radio repeater, and you have a ham radio license, you can use the commercial radios. You can use the repeater which is still line of sight, but you broadcast from your radio to the repeater, then it repeats the signal out to other radios. Now to use these radios, as mentioned above, you'll need an external antenna, and a power supply if you want to operate inside your house. I will provide links to some of these sites. 

This is a good time to mention safety. Handheld radios as a general rule do not produce enough power to do anyone harm. Your mobile radio, with more power, can. If you don't know what you're doing, don't do it. Take a little time and read some of my previous posts about safety and equipment, and most of your questions should be answered there.

Now let's talk about a little bit longer distance radio communications. The same safety rules apply. This type of radio communication is seldom used with a handheld or mobile radio. It can be, but not very successfully. You will be required to have a ham radio license to transmit on this type of system, but that doesn't mean you can't listen. ICOM makes an entry level HF radio, which is a solid, functional High Frequency transmitter and receiver. This radio will also receive all of the shortwave frequencies,

and it will transmit and receive all of the lower band ham frequencies with the proper antenna. You will also need a power supply. But the type of transmitting that I'm going to talk about now is NVIS. Do a Google and check this out. It has a radius of around 300 miles. The military and FEMA use this same type of system. It is a fairly reliable way to transmit and receive, covering a larger area. Again, about a 300 mile radius. You see, ham radio transmissions that bounce off of the atmosphere, some days are reliable and some days aren't. But this type of system, NVIS, for the most part is reliable. NVIS, check it out. You will need a ham radio license to transmit on any ham radio. I've mentioned this type of system in other posts. Please take the time to read them. Follow all safety requirements.

What I've tried to put together today is a group of relatively inexpensive radios that are solid performers, and do a more than adequate job. If you need a radio with more bells and whistles, they're available. If you want basic, reliable communications, what

I've given you here is a good start. There may come a day when you want to stay in touch with your friends and family, when normal forms of communication may not be available. I make no profit whatsoever from any radio post, it's just that God has given me the ability to see what is coming. And if I can share with you, just a little bit, and encourage you to make that step, then maybe you can stay in touch with your loved ones when there are no other means of communication available. Under a very worse case scenario, you might be able to let your Bubba down the road know that something bad is coming his way. And in return, he can do the same for you. This is all just food for thought. 

While you're at it, please check out the humble CB radio. At this link start at the bottom of the page and you will see four posts dealing with CB radio. There is a lot of very good information there. When things shut down, it will find it's place again. 

You ask, "Well, how do I power these radios when things have shut down?" Read some of the earlier posts. A solar panel is a real easy way to have radio communications. If you've got a little extra jingle in your pocket, read the post about scanners. That's all they do, and they're much faster than the scan on your handheld radio. 

Get ready. It gets closer everyday. Now, aren't you glad you didn't change to the football channel? This is not a joke boys and girls, and once it hits the fan, it will be too late to prepare.

We'll talk more later. Frank

Around the Shack

Hello, Frank here.

Hi Everybody. Boy, I hope summer is over soon. Here in southeastern Oklahoma, it's not only hot, but it's humid. It's a very wet year, and outside feels like a perpetual sauna. And, for you folks up north, I am very happy. I'm happy that you're there and not here. Okay, so much for the weather and humor.

A couple of days back, Fern posted a picture on the header of the blog and I thought I would take this opportunity to talk about some of the radios. Also this week, I received an email from Dan Romanchik, KB6NU, the author of the No-Nonsense Study Guide manuals. I will include the entirety of his email and my response further down in this post. But for now, let's talk radio. Fern likes the picture, as did I. She kind of likes the pictures with the sunlight in the background and the rays coming through. I guess it kind of adds a feeling of freshness and purity. These are the things we deal with in life.

Starting at the top left. You can't see the entire radio, but it's my old 300 channel scanner. I say old, it's probably pushing around 20 years. It was made by Radio Shack, and it will scan all 300 channels in 1 second. It has 10 bands, 30 channels in each band, and each band has a priority channel. Which means, while scanning, it will go to each priority channel and see if any signal is there. So, if you're listening to the police scanner, and you have set up another frequency as a priority, and your buddy calls to tell you the football team just scored, then it will interrupt whatever you're listening to and bring you his message. It's an analog scanner, because there was no such thing as digital when it was made. It is a Radio Shack Pro-2050. It's a good little scanner. It's got some nice features.

Next on the list, right directly underneath the scanner, is a VHF/UHF radio. It is the Alinco DR-635T. It is a ham radio, but it's one of those ham radios that can be easily modified to broadcast on the frequencies that it advertises it will receive on. It's a good little radio.

It's respected in the ham world, but it is a ham radio. In the very near future, it is going to be replaced with an AnyTone AT-5888VU. The reason for this. The AnyTone is a commercial radio which will work fine on the ham frequencies, and it will also work on search and rescue frequencies, which, with permission, these frequencies are legal. It is not legal to use a modified ham radio on the search and rescue frequencies, even with permission. Are there many people out there using modified ham radios for search and rescue? You bet there are, lots of them. It's up to you.

Just to the right of the VHF/UHF, is my trusty CB radio. You see folks, I like CB radio. I know the talk can get a little trashy at times. In this case I have chosen the Galaxy 979. It is your standard 40 channel CB radio with SSB, single side band. It has no modifications, and it's pretty. It is a good solid performing CB/SSB radio. I have listened to and talked to people in various parts of our great nation with this CB radio. But you've taught, CB is line of sight. And it is. But if the atmospheric conditions are right, it will bounce off the atmosphere, just like any HF radio will. Because CB falls between the HF 10 and 12 meter bands. CB is sometimes referred to as 11 meter. If you're looking for a good CB with SSB, check out the Galaxy line.

Next. In the center we have an ICOM IC-718. It is an HF radio. It is considered in many circles to be the bottom of the line, but it is a solid performing radio. It will cover 160 meters to 10 meters with the proper antenna. Sitting on top of it is an LDG IT 100 tuner. The tuner matches the antenna to the radio without going into any great detail. Do you have to have it? In my case, yes. But, some people don't use them. On top of the tuner is an old Radio Shack speaker I have had for years. 

This 718 will listen, or receive, from 3kHz up to 30 MHz. That means, you can receive all of the HF ham frequencies. You can also receive all of the shortwave radio frequencies. And that also means you can listen to and receive the Citizens Band or CB frequencies, because right outside the CB frequencies, a lot of guys do Free Banding. This way they can avoid all of the traffic on the usual 40 CB frequencies. It's not a legal practice, people all over the country do it. If you modify your 718, then all of the frequencies I've just mentioned, you can also transmit on. Remember, it's not illegal to have a modified radio. Let's take 60 meters for example. This radio will not broadcast on 60 meters. Can you modify it to where it will? Yes. Is it legal to broadcast on 60 meters? Yes it is. But for this radio to broadcast on 60 meters, then it must be modified. When you make that modification, can you then broadcast with this radio on the CB frequencies? Yes, you can. Is it legal? No, because it has not been approved by the FCC to do so. Do people use these radios to broadcast on the CB frequencies? Yes, they do. There is a group of radios called 10 meter export radios. The vast majority of these radios are used to broadcast on CB frequencies. Are they legal to do so? No. But I'd bet half of the truckers in this country have 10 meter/Export radios in their trucks, and use them on the CB bands. Remember, to broadcast on any ham frequencies, you need a ham radio license.

On this 718 a couple of nights ago, I talked to a gentleman in Oregon on 17 meter. There was a contest going on, and I run the power that comes out of the radio, which is 90 watts. It'll actually run 100 watts, but I stay at 90. I know some of these boys out there run a whole lot more power than I do, but I got through. I heard him and he heard me. Then I listened to people talk to each other from Vermont to just north of L.A. on 17 meter, using my A99 CB antenna.

Okay. Speaking of antennas. Look just beneath the CB to the back wall. What you see are three sets of switches. Since my CB and my HF radio can use the same antennas, I have them both come in to the first switch on the right that you see. Coming into this switch is the A99, which is a CB type vertical antenna. Also coming into this switch is a dipole antenna rated 160 to 10 meter. I also have my first antenna, which is a 40 meter dipole, which I made out of 12 gauge house wire, coming in to this switch. So, there are three antennas going into this switch. The coax coming out of this switch and going to the one just to it's left, goes into the center of the switch. Out of that switch, the coax goes to my CB radio and to the HF radio. This way I have a choice of three different antennas, going to one of two radios. Kind of confusing, I know, but it works. These switches also help provide lightening protection. There is no 100% way to provide total lightening protection. These just help.

Last on the list is a little hand held radio, bottom right hand side. I did a post on this radio a short time back. It is an HT BaoFeng UV-5R+. It is a hand held VHF/UHF commercial radio, that costs less than $40.00. It's not a tremendously sophisticated radio, but it will provide you with a basic VHF/UHF full functioning radio. This particular radio comes in multiple colors, red, yellow, blue, black and camo. You say, "Why the different colors?" Some rural fire departments use these little radios, and it's a whole lot easier to find a bright yellow dropped radio, than it is to find a black dropped radio. Fire sights have a tendency to be a little wet, hoses leak, tankers leak, and it's easier to find a yellow radio than it is to find a black radio. You notice, mine are camo. Great little radio for the price.

New Alinco commercial radio

So, these are the basic radios that are in my shack today. As mentioned above, I will be trading out the VHF/UHF for an easier to operate commercial model. An editors note here. I have already bought the AnyTone radios to replace the Alincos. But I noticed a couple of days ago that Alinco has now come out with a VHF/UHF commercial radio. They have it at Universal Radio's site. Check it out. 

So, these are the radios I use daily, well, almost daily. I keep my scanner going most of the time. I use a CB maybe once or twice a week, just for fun. And that's about the same amount of time I spend on the HF rig, two or three nights a week, maybe 30 minutes to an hour. If you'd like more information, check out some of the previous articles and I think you'll find some interesting information. As I've said before, there is something in radio for about everybody. If you're the competitive type, there is contesting. There is search and rescue for those that like to get out and play in the dirt. There is shortwave listening. You can spend lots and lots of money, or you can do search and rescue with a $40.00 radio. I do radio for survival practice, because I think I can see what is coming. None of my equipment is high dollar, but it all does the job. If you want to buy high dollar stuff, it'll work too. I hope you enjoyed the little tour. You might have noticed that I don't use a computer doing ham radio. Can you? You bet you can. It's just one of those things that if you choose to use a computer, you can.

Now, next on the list, I'd like for you to read an email from Dan Romanchik, KB6NU. And then, I'd like for you to read my response. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thu, Sep 4, 2014

Hi, Frank:

Thanks for plugging my study guides on your blog. I wonder if you could make a couple of changes, though:

1. I like to refer to my study guides as KB6NU's No-Nonsense study guides. KB6NU is a lot easier to remember than Romanchik. :)
2. Please use the link http://www.kb6nu.com/tech-manual instead of linking directly to the PDF file. That link has links to all my other study guides as well as the Tech manual.

Thanks & 73!

Dan KB6NU

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dan,

Thank you for your manuals. I know when I first investigated ham radio, I was introduced to your manual and used it extensively along with QRZ to get my Technician's license. I am in the process of working on my Extra, and I have purchased your No-Nonsense manual for the extra class. I'm also using the ARRL Extra book, and HamTestOnline.com. Hopefully, in the near future, I will be able to enjoy all of the bands.

It was an oversight on my part to not include your webpage. As a general rule, on many of the posts where I have mentioned your manual, we not only include the pdf to the manual, but also a link to your webpage. Everybody I know just calls you Romanchik, or some variation of that. (-:  I will certainly make the change to your call sign in my next mention, which will be very soon.

I personally want to thank you for the time and effort you have spent in writing your manuals. I do not know of anyone that has not used your Technician and General manual. Again, I thank you.

73s,
Frank

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my pleasure to be able to write these articles, I hope you find them enlightening, a little bit challenging, motivational to a certain extent, because this is what I do. Radio is a part of my life, it's a part of my preparations for the future. If somehow it fits into your scheme, then please use any information provided here. We're all in this thing together, and when it rains, it rains on all of us. So, take time to get ready. I hope you find a place for communications in your process of getting ready, because folks those dark clouds are getting closer and closer every day.

We'll talk more later. 73, Frank
 

The Shack

Hello, Frank here.

I've had a few questions about the equipment I use and why I use it. I want to thank you for the comments that I can post and for the comments that I can't post. 

The gear that I use is simple. I recently started off with a Kenwood VHF/UHF radio and it was a first class piece of equipment, but for me it was too complicated to operate. Yes, I do read the manuals, but I don't practice everyday using all the different gizmo thing-os that a radio will do. So, I traded it for an easier to use radio. I have a scanner that is the same way and if I don't play with the buttons often, then I am not going to be able to use it. So for me, I prefer a good, quality piece of equipment that easy to operate and simple.

First, my power supply. It is real simple. I can't remember where I bought it, but I have added a site that sells them. I haven't bought anything from them, so I can't say anything pro or con. I am going to buy a backup for the one I have and this company sells theirs for about $50. It runs a  continuous 30 amps and is pretty inexpensive. The voltage output is adjustable and it has absolutely zero bells and whistles. But it works. That power, I run to a power strip which I think is made and sold by MFJ. Everything that comes out of the power supply is13.8 volts. It's easy to use and handy. For low power
devices I put three or four devices together and put them on one pole - like handheld commercial radios, GMRS radios, battery chargers, clock and I have two three outlet power ports (cigarette charger type) that I use to charge temporary devices with cigar type plugs. Soon I'm going to add an addition to the power strip that allows for the connection of power pole connectors and a couple of USB connectors. There will be more on that later. The power from the power supply goes straight to the power strip, and from there goes to all of the radios, scanners, battery chargers, my clock and everything that I use 

right here in my little corner of the world. What I refer to as my little corner of the world in the ham world and CB world is referred to as a shack. Many people literally have a separate building or small travel trailer, but I prefer to have it inside my house so my wife (YL) can keep an eye on me.

First on the list is my little 16 channel Uniden Bearcat scanner. It is probably 25 years old and scans the VHF and UHF spectrums. In the scanner world, it is a dinosaur. But I use it for a small group of selected frequencies that I want to monitor.

Next, is a Radio Shack scanner. It is a Radio Shack Pro-2050 and is also about 15 years old. It scans 300 channels in 10 different zones. It will do things that other scanners can't do, but I don't know how to get it to do them either. So it basically scans everything I want it to scan.

Going down the list, I have an RCI-2970N2 that is made by the

Ranger Corporation. It is a 10/12 meter radio that has an inserted chip that can also operate on 11 meters (CB). Most people would consider this to be a high dollar CB radio. It also works good on the 10/12 meter ham bands. And, yes, it has SSB.

The radio I use the most is an Alinco DR-635T. It is a ham radio for the VHF/UHF frequencies. This radio can be easily modified to operate on extended frequencies, like GMRS, FRS, MURS and public service. Remember modifications to any radio mentioned in this post probably are illegal. Check your regulations. I use this radio for local ham use talking to repeaters, which is called duplex. I use it for simplex, talking directly to another ham operator. More on repeaters, duplex and simplex later. This is a nice radio, easy to use, easy to learn and is of respectable quality. And it is easy to modify. Also, more on that later.

These little handheld radios are used everyday at our house. They are commercial HT's (remember? handy talky), VHF/UHF, and computer

programmable. I use these for VHF ham radio, listening to public service and talking if need be (more on that later),monitoring the weather frequencies, listening and talking on GMRS, and the MURS frequencies. Where I use them most around the farm is on the MURS frequencies. They will communicate with the Alinco DR-635T on all of the frequencies I just mentioned. They have a legal power of four or five watts which will hit any ham repeater in our area. These radios cost 

a little more than some  other handheld commercial radios, but I have been using these for a few years around our little homestead. They go to the barn every day and milk, they work in the garden - they work. In the picture you will see what is a standard antenna and what is called a rubber ducky. The smaller one is very flexible, which allows for more bending and twisting and it won't break off. As Fern just mentioned, I would highly recommend these. Many radio companies sell them.

Next, is what some people in the ham world call the big dial. It is an HF, high frequency radio. This is what most people think of as ham radio. My model is an ICOM IC-718. It is considered to be an entry level radio or, more precisely, the bottom of the barrel. Some of this language is going to sound strange, but we'll talk more about it later. This radio I have will talk to and receive any station that the

much more expensive radios will. It has minimum bells and whistles, it costs about $700, when other HF radios cost $1000, $2000, $5000 and up. This radio meets my need. Now I added an antenna tuner to it and the antenna I chose to use is a dipole type antenna. More on antennas later. This little radio gets excellent reviews, it's easy to operate and inexpensive. I don't contest and I don't compete. Everything I do with radios is with the intent to communicate when the grid power goes down someday. 

I hope this helps some folks that are looking for basic answers to basic questions. We live in a complex world and when I want to communicate, I like for it to be simple. Other ham operators and CB operators will give you an entirely different opinion. This is just my opinion and this is the way that I like to do it. 

I took my HF radio down the road to a friend's house and we hooked up the same antenna. He has a real nice, first class TenTec radio. Any station he could hear, I could hear. He just heard it with a higher quality of sound. His radio is a much, much nicer radio and I am happy for him. Mine is a much lower quality, much lower cost, much easier to operate and it meets my need. While I was at his house, we cranked up his CB radio and on side band listened to a man talking in Ontario, Canada. His CB is a Galaxy 979 with no modifications with a 108 antenna.

Bill Clinton, not my most favorite president, had a plaque on his desk: KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid. I try to follow this every day of my life - keep it simple.

On a side note, we have not had internet for the last two or three days. I use DSL from my local hardline phone company. Last night we went to a friend's house so Fern could post about canning. Tonight, I am posting on a brand new Verizon Jetpack. What I realized today, if you want technical information from the sales people at the Verizon store, then you have come to the wrong place. But if you want a sales person that can match your new phone with your shoes, then you have come to the right place.

We'll talk more later. 73, Frank