Radio Communications, Myth or Truth?

Hi Everybody, Frank here.

I recently received an interesting email from a gentleman that asked a question that I receive on a regular basis. How do I stay in touch with my family if we need to use radios for communication? Below is this gentleman's question, please read it, and we will address the issues he brought up. We'll try to get rid of the myths, and focus on the truth about radio communication.

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

Frank,

I hope all is well with you and the misses, I haven't e-mailed you in a while but once again I need some advice.

I need a good reliable in a grid down situation radio to communicate with 2 of my kids until they can be picked up or make their way to our safe location. The farthest one is 50 miles away, what would you suggest as the best way to communicate with them??? UHF, VHF, SW, CB Modified with "Dark Channels" ???

Thanks again and God Bless You All

[Name omitted]

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

Like I said earlier, these questions comes up on a regular basis. But in this particular scenario, it is a grid down situation. Grid down is a cute term that is thrown around loosely, but when you get down to it, grid down means no electricity, the power grid is not working. Therefore, cell phones and cell phone towers are not going to be operable. Even if there was a situation where a cell phone tower had power, it would be jammed to the point to where there were no transmissions. This also applies to land line telephones. When the power goes down, both of these forms of communication will only work in extremely isolated cases, if they work at all. There are multiple reasons for this scenario to happen, but the focus of this article is going to be that the power is off, what caused it is not on the agenda.

Let's eliminate some radios and some systems. Some folks have this illusion that any ham radio will broadcast and receive all around the world. That is just not the case. You have two basic types of ham radio. You have the type that bounces the signal off of the atmosphere, and it comes down

some place a long ways away. This is not what we're looking at here. In this case the parameter is 50 miles. But this type of ham radio is normally referred to as HF, high frequency, and it requires an amateur General license to operate on these frequencies. If the power is down, most of these radios aren't going to work either, except for the few ham operators that have back up power. There is an exception to this rule. On the 40 and 80 meter frequencies, there is an antenna system called NVIS, near vertical incidence skywave. This basically sends the radio signal almost straight up, bouncing off the atmosphere and coming down to earth, within about a 200 mile radius, give or take. This will work, but you have to have a source of power, an amateur General license, a special type of antenna, and this applies for both the sending and receiving stations. This will not work, assuming his children are going to be mobile. Let me preface something here, there are exceptions to every rule. Remember that.

Now, things that will not work. If you have your ham radio license at the Technician level, which is the entry level license for ham radio, then you can use VHF & UHF radios. They come in handheld, mobile and base. The handhelds have their own power supply via battery. Most of the mobiles are in vehicles, so you have a power supply. And most base units are just mobile units with a home power supply. These type radios have a much shorter antenna, 18 inches to 16 feet. Some of the handhelds might be 2 inches. Follow me. These type radios will not bounce off the atmosphere, they are strictly line of sight communications. Now in the ham community, they use a gizmo called a repeater. A repeater is normally on a high spot, on top of a hill, on top of a tall building. If you are in line of sight with your radio, you can talk to the repeater and it will rebroadcast your transmission to anyone that is in line of sight. Sometimes you can cover a fairly large area with this. Remember this is a grid down situation. Is that repeater going to have power? Some might have a propane generator that starts automatically when the power goes off, most won't. So, if you have your Technician ham license, then you can use a repeater, if it's working, and you are within line of sight. I wouldn't bank on that being the case, though. 

Will these VHF/UHF radios transmit 50 miles without a repeater? Sure they will. But, remember, they're line of sight. If you live on top of a hill, wonderful. If you have a base station with a 40 foot tower and your VHF/UHF antenna is on top of it, then you might have a chance. It just depends on where the transmitting and receiving radios are located. Remember, line of sight. Example. I have a buddy that lives about 40 miles from me. We are both ham radio operators. He can sit on his deck with his handheld radio and he and I can talk line of sight. But, I have a 40 foot tower and he lives on the side of a good sized hill facing towards me. It will work. But, when my buddy drives down his hill, we lose the ability to communicate.

Another example. I have another ham friend that lives down the road 5 miles. I still have my 40 foot tower, and he and I have difficulty communicating unless he is standing in the right place in his house. There is no perfect way to communicate.

Non-ham radio frequencies. GMRS, FRS, MURS. These are all legal frequencies for non-hams to broadcast on. Remember, this is a grid down situation. This would easily fall under the category of an emergency, and according to the FCC, any person can use any radio in an emergency, when no other means of communication is available. You need to remember that. If you drive up on an automobile accident involving a police car, can you use that police radio to call in for emergency help? Absolutely. It's just a microphone and a radio. Just push the button, talk and use common language. Don't be afraid.

Okay. Grid down. MURS frequencies are in the same ballpark range as ham radio VHF frequencies. Let me introduce the commercial radio here. Ham radios are only designed to operate on ham radio frequencies. Commercial radios are designed to operate on anything from police departments, fire departments, search and rescue, commercial businesses like Wal-Mart and Sam's Club with proper licensing, and they can also be used on the ham frequencies, legally, if you have a ham license. These radios will also broadcast on the GMRS, FRS frequencies, which are UHF. They will also work fine on MURS which is VHF. All of these radios are line of sight

communications. The rules of physics mentioned earlier in ham radio about line of sight apply to these also. Most GMRS radios are handheld, and you can buy them at any sporting goods store, Wal-Mart and a gazillion other places online. They make fantastic claims about distance. This is under perfect conditions, from hilltop to hilltop. They are all the same radios, with the same frequencies, and for the most part, the same power output. They do have some different features, but overall, outside of the features, they have the same operating conditions. These are excellent radios, but they have limitations, as do all radios. Kind of like people, we all have limitations.

The commercial radio mentioned above will cost you about $40.00 and up. $40.00 radios work just fine. I'm going to provide you a link that explains these $40.00 radios in detail. These are fine little radios. They will broadcast on ham frequencies legally, and they will broadcast on police and fire frequencies. If you really want to prove to your buddies how low your IQ is, then broadcast on these police and fire frequencies. Drunk and stupid is not cute. Don't broadcast on police and fire frequencies. As mentioned above, these radios can also be used to broadcast on MURS and GMRS frequencies. These come in handheld, but you can also pay more and get a commercial mobile radio. This gives you more power and the ability to hook to an external antenna, either on your vehicle or a 40 foot tower at your house. If your receiving station has a handheld and they are within line of sight of wherever you are, then you will have communications. Remember the examples above. If you're on the side of a hill, great. If you live in a highrise apartment, heaven forbid, and your apartment is facing the direction you want to transmit, then stand near a window with your antenna facing the window. What that means is, don't have your handheld and be talking on it, with your head between the antenna and the window. Hold your radio straight up and down, the higher the better.

In some of my previous articles I have discussed how to set up home base stations, and mobile stations, antennas, power supplies, and general radio information. To answer the question. Can I talk to my kids 50 miles away? Yes, you can. But your conditions have to be favorable, and your equipment needs to be appropriate. Line of sight. A mobile station in a vehicle with an external antenna works much better than a handheld. A home base station with a 40 foot tower works much better than a mobile. But it's got to be line of sight. I know from experience that you can transmit and receive 40 miles on the MURS frequencies using two handheld radios, one on the side of a hill and the other connected to an antenna 40 feet in the air. I hope this answers your question.

The question about CB radios. A CB radio under perfect conditions can do 50 miles. It is a line of sight communication device, but the chances of this are happening are slim. CB is an 11 meter radio. It is between the 10 and 12 meter ham frequencies. Under proper atmospheric conditions it will operate just like any ham radio. The right radio, and the right antenna, and you can talk to countries around the world, because it bounces off of the atmosphere. With the right antenna, you can talk to your buddy down the road. But the chances of communicating 50 miles consistently are slim to none. In this case, forget about CB. I have a CB radio and I talk and listen to places all around the United States. But I seldom talk to anybody in my immediate area. I like CB, it has a place in the radio communication world. For this purpose, scratch CB from your list. Those dark channels you made reference to, those are called free banding. They're on the outside of the upper and lower ends of the CB frequencies. You'll need a modified CB radio, or a 10 meter export radio. You can also find that topic discussed in some previous articles.

Most of the things we've discussed here today, are illegal to use except in an emergency situation. Do people use these type radios and frequencies everyday illegally? Yes, they do. If you choose to do this, it is your choice. But, in an emergency situation, it is not illegal.

I have provided several links throughout this article that includes some handy information. Whatever you decide to do, you need to practice to make sure your set up meets your needs. Most people don't care what you do on a radio, as long as you don't interfere with anybody else. Don't get a commercial radio and play on the police and fire channels. Don't put an antenna inside your house and broadcast power. Think about it. Many handheld radios transmit on five watts. This is not going to fry your brain. My VHF/UHF radios operate on 5, 20, and 50 watts. I would never operate 50 watts with an antenna inside my house. But I will 5 watts. Police cars and ham radio operators, have antennas on top of their cars, and they can operate with 50 watts. But don't stand outside your car with your microphone in your hand, and operate on 50 watts with your head two feet from your antenna. That pain you feel in your head, will be your brain frying. Maybe a slight exaggeration there, but don't do it. Always be safe, and if you don't know what you're doing, don't do it.

To the man that sent the email up above with the great questions, I hope this was helpful.

We'll talk more later. 73s, Frank

Wakey! Wakey! The Wolf Is At The Door - A Re-Post

Hello, Frank here.

A while back we started experimenting with re-posting some articles that are over a year old. The response has been fairly positive. We try to do one every couple of weeks, and since my wife is having surgery today, this would qualify as the premier day for a re-post. On another note, our blog is less than two years old, and the readership has steadily increased. For that we are truly thankful. So, every now and then we would like to reintroduce some of our older work that you may not have had the opportunity to read. I really hope you enjoy this one.

We'll talk more later. Frank



Originally posted October 23, 2013

Wakey! Wakey! The Wolf Is At The Door


Hello, Frank here.

Let's talk. Since my name is not Fern, then this article is going to have a slightly different slant to it. This is going to sound like a rant, because that's what it is. Rants are not always organized and structured or in a pleasant flow. So, please bear with me.

I read lots of stories, articles or other rants that believe that the collapse that's coming will be similar in nature to the collapse that occurred during the late 1920's. Okay, some of my numbers here are not going to be precise, they are going to be rounded off. Maybe up, or maybe down, but you will get the general idea, if you have the ability to think. So, if I say 70% and it was actually 60% or maybe 80%, then please bear with me. Remember, this is a rant.

Back to the late 1920's. The population of the United States was much smaller than it is today. The majority of the people still lived on a farm, let's say 80%. Therefore, 20% of the people lived in

larger cities. Now remember, people in rural areas did not have electricity in the 1920's or 30's. Most of the people in rural areas raised most of their own food. Summer, winter, spring, fall they ate what came out of the earth. Many, many rural people were what we would call today, dirt poor. My information source here, was my father. He and his brother did not wear shoes for most of the winter and never wore shoes during the summer. So, he is my source of data, along with census data. 

So. Most people lived in the country. Most people raised their own food. Most people didn't have electricity and everything that is associated with electricity. There were significantly fewer people in the United States. And many current authors tell us that we will get through this next depression or collapse or tyrannical government or whatever you want to call it, just like we got through the 1920's collapse.

Now let's look at today. We have a much larger population. That means more mouths to feed. The vast majority of people live in cities or suburbs, which conversely means, that very few people live in rural America, or on  

the farm. Almost everybody has electricity. So, what does this mean? Since the majority of people live in cities, that means that few, if any, raise their own food. Few or none, know how to preserve their own food,and all buy their food at the grocery store. Now those few that live in the country, are not living on a farm. For the benefit of discussion, yes, there are a handful that still live on a farm. But how many of that handful continue to raise all of their own food? Of that small handful, how many know how to preserve their own food? Get the picture here? 

It doesn't matter what type of shutdown, collapse or apocalyptic event is GOING to occur, there is not going to be enough food to feed the

massive numbers of people, not even remotely close. Even in rural areas, extremely rural areas, most people have no idea how to raise, process and store food. And now, throw into the equation, there won't be any electricity. So, all that meat you have stored in the freezer on the top of your refrigerator, sitting beside the popsicles and burritos will turn into stinking mush in about three days. 

Ladies and gentlemen. We are in significant trouble. Let me say that again. We are in a situation that we cannot recover from. I know folks that say

that they are going to go live in the forest and live off the land. Wake-y, Wake-y here fool! I know veteran, hard core, experienced hunters that laugh when they hear people say, and pardon me, unbelievably stupid things like that. There are many, many stories about mostly men, that have gone out into bush Alaska and had something to prove. Somebody normally finds them later. Going and living in the woods and hunting and feeding your family is not going to happen. 

Remember those people in the cities? They're just going to go out and live with somebody in the country. A farmer, right? I hope they like 10,000 acres of soybeans or corn or milo or even wheat. They don't need a farmer, what they need is a gardener and most farmers don't raise gardens because they go to the grocery store and buy it. 

Before the shortages of guns and bullets lots of people thought that the idea of survival was who had the most guns and the most bullets. Some of these people watch way too much television. I know people that have never shot a gun that were buying guns and bullets. Like others write, buying a surf board, does not make you a surfer. Buying a gun does not make you a hunter, or give you the ability to pull the trigger when you need to. These are false delusions of illusions. 

Look at some of the facts presented above about population densities, and food production or preservation. Don't get me wrong. I like guns and I like bullets, but I like shovels, hoes and seeds a whole lot better. I have even known people to buy these cans and five gallon buckets that have these survival seeds packed inside and they

wouldn't no more know how to raise a garden than they would to fly a space shuttle. Can they learn to garden? Yes. Can they learn to fly a space shuttle? I guess so. I know 80 year old women that still wonder why their tomatoes make one year and the next year they don't and they've been gardening for 65 years. I'm not saying that a bucket full of seeds is a bad thing. That reminds me. Where is my seed catalog? But gardening is an art, a skill, not something to be mastered in one year. The person that thinks they are going to raise a garden and produce food for their family in one year, got off the same bus as the guy that is going to go live in the forest and feed his family.

I hurt for those that can't see or feel what is coming. There are signs everywhere, just look around. Our economy is in dismal, dismal shape and I live in a part of the world that is in pretty good shape. Look at society. Look at the stuff you do see on television or read in the news. Society is collapsing. The EBT cards shut down for a few hours. Can you imagine

what society will be like when the EBT cards shut down permanently? Our government leaders. Look at what's happening in state capitals around our country. Look at some of the things that are happening that our parents and grandparents would have never thought possible.  There is a term called 'normalcy bias'. Basically, this means what we learn to accept over time as normal. Our society is in serious, serious trouble. There are things that I cannot say in this blog that when I was a child, people went to jail for, what today is normal. We have perversion crammed down our throats everyday. This is normal. 

Okay. Let's see. Our economy cannot be saved. Okay. Next. Society

can't be saved. Our political arena is unbelievably corrupt and is a massive cesspool. This next statement is only going to be said once, listen carefully. Christianity is under attack worldwide. That means here, in the United Sates, Christianity is under attack also. The future does not look good for it's survival. Pay attention. We are under attack.

Now, let me go back to the first part of this rant. Many writers will tell you that we survived the Great Depression and we will survive the next one too. And these are the people giving you the bad news. Not to mention those that are telling us that everything is okay and that "things are getting better". I borrowed that last line from the Postman. Folks, we are in serious, serious trouble and I really don't know if we are going to survive this. The world is not going to be the same world when this thing happens. Hold your family close. Prepare yourself mentally, physically, spiritually and temporally and with the help of God we will do the best we can.

That's it for now. Maybe we'll talk more later. It's time to wake-y wake-y.

Frank

Liberators, by JWR

James Wesley, Rawles, of SurvivalBlog, has out a new novel, Liberators: A Novel of the Coming Global Collapse. Today, October 21st, is his book bomb day. It's available at all the usual bookstores. We have read all of Jim's novels in this series and expect this one to be just as exciting and well done. This novel should be as thought provoking, educational and entertaining as his previous books were. Jim Rawles has been instrumental in our preparedness development. If you have the opportunity, please support his site, SurvivalBlog, you will not be let down.

Frank and Fern


P.S. There is an interesting article at Confessions of a Crazed Cattlewoman. It's a good read. Check it out. 

We Interrupt This Blog for my Gallbladder

You have probably noticed that Frank has been writing a few more articles and responding to more of the comments lately. For the past six weeks, I have been suffering with a dead gallbladder which I will finally get rid of on Wednesday. It has been a difficult month and a half.

I know there must be a lot of gallbladder sufferers out there. I have talked to a number of folks that have had theirs removed and one common thread appears to have happened. It took a while for it to be diagnosed if they didn't have obvious stones that could be seen by an ultra sound.

My problems started with an attack of sorts in the middle of the night that was painful enough to start packing a bag for the emergency room. Luckily the pain subsided somewhat and we stayed home. The next week I had an ultra sound that showed no stones. The next week I had an endoscopy where they looked over the upper part of my digestive tract all the way to the duodenum, or beginning of my small intestines, where the bile from the liver is added to aid in the digestion of fats. The only thing that showed up there was gastritis which I think was brought on by the attack.

Yet another week later I had a HIDA scan. This is a two hour long CT scan of sorts that tests the functioning of the gallbladder. The results were that my gallbladder is only functioning at 18% capacity, which means it is basically non-functional, so I'm calling it dead. They also did a CT scan of the rest of my guts which came back negative for other problems. That was good news. After all the scanning and checking I finally made it to the surgeon's office. I couldn't talk him into doing the surgery today, so Wednesday is the day. After suffering with pain, which is sometimes rather intense, and nausea which has greatly affected my appetite, I cannot wait to have this outpatient surgery.

And yet.....hospitals are not where we want to be right now. Between Enterovirus D68 and Ebola, hospitals are not where we want to be at all. It was interesting to note that the facility where I went to do my pre-surgery lab work was strangely deserted today. The last time we were there a few years ago the place was packed. Today there were few people. We also called another doctor's office to schedule a routine check up. The normal wait time to see this doctor is a couple of months. This time our appointment is in a few weeks. Both of these odd occurrences make us wonder. Is it ObamaCare, Ebola or the economy? Why are there so many fewer patients?

I am truly grateful that I am still able to receive medical attention and have my gallbladder removed. I have gotten sicker and weaker with each passing week since that attack. If a collapse had occurred and I just had to live with this, I don't think I would last very long. I guess that's the way it used to be in the old days. I'm just glad it isn't that way now. We hope to be back up to speed next week. In the meantime, pay attention. There are many indicators that the fragile stability of our society is wobbling ever greater. And like a big, old fashioned, wooden top, one day it will fall over and gradually spin to a halt. Be ready.

Until next time - Fern

A Simple Apple Cake

We don't make or eat a lot of sweets. Frank the carnivore, is more of a enchilada or potato chip kind of guy. When I need something sweet to take somewhere, Apple Cake is an easy recipe that is always a hit. One of the things that makes it quick and easy for me is the dehydrated apples I use. It will take a little longer if you choose to peel and chop fresh apples. One day, I hope to be able to use some of our own canned apples in this recipe. That would be really good also. This recipe is one of those keepers that has resided in my recipe box for years.

Since I am using dehydrated apples, the first thing I do is soak them in hot water, and start the oven preheating to 350 degrees.






While that is in the works, I mix up the remaining ingredients. When making sweets I always start with the eggs, sugar and whatever fat the recipe calls for, whether it is butter, oil or shortening. In this case, the recipe calls for:

2 eggs
3/4 c. oil (I use olive oil)
2 c. sugar (The original recipe recommends putting the sugar over the chopped apples and letting them sit while mixing up the rest of the batter. Since I have the dehydrated apples soaking at this point, I just add the sugar to the batter.)

I like to let these three ingredients mix for a few minutes until the mixture of eggs and sugar start to fluff up a bit. Then I start adding the rest of the ingredients, with the apples and nuts being the last things I add.
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I use pecans.)
2 cups flour
4 cups thin sliced or chopped apples (if using dehydrated, drain before adding)

When you add the flour the batter will be very thick. Add the apples last. Mix long enough to get them coated well. The first time I did this I didn't think there was enough batter. It seems to barely coat the apples, but it comes out scrumptious, so don't worry about that.

That's it for the cake. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. The time frame is a rough estimate. Adjust it for your climate, altitude and

oven. A toothpick should come out clean when it is finished. A few things I have learned about this cake. Similar to banana bread, it is a very heavy cake. I tried to bake one of these in a bundt pan one time to take over to someone's house. I ran out of time and the middle never did get quite done. It works better in a standard 9 x 13 pan where the batter is not very thick, about 1 1/2" when you pour it in before baking. Otherwise, you will need to adjust your cooking times and make sure a toothpick comes out clean, so the center won't still be gooey. 

When the cake is almost done, cook your icing. This is the only icing I make like this. It calls for coconut, which is one of the few items I buy that doesn't fall into the basic foodstuffs category. And this is the only recipe I use it in. The original icing recipe calls for smaller amounts of each ingredient. I like a little more icing so it will soak down into the cake. That is part of the yum factor for me.

Start off by melting 6 tbsp. butter with 1/2 c. milk. To that add 3/4 to 1 cup brown sugar.

Let this cook for a bit until it starts to thicken up a little, then add 1 c. coconut and 1 cup of nuts, I use pecans for this also. Cook this for a few minutes until the nuts and coconut are coated, with some liquid left in the bottom of the pan when you stir it.

 







All of my measurements for the icing are approximate. If there isn't enough liquid (butter, sugar and milk) left in the bottom of the pan after coating the nuts and coconut, I add a little more milk. This is what soaks into the cake. I have this hot and ready when the cake comes out of the oven.

As soon as the cake is done, pour the hot icing on top making sure to distribute the liquid around on the cake to soak in. Spread out the coconut and nuts evenly across the surface. There you have it.


This cake is okay warm, but we prefer it at room temperature after a few hours or over night. Anywhere you take this cake, it will be a hit. I don't remember where I ran across the original recipe. I know I have adjusted the cinnamon and nutmeg ratio to make it a little stronger to suit our tastes, so feel free to play with some of the ingredients until you get it just right for you and yours.

Today I made two cakes and put them in disposable foil pans to take to a local benefit. I have also made them in small 8 x 8 foil pans and frozen them to have on hand, just in case. It's that time of year when we start to think of the holidays and making good memories for our families and friends. In this time of changes in our world and society, it's good to be able to take some simple ingredients and make something that is comforting to those around us. Be careful, safe and healthy out there. 

Until next time - Fern