Preparedness Notes for Saturday — April 25, 2020

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Today is the birthday of physicist, inventor, and entrepreneur Guglielmo Marconi (1874–1937). He was known for his pioneering work on long-distance radio transmission as well as for the development of Marconi’s Law and a radio telegraph system. He is often considered the inventor of radio.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 88 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  4. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  5. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $100 purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Round 88 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.


5 Comments

  2. Shortwave radio for civilians is called ‘ham radio’ frequently.
    Nellie Ohr received her ham radio license in her >sixties; she worked for Fusion OPS. She is also married to Bruce Ohr (US Justice Department). … Both are part of the Russian Collusion Delusion; part of the surveillance on the Trump campaign and American citizens.
    …….. Many people think our government employees were doing >political surveillance on American citizens, to help defeat >political opponents and win elections.

    One of the things about of Ham Radio: people have pointed out; = that is very difficult to track the name of the person, and messages being sent, when they are using ham radios, and NOT identifying themselves as required.
    [Surveillance of email messaging and cellphones is easy-peasy. +There’s a record of the message bouncing around on computers somewhere.]

    I went to school with someone, who joined the US Military, and ended up at an Army facility, that >tracked locations of the USAGE of shortwave radios by the North Vietnamese Army. (We see in movies a coded message is used by the enemies of the USA.)

    Nellie Ohr apparently had only the ability to send messages around the Washington DC area. There’s no real record of her contacting anyone, or having any usage of the ‘net’ to send any messages further away.

    Typically new users of Ham Radio identify themselves as required by law. They also enthusiastic talk to other Ham Radio operators. +Speaking to people in other countries is a hobby for many users of Shortwave radio.

    There’s a lot of information here on SurvivalBlog about shortwave radios. Tunnel Rabbit writes and comments about shortwave radios and antennas. A person with a ham radio can avail themselves of Relays to send messages long distances.
    A ham radio can work, during disasters to contact family members.

  3. My grandfather the son of impoverished immigrants who became disenfranchised from their wealthy family in Europe. A classic turn of the century American story. He help provide an income by making and selling crystal radio receiver sets on the streets of New York at the age of 14, beginning 1916. Marconi gave him one of his experimental vacuum tubes as a gift. I was to inherit it. He often lamented that he should have stayed in the radio business instead of starting out a successful career ditch digging for ATT. Now that I understand the passion, I agree he should have stuck with radio and avoided the promotions, and commensurate transfers around the country. I didn’t get Marconi’s vacuum tube, but I did inherit the passion for radio late in life, approaching it not as a hobbyist, but as one of many necessary skill sets that a survivalist and ‘minuteman’ should possess. I also missed the boat.
    My father explained that grandfather and I could have been good roommates as we thought so much alike. Grandfather was an early John Bircher, and stockpiled food after Nixon closed the Gold Window. This nut did not fall too far from the original tree.

    Unfortunately we must compete with the growing addiction and dependence on cell phones that are almost exclusively now ‘smart phones’ that are our trackers and more. Speaking to the Amateurs who clearly appreciate radio, we can develop the skills and tools that can support, and help build what can be expected to be a separate and resilient communications network apart from the AI (Artifical Intelligence), or super computers that control and monitor the smart phone service, even if it is only loosely organized. We should endeavor to resurrect the original spirit and purpose of Amateur radio to support the remnant of America. As mostly Baby Boomers, our efforts could be vital to the American Redoubt, even if we only pass along the knowledge. Striving to become RTO’s (Radio Telephony Operators) rather than simply Amateurs, we can rediscover the low tech and the effective techniques of the Vietnam Era that can defeat the surveillance efforts in this modern time. There is always a .25 cent solution to a million dollar problem and a tyrannical government. It may be hard to believe, yet low tech can be used effectively, therefore I strive to master the basics, rather than experiment with all the current pursuits of Amateur radio. KISS.

    The FCC of old has closed most of it’s offices, and is redirected it’s mission to mostly managing the cell phone business. Radio was falling into disuse until the recent survivalist movement rekindled interest. Yet the new crop is not developing the skills of old by merely possessing a radio. Merely possessing radio, as they would guns and ammo, there is a huge gap in knowledge to be filled to make it all work. As aging Amateurs, the last vestiges and connections to the passed, it is our responsibility. Doing what Amateurs have always done it not the total answer. We must begin to think and operate as Vietnam Era RTO’s, and be thankful that we have far better equipment to get it done. Become a Minute Man, not armed with a rifle, but with a radio. Odds are, we can be more effective with a radio, than with a rifle. Although I started my journey years ago, and could not afford the training provided by NC Scout anyway, and had to learn on my own, yet he can get any one started and up to speed fast. Try out one of his classes. His mission is along the same lines.

    Now that the ‘talk’ is over, here is video of a Moxon antenna build and test with an analyzier using materials similar to what I will attempt. I hope that mine, using .75 inch in diameter tubing rather than the 21mm, or half inch tubing demonstrated, will be even more broad in bandwidth, enough to cover 2 meter, and high VHF when tuned correctly… Two antennas in one cuts the antenna farm and potential interference in half, as well as the cost and effort. The design frequency should be in the lower one third of the bandwidth possible, as the SWR is flatter on the part of the bandwidth of these antennas that is higher frequency. Examine the SWR chart generated at the end of the demonstration. Essentially this is a direct connect , 50ohm 2 element yagi that is very desirable given the bandwidth, and the outstanding F/B ratio that helps avoid intercept, and can used to determine a rough bearing when DFing a signal. There are also other advantages over a yagi.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEWb_H2m5k4.

    1. Tunnel Rabbit

      I enjoy hearing about your life and I admire you a great deal.

      Thank you for sharing your knowledge on subjects with us.
      I much appreciate your wisdom.

      Rock on

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