Category: Communications & Receivers

Two Letters Re: “Internet” Without Infrastructure

HJL, Almost precisely this concept was described by the New York Times back in 2004, except instead of exchanging files on USB keys, they were exchanged via a small computer on a moped that connected to an access point in each village as the moped drove through. From a technical perspective, the solutions are nearly identical and the two could easily be combined, not to mention combining with amateur radio VHF and/or HF links for high-priority or long distance communications. – J.F. o o o Hugh, The “Internet” Without Infrastructure article by R. H. is very intriguing. It makes sense …


Notes for Friday – April 24, 2015

April 24th is the birthday of Carolyn Cole (born 1961), a well-known staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times. For a few years in the late 1960s, the Cole family lived next door to JWR’s parents’ house in Livermore, California. That little girl with whom he played hide-and-seek would grow up to earn a Pulitzer Prize, two World Press Photo awards, and be named Photojournalist Of The Year. Congrats and Happy Birthday, Carolyn! o o o SurvivalBlog would like to welcome Pika Energy as a new advertiser. They specialize in innovative off-grid power solutions and have U.S.-made hybrid wind and …


“Internet” Without Infrastructure – Part 4, by R.H.

Protocol Refinements There are many refinements that can be used to improve efficiency and reduce the number of files to be processed, when dealing with local communication. However, these must always remain discretionary, so that they can be dropped at any time if situations change, or they are found to be unworkable. For example, directories (or folders) can be used to separate messages into different destination areas, organized by State. This reduces anonymity somewhat, but it can help organize messages and keep traffic down within local areas. If you know for certain that the recipient is in California, create a …


“Internet” Without Infrastructure – Part 3, by R.H.

Basic Techniques and Definition of Terms (continued) Sending a message. Sending a message consists of creating a text file containing the message, naming the file as described above, and getting it into a Postmaster’s pouch or multiple Postmasters’ pouches. If you don’t have a way to create a file yourself, a Postmaster can help you. The smaller your message is the better chance it has of getting through. You don’t need to go crazy with this. A message that is only 20 characters in length is not really any better than a 1K file (1024 characters). When writing out large …


“Internet” Without Infrastructure – Part 2, by R.H.

How the Network Works Basically, as soon as people start transferring files between computers, a network of sorts exists. A complex system can then be developed to get information to the right place as quickly as possible and keep everything running smoothly and efficiently. This is what the Internet does now, using millions of powerful computers and extremely complex software. There is a much simpler way of building a network that requires only the basic technology items listed above and the adoption of a few very simple standards and rules. All we need, basically, is to get a given “file” …


“Internet” Without Infrastructure – Part 1, by R.H.

Communication, outgoing and incoming, is obviously vitally important, but we tend to take for granted the various channels available to us at this time. The telephone, email, and even television and radio media rely on a huge amount of civil infrastructure– the same infrastructure that we rely on for water, sewage service, food, electrical power, transportation, shipping and basic mail, and both fire suppression and law enforcement services. The Internet has become a vital part of that infrastructure. Without a functional power grid and cable or telephone service, the Internet does not exist. It could be argued that, even in …


Scot’s Product Review: DeLorme inReach Explorer

The first warning is that this is an electronic device. It probably won’t work after an EMP or Carrington event. It communicates via the Iridium satellite system, which is also used by the government, so it isn’t secure, not that any electronic communications are. It depends on the GPS satellite constellation, which is another government service. The government can, when it feels like it, degrade the accuracy of civilian GPS units or even shut down the service to all but government clients. There are, therefore, drawbacks that you have to be aware of. Regardless, the DeLorme inReach offers some pretty …


Letter: The Internet

HJL/JWR: I am a former G6 (army comms) and closet geek, and a stability operations (Civil Affairs) practitioner. Suffice to say the issue of open Internet access and destabilizing influences on the ground have been the center of my world and work for over a decade. You’re not going to like this, but here it is: The only way to preserve the Internet AND reduce the spread of radical ideology is to register users’ to each IP address. Here’s why. The Internet IS like a big, wonderful library (paraphrasing yesterday’s poster). However, there’s a problem. Imagine your children in that …


Letter Re: Shielded Ethernet Connectors

HJL, I’ve found that EZ jacks and an EZ crimper for RJ45 will let you visually confirm that you’ve put the right wires in the right place before crimping your connector end on; you can’t see them too well in regular RJ45 ends. The crimp tool is like $50, and I’ve found that you waste less connectors due to how much better they work. Doing it the old way, you’d make a good connector and accidentally cut it too short, or you’d have the wires twist and then have a pair of wires that won’t work, causing you to cut …


Letter Re: EMP-Hardened Ham Radio Communications, by PrepperDoc

Being a prepper and a Ham I found the article “EMP-Hardened Ham Radio Communications” by PrepperDoc very interesting but also somewhat over my head with regard to tubes and the like, so I put it out to more experienced members of our ARC (amateur radio club) for comment. The response from one Ham is not a slam but rather additional information for the like-minded. “There was no mention of electrolytic caps and the frequent need to replace them when using older gear. Also, tube rigs are power hogs; where are you going to get the power? Alternate power sources (inverter …


EMP-Hardened Ham Radio Communications, by PrepperDoc

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EMP attack is often considered the most rigorous of survivalist situations, due to the likely complete loss of electrical grid, many vehicles, and many transistorized/computerized products. Our group worked to provide post-EMP communications that would allow effective communications post-event. We had two major requirements: Short Range Communications. Two, separate, defense-hardened homes that were approximately 30 miles apart had to be able to communicate across a medium-sized city, and Long Range Communications. Both homes had to be able to receive news from in-state and out-of-state sources. These were considered necessary to receive adequate advance warning of defense issues, such as advancing …


Letter: Cell Phone Jammers vs. Blockers

Hi Hugh, I just wanted to pass along a quick clarification for readers to a posted review by Scot two weeks ago. After Scot’s great review of the MobileSec cell phone blockers, there has been discussion about cell phone blockers vs. jammers. I wanted to make a few points regarding jammers vs. blockers and the pros and cons of each. Jammers, like the Duke (used by the Army), spam the airwaves to prevent detonations via cell phone or other devices. The reason to use them is “area denial”- blocking all the phones around. The tradeoff: The price is high, Jammers …


Scot’s Product Review: MobileSec Cellphone Blocker and Laptop EMP Shielding

I always liked the line that states, “Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean that someone isn’t out to get you.” These days, in addition to physically trying to “get” you, there are also those who are trying to virtually get you by stealing your information for misuse. There are those who might want to wipe out everything with an EMP event so that not only do you not get to use your own stuff, you can’t even get a backup from someone else. It could be a foreign government, a criminal consortium, or even your own government doing the deed. …


Letter Re: TruCrypt

Hugh, Of course people should do what they are comfortable with, but TrueCrypt is still safe to use. For those who want the “new and improved” version of what was once TrueCrypt, there is now “VeraCrypt“—and-its-better Users should note that even though it looks and acts like TrueCrypt, VeraCrypt can NOT decrypt files that were encrypted with TrueCrypt. Happy New Year. – V


Surviving With Electronics, by J.M.

While working in the high-tech security industry I’m frequently disheartened by people’s attitude towards electronic technology in disaster/SHTF/TEOTWAWKI situations. For example, I was down in the NJ area shortly after Sandy came through, and I noticed that many people weren’t using their cell phones. I asked some folks what was wrong with their phone, and the two most common answers were: A) the battery is dead and I can’t charge it, or B) there’s no service available. Those answers pretty much sum up most people’s attitude about electronics; power for them is something that comes out of the wall, and …