Category: Communications & Receivers

Situational Awareness, by P.S.

“Stop Look and Listen” – That is the phrase that used to be plastered on every railroad crossing sign from Maine to California. What is true for safety crossing the tracks is true for all of us in our daily lives.   The ancient Chinese curse is: “May you live in interesting times”. Well, I think we can all agree, these times are interesting, if not a bit scary.    Let’s give some thought about being aware – knowing where you are, what is going on, what your options are – regardless of the situation. At this moment, I am …


Letter Re: Establishing Private Radio Communications Using Consumer Grade Equipment

Jim: One thing I see omitted over and over again is about the FRS and GMRS radio “privacy codes”. A lot of people mistakenly think this is a “scrambled” communications form.Not True.It is just what the title says it is: a Privacy Code setting. It means that you cannot hear anyone not set to your code setting (36 possible settings on the standard set) or talk to them. However, your conversations CAN be listened to by anyone on that particular channel. To clarify, let’s say you are on channel 6 and your privacy code is set at 31. Anyone on …


Establishing Private Radio Communications Using Consumer Grade Equipment, by R.E.G.

Sometimes it is ideal for your radio transmissions to be overheard by outside parties but sometimes it is highly undesirable. Radio by its very nature is an open medium. Interception equipment such as radio scanners are commonly available and easy to use. With such a device an unwanted listener could easily intercept your communications. How do we guard against such security vulnerabilities? Digitally encrypted public safety grade radio equipment is certainly an option albeit a very expensive one. Fortunately consumer grade equipment is commonly available that is capable of providing a high degree of privacy against unwanted interception. It is …


Thoughts on SHTF Communications, by Carl L.

The scope of this article: I was involved in a discussion in the SHTF411 chat-room regarding SHTF radio communications.  Being a licensed Amateur Radio (ham) operator, I jumped in and put my two cents into the mix.  In the course of that discussion, I was asked to write something up on the subject.   Now, I am no expert on the subject and to be sure.  I sometimes feel that I am the least qualified among my peers.  With that in mind, please understand that much of what I’ve written in this essay is only my opinion and there will …


Letter Re: U.S. Nickel Five Cent Piece Value Increasing

Hi Jim, Just a friendly reminder that the melt value of U.S. nickel [five cent piece]s are inching up in price again. Their metallic content made them worth 6.5 cents, the last time I checked. The impostor to the presidency recently signed the “Coin Adulteration, Debasement, and Value Theft Act of 2010” also known as “The Coin Modernization, Oversight, and Continuity Act of 2010“. This may be driving up the price of the currently circulating real nickels. Regards, – Randy F. JWR Replies: SurvivalBlog readers should consider the newly-enacted legislation their “last call” to acquire nickels by the roll or …


Two Letters Re: Force Multipliers for Retreat Groups

Sir, The recent Force Multipliers article was a good read, as was OSOM’s follow-up letter. Your comment about the Magic Cube flash cubes is a good one. I’m ashamed I didn’t think of that one myself. One of my concerns is the amount of electronic gear that seems to go into play in some of our TEOTWAWKI preparations. If you look at the logistics tail of the US Military you will find that a soldier uses his weight in batteries very quickly in the field. A big problem (as I understand it from my reading) is keeping our guys supplied …


Letter Re: Radio Communications and SIGINT

Jim, I’ve been a follower of your writings since you wrote your shareware novel “The Gray Nineties“. After seeing some recent postings on SurvivalBlog regarding communications, I decided to write you. I have been a licensed Amateur Radio Operator since 1984. Before that I was a “skip shooter” on the 11 meter band. My Army MOS was 13E. I’m presently a Certified Electronic Technician working in the Land Mobile Radio (LMR) industry. Survivalists who use tactical radio communications, whether it is CB, MURS, FRS, marine band, or VHF/UHF ham, need to be aware of a police scanner technology called either …


Two Letters Re: Force Multipliers for Retreat Groups

Dear Jim: Regarding force multipliers, you touch on early warning with SIGINT, HUMINT and night vision, but I would argue that more immediate early warning through intrusion detection or perimeter security should be stressed as well: If you are not aware of the bad guys approach, then all your other defensive measures are for naught.  Even just having a minute to muster a defense, instead of 10 seconds, could make all the difference.  Imagine an early warning on the approach of intruders at O-dark-thirty, with your entire team wide awake and suited up in defensive positions, vs. waking up to …


Force Multipliers for Retreat Groups

In the past 60 years military organizations of First World countries have often dominated their foes in combat because they’ve taken advantage of Force Multipliers. These are technologies or tactics that dramatically increase (“multiply”) their combat effectiveness. These multipliers are typified by electronic communications, aerial bombardment, intelligence gathering, rapid troop transport, electronic warfare, force concentration, and the use of precision guided “smart” munitions. Similarly, I suspect that in a post-collapse world, Constitutional law and order will best be reestablished by those who stand ready to employ force multipliers of their own. These will likely include: Uninterrupted radio communications to provide …


Letter Re: OPSEC Issue: Geotagging on Pictures from Smart Phones

Dear Mr. Rawles, With the proliferation of smart phones, as well as advanced cameras with GPSs installed, people may be giving away more information than they intend to when they snap and distribute pictures. This can be an operational security (OPSEC) issue. Embedded in the Exchangeable Image File (EXIF) data on the picture, the GPS coordinates of the picture location may be stored for anyone to access. This is especially a problem as people post these pictures online (for social networking, emailing to friends/family, or for online sales, etc.). This embedded GPS data can reveal the exact location of your …


Letter Re: Build Your Own HF Transceiver Antenna

The following is my contribution to SurvivalBlog about antennas for High Frequency (HF) Transceivers. One antenna that has served me well over the years and easy to build is the G5RV antenna. Louis Varney, a British ham, came up with idea for the G5RV which also his call sign. The G5RV is a dipole antenna with 51 foot legs and the center feed point being 28’6″ of 300 ohm twin lead transmission grade twin lead connected to RG58 coaxial cable (“coax”). There are other construction methods, but for simplicity, we use a 1″ outside diameter PVC Tee to create a …


Letter Re: Digital-Analog Cell Phones for Rural Areas

Dear Jim,   I have some cell phone details to your readers. I used to work in the cell phone business as a repair tech. Phones made before 2003 are not legal for activation in the USA. Some people continue to use old legacy hardware on the network, grandfathered in, but once that phone dies, they have to upgrade, under law, to an Enhanced 911 compliant/compatible device. That’s straight from the FCC, no ifs, ands, ors or buts. That means the Bag Phone, and even the StarTac aren’t legal. This is not to say that you can’t work around this …


Letter Re: Digital-Analog Cell Phones for Rural Areas

James, Thanks for the invaluable resource – knowledge – as provided by SurvivalBlog.  I was wanting to get some feedback on long range phones, particularly the Motorola M800 Bag Phone.  From what I can gather, this phone is dual digital and analog and it is described as used “for workers in the Oil and Gas, Agriculture and Forestry industries. Now you can stay connected in the field, on rural or urban highways, when traveling, at the cottage or even camping”.  I travel into Appalachia in Eastern Tennessee and Southeast Kentucky and also have a houseboat (on a mooring line, so …


Letter Re: The Value and Practice of Journaling

Hi, I just read the article on the use of acid free paper with interest and noted that Hammermill makes printer paper that is acid free. Some of it isn’t much more than regular paper, so it might make a good choice for [long term archiving of] those manuals we print off the Internet. Amazon sells several varieties. God Bless! – Mack G. JWR Replies: That same paper can be used to make bound journals or hardback books from downloaded PDFs. If you are handy with tools, you can do your own stitched bookbinding. This way you can create your …


Letter Re: The Value and Practice of Journaling

Mr. Rawles, M.E.R. makes good points for the practice of journaling. I, too, encourage the activity. I would add a related activity – logging. No, not cutting trees, but recording activities, events, and details. I do my journaling within my log. I am not big on “my feelings”. I am more about doing what is needed and savoring the feelings later. Better? No. Different perhaps. I have found logging to be extremely valuable. My log has been computerized for decades, but lends itself to the same manual media as presented by M.E.R. I have recorded diverse events for years. I …