‘Production Versus Plunder’ Part 23 – Western Civilization Forms
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NY Times: Our Declining Friendships With Our Co-Workers: Bad For Us, Bad For Our Employers – PLC
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Renewed calls for gun control laws spur sales – D.S.
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Turn off Google listening to everything you say – D.S.
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This Infographic Explains Current Recreational Drone Laws and Safety – G.P.
“And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” Luke 23:27-31 (KJV)
On September 5, 1774, fed up with the meddling of the crown and being mostly independent-minded, our nation’s founding fathers met together in the First Continental Congress, in Philadelphia, laying the foundation of what would become the world’s greatest nation.
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Today, we present another entry for Round 60 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $10,000 worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
Second Prize:
Third Prize:
Round 60 ends on September 30th, 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.
I consider the ability to communicate in a TEOTWAWKI scenario, and being able to obtain information outside the immediate area, critical. HF communication best fills this need. I had the radios but needed an antenna that would work on most amateur bands and others if needed. Having recently relocated to a more free state, I had all the real estate to put up whatever antenna I wanted. I wanted an antenna that fit into the space of a dipole, is relatively invisible, easy to build, and can be coax fed. The need to bury the cable ruled out a ladder line and tuner fed, all band antenna. A remote tuner was also out, since it added a potential point of failure.
My search of the Internet led me to the OCF (Off Center Fed) antenna design. An OCF antenna is similar to a dipole, except that it is not fed at the center but at a point offset from the center. This offset gives the antenna the multi band capability. This article as well as this one best explain how and why this type of antenna works on multiple bands. Unlike Terminated Folded Dipoles and End Fed Inverted V antennas, an OCF antenna works on multiple bands but not on all frequencies. The benefit of this is that the OCF antenna is much more efficient in getting the signal in the air, rather than heating the terminating resistors, like on the other two antenna types. A properly tuned OCF also does not require the use of a tuner.
This article describes how I built a multiband OCF antenna, including the actual dimensions, measurements, and some performance information. While primarily designed for the 80/40/20 meter bands, this antenna also works on 17/12/6 meters. The article is geared towards people new to antenna building, so it may seem redundant or lengthy to old timers. There are several vendors that sell ready-made OCF antennas, but I wanted to build my own, so I would know how the antenna is put together and how to repair the antenna in a SHTF scenario, in case it gets damaged or wiped out.
There are two OCF designs on the web that had been tried and tested. One is fed at the 20/80% point and one fed at the 36/64% feed point. The offset percentage refers to the percentage of the wire that is connected on either side of the feed point. The 20/80% design is described in one of the previous links. The 36/64% design is described in this article . The 36/64% fit my needs and space the best.
A good quality balun (transmission line transformer – BALanced to UNbalanced) is required for the antenna to work properly and to match the impedance, which is higher than that of a resonant dipole. For lower antenna height, usually below 40’, a 4:1 ratio is recommended; for higher antennas, a 6:1 ratio is recommended. I had a 4:1 current balun (Balundesigns 4113) from a different project, as well as a large reel of sky blue 14ga XHHW stranded copper power wire. This is what I used for the antenna. (I have 14ga solid copperweld as backup, in case the copper ever breaks). The center mast was fabricated from telescoping fiberglass tubing and hose clamps. This way the mast could be easily lower if needed.
Initially, I cut the wires to 85′ 2½“ and 47′ 9½”, as stated in the instructions. (This is longer than the calculated length, which turned out good in the end.) Actual antenna length can vary significantly depending on elevation above ground, ground conditions, nearby objects, et cetera. It is easier to cut a long antenna than to add wire later!
I stripped 6” of the wire at the balun ends and wrapped and soldered the wire around small ceramic egg insulators. (These are inexpensive from e-bay.) I attached those to the center support (to the mast, not balun) with Dacron antenna rope. Be very careful not to nick the copper conductors when stripping the wires, or they will break at a later time. The connection between the balun and antenna conductors was made with some extra flexible 12 ga. extension cord wire to prevent breaking due to wind flexing. If you don’t have any insulators, you can fabricate some from plastic, or even use the rope as insulator. All wire connections were soldered. I loosely attached the wire ends with Dacron rope and pulleys to the end supports to allow trimming the ends as necessary.
The center support and balun were installed on top of the telescoping fiberglass mast at 26 feet using four DX engineering telescoping fiberglass mast sections (8 feet each) and their hose clamp mast kit (could not afford more mast after buying my retreat!). The hose clamp kit makes it easy to lower the mast if future repairs or changes need to be made. It also allows lowering the mast to make the antenna “disappear”. Guy ropes at the 22 foot level protect the mast during strong winds. All balun mounting components, brackets, and so forth were made from PVC pipe, pipe tee’s, and PVC scraps. (The tree in the picture is actually 40’ behind the antenna.) All hardware was stainless steel. The bottom mast section was buried 3’ for support and stability. I used a level to get the bottom section perfectly vertical.
Each end support is located 90’ from the center support (in case the OCF didn’t work and I needed to revert to a dipole). The end supports are two 12’ pressure treated 4×4’s, buried about three feet deep. This leaves the antenna ends 9’ above ground. The buried sections of the mast and end supports were wrapped in PVC pipe wrap tape for added protection. The ground conditions at my location are loose, volcanic soil. Installing the mast and end supports was surprisingly easy using a post hole drill. For reference and comparison, the orientation of the wire is directly east (short wire) and west (long wire). The elevation is at 7300 feet in open, lightly treed country. Due to the distance from the mast to the end supports, this antenna is more of a flat top than an inverted V.
The feeder from the house to the antenna is DXE400MAX (LMR400 equivalent) coax. Although the cable is direct bury rated, I buried it in PVC conduit for extra protection and easier replacement should the need arise. Any quality, low loss coax will work.
The PL-259 plugs were installed by screwing them over the straightened and folded back shield, as shown (and also on YouTube. I soldered the center conductor prior to cutting off the excess conductor. I used “Contax” paste (CTB8 Thomas & Betts Contax Oxide Inhibiting Compound), to coat and protect the shield and internal threads on the plug, prior to screwing the cable into the plug. The Contax paste also seals the jacket to the connector. Penetrox or Alnox will work just as well. Warming up the tough polyethylene jacket with a hair dryer made installing the plug much easier. I gently held the plug on the serrated part with a pair of vise grip pliers (after crushing the first one), and held the coax jacket with a section of old 3/8” air hose that I slit open and put over the coax jacket to get a better grip. For added reliability I added marine grade, adhesive lined heat shrink tubing at the cable to plug connection. Remember to slide your heat shrink, plug nut, et cetera, over the coax before installing the plug, unless you like hearing yourself mumble some unprintable words. A quick test of the assembled cable with 1000 volts showed no shorts. I filled the plugs with STUF (STUF connector seal– a polyethylene paste to seal out contaminants and moisture), prior to tightening them to the socket. (I have installed PL259 connectors this way for many years, and I never have had a failure or moisture problem.) For safety, the coax is grounded at the entrance into the shack. (Always ground your coax for static and lightening protection.) A long barrel connector was used to go through the wall and as a place to connect the ground wire.
The initial, center band SWR readings with an MFJ259B were 80m/1.8, 40m/1.6, 20m/1.5.
The bands I wanted most were good, so I decided to leave the antenna as is. I bent over the ends of the conductors at the place I was going to solder them and rechecked the SWR. The results looked good, so I stripped 6” off the ends, installed ceramic egg insulators, and soldered the wires. The Dacron rope was routed through the pulley on the end support, and tied off to a stainless steel screw in the end support. The final radiating wire length after soldering was 84’ 8½” and 47’ 3½” with my installation conditions. (Important: Since this is an offset antenna, each side must be trimmed by the same percentage as the antenna offset percentage, not by equal pieces, or you will mess up the offset, and thereby the antenna. Trim a short piece on the short side, and a proportionately longer piece on the long side).
I decided to sweep the completed antenna through the entire frequency range, all the way to 2m (148mhz), although the balun is only rated to 50Mhz (6m). Final phone band SWR readings were 80m/1.8, 60m/8.5, 40m/1.6, 30m/11.1, 20m/1.5, 17m/4.3, 15m/4.6, 12m/1.6, 11m/4.3, 10m/3.9, 6m/4.4 (lower half) to 1.7 (upper half), 2m/1.5. I included the 11m band for any CB operators out there, although the SWR is too high for a CB without a tuner. (Further trimming/testing might achieve a lower SWR on some bands.)
Since the antenna read a low SWR on 2 meters, I gave it a quick test with my 2m HT and a VHF SWR meter. The antenna does work on 2m across the entire band and gets a signal out, although I suspect the balun is more of a radiating dummy load at that frequency rather than the antenna actually radiating. In an emergency though, it’s nice to know the antenna can be used on 2m for local work.
This makes the antenna usable on 5+ bands without a tuner. Due to the heavy duty balun, the other bands can also be used with a tuner, although the losses will go up. The LMR400 equivalent (or any low loss coax) will help to minimize the higher SWR power losses on the “not so resonant” bands. Most internal radio tuners can adjust for an SWR up to about 3. Above that you will have to use an external tuner. There is more on SWR at the end of the article.
I connected my radio to the antenna and listened. To my surprise, there was very little noise and static compared to the old vertical I had in the Golden Horde EBT Empire (big city). I was also amazed at how many stations I heard on all bands that I never heard on my old vertical. I had been missing out on a lot of communications with my old, factory-made vertical, always believing that that’s as good as it got. Not!
After hearing someone calling CQ on 20m, I answered and received an instant reply with good signal reports. He was in Alabama. I was running 20 watts out on my portable radio. 1650 miles, with 20 watts is not bad!
In the six months that have gone by since the initial installation and testing above, I have made several contacts to South America and Australia on 20 meters, and multiple contacts between local and ~2600 miles, including Oregon, Wyoming, Canada, and southern and eastern states on the other bands. All made with 20 watts and good signal reports. This antenna definitely works!
I also received numerous short wave stations from many parts of the world, as well as several U.S. clear channel AM stations. Even though the antenna is low to the ground, with the center at 26’ (almost NVIS), it still appears to have good long range capabilities, even at the lower frequencies.
There were several things I learned from this project, including the following:
I get many questions regarding SWR. Everyone has their opinion and thinks they are right. There is not enough space on this page to explain that subject in detail. Simply stated, at less than 100 watts, an SWR of 2 or less is okay for most radios without a tuner. However, always trim your antenna for the lowest SWR first! A SWR higher than 2, directly connected to most radios will cause the radios protective circuit to reduce power. Cheap radios without protection may be damaged.
An SWR up to 4-5 is okay with a tuner, with little loss of performance if you use low loss coax. Over 5 is also okay with a tuner, as long as you are willing to accept the increasing power loss and keep the transmitter power low. High SWR becomes critical if you are operating at high power. The higher the power, the higher the voltage on the coax, even in a perfectly matched system. That’s ohms law. “Force feeding” a high SWR, coax fed system with a tuner can create very high voltages, heat, potential arcing, and stress components like the balun, coax, and tuner. Running 500+ watts through a tuner into a coax fed system with an SWR of 15 will most likely arc in the connectors or turn your tuner, amplifier, or balun into a toaster. That is why balanced wire tuner outputs or end fed wire tuners have long ceramic insulators on the output terminals and don’t use coax. The voltages on these terminals can go over several 1000 volts or higher. (Parallel, ladder, or open wire line can handle these voltages and have low loss.) For an excellent article on SWR and coax, go to the ARRL.org web site and search the archives for “Understanding SWR by Example” in the November 2006 QST magazine. Remember, if you can hear them and they can hear you, you are doing okay!
Sir,
I’m fairly new to prepping for TEOTWAWKI. I am currently attempting to secure as much ammo and OD green tactical clothing as my budget will allow. I am also a fan of your books; I am currently reading Founders.
You mention many times in your books that ammo, silver/gold coins, and gasoline will become a kind of currency. That being said, do you recommend those who are properly trained buy progressive presses to make their own ammo?
What caliber of pistol rounds would you feel will be more valuable after WTSHTF?
HJL Responds: Most people get into reloading their own ammunition for one of two reasons:
If you fall into the second category, you will generally (but not always) get better results with a single stage press and lots of care. If you fall into the first category, and you burn a lot of ammunition practicing, then a progressive most definitely is your friend. When I made the move from a single stage RCBS Rock-Chucker to a Dillon RL550B press, I was suddenly spending far less time reloading than I was shooting– an almost polar opposite of what had existed before. Of course, there are caveats that go with that. If you reload your own ammunition, you must be capable of committing to detail and following through. Errors resulting in empty shells or double powder charges can be catastrophic, and you must be able to manage the process without allowing ANY of these problems to occur.
From a WTSHTF perspective, the value of being able to reload is probably not so much in reloading your own but in being able to reload for others as part of a barter deal. A progressive press is certainly worth its weight in gold at that point. Your time has value, and the progressive press allows you to compress much more productive labor into less time. For your own ammunition needs, it depends on the calibers that you are using. If you are shooting standard military calibers where surplus ammunition can be bought in bulk, you would be hard pressed to reload as inexpensively as you can purchase. If you are reloading non-military or generally less common calibers, then you can easily save a few dollars by reloading. The question then becomes: “Do you trust your reloads when your life is on the line?”
I tend to classify my reload into defensive and non-defensive groups. For non-defensive reloads (meaning practice rounds), I will often reuse the brass to just before the point of failure. This means, however, that there will be occasional jams, brass separations, chamber misfits, and other assorted failures. In training, I tend to look at these failures as just another opportunity to train for the worst possible situation. Can you clear your weapon of one of these failures and resume fire? Can you identify a failure that cannot be easily cleared necessitating moving to a backup weapon? Defensive loads, on the other hand, are made with the utmost care and attention to detail. These are loads that I do not want to ever experience a failure. These are the loads that I hunt with, load my protection weapons with, and plan to use in defense of my family and home. I will not ever use brass that has been shot more than two or three times in these loads and the brass must pass a visual inspection of every round.
So how do you keep from mixing them up? Make sure you have procedures in place so that you do not grab practice ammo when you need self-defense ammo.
As to the calibers, common military/police calibers will obviously have the most appeal in a barter situation. .38special/.357magnum, 9mm, .40S&W, .45ACP for handguns; 5.56 nato, 7.62×39, and 7.62 nato for rifle will always be in demand just because there are so many firearms for them. Other calibers, standard for hunting or common in civilian use in countries that ban military ammo can also be useful, though probably not in as much demand. You would need to research as to what is popular in the area you are located. Just be aware that if you plan on reloading for barter, that means you need to stock up on certain items that have safety issues associated with storage (like smokeless powder and primers). You also have the issue of dealing with the BATF if you stock enough of the components to attract attention or attempt to sell your services without the proper licensing.
The “Dead-Cat-Bounce”: That Dead Cat Is Truly Dead; And That Bounce Is Truly Over… “Nihilo Ex Nihilo” – GJM
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Record 94 Million Americans Not In The Labor Force; Participation Rate Lowest Since 1977 – B.B.
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Items from Mr. Econocobas:
Central Banks Can’t Save the Markets From a Crash. They Shouldn’t Even Try – The first section of this is pretty good, but after that it starts venturing off topic.
Dow Dumps 600 Points From Last Friday’s Panic-Buying Ramp, Drops 10% Year-To-Date
Chart Of The Day: Since 12/2007—— 1.5 Million More Waiters/Bartenders, 1.4 Million Fewer Mfg. Jobs
Anyone near Dallas/Fort Worth might have an interest in an event hosted by the Mises Instititue: Lew Rockwell, Tom Woods, Tom DiLorenzo, and Jeff Deist will discuss Against PC: Creating a Culture of Liberty.
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FBI, DEA and others will now have to get a warrant to use stingrays – G.G.
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For pilots: TCAS, ADS-B Unreliable in Southeast U.S. Beginning Sept. 2 – T.P.
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Gov’t Accuses Company Of Discrimination Over Employees Having To Prove Citizenship Status – P.M.
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ISIS smuggler: ‘We will use refugee crisis to infiltrate West’ – D.S.
“Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water: that thou shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day: that he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Deuteronomy 29:10-13 (KJV)
September 4, 1862 is the fateful day that General Lee invaded the North with 50,000 troops. Historians will banter back and forth about the real reasons for the Civil War, but we will probably never fully understand. It is my personal belief that General Lee was gambling on a quick offensive because the South did not have the resources for a prolonged war. Whatever the case was, President Abraham Lincoln trampled the Constitution and created the foundation for the “Big Brother” government we have today.
Medical bartering is as old as the hills, yet still alive today. Though you may not have encountered medical bartering in your own community, a quick web search will reveal that the days of paying your doctor with chickens continue into the 21st century.
Of course, when the grid goes down or our currency collapses, you’ll need to find another method of payment for everything. On the other end, with store shelves empty, medical supplies may become a valuable medium of exchange.
When stocking up on medical items for your family, it’s a great idea to purchase extra, currently inexpensive supplies for others who may want or need them in times of crisis.
Items to consider for bartering include OTC medications and supplies, as well as medical skills. Under current law, bartering for prescription medication is not legal (unless you are a licensed medical professional).
Bartering may occur person-to-person or via an exchange involving a third party. If you have a survival group, a written plan is highly advisable, especially regarding the ethics involved.
For example:
Having a written policy with room for flexibility and generosity may prevent disagreements at a later date when fear comes into play.
Many over-the-counter drugs are extremely powerful, especially the ones that were by prescription only not many years ago. Here is a short list of OTC drugs potentially useful for future barter:
Insulin is more expensive, but certain formulations require no prescription and may save a diabetic’s life. Fish antibiotics are intended for aquarium use but some are the same as human antibiotics.
It is not legal to share a prescription medication, but leftover antibiotics, steroids, and pain pills may be worth their weight in gold if pharmacies are empty. To comply with the law, it may be best to recruit a physician, pharmacist, or dentist for your group who could then prescribe, sell, or dispense any available prescription medication, or act as a professional third party for a bartering transaction.
Other OTC medical supplies are useful barter items including:
Medical skills are at least as vital as other work (chopping wood, gardening, animal husbandry, defense, et cetera). Whether medical care should be given away without charge should be discussed before the need arises. A balance of paid care and perhaps a tithe of unpaid care is one option. Keep in mind that, in general, what people don’t pay for, they don’t value. Any seasoned medical professional can confirm this is true, and it is often difficult to decide when to “pay it forward”. Loving your neighbor as yourself does not necessarily mean giving everything away (and thus making your own family a burden on society).
Although it’s doubtful you can make a living off medical bartering in times of crisis, having extra medical supplies or skills to exchange may allow you to acquire items you’ve forgotten or could not previously afford, or are running low on (food perhaps). In my Survival Medicine classes I emphasize such skills, to help your own family and community should there be no doctor and you’re truly on your own.
Tonight I ate a rib eye steak that was a little over two years old. It was tender, juicy, and just as good as the day I bought it. It was vacuum packed and frozen at -14 to 0 degrees for the entire time. I see no reason to believe that the steak would not be just as palatable for at least another year. I believe this to be a viable consideration for food storage for, if not the long term, an intermediate period for SHTF situations.
If this is to be considered for a food source for a few years, what about EMP issues? Several years ago, I bought a top of the line 20 cubic foot upright freezer with all the bells and whistles. About a year ago, it began intermittently shutting off and the temperature inside got dangerously close to thawing out. A hurried call to an appliance repairman revealed that the entire electronic control unit can be unplugged from the front of the unit and replaced within seconds and that this cured the problem. After fixing the original problem, I ordered a second control unit, which is now wrapped in foil and has been placed in a metal can along with other valuable items.
About two years ago, I bought a second 20 cubic foot freezer. This time, I special ordered a basic, no frills model. It consumes exactly the same amount of power (140 watts after start up) and contains no electronic circuitry. The schematic diagram shows that the unit contains only switches, temperature sensors, a thermostat and, of course, the compressor. This freezer works just as well as the older freezer and should be as close to EMP proof as possible as all current information indicates that microprocessors are the items at risk during an EMP.
What about power interruptions? My long-term testing of both freezers shows that my Honda EU2000i inverter generator will keep both freezers adequately cold (as well as running several other items simultaneously including the refrigerator/freezer) with about 2½ hours per day of usage. With the Honda, this equates to about 1/3 gallon of fuel per day. Yes, fuel availability could be an issue, but if an EMP event renders most vehicles inoperable, fuel might be somewhat available from abandoned vehicles. Regardless, my RV contains 55 gallons of gas, the SUV 30 gallons, and I have 60 gallons in storage. The stored gas is stabilized with a commercial fuel stabilizer and is rotated through the vehicles as is convenient. At 1/3 gallon per day, I anticipate a minimum of one year of food available from the freezers. Natural gas tends to be more reliable then electricity during an emergency, and natural gas and propane conversions are available for under $200 for Honda and similar generators.
Some of you may have already considered this method of providing nutrition during a crisis, but for those of you who may have not “done the math”, you may find this of value and something that you can implement concurrently with your other long-term storage plans. If you are considering the purchase of a refrigerator or freezer, look closely at the “no frills” models and get the assistance, if needed, of a good service technician to determine what, if any, electronics the unit may contain.
As an aside, I do rotate our food, but I also keep back some food to let it age so I can determine the limits of my storage methods. The steak mentioned above was bought at Costco for $7.95 per pound and it is now $11.95 as I write this. Prepping does pay. I ate the steak with a can of corn that I bought in 2010 and with a “best by” date of September, 2011. Like the steak, it was as if I had bought it yesterday. I’ll keep you posted on the meat as time goes on, assuming we are still here.
Be safe and prep as if your life depended on it. – G.D.
When The Going Gets Tough – The Tough Start Welding – T.P.
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Kentucky clerks to license marriages as their boss is jailed – T.P.
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Gun control groups accused of ‘swatting’ open-carry permit holders, putting lives at risk – P.M.
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Bankrupt Detroit buys a $700,000 SWAT Vehicle – G.S.
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“I want a government small enough to fit inside the Constitution.” – Harry Browne
On September 3, 1752, the American Colonies officially adopted the Gregorian calendar, and it immediately became September the 14th.
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During the month of September, Ready Made Resources will be offering Mountain House Foods at 35-50% off. Make sure you visit their web site if you are thinking of topping off your storage.
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This week we welcome our newest advertiser: DBArms.com. They assemble and market some of the very best Individual First Aid Kits (IFAKs), medic bags, and trauma kits on the market. Be sure to check out their web site. If all that you presently own is a “boo-boo” first aid kit that doesn’t have much more than band-aids, then it is high time for you to acquire a serious trauma kit. And of course get the training to go along with it. (Short of taking formal EMT training, I highly recommend the inexpensive training offered by the Western Rifle Shooter’s Association, and by Dr. Bones & Nurse Amy.)