Radio Communication Methods During Emergencies- Part 4, by R. in NC

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We’ve previously covered non-FCC license dependent communications devices and are wrapping up our examination of FCC license dependent communications options, with special consideration for their use in an emergency. Today, we’ll also begin looking at resources and accessories that help us improve communications.

VHF/UHF Radios

Almost all of the “base station” VHF/UHF radios are designed as car Ham radios. Because of this, they can be very flexible in usage. Most of these are 25-50 watts, and some are even stronger. With the limited range of VHF/UHF, I think that going over 50 watts is probably not needed. FM is the primary modulation for these kinds of radios, and today it is rare to find one that supports AM/SSB. Some vendors support Echolink, D-Star, DMR, and or APRS. Most of these radios also cover the NOAA stations. These (NOAA) emergency radio stations usually report weather but can relay other information. Having access to those stations is a must when I’m looking at a model.

“HT” or Handheld radios are also very useful. (See comments on inexpensive Chinese radios below.) For quality HTs, I recommend paying attention to the IP ratings on these radios. Expect to use this radio in bad weather. These are almost always 5 watt radios, with NOAA and FM radio receive. Some are “smart phone like” with apps for repeater selection based on location. Just make sure you also get the following, if they have them available: programming cable, ear bud, upgraded antenna, and VOX support.

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Freeze Dried Friday:

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Welcome to Freeze Dried Friday on SurvivalBlog! We’ve been making so many things in the Harvest Right Freeze Dryer that we want to share some of them with you. If you have something wonderful you’ve prepared in your freeze dryer that you would like to share with SurvivalBlog readers, take a photo of it and send it in along with a description. We might just feature you here!

Winding Harvest Down

The garden harvest has finally slowed to a crawl and the Harvest Right freeze dryers are getting a break this week. This was a tough summer for them as we ran them pretty hard. Both machines are in need of some TLC. Towards the end of the season, we ran quite a few batches of basil. As you can see from the photo, the chlorophyll apparently gets sucked out of the leaves and while the final product is excellent, it sure is hard on the oil. Both pumps are starting to show a buildup of green gunk despite the fact that we drain the oil after every batch and filter it.

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Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today, I’m issuing a U.S. stock market crash warning. (See the Stocks section.)

Stocks (Crash Warning):

The New York Stock Exchange just recorded its 71st “all time high” trading session since the November 2016 Presidential election. The market is now essentially stair-stepping upwards. The P/E ratio of the Dow Jones stocks now stands above 31 to 1. There have only been two times since the early 1880s that U.S. stocks have been so grossly overbought: Just before 1929 stock market crash and just before the 2000 “dot.com” bubble implosion. Consider this an earnest stock market crash warning. It is now very likely that U.S. stock markets will drive into a mountain, in a rocket-propelled vehicle that lacks an Oscillation Overthruster. It is that time, folks: “Eject, Bukaroo, Eject!”.

I now strongly urge my readers to soon reduce your stock and stock ETF holdings to less than  20% of your portfolio.  Retain only a few individual stocks that you deem sufficiently crash proof. it is best to hold stock in companies that manufacture crucial consumer products. Think in terms of what will be needed by families regardless of the business cycle, as a safe haven. A few such stocks come immediately to mind.  They include:  Clorox (CLX), Exxon-Mobil (XOM), Fortune Brands Home and Security (FBHS), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Kimberly-Clark (KMB), Lamb Weston (LMB), and perhaps Medtronic (MDT).  Again: Limit these stock holdings to less than 20% of your portfolio. The rest of your net worth should now be in: A.) Your primary residence; B.) A retreat property that is sitting on productive farm or ranch land; C.) Precious metals; D.)  Firearms, magazines, and ammunition;  and E.) Other barterable tangibles. Ideally, items A and B on this list should be combined.  (It is best to live at your retreat year-round!) – JWR

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day

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“No amount of statistics or facts will sway either side in the gun control debate, because they are all looking for simple solutions to complex problems. The facts of those complex problems are uncomfortable and nobody really wants to come to grips with them.

For example, we don’t really have a single America with a moderately high rate of gun deaths. Instead, we have two Americas, one of which has very high rates of gun ownership but very low murder rates, very comparable to the rest of the First World democracies such as those in western and northern Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, South Korea. The other America has much lower rates of gun ownership but much, much higher murder rates, akin to violent third world countries.

The tough questions are those like, why do we have these two Americas? But that’s an uncomfortable discussion to have. So instead those on the left favor simple minded restrictions that target first world America, with its high gun ownership but very low murder rate, but don’t address the root causes of third world America’s violence at all. Meanwhile those on the right correctly feel their civil rights are constantly threatened, so they are constantly in a state of ‘better stock up before they finally ban it’ and the guns and ammo fly off the shelves. The left’s constant gun control rhetoric is the greatest thing ever for arms manufacturers.

Meanwhile, over the past 40 years, while the number of guns in private hands has doubled, the murder rate has dropped by half. The left are constantly prattling about ‘assault weapons’ which are almost never used to commit murders (about 1% of gun murders; all rifles combined are around 3%). More murders are committed with baseball bats than ‘assault rifles’; the vast majority of gun homicides are committed with handguns, but it’s easier to sell restrictions that target ‘assault weapons’, even though such restrictions, even if 100% effective, would make no detectable change in the murder rate (especially because of substitution effects). They favor ridiculous measures such as bans on “high capacity magazines”, as if magazines weren’t cheap and easily swapped out in a fraction of a second.”  – Michael Owen

Preparedness Notes for Thursday – October 26, 2017

October 26th is the anniversary of the death of American-born RLI Trooper Joseph Patrick Byrne, in Rhodesia, in 1978.

Edward Wilson Very (born October 26, 1847, died March 1, 1910) was an American naval officer who adopted and popularized a single-shot breech-loading flare pistol that fired flares that bear his name.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 73 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  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. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value), and
  8. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  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 gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value), and
  8. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  6. 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).

Round 73 ends on November 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.

Radio Communication Methods During Emergencies- Part 3, by R. in NC

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We just took a look at non-FCC License Dependent Communications, including use expectations and purchase considerations. Today, we begin examining FCC license dependent communications devices.

FCC License Dependent Communications

GMRS

GMRS radios operate on the same frequencies as FRS along with a number of additional channels. They can use up to 50 watts, and the FCC allows for better antennas and repeaters. GMRS will require a license. No test is needed, and the FCC license covers all residents of a household. On last check, the license cost $85 dollars. Pros and cons, along with distance, are similar to FRS, with the exception of additional power, use of repeaters, and better antennas. (See FRS radios for details.)

Amateur Radio – Ham Radio

Ham Radio Overview

Ham radio covers frequencies ranging from 135 kHz to above 275 GHz (as of March 28, 2017). The range of frequencies is immense and covers a wide range of possible communications distances. In addition to the features of each band of frequencies, Ham radio operators have access to satellite-based communications and EME (Earth Moon Earth) bouncing. EME is a technique where signals are bounded off of the moon to a distant location. As long as both antennas can point to the moon at the same time, this can greatly extend range (though it requires significant amounts of power and special antennas). Satellite access is typically setup as a repeater and/or APRS. (See below for information on APRS.) It is even possible to chat with astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) when they are overhead and on their Ham radio.

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Internet Censorship is Now Rampant — It is High Time to Bookmark Your Alternatives

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The New Censorship

With every passing week, we are seeing growing censorship of the Internet. The key  mass media phrase of 2016 and 2017  has been “Fake News.” But much of what  is being called fake news isn’t, while much of what the mainstream media is pushing is indeed what is “fake.” Meanwhile, The Powers That Be are enforcing their view of “Community Standards” to quash free speech. I won’t re-hash this with a huge laundry list of particular incidents, because they are too numerous and have been well-documented. Rather, I will suffice with just a few summaries:

  • The Google search engine now routinely uses special algorithms to deemphasize some search engine results. Meanwhile, they over-emphasize others, in an overt “pay for play” arrangement. In essence, if your site is conservative, it often gets pushed far down the list of search results, out of view from all but the most doggedly persistent searchers.  (Most people don’t scroll down to see the second, third, or fourth page of search results.) Even religious sites are now being targeted. During the 2016 presidential election campaign cycle, Google was caught red-handed in corrupting the “auto-complete” feature of their search box.
  • YouTube (a subsidiary of Google since 2006) has become notorious for de-monetizing anyone who isn’t sufficiently pagan, homosexual, anti-gun, and/or leftist.  They now delete or un-index some speech they deem to be politically incorrect. Most recently, they have been “disappearing” many videos on civilian-owned firearms. If you search many topics using the YouTube search box, you simply will not see a lot of content that has been blacklisted or “pushed down.”  And unless you actively subscribe to some content, it will just disappear from view. Poof!  Down the Memory Hole.

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The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. A disturbing escalation of hometown surveillance is on the horizon now.

Ruger P-Series Mag Identification

Commander Zero recently posted this great tutorial: Ruger 9mm P-series mag identification. If you have a Ruger P-series collection, this tutorial will be a welcome addition to your viewing as you try to make heads or tails of the different magazines out there.

Death of a Bread Machine

We don’t use a bread machine much around here anymore. One of my sons has taken a liking to making artisan breads by hand and the family is happy to indulge him. In fact, we often end up eating alot of bread as he hones his skills. He often remarks that baking a cake is like science. You add the exact amount of ingredients and do the same things every time and you reliable get the same product. Bread baking, however, is more of an art because you are dealing with live cultures to create it.

Not all of us have the will (or the time) to devote to learning an art though and the “science” method is very appealing. Enter the bread machine. It’s an amazing device that very nearly makes baking bread as easy as baking a cake. But like all appliances, there is a limit. Here is some practical wisdom from Patrice Lewis: Requiem to a bread machine.

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day

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“When I was a lad it was required of all able bodied men to go kill Jerrys and Japs, at government expense, one at a time for the common folk, in batches if you showed an aptitude for heavy machinery. We stood shoulder to shoulder with the USSR fighting to free the world of tyranny. It was simple and majestically pure, like life itself at that age.

Then, in my first years at school there were air raid drills with Silent Hill-style sirens wailing because the Reds were going to attack us, and our brave allies too—Germany and Japan. We didn’t know what “world domination” might be, exactly, but the USSR was guilty and it was badder than bad.

Were these the same Russians as our former allies, those brave folks who fought the forces of evil to a standstill and harvested fields of grain in their off hours? What happened? They seemed so nice.

Meanwhile, Germany and Japan, having lost the war, had achieved victimhood, which meant … but no, that was unthinkable.

The unintended lesson was: Things change. A lot. And fast. How today, for instance, do you fully endorse Equal Opportunity, once a non-negotiable principle of racial justice, now outright hate speech. So here’s a thought: don’t get too attached to the normalcy of the day, in not much time you’ll be holding it by the stinky end.” – Ol’ Remus, in his Yer Ol’ Woodpile Report blog

Radio Communication Methods During Emergencies- Part 2, by R. in NC

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Today, we’re continuing to look at communications devices in this communications overview section of the article. So far, we’ve look at Ham radio/licensed devices, but now we’re moving into non-FCC license dependence communication devices to consider.

Cell Phones – Using During An Emergency and Improving Reception

During an emergency it is very common that the local cell phone towers become saturated. Many people attempt to connect at the same time, resulting in busy signals. In addition, some cell towers have special equipment that restrict public use and dedicate additional bandwidth to emergency services. This section covers how to get a message out, as long as the cell tower is working.

SMS Texts

SMS texts (aka messages on an iPhone) use an alternate channel on cell phone towers called a control channel. This control channel is isolated from voice and data channels and is not impacted when too many voice and data connections are made. SMS also caches the message on your device and makes several attempts to deliver it, which is very useful if service is intermittent.

Continue reading“Radio Communication Methods During Emergencies- Part 2, by R. in NC”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today, I’m posting an update on investing in binary triggers. (See the Tangibles Investing section, near the end of this column.)

Precious Metals:

First up, there is this from Peter Hug: Gold Price Fighting Stronger Dollar

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American Eagle Gold, Silver Coin Demand on Track for 10-Year Lows. JWR’s Comment: My Inner Contrarian is whispering: “Jim: When others are shunning physical, then buy physical.”

Stocks:

Mark O’Byrne: Next Wall Street Crash Looms? Lessons On Anniversary Of 1987 Crash. After another 200 point jump on Monday, one must ask: how high is up? This mania cannot carry on much longer without a sharp correction

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European shares flat as banks weigh, Spain lags again

 

Commodities:

U.S. Midwest oil refiners boost output, cut region’s dependence on Gulf Coast

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Noble Group Warns of Loss Topping $1 Billion

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JWR’s Recommendations of the Week

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Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This week the focus is on Kestrel Elite weather gauges. (See the Instructional Videos section.)

Books:

The Gun Digest Book of Firearms Assembly/Disassembly Series.  (I recommend this entire book series.)

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Leonardo da Vinci, a newly-released biography by Walter Isaacson

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A World Ablaze: The Rise of Martin Luther and the Birth of the Reformation

 

Movies and Television:

Random Quest. A clever film about a scientist who visits a parallel universe. Available on DVD or for free download for Amazon Prime members.

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The Lost City of Z.  Available for free download for Amazon Prime members.

 

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them. It is not to inaugurate new programs, but to cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution.” – Barry Goldwater

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – October 24, 2017

October 24th is the anniversary of the firing squad execution of Norwegian traitor Vidkun Quisling, in 1945. His ignominious place in history was to have his surname become a noun. “Quisling” is now a moniker synonymous with treason and alliance with an invading army. Something tells me that the popularity of “Vidkun” as a boys’ natal name in Scandinavia dropped precipitously after about 1942. Ditto for “Adolf”, in Germany, and “Benito”, in Italy, after 1944.

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I noticed that OpticsPlanet.com is having a 11% off sale for orders over $100. This sale ends at midnight on October 26th. Use coupon code “YEAR17”.

And meanwhile, MidwayUSA.com is offering free shipping for most orders over $99. Use coupon code: 99FS2017102324. That offer ends at midnight on October 24th.

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