Check out this great webinar replay from PrepperNet! PrepperNet is UNITING PREPPERS Nationwide! And they are using AmRRON as their communications network! We hope to have an AmRRON Corps member within each PrepperNet group as a COMMS support person. Thank you, to PrepperNet for sharing the AmRRON network within your groups!
We are very thankful for all the members and are looking forward to a great 2019!
Video Intro Text from PrepperNet:
Many people can get caught off guard and unprepared when a disaster strikes. Having one’s own communication system, that’s independent of infrastructure like telephone lines, cell towers, and broadcast radio and TV, can literally be a lifesaver. Cell phones rely on a network of receivers and transmitters that in turn rely on power systems and computers. Losing just one cell phone tower site can create localized dead spots right where you need to communicate. A large-scale power outage knocks the whole system down so that no one is communicating. And even if the cell phone system is still functioning, during a catastrophe everyone is trying to use the system at once, causing it to jam up. Even if some people are able to communicate, you might not be able to.
The kicker is that in a SHTF scenario, the one thing that will save you above all else is information. Knowing just what is going on, what areas are affected, and being able to make decisions is more important than any other survival prep you might have made.
Should you hunker down in your bunker or make a run for it? With the wrong information, any bunker can easily become a tomb, or an attempted escape can lead to a literally dead end. The problem is, you can’t rely on being given the information you need. You can’t trust what you’re being told on the news—they may not know or maybe deliberately concealing what’s going on.
You need survival communications that are robust against catastrophes and can get you the information you need whether you’re in the path of destruction or right in the thick of it. We will share PrepperNet’s approved list of communication equipment you need to own and will explain why.
Thank you, Natty!
Baofeng UV-5R dual band HT radio
Two extended life batteries
Baofeng Programming cable
14.5 inch whip antenna
Nelson roll-up J-Pole antenna
USB 5 volt charging dock
Baofeng 12 volt DC battery adapter
AA battery adapter
Nagoya UT-72 magnetic mount quarter wave antenna
Mobile amplifier
13.8 volt power supply
Anker Astro E7 V power brick
Folding solar panel
Two meters should do well for local communications. But at least one person in your community should also be equipped to get onto the ham HF/SW bands using off-the-grid power. That’ll extend your reach out hundreds and thousands of miles. And if cost is a factor, check out this India-made kit transceiver. SSB will also give you access to the increasingly popular below-noise digital modes.
http://www.hfsignals.com
And if you travel a lot, particularly to unpleasant places, you might want to look into two-way satellite texting devices the size of cell phones, such as the Garmin InReach series. They’ll give you cellphone-like texting when the cell systems go down or get shut down in a political coup. If you’ve traveling through multiple countries, they also avoid the hassle of multiple SIMs.
https://explore.garmin.com/en-CA/inreach/
I recommend the Signal Stuff Signal Stick antenna for the UV-5R. It’s a little more expensive ($20) than the XP-771, but its performance is equal or better and it is much lighter and more flexible exerting less stress the (somewhat weak) UV-5R antenna connector when it gets bumped or pressed against something. Also, it’s made in the USA and the antenna can be rolled into a fairly tight loop for storage/transport.
https://signalstuff.com/product/super-elastic-signal-stick/
I’m able to transmit with my baofeng uv5r when it’s in the charger. I run it 24/7 like this with my aprs packet station that transmits every 20 minutes.
Good overview! A few nitpicks:
VHF/UHF don’t work as “groundwave” like how 80M or 160M can propagate by. VHF/UHF are both are Line-of-Sight, which is why height=range.
PL tones don’t prevent anyone from listening in, unless they have configured their radios to use tones to ignore incoming transmissions. Turning off the receive tone squelch will allow anyone to hear anything, regardless of tones. Communicating with PL tones is still very much “in the clear”!
I recommend hfsignals bitx 20 or bitx 40, I have made dozens of contacts on SSB and for $65 delivered from India, you can’t beat the value for a prebuilt SSB transceiver.
I have mine set for CW and digital is possible.
The all band SSB microbitx is $130, and I’m saving up to get one.
I use 9:1 unun and long wire running off of three 18650 batteries and the whole thing weighs not two pounds.
Perfect radio comms for BOB, and huge support community.
The Lord’s Blessings to you all, Amen.