Communications Plan

[Dave2001]

View attachment 20391
Hello CQ...

LOVE the radio shack!!!
Hello CQ...View attachment 20391

 

[backandbeyond]

There are some pretty high hills not far from me, overkill really for 2m operation but there is some CB activity around here on uhf and I plan to go up and run some tests with an icom "ic-41" I picked up a while back. I have noticed over the years that the amateur radio operators down here are a pretty conformist lot, as in they all vote, all get vaccinated, all wear their hearts on the sleeve so to speak. They would not be my first choice as confederates in a dark world, and by that I mean they are very resistant to break rules and going against government edicts. Something needed even now I am afraid.

I tried to tee a couple up for meets during our lockdowns and they would have no part of it, not even in a local park where they were "allowed" to go exercise. They didn't want you in their homes either, that's another breach of rules. As a worker who had sanctioned access to peoples homes every day because my job was essential, I found this quite laughable but there you have it. Not that my job was ever classified as essential, I just believed it was and no one ever questioned me. I also took long motorcycle rides and was never accosted, those rules were for the weak in the head I came to realize.

Anyway getting back to the real point of the post, I plan to use a speaker mic on the icom so I can sit it on the car roof and get a ground-plane effect, I'll probably need a repeater to test that if I can't get a qso going. 5W on uhf will actually go a long way, I have recorded repeater contacts at 100km using only 0.5W. It's a good band but very line of sight dependent. Harking back to the lockdowns again I was told that 27meg activity in my region went through the roof at that time but I didn't explore it myself. I shall in the future though.

 

[Dave2001]

LOVE the shack, Looks like a Heil mic in pic, did you know Bob Heil died this week, RIP Bob for your MANY accomplishments in the radio industry!

 

[Robert Stewart]

Currently undertaking studies to gain my foundation license will be on week 2 next week of a 3 week zoom training session have resisted all urges and temptation to purchase a mobile and handheld sets until after I've passed the examination/practical component

This will give me an extra addition to my communication plan in event that STHF does happen at some point this year

 

[Robert Stewart]

Last Saturday was judgement day to see if I had retained all the learnings from both previous weekend's practice session and 3 week zoom course on foundation amateur radio only took me about 15 or so minutes to complete the 25 question exam aside from skipping 3 questions and going back to them before i finished ended up with 23/25 right and 92% pass mark after a quick refresher/recap from previous week's practice run and some oral questions my assessor signed me off as competent

Now I'm waiting on ACMA to approve the selected call sign before I am allowed to push transmit on my baofeng UV-25 handheld I've also got a Hamgeek APX-8000 being posted out to me as well so 2 meter and 70cm will become my secondary bands incase STHF scenario does unfold of which isn't that far off given the situation in Israel where an all out conflict with Iran/Theran is likely to happen

 

[backandbeyond]

checkout andrews communications in SYD, they are the go to place for aussie amateurs and the prices are ok. Antennas are the secret, good antennas like the Diamond X300N base station for 2 and 70 will get you out, even with a little handi. All you'll need is an adapter and some coax. You'll find as you make contacts that most amateurs use Yaesu, Icom and Kenwood gear, a bit more expensive than the chinese offerings but chalk and cheese when it comes to function and quality of sound etc.

 

[Outfitterbm]

Many preppers are looking for a communications plan. The second consern they have is evading detection. Direction finding of low power transmitters would be more difficult with a frequency hopping plan. Changing bands from VHF to UHF would further complicate direction finding. Say you have 10 people and 20 acres of land, your basic China HT will cover that area fine unless you are in the mountains. Just pick your frequencies, program the radios and you are set. I would recommend a good antenna 30 to 50 foot high and a 20 to 50 watt mobile radio to monitor the entire location. Besides this fixed station I would also have a scanner to monitor local law enforcement and a short wave receiver at the bare minimum. This fixed station would require power supplies and battery back-up and someone to monitor the radio 16 to 24 hours a day for emergency traffic. If you want to talk to someone outside your little group, you need license and learn about repeaters. Now if you want to talk to people around the nation or world you will need a HF station. The big question is how much land do you want to cover and how big is your group of people? Twenty or thirty people all showing up with different radios, batteries and frequency programs and expecting everything to work together would be a real mess. Compound this assortment of radios with different antenna connectors and handset/speaker mic connectors and you muddy the water even more. You can't load multiple programs in these radios. Once you load your prepper list of frequencies into the radio the existing frequencies are erased. I am not trying to rain on your parade, just open your eyes to the planning required for this to work. de KA5SIW

Two-way communications in my preparedness world. There are several simple, cost effective way to hide in plain site when it come to flying under the radar. Portable high powered hand held, mobile and base radio rigs are all part of that plan. To me, I rely on repeaters set up in strategic locations to do the trick. I currently have a network designed to cover a 50 mile radius, so that four preparedness teams can communicate during scheduled times. The idea is to share information and resources, especially medication and food during an event.