Bill Cooper had that entertaining way of starting off his Short Wave broadcast with that air raid siren
And BTW, it's time for patriots to be thinking of resurrecting SW broadcast as a means to get the patriot word out
The Internet should not be viewed as a rock solid platform for comms
To get feet wet, buy a GMRS radio - it's one level below SW HAM; it require a FCC license, but there is no test involved, it cost $70, but it's good for 10 years, and it applies to everyone in the household of the licensee
Now the thing that is valuable about GMRS is can get units that transmit with up to 50 watts of power, which is not shabby, but even better than that, there are lots of GMRS repeaters all over the 48 states; even your handheld GMRS unit will have a good likelihood of being able to connect to a GMRS repeater
There are GMRS repeater networks that attempt to span the 48 states - is spotty, of course - these are pretty much civic/volunteer repeaters and depend on dues-paying local clubs to keep their repeater maintained
And there is an actual nation-wide GMRS network that involves connecting a $155 device to your home Internet connection, so yeah, it's relies on the Internet, but it is a way to establish right now a nation-wide real-time communications network
Now one thing am going to work on personally is a text messaging capability for GMRS so that comms don't have to necessarily happen in real-time per the sender and recipient, as with analog voice comms; the FCC back in 2017 started allowing for text messaging over the GMRS frequencies, but no one seems to have that up and going yet.
The HAM guys have done packet radio and text messaging for many years over SW, it all faded away when the Internet came on strong and supplanted all that, but more lately there are HAMs resurrecting it and there a lot of YouTube videos on the subject
I don't think am going to try and fully implement the packet transmission stack that the SW HAM guys use, but instead will just do something simple like use analog Morse Code that is automated in its encoding/decoding by a Raspberry Pi - the new Model 400 Pi looks like could be perfect for the task of doing text messaging. The GPIO header pins will be where the modulation to the radio is connected. The Pi will take the place of a handheld mike, so to speak. The next step after that will be to get some GMRS club with a repeater to agree to allow this manner of text messaging usage of their repeater. One step at a time, though.
[EDIT] BTW, when listening to one of these nation-wide, repeater-based GMRS networks, they had a discussion topic of what GMRS users would like to see as new capabilities. The top requested feature was text messaging. So once the capability is implemented, don't think it will be that tough to get adoption in the GMRS communities and get to where all the GMRS repeaters allow text messaging usage.
But the FCC doesn't allow radio programming broadcast over the GMRS frequencies, so to do what Bill Cooper did will require going over to Short Wave HAM bands
BTW, a Faraday Cage is very easy to construct for putting electronic gear inside of to protect it
here's what have learned in actually making a Faraday Cage that works:
take a container like a cardboard box with a lid that has flanges to fit over and overlap the edges when the lid is put on; or a star-foam ice chest
go to hardware store and order some aluminum foil tape
wrap the box or chest completely in aluminum foil - you will want to get to 24 micron thickness, and if using typical supermarket foil, will need to wrap the container 4 times; so you might want to order some aluminum foil that has appropriate thickness so will just have to wrap 1 time
now here is the sensitive part - need to be careful with where the lid fits and seals because, darn it, cell phone microwaves a very short wave length and they will penetrate through the tiny gap of a lid - that's why urge to go with a box that has a lid that has flanges
It's pretty straight forward to put a radio that is playing, say an AM or FM station, put it into the box, put the lid on, and have the radio go completely silent; but it can be more challenging to seal sufficiently to where you block microwaves of your cell phone - but you now know the issue to concentrate on, and I affirm to you that it can be adequately addressed to where a cell phone will be blocked from all transmissions when put inside a Faraday Cage
But when taking the Prepper step of making these low cost boxes for protecting your radio gear, you'll probably need to buy two of everything - the unit you use every day, and the unit you have put away in a Faraday Cage so that it will survive through an EMP
Little note. You can operate a radio without a license. We do it all the time here in the U.S. when training inside our borders. In the times we face less government t control is better. I won't sign anything or give them the chance to regulate me. I'm free
My goal is to get the organizations that maintain all these GMRS repeaters to get on board with an async GMRS text messaging feature, which means I need to play in the FCC regulated waters that they do or else they won't have anything to do with me.
These organizations are decent orgs as they tend to revolve around civic-minded search and rescue and emergency scenario backup comms.
Pretty much all the GMRS repeaters are either maintained by dues-paying clubs or else depend on donations from their radio enthusiast patrons.
take a look at this prepper article write-up I did on this GMRS radio stuff to see where my head is at on all that - basically thinking because it does repeaters too, that might be able to get a wider audience of patriots involved in an uptake of GMRS vs SW HAM
Wife just bought so.e beofengs I've got to dig into and learn how to program like wLkies this weekend. So first time ever even remotely interested in learning radio stuff.. gonna be new experience atleast
BTW, I turned the info on the GMRS radio and Faraday Cage into a combined prepper article - would appreciate an upvote and recommend for pinning - hoping to assist other patriots on these topics
Bill Cooper had that entertaining way of starting off his Short Wave broadcast with that air raid siren
And BTW, it's time for patriots to be thinking of resurrecting SW broadcast as a means to get the patriot word out
The Internet should not be viewed as a rock solid platform for comms
To get feet wet, buy a GMRS radio - it's one level below SW HAM; it require a FCC license, but there is no test involved, it cost $70, but it's good for 10 years, and it applies to everyone in the household of the licensee
Now the thing that is valuable about GMRS is can get units that transmit with up to 50 watts of power, which is not shabby, but even better than that, there are lots of GMRS repeaters all over the 48 states; even your handheld GMRS unit will have a good likelihood of being able to connect to a GMRS repeater
There are GMRS repeater networks that attempt to span the 48 states - is spotty, of course - these are pretty much civic/volunteer repeaters and depend on dues-paying local clubs to keep their repeater maintained
And there is an actual nation-wide GMRS network that involves connecting a $155 device to your home Internet connection, so yeah, it's relies on the Internet, but it is a way to establish right now a nation-wide real-time communications network
Now one thing am going to work on personally is a text messaging capability for GMRS so that comms don't have to necessarily happen in real-time per the sender and recipient, as with analog voice comms; the FCC back in 2017 started allowing for text messaging over the GMRS frequencies, but no one seems to have that up and going yet.
The HAM guys have done packet radio and text messaging for many years over SW, it all faded away when the Internet came on strong and supplanted all that, but more lately there are HAMs resurrecting it and there a lot of YouTube videos on the subject
I don't think am going to try and fully implement the packet transmission stack that the SW HAM guys use, but instead will just do something simple like use analog Morse Code that is automated in its encoding/decoding by a Raspberry Pi - the new Model 400 Pi looks like could be perfect for the task of doing text messaging. The GPIO header pins will be where the modulation to the radio is connected. The Pi will take the place of a handheld mike, so to speak. The next step after that will be to get some GMRS club with a repeater to agree to allow this manner of text messaging usage of their repeater. One step at a time, though.
Here's a low-cost GMRS radio to try it out and learn the ropes: BTECH GMRS-V1 GMRS Two-Way Radio, GMRS Repeater Capable, with Dual Band Scanning Receiver (136-174.99mhz (VHF) 400-520.99mhz (UHF))
[EDIT] BTW, when listening to one of these nation-wide, repeater-based GMRS networks, they had a discussion topic of what GMRS users would like to see as new capabilities. The top requested feature was text messaging. So once the capability is implemented, don't think it will be that tough to get adoption in the GMRS communities and get to where all the GMRS repeaters allow text messaging usage.
But the FCC doesn't allow radio programming broadcast over the GMRS frequencies, so to do what Bill Cooper did will require going over to Short Wave HAM bands
yeah, think of potential EMP attack, etc
BTW, a Faraday Cage is very easy to construct for putting electronic gear inside of to protect it
here's what have learned in actually making a Faraday Cage that works:
take a container like a cardboard box with a lid that has flanges to fit over and overlap the edges when the lid is put on; or a star-foam ice chest
go to hardware store and order some aluminum foil tape
wrap the box or chest completely in aluminum foil - you will want to get to 24 micron thickness, and if using typical supermarket foil, will need to wrap the container 4 times; so you might want to order some aluminum foil that has appropriate thickness so will just have to wrap 1 time
now here is the sensitive part - need to be careful with where the lid fits and seals because, darn it, cell phone microwaves a very short wave length and they will penetrate through the tiny gap of a lid - that's why urge to go with a box that has a lid that has flanges
It's pretty straight forward to put a radio that is playing, say an AM or FM station, put it into the box, put the lid on, and have the radio go completely silent; but it can be more challenging to seal sufficiently to where you block microwaves of your cell phone - but you now know the issue to concentrate on, and I affirm to you that it can be adequately addressed to where a cell phone will be blocked from all transmissions when put inside a Faraday Cage
But when taking the Prepper step of making these low cost boxes for protecting your radio gear, you'll probably need to buy two of everything - the unit you use every day, and the unit you have put away in a Faraday Cage so that it will survive through an EMP
Have you tested this
When they come looking for you, shoot your cellphone and then throw it the water.
Little note. You can operate a radio without a license. We do it all the time here in the U.S. when training inside our borders. In the times we face less government t control is better. I won't sign anything or give them the chance to regulate me. I'm free
My goal is to get the organizations that maintain all these GMRS repeaters to get on board with an async GMRS text messaging feature, which means I need to play in the FCC regulated waters that they do or else they won't have anything to do with me.
These organizations are decent orgs as they tend to revolve around civic-minded search and rescue and emergency scenario backup comms.
Pretty much all the GMRS repeaters are either maintained by dues-paying clubs or else depend on donations from their radio enthusiast patrons.
Is there a particular GMRS or shortwave NET for patriots? Shortwave preferred since I can hit repeaters.
take a look at this prepper article write-up I did on this GMRS radio stuff to see where my head is at on all that - basically thinking because it does repeaters too, that might be able to get a wider audience of patriots involved in an uptake of GMRS vs SW HAM
https://greatawakening.win/p/11RO2mAAfg/
but the HAM tech level license is said to not be bad at all - that kids take it and pass, so surely us adults can study and pass it too
BTW, would appreciate an upvote and a recommend to pin on that article - believe it could be helpful to a patriots thinking about the problem of comms
Wife just bought so.e beofengs I've got to dig into and learn how to program like wLkies this weekend. So first time ever even remotely interested in learning radio stuff.. gonna be new experience atleast
Embarked on similar odyssey myself
BTW, I turned the info on the GMRS radio and Faraday Cage into a combined prepper article - would appreciate an upvote and recommend for pinning - hoping to assist other patriots on these topics
https://greatawakening.win/p/11RO2mAAfg/
I combined the two topics into one prepper article that I posted:
https://greatawakening.win/p/11RO2mAAfg/