5 Things needed for an Offgrid & Secure(ish) Comms Relay
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ค. 2024
- In this video, I'll share with you 5 things that are needed to pass emergency or priority traffic to a love one that does have an amateur radio license. Yes, it is going to take some work.
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0:00 Introduction
1:03 Station Setup
2:28 The Communication Plan
3:16 Our First Problem
5:26 Band Issues
6:50 FM Repeater Relay
10:38 HF Relay
12:01 After Action Report
14:36 The Gear
15:47 The Skills
16:42 The Network
17:36 The Plan
19:15 The Motivation
19:27 Antenna Recap
#thetechprepper #offgrid #radio - บันเทิง
Ditto. The “fail “ videos are just as important as the “win” videos. The AAR’s are an essential element of both. The contact cards for trusted associates? Genius!! Well done. 👍 🇺🇸
Love the way you overcame real world problems with real world solutions!
More on the way. Thanks again for the hitch mount pointer!
I am not a prepper because I prefer to hide in plain sight. You made a very good point in this video where you need to communicate with limited or no infrastructure. I have been lulled into thinking APRS can send text messages but that is in flux. This needs fixing along with using winlink email because I really not not trust others to get messages to my family. I agree we need to keep names and numbers out of the clear to protect them. This is making me think I need to work on another way because I know it would be bad to have all my fine radios and not be able to get a message out. Thank you for making me think.
Glad to see someone using their kit in a way that recreates what they built their kit for. Your practice op ended up being successful, but failure isn't a bad thing -we learn from our failures and make sure we address the problem. This was a fun watch, thank you for posting!
Thanks. I got into radio for emergency communication, so this kit was designed for portability, field expediency and efficiency. I rarely operate at home. The last few years have been mostly about operating in the backcountry with this gear. Have a good one. Thanks for the view! (Sorry about the audio and video on this one. It is usually better). Recording on the phone was a mistake.
Excellent idea to have a distributed "contact" card and a standardized data format to send information quickly with. Will definitely be adding these ideas to the toolbox. Thank you for the great work and video!
You're welcome. I love it when a plan comes together. Cheers.
This is the model we practice, experiment, and train for. Something unexpected or unfavorable happens, we get into a situation and need to establish reliable comms to relay a message, initiate some kind of action, or both. Exercises that simulate reality are powerful learning tools. 73 and a great video summary.
Thanks for the support, my friend. Acknowledge all and agreed.
Nice exercise. JS8Call is great. I recently got a USB GPS receiver for my laptop for secondary off-line time syncing and location tracking. There are newer versions of JS8Call with updated and expanded radio control protocols that can be found on their development forum, but it does meaning signing up for an account there to access them.
And yeah, you're a brave man for running a long wire near high power lines. If you have to, best to run it perpendicular rather than parallel, but of course your contact might have been in the same direction, so making it less than ideal.
Thanks for the video. Definitely some nice things to consider. Cheers.
"js8call-2.2.1-devel-win64_Hamlib4.5.5" is the newest one that I'm aware of. I don't think they have a mac version, but they do have a Windows and Linux version. Cheers.
Thank you. I am actually in the process of forking the JS8Call code base publically. I build it from source and have a few modifications that I am developing to help streamline field operation without a keyboard and mouse. The current feature is one-click time sync based on heard signals. Thanks for the details.
@@TheTechPrepper Oh, neat. That's cool to hear. Do you have a Discord or other collaboration platform for these sort of things? This account of mine is semi-anonymous, but seeing you for quite a while on here, I wouldn't mind providing you with my contact info in a more secure way. Either way, looking forward to seeing more of these developments. Cheers.
The contact card is a great idea. You are miles ahead of me when it comes to having a communication plan. I know who among my non ham contacts I want to be able to get messages to, but I haven't figured out exactly who in my ham circle I can use to relay the messages. I have a few ideas on who I could possibly use in my local area. I don't have any out of state ham contacts I could use though.
Another thought provoking video! Bravo! I was particularly interested in your "contact" card where you had designated contacts using a two digit designation (I2, O3, etc) for specific persons to retain operational security. Although I realize that this is WAY OFF TOPIC, it dovetails into something I was contemplating last week and that was how to compress a message into a short "code". Of course, it would require a codebook to be maintained within the group. My first thought was a 3 digit number corresponding to some longer code designation. But then I remembered, after watching the video, how much I hate simple numbers to refer to a specific code. Many medical software databases use numbers to match up with treatment codes. But they are horrible to remember! What I did when writing my own medical software package was to use 2 letter groups, up to 5 layers deep, to designate a treatment. For example, a tetanus shot was IJVATT (IJ-injection, VA-vaccine, TT-tetanus toxoid). Or a DPAIBUTA10 (DP-dispense, AI-anti-inflammatory, BU-phenylbutazone, TA-tablets, 10-100mg). Basically, what I'm throwing out for discussion is an "easy to remember" coding system for abbreviated messaging that could fit into a small payload. Of course, like your position, certain details can be appended for clarity.
The main point is: 1) I'm always pushed to think after watching a video, and 2) Sometimes concepts can emerge from other fields of endeavour that might not normally be considered.
While the production quality on this video was low (audio and video), the food-for-thought was meant to be high. I am glad that it got you thinking. The use of the designator may be a "gray area" with the FCC, but I have seen other services like SMSGTE (APRS) use aliases so that you do not leak sensitive information (emails and phone number). I do not see these designators as being any different than the tactical call signs which we use regularly at public service events. By the way, our group has code books defined, but we have never trained with them over the air. We also came up with some short hand notation to reduced the payload traffic size, but have never used it, since it may fall into the category of obscuring messages.
@@TheTechPrepper, I understand the thought about “obscuring messages.” Use of such abbreviations should not be used on a routine basis. On the other hand, there are times I feel when under adverse conditions that such measures are warranted. There are other services, such as weather reports, that pack information so tightly they can be hard to understand even knowing how they are formatted. Bandwidth can be a precious commodity at times. And when time, bandwidth, and safety are a priority, then I don’t see an issue.
Great video. I was working HF CW the other day and my wife asked why I wasn't filming it. Grrr. Thanks for the excellent production and keep it up.
You're welcome. Have your YL join you and film it. 73 de KT7RUN
Failures are always a possible outcome, success not. But don't forget that it's still an outcome one can learn from and reflect of. Or failure is not per definition negative (as long as you learn from it and of that I'm convinced you're covering that👍). 73
I've always learned the most through failure. It's a great teacher. The trick is to learn from it quickly and move forward.
That was a great one dude! Thanks.👍👍
Glad you enjoyed it. I had fun considering there was no prep. I'll try not to make a habit of starting random live streams without at least some notes next time. Cheers!
Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
Practice^3 Cant emphasize that enough! I'm a relatively new Ham & every time I switch on a radio, even a Baofeng, I learn something new.
73s
Great vid, as always. I'm still working to catch up on the fundamentals, so your vids like this are many months of skillset and equipment procurement/development beyond my current situation. But while application isn't going to happen for quite a while on my end, I learn with each of your vids and I enjoy and appreciate them. Thanks, Gaston.
I'm glad to hear that you're working on the fundamentals. It's not difficult. It just takes some work and practice. Good luck on your journey.
Liked the code for the contact' details, very clever. 73 and thanks for posting.
Thanks for letting me know. I appreciate the view. Cheers.
Excellent video Gaston.
Glad you enjoyed it
Excellent lessons. Thanks
You're welcome. Thanks for the view.
GMan FB exercise! Setting up by the power lines demonstrated that you can succeed in a compromised location. Keep up the good work! 👍
That was a curveball. I was trying to find a spot off the main road that did not require me trespassing on private land, so the utility road was all that I had access to. Take care.
my best advice is to clip a wire onto the vertical and instantly convert your vertical into an inverted-L for excellent NVIS (tuner required, but you already deployed that anyway)
Excellent video. Great demonstration that you do not need to use systems that require that you to submit to their rules where your identity and messages can be scrutinized.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Keep up the good work, Gaston! Great exercise! Great debrief!
My tactical call is "Chicken Dinner."
When a youngster the local VFD was by the largest baptist church in the area on one of the busiest highways in the state. One Sunday a month they would have a chicken fry fundraiser. Baptist and fried chicken on a Sunday after meeting was a marriage made in heaven.
The VFD had a large PA you could easily hear a 1/4 mile, "Chicken dinner, chicken dinner, come and get your chicken dinner!"
What could be better than fresh hot 1/4 of fried chicken, coleslaw, baked beans, a roll, or white bread with sweet tea or sugary sweet Kool Aid. After lunch we ran, played tag, and fed the Koi fish white bread.
GOOD TIMES! GREAT MEMORIES!
Sometimes I check the local repeater for traffic calling, "Chicken dinner, chicken dinner. Are that any chickens looking for a chicken dinner. N4VEP."
For JS8Call, I guess I could settle for "CD."
Just for the record, my family wasn't baptist, but some other Jesus people.
Keep track of your NVIS the next few years. In 4-5yrs you may have to change band and time as we move towards solar minimum. 80m may become your goto.
73, N4VEP
Chicken Dinner, You are 5-9. Be advised: I enjoy your comments. I have the FT-857D for the upcoming solar minimum.
You do really good videos on radios. I am new technician, So I am like a baby, Learning everything I see , hear & read. - KE2AUM 📡-73
Welcome to the hobby!
Loved your video and learnings. I heard you over the Intertie that day, and I was tempted to say hello to let you know how much I enjoy your videos. However, I didn’t want to interrupt your filming. Keep it up and 73. W1UTE
Feel free to through out your callsign. I'm on Intertie Monday through Friday between 14:15 and 14:55 UTC. Thank you for the support!
Great video, thanks
My pleasure! Thanks for the view. We does everyone like the videos where I mangle the video and audio? ;-)
I prefer videos that are true-to-life rather than something with too much slick production and re-takes. I'm gonna make a lot of mistakes in the field, so its valuable to see how others handle glitches. @@TheTechPrepper
For being limited on time this sure had a lot of great information. Thank you. I look forward to communicating with the folks on Buy Me A Coffee to learn more about communication possibilities with family about 800 miles away.
Traditional antenna deployments on 20m are great for that range during the day. We're having our member live stream next Tueaday. I also have a couple of member videos coming this weekend. Be safe.
@@TheTechPrepper thank you, Brother. You, too. I am devouring your videos and working on my technician license. I have a goal of mid March for that. Then gathering equipment (tools) necessary for my comm needs. I honestly can't thank you enough for creating this channel. It is EXACTLY what I needed to not feel as overwhelmed at the entire process.
@@TN9mmShooter You're very welcome. I appreciate the support.
Thanks for this video i just ordered my first gmrs radio and applied for my license this week. Been looking for years on what to do for shtf scenarios. After watching 1000s of videos on hams, and seeing all the negative people using them, aka sad hams. Pushed me away very abruptly. Gsmr is now the ones i will go with.
Glad to hear that you found a radio service that works for you. That's what counts.
Ah... the infamous "Box Canyon".... those situations never end well. As long as you survive, everyday is a learning experience as long as you're open to it. Thanks for another great video pushing us all to think out of the box canyon...haha
You're right about that. You'll stop learning when you're dead. Box Canyon was a good lesson.
Did you eat your lunch at box canyon?
(I didn't invent that joke, it was on the AM radio in the 1990s, I think it was Paul Henry? He was hilarious)
Awesome video as always bud. I got a Yaesu VX6R. Very good little radio! Thanks for reccomending it.
My pleasure. Glad you like it. I only recommend what I use.
Yup great HT for durability. I just setup a FT-2980 for some VHF power, getting it built into manpack still.
@@nitekry The FT-2980R is a power house. Be careful, it gets hot. If you manpack that rig, you will need an external antenna. I suggest a roll-up J-Pole, jungle antenna or Yagi.
Thanks, The bag full opens on the front exposing the heat sinks, I have several antennas to try on it, just working on how to mount it into the bag so it doesn't flop out when opened. @@TheTechPrepper
Great exercise
Thank you. Apologies about the production quality. I'll run the GoPro and wireless mic next time.
That Cha Hybrid Micro is great. I added the Delta loop kit to mine. . . haven't tried it yet, but looking forward to it. It's supposed to be resonant across all the HF bands. Essentially its just 2 whips at a 45 degree angle connected at the top.
Technically, this is the TDL. I'm just running it without the second vertical whip and wire to make the loop. The SWR drops dramatically when you run the delta loop and put it up 25'. Have fun testing.
Good action report. Shows how important flexibility, community, capability and coordination are critical for communication.
A good add for op security is AIS comms and using messaging obscurity. Relaying a message to any contact to relay a message to AIS or another means and using your code words can work. The key thing to add is a means to incorporate a note in a message that can validate your identity to your known contact via an unknown contact. Something like some math using today’s date and your birthday, etc.
I think this would technically be illegal encryption, but within acceptability of the community via obscurity.
Exactly. All of those things are important. The authentication part is something that we are experimenting with. There may be a video on this later. I have this video in the backlog: How do you verify the operator on the other end?
@@TheTechPrepper oh cool. Would be interested to hear your thoughts on the idea.
Great video as always Gaston! The contact cards gives more ideas to think about. Just a thought as another contingency plan on this: could you have used the JS8call command to see if any other stations are hearing Mike, then use that station to relay your message to Mike?
Yes, I could have done that. I could have also left him the same message on any of the systems that could hear me. We've done this store and forward technique many times.
I got my technician, studying for the general, and I'm getting my family to get thier license so I can contact them since few of them are in California, Nevada, Arizona, Mexico, Utah, Florida, north Dakota and my state of Alabama. I dont understand winlink and js8 stuff, but digital stuff is cool but not for me. I like phone bands and cw, I still have lots to learn still.
My main focus with the hobby will be pota/sota, phone bands on vhf/uhf and hf, fox hunting and cw.
73, kq4hcu
Was making regular contacrs with Mike but i went home up north for a week where i have to get into Eldon for Intertie.
Excellent. Have a safe trip back.
Gotta have a small mallet to drive that Chameleon antenna ground stake into the ground.
Failure is not an option... it's a requirement. We need to be prepared for everything to fail even if it's just knowing when to give up.
Well said.
If you run the vertical off of your trailer hitch (with appropriate mount), you don't need radials, the vehicle makes a very efficient ground plane and far less setup time. I do that quite often when I don't have a big enough footprint to set up a larger antenna like an EFHW. Using 50' of coax also helps as a balance to the antenna, and it doesn't need to be stretched out, coiled up works just as well. At the distance you were attempting, I've used 40m at all times of the day with this setup.
I like your approach. I need to try that. In fact, I was considering rigging the CHA Hybrid Micro and whip in a horizontal configuration, but I did not have a good way of mounting it. I'll try to fabricate a mount.
@@TheTechPrepper Take a look at the Breedlove Mounts trailer hitch mount #970. Built like a tank.
@@Swamp-Fox I owe you one. I ordered it. This would have been perfect for this exercise. Thank you.
@@TheTechPrepper Nice! I hope it works out well for you. I don't think you will be disappointed.
Not easy is it? This video gets us ready to try alternatives. Hopeful until we succeed. Thanks.
I've been spoiled by operating a lot with the same gear in the National Forest, but this less than ideal location off the highway tossed one heck of a curveball. I'll be trying a similar exercise again with an urban deployment and slightly different antenna setup. Stay tuned.
HF tools is great for ham support stuff.
HF for the win!
'Real world' is a very divisive term as any scenario must stand up to analysis and at least a desktop exercise covering pre-event, event, and response & recovery on immediate area, local, and wide area stages. However, at least The presenter is actually actively testing the plan and adapting when it doesn't work.. unlike the majority of people who sell the idea of a post-apocalyptic survivalist scenario requiring the overpriced junk they are peddling.
Failures happen more than successes, which is why I laugh at all of the keyboard commandos that say they don't need a license to operate radios and they'll be fine when SHTF.
I've never understood the "I don't need a license" mentality. Failure is a great teacher.
I have friends with baofengs and they don't even know how to switch from channel mode to VFO so they can enter in a frequency manually. God forbid they try to operate a HF radio.
@@TheTechPrepperWith the cellphone outage the other day, it was readily apparent. They caused some interference here thinking a cell outage was a valid emergency and a license to act like CB CH 6 or 7.200. My only concern from the Baofeng army at this point is just creating interference on repeaters. That'd easily be defeated just by changing the PL tone since they only know how to program it via loading it in Chirp like all the prepper channels told them to do.
Maybe I’m an anomaly but I run encrypted coms with crossfreq pseudotrunking as my daily with about a dozen other guys license free. I have a license for nerdom reasons but I certainly don’t use it as intended. Idk guys, I just find the whole callsign thing weird. We don’t walk up to people reading a book and demand they show their library card.
@@vordevan258 send it. That's awesome.
I'm a beginner in amateur radio I really like this concept though I was thinking about doing a radio in the car and I saw your other video. I guess I don't know enough and my question would be what do I need as a prepper/preparer? I typically prefer to have more than less so more power more range more ammo that kind of stuff more skills than I need if and when I have to use them...
With every limited funds I purchased a 897d with a great deal of other items. Could you recommend an antenna?
Once possible improvement if you brought the legs slightly closer together you could focus the signal in the direction of the station you want to contact, this would improve your signal performance in a high QRM enviroment, however you may loose contact with your other stations as you are no longer NVIS. God bless.
I have experimented with a Vee Beam dipole in the past, but it required terminating resistors at the ends. It worked well to get directionality as well as cut the noise on the backend. I used showed this in a "No Random Contacts" video with Jason KM4ACK. Thanks for the suggestion. 73
@@TheTechPrepper Maybe try an Inverted L, with the nuckle pointed in the direction of the station you want to contact. Separately do you have mesh networks in your area, LoRa utilising Meshtastic firmware ?
Whats the best way to get rid of glare on a tablet screen? Mine is almost unreadable in bright light.
Do you have any experience or comments for using Meshtastic and 915MHz? It seems like another nice deployment and even offers high encryption. Just wanted your thoughts.
Not yet. I am intentionally putting off LoRa and Meshtastic until I finish another project. It's good in the sense that it requires no license, is inexpensive, offers encryption and provides a decentralized network. I am skeptical on it being able to do long range communication like I often doing across the region and country. That requires intermediate nodes. If you're in a canyon or deep in the backcountry, you're out of luck in less there are other nodes.
I want to build a rig like this, but with a Xiegu G90 which has a built-in antenna tuner, is current production and more affordable.
I look forward to the possible future release of your EmComm tools app. ;)
The G90 has a lot of value for the price.
ARMOLOQ makes frames for it. Just add a DigiRig and you're all set. Good luck!
You probably already know this, but NVIS is a type of propagation, not an antenna configuration. 40M in particular is only NVIS-capable at the right times of day and during the right atmospheric condx. 80M would have been more reliable, had your location not been next to those high lines. Probably info you already knew but for the new or soon to be radio operators it is good to point out. Maybe consider a future video on the selection of bands for regional comms, including time of day and atmospheric condx?
Yes, NVIS is a type of propagation, but it most certainly has a well-defined set of deployment configurations that lend themselves to high take-off angles.
Secondly, 80m would not have worked in this instance even though I had links for both 75m and 80m, as my trusted testing partner on the other end is limited to 40m operation. We found 1700Z to be a reliable time for us. When that time hit, we were in business.
What receiver hitch mast adapter are you using?
I Need to get JS8 working for our "listening posts" who only use SDR. I have Radio to Radio Relay teams, but even many of those do not have HF radio setup for digital. Do you dedicate a single FT-891 to digital, or change setting back and fourth?
If you're just listening, consider something like the QDX from QRP Labs. At the house, I dedicate my Icom IC-7200. Good luck with your station.
The CHA TDL has some NVIS capability and in my case needs almost no tuning 40-6. If you're already carrying the CHA Hybrid and don't have a TDL hub kit, I'd STRONGLY recommend grabbing one!
Actually, this is the CHA TLD. For the field, I do not bring the extra whip, wire or hub-kit. It is a good performer, especially if you mount it on the CHA PORTAMAST 25.
@@TheTechPrepper Very good stuff Gaston! I picked up my TDL for black friday this last year and I haven't really used another antenna since. It's so simple to set up and performs so well I have all but abandoned wire antennas for portable ops. I find its only disadvantage to be size/weight. Good stuff!
Been thinking of buying an Icom 705 due to it's built in sound card for use with js8call on foot.
It's a fancy radio. There's some optional Icom software that lets you Bluetooth it to the laptop too. It's just spendy.
That's a popular QRP rig with tons of features. I am holding off on a new QRP radio.I think Yaesu has an IC-705 killer in the works.
@@TheTechPrepper Very interesting, might as well wait for Dayton since it's close anyhow, perhaps an announcement.
So, I live next to a 39kW transmission line. I have had moderate success reaching out,but not what I’d like. I’m primarily using a Packtenna EFHW.
Have any suggestions on gear or technique to mitigate the influence of those lines?
PackTenna makes great gear. I used the 20m Mini EFHW for years. I am actually looking to try a noise filter from Palomar Engineers very soon to see if it helps.
Hello. Which is the best DMR handheld radio?
Curious of your thoughts on Vara HF Have you tried it? I run an 857D portable and have my Laptop and radio configured for Vara HF / FM using a Digirig. I haven’t yet given JS8Call a try yet. Howdy from N7ORG
I have used it and love the speed, but sadly I am not a full-time Windows user, so I am stuck with using ADROP for things like Winlink. Windows has wronged me so many times in the field that these days, it's only Linux for this operator. I know that you can run emulation under Linux, but that adds another layer of complexity that I intentionally avoid. Use whatever you find effective. Pick the right tools for your needs.
I have been working on js8 call. Just in the shack, not the field as of yet
Nothing wrong with operating from the shack.
@@TheTechPrepperI will be going in the field to test equipment. Got the digirig a month or so ago.
Location, consider an area map with a custom grid so only your map and one you give to some one have the same grid. this allows you to tell someone where you are roughly.
I have thought about it, but I've never really put something into practice. I usually use UTM as my grid system and will often relay my position to about 100 square meters. My Toughpad has a custom offline map that converts to UTM for me based on my GPS location.
while at sea it allowed me to tell my family where I was in the world, only the person with the same grid would know the location, I also kept my maps large scale, of course you could use any scale.
I am trying to come up with a similar comms solution here in Hawaii as in an emergency, our comms situation here would be easily knocked out and unreliable. Being stuck 2,000 miles out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean doesn't make having reliable effective comms easy.
Best of luck in your comms prep. The Maui fire was a wake up call. I hope that you were not impacted.
@@TheTechPrepper no we were not impacted. We are on Oahu, so the next island over to the West from Maui.
Were you using 40m with the vertical? I have a chatdl and tried 40m but very lossy.
Both worked. But, the actual message payload that was sent and acknowledged was using the dipole with a +11 dB signal report. I tried a heartbeat with the vertical and received a -2 dB report. Both SNR were sufficient when using JS8.
You comments on Meshtastic, would be greatly appreciated
I'll look into doing a series later this year. I have one other project to knock out first.
Very well done. Don’t underestimate what you’ve done. You’re spot on with your comms! Great job. Great content!
Meshtastic is best suited for close range contacts with limited technical ability (you still need to train them how to use it). Unless you get the antenna high, the range isn’t great. It also takes some organization to build out an effective mesh. Again, great for a community levels comms when regular channels are unavailable.
Hey brother, I saw a medical book in one video that I meant to check out but scrolling back though the library, I don’t see it. Might you have a link to check it?
Here you go. Note: It has my affiliate link. It does not cost you anything, but helps the channel. amzn.to/3vJ3os5
@@TheTechPrepper happy to help!
Network? Like over APRS? What's your current APRS digipeater setup? Is it 50w?
By network, I mean people that are in my circle of trusted operators. We use many techniques to stay in touch, including APRS, HF (voice and digital), VHF/UHF (simplex, repeaters, and various digital modes).
Any chance you’d be willing to give some guidance to a newb, trying to figure out a setup for home to be able to reach my daughter in college about 90 miles away? Thanks
I recommend that both of you get your FCC General license in the US, so that you can get on HF. The mode that I showed, JS8Call, is amazing and very forgiving of low powered station and power band conditions. For that range, with no infrastructure, I recommend research NVIS propagation. I have a lot of video on this subject. If you don't want to get into HF, check your local area to see if you have local linked repeaters, but note that these can go down. Good luck!
for a portable operation, would a EFHW (set up as a sloper) with a 49:1 balun be a good choice?
An EFHW in a sloper is really the easiest field deployment based on my experience. For my particular communication range (~200 miles) a flat topper would have been perfect. The flat top produces higher take off angles that are needed for NVIS propagation. You may see too much skip with a sloper.
@@TheTechPrepper how does a flat topper compare to an inverted V (but still using an 80m EFHW) for NVIS operations?
@@honeybadger6127 I have never deployed my EHFW antennas using an inverted-V. Additionally, most of my NVIS work is on 40m, not 80m. I have only deployed them as a flat topper, inverted-L, or sloper. They all behave differently and have different propagation characteristics. The flat topper performs the best for NVIS in my experience. The inverted-L works well for both groundwave and NVIS propagation. I will use the sloper for longer range contacts at a higher apex (19 to 30ft)--not for regional communication. For the record, most of 80m deployments will likely have NVIS properties as most people can't deploy their antennas at half a wavelength above ground. Get out an experiment. JS8Call/FT8 and PSK Reporter a great way to see how your signal is propogating.
@@TheTechPrepper - while it's not portable, I love my 40m horizontal skyloop antenna for omnidirectional propagation. Thanks for the replies
The intertie system? The one that runs from Montana through Idaho down to Parump Nv? I can hit that from my area. 73.
Correct. I showed the map at one point in the video. I hear stations from Idaho all day long.
@@TheTechPrepper I'll have to tune in my local repeater more often and add a you to my bucket list of hams I want to contact. Started out with 2 goals in 2008. Contact Art Bell and the ISS. Luckily I chatted with Mr. Bell before he passed. Now that the ISS has a repeater onboard i should try and hit that.
@@TheTechPrepper Ah 06:38 I stepped out to help a customer and missed that.
Wondering if you can comment about importance of cobbling together a network of known friends with some kind of security verification system so when SHTF you can trust who you’re reaching out to. Meaning, copycat deception may come into play.
How far should the network go? At least 500 mile radius so you can get a bit of early warning, and gain other areas situational awareness.
Watch my latest video. I touch on some of these topics.
Do you have a mounted antenna on the jeep?
Yes. I run the Diamond KS400 mount with the Comet SBB5 antenna. I have a video on my Jeep install. It's a few years old.
Copy, I’m running a ham stick for the bands, a Wilson 1000 permanent mounted to the roof. A NMO mount up there with whip for 2 meter. I’m getting good contacts mobile with all those. 100 watts to Europe and Asia. Now I’m trying to get NVIS locally.
Have you tired Vara HF Peer-to-Peer? I find it robust. You can have a set channel with all the stations on one frequency. All you have to do is just type in the callsign in the P2P and have your email set for P2P.
Hey, is there any chance you could cover LoRa and Meshtastic? Your perspective would be an interesting take on the whole thing.
This question is coming up a lot, but unfortunately, I have an offgrid communications project that I need to complete before I take on any new tech. Maybe later this year.
@@TheTechPrepper No worries man. Glad it is on your radar, and to be honest it might be for the best to let things bakefor another few months on their end.
@singletona082 the higher the Lora device is, the better coverage(line of sight) you'll have.
I have a feeling you’re going to hate meshtastic with its constant updates. Give it another year or two
@@BobBob-il2ku Thank you for the warning. My comms are all about stability and not about cutting edge experiments. I'm fine with being a late adopter.
What toughbook is that?
Panasonic FZ-M1 Touchpad with iKey keyboard.
I'm a bit confused about why you don't want to use your name, but then use your call sign. No security gained. Then you give the most important info to keep secure, your location. If giving these things there is nothing "secure-ish."
We have to operate by the letter of the law while times are good which includes the callsign. The important piece that I do not want to leak is the contact information (names, phone numbers and email addresses) over the air.
I wonder if 10m would’ve worked better given the time of day and the distances you’re trying to make?
10m is great when it is open. It's not as consistent as 40m is for our regional needs.
Sacrifice for the algorithm
Can you show how your wife received the message? What tools did she use?
No tool. It was her cell phone. My comms buddy on the other end, 200 miles out, received a message from my radio, and manually sent her an SMS text message. This is why I called it a relay.
Thanks for the reply. Understood. So, in this scenario, cell service is still online, but you're the one off-grid that needs communications. How would it have been handled if there was no cell service at all? I'm sure that is an entirely different video. Just asking @@TheTechPrepper
@@Maurizio101I have a station at the house that all received this JS8Call text message over HF (no infrastructure). My wife would need to walk to my office and look at the screen. This would be one way, since she is not licensed.
Good day Mr. Tech, are you interested coining a new word?
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Exactly!
Can you use that software without a call sign? I guess you could just lie . Ham really isn’t what you want for real world secure comms
This software requires something in the callsign field. It will work with "NOCALL" or any random characters. This is between you and the FCC.
Is it naive to think i can have a comms plan for this purpose that doesn't use digital, ie js8?
No. We used the same plan to send this over voice in this video.
shoulda used the Chameleon LEFS... it wouldn't have let you down.
I run the CHA LEFS 8010 at home as my permanent antenna for the shack. It' been a good performer for the last two years. It's a bit heavy and large for man portable work, though. The gear that I had in the Jeep is the same gear I use for man-portable work.
Can Mike get your wife on voice simplex or is he too far?
1. She is not a license ham.
2. Voice simplex will not work 220 miles out. FM simplex is line of sight and for short distances such as within community and the city.
Great video. Started my path and have been getting training from @RadioMadeEasy
Thanks. Good luck on your journey. You're off to a good start.
@@TheTechPrepper thank you sir. Keep up the great work!