SHTF Communication...

Hmm, the problem here as I see it is, that everyone is going off on a tangent in regards to comms and a SHTF scenario. This is why I asked what type of scenario you are looking at. The reason being that different scenarios call for different types of comms discipline - Overt or Covert.

If you are in a natural disaster or lost in the wilderness, then your best bet is going to be your mobile (cell) phone. You may also wish to use ground signals, smoke & fire and noise.

If you are being hunted by whomever then we are looking at coded type comms.

Like I said, some comms you use in a given scenario, you would want to shout out as loud as you can to whomever is listening so you can get help, others might need to be covert.

reply to post by Wotan


Alright... how about Martial Law is called, cell phones are inop, land lines- inop, mail system is pretty much to a halt. The government is officilly taking control of your life and Liberties. You have the desire to contact like people or cells where you could suvive out on the land, off radar and free of the network in place. Kind of a worst case sinario.

reply to post by Jacked Up



Hope this helps..you can begin here. This takes patience and determination. Don't get frustrated or let this task work you. The rewards are very satisfying. There are numerous other sites on the web which will help you.

This is for CB antennas or what is often called 11 meters.

home.att.net...

Here is a site for amateur radio antennas.

www.hamuniverse.com...

These amateur antennas are mostly a bit larger and more complex but it can be done. Especially the large High Frequency band antennas..HF as they are called. Decent mechanical skills combined with some electrical background helps.
Recommend that for an emergency antenna...you Keep It Simple Stupid. This is sometimes called the KISS principle. You want reliability, simplicity and portability.

Recommend also that you start with simple CB antennas as these radios are more inexpensive and easier to acquire.
Figure out how you are going to power the set up for emergencies...situation x.
These antennas will work in any of the modes of transmission once you have them tuned up properly AM mode..Single Sideband, Morse Code, and FM transmission, Many of today's CBs have all these modes on them. I have two radios like this which also talk on the CB bands.
In a situation X condition you are not going to be worried about modes of transmission..you will want to get your message out or get assistance by any means. But it is good to know, if you have no experience with antennas, that they will work once properly tuned in all these modes.

I have a two meter J-pole type antenna fed from CB type mobile radio coaxial cable and the antenna itself is constructed of that old flat wire FM receiver type wire..two conductor. This emergency antenna can be rolled into a compact form for easy storage and compactness/transportability.
I have built two of these types of antennas.

I put this antenna up in a tree using my fishing pole to thread a heavier rope..some 3/16 inch diameter to hoist the antenna up to a suitable height.
Then I take out one of my spare car batteries and power my 2 meter mobile radio. I now had the ability, after a hurricane some years ago, to transmit and receive without doing a lot of driving around town burning up precious resources...I knew what gas stations were working...what pharmacies were open...grocery stores..etc etc. You don't want to be stuck in line with a lot of undisciplined wildlife if you can help it....understand??
With careful, metered, disciplined use this battery lasted me some 9 days without charging it.

It is my habit when I know bad weather is coming to begin a charging/maintenance cycle on several batteries I keep in my garage. Among these batteries are two deep cycle marine batteries. Properly used ..deep cycle marine batteries will last a very long time in this type of usage. However ..if you have nothing else..a car battery will work fine...just do your maintenance and keep the children away from this type of set up.
I can do the same set up with my larger HF all band radio though it uses more power...hence I stuck primarily with my 2 meter rig.

I also keep around several lengths of copper stranded wire from Radio Shack for antenna construction. I have tuners so I don't have to spend much time physically trimming my antennas to a specific length or band. I simply let the tuner do the adjustment.

These are just things or concepts you learn with experience.

I started building antennas when I was on the CB bands and made several one of which is still in use. I still talk to people I know on the CB bands. I don't forget from whence I came.

I have also since purchased a device called an inverter. You hook this device up to a car battery and it converts DC power to AC power some 60 cycles to run AC current type equipment. I have not experimented with this equipment as of yet but will do so soon. Handy option to have but I am not familiar with the current drain...now quickly it will drain my batteries. This will be important in an emergency situation. Perhaps some of you out there have experience in this which I do not and can provide details here.

I wish you success in your endeavours. It will pay off in an emergency.
This can be important if you have family and or children involved.
A huge responsibility indeed!!
As you can see I am somewhat flexible in my emergency plans and I am still learning.

Thanks,
Orangetom

Post script here.

Wotan is correct in his accessment. To what kind of situation are we refering. Diciplines and awareness will be needed no matter what the situation. Thanks.




[edit on 8-12-2008 by orangetom1999]

reply to post by orangetom1999


It helped immensly. I know some other lurkers are more than likely learning stuff as well. Thank yoU!

I've started a few threads on this over the years but few are interested. To me, it will be critical. Not so much to say 'Hi, how are you?' but to gather long distance intelligence. What is going on? What routes are passable? What is being done about the situation?

You see lots of people saying, 'When the SHTF I'm heading for ______'. Says who? How do you know you can GET there? How do you know what's going on along your route and at your destination? You could be jumping from the pan into the fire.

CB and GMRS are ok for short distance (tactical) communication but not so much for really long range. As has been said, HF radio is the way to go. The digital modes (including Morse which is digital) require the least amount of power to transmit. I have a portable multi-band transceiver that covers HF, 6m, 2m and 70cm bands. My system includes high-capacity rechargeable batteries, crank generator, antenna tuner, laptop and digital interface. My antenna is a multi-band wire antenna that is strung in the trees around my house. I can communicate around town or around the world.

I'd definitely urge any survival-minded person to get into HAM radio and learn how to use this equipment. The morese code test is gone and getting your license is pretty easy. When the SHTF is not the time to try and figure this stuff out.

Originally posted by Anuubis
Got any ideas for a code? Oh ya i forgot about semen being taught morse code.

We could use Klingon

[edit on 5-12-2008 by Anuubis]

How about creating a secret club where entry is strictly monitored and teach people a new form of language to communicate with there. While serving real ale, nibbles and lots of different kinds of spirits and sushi/sashimi? Does anoyne like Sake?

Interesting topic. And one that I am deeply interested in. Having held my amateur radio callsign for 20 years.
As has been mentioned by a few posters here. Ham radio is the most effective and efficient means of comms
in a real SHTF scenario. Hams have been fine tuning disaster/emergency message handling for about 100 years!
There are networks "nets" of hams that practice these types of comms daily. Over the decades, these nets have
devised a protocol for how this type of "traffic" is handled. The reason they practice this daily is to hone the skills
required and to become very conditioned to the procedures so that in the high stress environment of the SHTF scenario,
it is second nature. Very important to get the messages thru accurately.
Almost all countries of the world have a plan to handle Emergency Comms. and not just to provide communications on
the ham bands, but to cross link vital information across ALL modern digital forms of communication.
These include, but are not limited to, The WWW, cell phones, PDA's blackberry's PC's,e-mail, television, satellites.
As a matter of fact, hams have put over a dozen satellites in orbit (with our own money) that can pass many modes of information!
The International Space station carries several Ham radio stations aboard. As well as All Space shuttle flights.
Most astronauts are hams. We may need to get them down safely if the S really HTF!
Some of the most recent international networks are on the air 24hrs a day 7days a week 365 days a year! And have been for a couple of years! If you take an interest in this, I would strongly suggest to anyone to get in touch with your local ham radio club! They can help you get your license. If you need any help finding a club in your area, please feel free to u2u me!
World wide Amateur radio really transcends political boundaries, ideologies even languages.
If and when the SHTF, you will greatly improve you and your families chances, if you are or are in contact with a ham in your area!
Check out some of these links.
HFLINK is the international resource for ALE Automatic Link Establishment High Frequency Communications
HF Digital Messaging - Emergency / Disaster Relief - Interoperative Communications
International Amateur Radio ALE Net for Emergency / Disaster Relief
On The Air 24 / 7 with HF Text Email
ALE HF (SHORT WAVE) NETWORK

About HFN. 26 June 2007 - A team of radio operators successfully deployed the first 6 base stations on the air, as Phase 1 of the global constellation of Pilot Stations, in the new ham radio ALE HF Network. The HFN Pilot Stations are equipped with scanning ALE transceivers, multiband antenna systems, and special software control systems for internet connectivity. Ham radio ALE users in the field on HF connect with the HFN Pilot Stations to exchange digital ALE-SMS text messaging to and from internet devices such as cell mobile phones, black berry type devices, PDAs, PCs and laptops. Since then, the network has been expanding globally and adding more features. ALE users also relay ALE messages to other ALE HF users via the same system. ALE via HFN network is interoperative with the international ham standard email Emcomm backbone, the Winlink network.

ALE SMS sent via ham radio ALE on HF(short wave radio) through an HFN Pilot Station, to an old Motorola phone using the Teleflip service:

More to follow:

Peace

Hi, this is my first post here so bare with me on this one. I am a HAM (Amateur Radio Operator) I use Morse Code and you will be surprise how many people use it. The best way to comunicte during an emegecy will be VHF/UHF for short distances 50 Mhz and up and HF 1.8 up to 30Mhz for long distances. Wih a simple solar panel and a car or marine battery using the radio a couple of hours each day and recharging the rest it should last months. More than 500,000 thousand people have a Hamradio License in the US so I guess you will find someone to talk in case SHTF! You can't send encripted or secret messages in Hamradio but I guess in case of something really bad like the collapse of society anything goes.

reply to post by np3ba


np3ba
Hello Rafael,
Welcome to ATS. good first post.
Tell us about some of the equipment you use in PR to handle emergency traffic during and after
a hurricane on your beautiful Island. I notice that you have a nice page on QRZ and your Radioaficionados Del Sureste de Puerto Rico website is very nice! I did sign your guestbook.
Hope to see you on the PSK31 waterfall. gud dx es 73

More links:
2008 Simulated Emergency Test (ARRL) American radio relay league
ARRL

Emergency-Radio.org




Here is a brief video to help you all to understand a little bit more about ham radio

ENJOY

Peace

[edit on 8-12-2008 by Zeptepi]

reply to post by Anuubis


As far as I know all members of the armed forces are still taught morse code as a backup in case they need to communicate and theyre military radios fail.

reply to post by Death_Kron


That is still normal practice, yes. Morse code isn't as big as it hass been, but it is still taughts as a back p way of communicating.

Also, morse is included in most any digital mode software which can read (albeit not with 100% accuracy) and send morse. Learning morse and being able to communicate with it are too different things. It takes regular practice to stay sharp. In a pinch, I could communicate but I'd be surprised if I could send better than 7-10 words-per-minute. And I'd be hard pressed to copy better than 5wpm at this point. It's a mode I personally just don't use very often.