I just wanted to point out a slight error in this video, at 6:50 it's stated that hams have access to 144 MHz to 148.995 MHz which is incorrect, close though. We're allowed 144.000 to 148.000... And actually we can not operate right on 148 MHz as part of our signal will be out of band past 148 MHz.. But as a general rule when staying legal that is, it's a good rule of thumb to avoid using the very edge of the band to avoid operating past our licensed privileges.
One reason why your ham rig can tune into Land Mobile Radio Service (LMRS) frequencies next to it is because some rigs are designed for both part 90 and and part 97 use, Beofeng makes walkie talkies for both ham and LMRS use. If you were to get a GMRS license, you could talk in the GMRS frequencies in the 462 and 467 band, on your ham set, if your Alinco will tune that high. You see if it can tune into the GMRS bands, and if it does, you might want consider getting a GMRS license.
Dear GC - Thanks for your videos. I study this type of information and prepare for many types of scenarios. Mainly, natural disasters, power outages and the like. Food, water and fuel rotations, medical training, bug out, bug in - survival skills, mapping/GPS/communications/solar power and security. I rarely talk about my "preparedness for various plans" as many think its funny and get a good laugh as to what I have in my back pack. Your expertise has helped me gain knowledge and tactical insight. Thanks again.
+Tony K. Really appreciate the kind words. I hear you about talking about preparedness, I just let my actions do all the talking, especially when the power goes out. Take care and thanks again.
An Amateur Radio Operator CAN use Part 90 gear on the amateur radio bands, provided it can be programed, or modified to program, there. I own several Kenwood TK-760's (VHF), and a few TK-860's (UHF); they are both mobiles and will program down into their respective ham bands "out of the box" (in the FM repeater/simplex portions)... assuming you have the programming cable, KPG-29D software, and a DOS computer with a serial port. They both use the same accessories, including the software and programing cable. Yes they are limited in the fact that they have no VFO or way to 'modify' channels on the fly (unless you modify the radio physically and program it for that); it only has 32 memory banks, or 'channels'... but they are good, solid, nearly indestructible radios, that should last a lifetime, and have amazing receive sensitivity. They transmit a good clean signal, they are less susceptible to intermod, they are VERY rugged, and they operate in both HAM bands, and Part 90 bands (and are type certified to do so!)... all VERY attractive reasons to own Part 90 gear! I consider not having a VFO to be a minor limitation, as even your tertiary back-up, back-up, frequencies should already be determined ahead of time anyhow... I tend to stick to less than/about 32 different frequencies in each of the VHF and UHF bands respectively, and rarely stray from those, so it's no big deal for me. A few repeaters, a handful of favorite simplex frequencies, the local ARES comm-plan, a few public service frequencies to monitor, and two local NOAA weather radio frequencies round out my list. There are usually regional Amateur Radio band-plans, sometimes with recommended, 'channelized', simplex frequencies (IE: 146.49, 146.52, 146.55, 146.58, etc...) to maximize usable spectrum while avoiding QRM; local HAM's in my area tend to follow our regional band-plans; so I program the few common local ones, and add a few tertiary ones too. They make great repeaters too... fixed, deployable, cross-band or otherwise; especially low-power, deployable, cross-band simplex repeaters or links! The KCT-19 terminal interface accessory cord makes interfacing with a repeater, or TNC/digital interface, a breeze. I spent a good portion of my youth in the CAP, as a radio operator in the radio room at our two state EOC's during both SAR-EX, and active SAR missions. Most of the gear used was commercial, Part 90 gear (mostly the mobiles), but a lot of the HT's were amateur gear with the MARS/CAP mod done; a lot were Kenwood or Alinco. Though at one EOC, we had an amateur grade Kenwood with the MARS/CAP mod in the radio room, worked great with everyone involved (CAP ground teams, CAP air teams, State Police, Fish and Game, and civilian ground teams on amateur frequencies), we just used the memory channels, never the VFO; as an auxiliary of the Air Force, on a live SAR mission, I'm sure the FCC didn't care about type 90 acceptance of the radio..... just sayin'. Of course, that was in the early/mid-90's.... I also served in the military, so when talking about SHTF commo gear... I like rugged, robust, "bulletproof", and IDIOT-PROOF gear! If SHTF tomorrow, and I had to don battle rattle to protect home and country, you can bet it would be a Part-90 HT in the radio pouch.... it'll take almost anything you throw at it, and it will keep calling for back-up/fire/supplies/help.... usually; and you can hand one off to a radio-illiterate comrade, tell him 'channel-1' gets you HQ, 'channel-2' is simplex/talk channel, etc.... and it just works for them, nothing to "mess up". I'm also not saying I wouldn't/don't own amateur gear.... everything is just "another tool in the drawer" so to speak! 73 and thank you for your channel, I enjoy it! :)
Narrow band business band vs Wideband Ham. Narrowband has much less range. It is illegal to use most business bands without a license, which the FCC rarely gives out based on your location. Ham band, you can easily get a tech or general license and easily use them ALL THE TIME, so you get used to using them when you need to. If you need secrecy when SHTF, then you are already in the fan.
Great video. I'm going to search around your other vids to see if you cover the durability issues specifically with the newer to market Chinese radios in greater detail. Also love the old school phone quietly sitting in the background. Shows layers of preparedness.
This is why I have a TK-790/890 Dual Band Remote single head radio. The only thing I'd like on this setup that an immature radio has is the ability to FPP via VFO. Other than that I REALLY prefer my Mil Spec TK-790/TK-890. I get to talk on my Business frequencies, plus ANY 2m or 440 frequencies programmed in, and in SHTF situations I will use any Public Safety, MURS or Business Frequency to facilitate emergency communications.
Don't knock the cheap shit, it's the reason I got my tech license. Am now waiting for the new general license test to go into effect and I'll get my general. All from a $30 dollar HT. It's gotta start someplace.
Yeah expecting people to start in the hobby with a $650 radio is what is going to kill off our hobby faster than ever. I got licensed this year, I'm a General Class, 22 year old, always been interested in everything RF Spectrum related, communications, computers, volunteer work, public safety, etc. Seen a few new HAM's younger than me join up, I don't let people get to me but sometimes it seams like Amateur radio is a gear measurebating contest. Many of the new HAM's need elmer's, not people to gloat about their new super duper HF rig and get on them for having a BaoFeng instead of a Kenwood and two Yaesu's with all the bells and whistles.
Fast Forward one year and I have a Yaesu FT857D, Kenwood AT-130 antenna tuner, Buddipole Deluxe long antenna and an Ed Fong 2m 70cm antenna. And I have my General ticket.
+Patrick Slevin Congrats! I have several radios now and I definitely have the bug but my point is I've heard plenty of jerks on HF criticize youngsters for not having the greatest radios, certainly you can save up, certainly you can get great deals on used radios from reputable HAM's in your community but the skill of the operator and ability to operate with really anything is more respectable. The Extra's who have never made a dipole antenna or don't know how to adjust an antenna with $2500 rigs shouldn't look down on people less fortunate
I like a lot of what you are saying here. One thing that i think gets missed in most prepping comms videos is that it takes a great deal of practice to be effective operating, especially during emergency nets. Even just copying down the calls, names, and traffic from weekly nets can be quite challenging.
+Adam Overman as someone who volunteers at the local voly fire service comms unit and have volunteered in other voly comms units I agree 100%. When the SHTF keeping calm and attentive to a radio can be bloody hard.
What is them make and model of the gray and black handheld with the blue tape on the top and the orange battery that was in the middle of the Johnson and Yaesu? Looks like a BK.
In my area there is a certain population of amateurs that love to purchase the ex-public service radios to modify it for amateur use,what I am seeing is the price is great for the radio, but many times the radio doesn't work correctly when they receive it OR you need the software/cabling for programming and these items are no longer available which renders the radio useless, or they need to send the radio to some magical place to have it programmed at a additional cost. My opinion, purchase a good name brand amateur gear with the programming hardware & software and should be trouble free. I personally have 4- of the Yeasu FT8900's which has a detachable face plate, has 4 bands 440/144/50/28 MHZ,it has been expanded I can listen to the Public Service with great versatility, if need be, I can punch in the frequency via the key pad, it is also nice to dump the frequencies in via the computer. I have been using these for about 15 years and still going strong. I have been a Ham since 1979,I have purchased probably 35 radios -new and have never had to send one back because it was defective. You cant beat Yeasu/Kenwood/Icom I service medical equipment on squads I always take notice of the 2 way radio equipment they use,I see a lot of the Icom/Kenwood /Yeasu Public services radios on board. Alinco is also good only problem I had was the face of the keys faded away over time.
Good to see you back GG, that dr-635 I got from one of your early videos is still running strong. I snipped the blue wire just like in the movies, lol.
Also I prefer my TK-790/890 Dual Band setup because it allows me to have both Wideband for Amateur and GMRS frequencies as well as Narrowband setup for Business (Part 90) and Public Safety as well as the Narrowband MURS and FRS frequencies to be utilized in the event of a life safety issue. Add to that the 790/890 has selectable tones, Public Address system, Intercom if needed, DTMF, Fleetsync (MDC1200) data tx. etc...
I appreciate the video, and what you're doing. IMHO there was a lot of misinformation presented here. Some of of technical, most of it poor vernacular or terminology(frequency vs. channel, memory/VFO etc.) I'm not trying to be over critical, I really like what you're doing here, just some constructive criticism. Viewers should know transmitting out of band, is not only a end of world situation. As a ham, you should know, we are allowed, at any time to transmit out of band, on any band if there is imminent threat to life or property. Working public service events in very remote areas(excellent comms practice for anyone interested) I've personally transmitted out of band to police and EMS in remote locations to direct help, and responding units. It's not just for SHTF scenarios. Please keep doing what you're doing, but maybe consider shortening the videos, or reading from notes. Your videos contain A LOT of information, but perhaps half as long would be twice as effective.
Criticism well received and appreciated. Yes, the vids are not well prepared and off the cuff mostly, except for the main idea. I try when I can, usually the physical world does not permit me to have the time & focus to make a better presentation. Though I do enjoy making them even though they are crude. Thanks for watching.
+Jack Wilson no technically there is no stipulation about being the last available means of communication BUT you may still get your ass dragged over the coals with an official please explain in a court room which even if you win is just pure fking annoying.
Great information. But I gotta say, in any SHTF scenario I seriously doubt that the FCC is gonna give a hoot what people are doing on what radio bands. Given the circumstances of SHTF in and of itself, ANY communications for survival would be allowed.
+Gunslinger Survival it's more an issue of staying legal in passive times when FCC is biting people on the ass. Trying to find a workable medium between the two.
***** Yeah, I get what you're saying. It just irritates me when the topic of communications during and after any SHTF scenario come up...all the HAM Legal Eagles come out of the woodwork to put their two cents in on the legality of it...like it's gonna matter in a disaster situation.
Gunslinger Survival Yes I agree. That's one reason why Chinese radios are handy for repeaters. Whilst they themselves are not legal/approved you can at least put them on legal frequencies so no one knows or cares. Then hit the SHTF times you can in a flash change to whatever frequency you like to get away from the normal zones. People looking to raid other people etc will of course be scanning FRS and amateur 2/70 for activity so once the brown stuff starts flying GTFO of the normal bands where everyone will be looking.
***** Dude, you took the words right out of my mouth. That is EXACTLY the point I'm making. I tell all my radio buddies, CB'ers and HAM's the same thing. Marauder WILL have scanners and radios, too...and they WILL be listening for people talking to each other. They are not dumb, and they will use triangulation and positioning to find the people talking. You're right, when SHTF...stay off the normally used bands. Find a complete band and frequency list and pick a band of frequencies that are not normally used for voice communications...that's the best and safest bet.
Gunslinger Survival something like 77mhz/171mhz/455mhz/845mhz (I'm guess on 800, we have nothing anywhere near me for that so I haven't paid attention to it) is out of the road of most things of consequence and less likely to be looked at and of interest given the number of uneducated who will be running on the regular bands.
I have a 2008 Dodge Charger. Civilian model. Police models have the gear shifter on the column mine has the gear shifter in the center console. I have trouble finding place to mount my scanner and leixan vv898 in my car. I like things neat and tidy. I just cant find away to do it. I have you got any advice for me?
Yeah, thats a tough one. Not much room and its un-tidy bolting it in the open beneath the dash. Try looking through TroyProducts website, they may have a universal mounting console you could put in front of the center console. I hate giving recommendation since such things are a personal taste matter, but look through their offering for a solution, you might get an idea from it. troyproducts dot comm. I'm not affeliated with them, they just make good gear..
YTABIN78 I cant speak of all models but a handfull that I've handled or owned myself. My little Yaesu VX7r does monitor shortwave among a wide range of frequencies. I do like Yaesu, borderline fanboy, but another user converted to Icom because the features and menu navigation was a lot simpler or user friendly. I'm sort of agreeing with his observations. Both makes have a good long track record. Dont know if Icom ham radio also listens to shortwave.
On the new police radios they have P25 models out there now. I don't think the ham radios have the capabilities to monitor police bands now. Is that true ? Or am I wrong?
Yeah, the Ham radios cannot monitor public safety P25 digital modes. Only if the PD are still running analog, which thay are still plenty of agencies that still do.
GUERRILLACOMM a radioshack scanner will monitor p25 wtf are you blabbing aabout?? Encryption and p25 are two different things. Orange County CA is all p25 now and i listen just fine.... encryption is avail and most LE IS encrypted but you talk about p25 like its super secret
1) None of the cheap chinese amateur radio gear has the capability to interfere with modern police or military gear. 2) The thing is, "pro" radio gear like modern police radios are trunked systems that constantly rotate frequencies - often during the same exchange. They require a centralized hub or control frequencies, and have to be set up professionally. You could pick up two of the same kinds of radio from two police departments and not be able to talk with each other because they'd be programmed to different frequencies. Ironically, this is done so they do NOT to talk with each other - so that a lot of different public safety services can occupy the same part of the 800 Mhz spectrum and not interfere with one another. 3) I'm not into "Prepping", but if I were, and assuming I'd even want to talk to people instead of hide in a bunker, ham radio gear is what I'd want. Its designed so that communication between two radios is easy; punch in a frequency and go. Pick up a 30 year old ICOM HF tranceiver, a 50 year-old Heathkit, a brand new Elecraft KS3, a 15 year-old Yaesu QRP rig, or a home-made "cw" or morse code transceiver. they can all talk to each other. Also, ham gear is designed to run off of 12V DC power.
The fact a lot of Amatuer radios are modifiable fall under the Mars/Cap Program going all the way back to the AARS program pioneered in 1925 you can learn more here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Auxiliary_Radio_System
2 used AGM batteries on a Samlex Power supply/charger. My comm gear is supplied by the batteries and the charger keeps them topped off until the power goes out. Then the batteries are on their own. I have a couple of 20 watt solar panels I could run outside to keep them running, but its not a permanent setup up. I want to upgrade, possibly next summer with something similar.
I've personally transmitted on several scrambled frequencys but with pc running most decryption programs as I used to tweak my radio's but I just keyed up asked for radio check they replied with a it's working lol kinda like cb chatter but just like CB lingo ham is much different on main traffic bands then u wanna chat randomly just switch to alternate like cb with side band you say cq instead of break break - its very interesting I've started taking interest in two ways since I was like 8 but range been my main factor I've gotten out on cb pretty far I know over 40 miles at times on strait am and over 60 on usb & LSB side bands many times but fm is your best range most efficient band to use I've installed these mobile hams in all my personal vehicles plus cb with side bands as well but I'm a truck driver and it's best for in your immediate area to quickly communicate with the guy in your driving lane and such cuz these are fast to grab only 40 channels plus ur sidebandz but mostly strait am 1-40 so it's handy having both RADIOs there relatively small easy to install I use a linear on my cb my ham does not however it's perfectly fine as is idk why cb are limited by law to only push 4 watts out of the box when ham has 55 to 75 on fm bands but never the less there are linier options for hams to .....
Among numerous other radio jobs, I even repaired Motorola train radios. Safety/hobby, best seems toe a setup which communicate on CB/FRS frequencies. (In emergencies - add local fire, police and whatever?) The secret stuff frequency hops, hard to detect because it is below the noise floor.
We had a guy up here (NW CT, SW MA) who was posing as a dispatcher on the LCD frequencies. It took a while but the dude got caught. It wasn't his first rodeo either. Other than Amateur radio, US Military field phones are great and occasionally you cand find surplus spools of phone line for them. Some manpack comms are on eBay often. 73, KC1CWP
Sorry for the delay in answering. Unfortunately I don't have much time for forums. One in particular I checked out and enjoy somewhat is Survival podcast. they have a comms tread in both ham and other.
I actually noticed something quite interesting on a few days ago. I used to have a FT-2900 in my dd but recently swapped it out for a PM400. So after the swap, I had a chance to test the sensitivity of the FT-2900 and compared it to a VX-4000. The VX-4000 had a 5 dB more sensitive receiver in a down and dirty test with a signal gen. Thought that was kind of interesting… Another thought, we actually tested a IC-7000 out of band (into a load). At 467.7 MHz, it only made 3W. Haven't tested others but I also thought that was a little interesting.
All great points, the average joe has no need for the so called commercial radios. By the way I bought a FTDX-1200 with FFT-1, and 4BTV. I am cutting the radials this weekend.
You have made me get going on my communications part of my preps. Studying for ham test. Bought Yaesu VX 8DR radio and many accessories. Ordered some gear to build a repeater like yours. Too much to tell you about here.
Love the old MCS M01xTMxxx's in the background lol. The choice is catch22. Professional as you called it (we seem to call it commercial over here) has more features usually (eg P25, encryption, etc) but a lot more restrictions and will often be more greedy on power. 2x Motorola GP300 handhelds (or for a parrot repeater like yours a single) will make a brilliant portable repeater at possibly a cheaper price than 1-2 Baofengs, Wouxuns etc BUT doesn't have the flexibility to shift frequency on sight. The GP300s however are more legal since they have an FCC rating so 6 of one half dozen of the other. Commercial mobile/base/repeater units in a repeater setup are the ducks nuts for coverage and features but you then need many batteries, a large water proof lockable vented cabinet and huge solar panels to keep up. If there is no security or land ownership issue they are the way to go but for low visibility and portability a couple of baofengs via vox repeater module or self made lead are unbeatable. Hooked up with a pair of ground independent mobile antennas which are still easy to hide they make an excellent close local repeater. I'm all for the repeater pair rather than parrot repeaters though as parrot repeaters imo are much more likely to have "doubles". Whilst I find the cheap chinese junk handy (hell I managed one day to make a repeater by turning vox on on my UV5RA and hooking a 3.5-3.5 stereo audio lead from the headphones socket of my scanner to the handheld) I do like my Motorola gear, especially my handhelds with FPP. I rarely use FPP as I prefer to program all via CPS but having the feature is handy as is having P25 and better yet P25+encryption with multiplle encryption keys (allows quick easy transfer if a key is broken and allows intercoms with other groups or people on a key DIFFERENT to what we use). Then on top the cream of the crop is the dinosaur Kenwood HF. We use a mix of HF, VHF-H and UHF-H (450-480). TLDR amateur vs cheap chinese vs commercial = horses for courses... whichever is most appropriate for your situation and knowledge level imo.
I absolutely love your channel. As a new guy, greatly appreciate your help and gaining a understanding of the guerilla side. My focus is how comms benefit me during shtf, provide a fun hobby, but talking with folks on the other side of the planet, in a more traditional HAM focus doesn't interest me. What you provide seems more practical and useful, and I greatly appreciate your efforts and shtf perspective.
I am seeking knowledge regarding secure radio and video comms for current days when rule of law exists, and tricks and techniques for, god for bid, a period of time when wrol rule, during which secure comms could mean the difference between life and death. I've a background in IT so technology doesn't intimidate, it intrigues me, but as yoiu say there is a large number of roads to travel and I want to avoid time wasted traveling down paths that are not consistent with my goals. I'm envious of your backpacking options out there. Being on the east coast, anything like that must be shared with 55 million knuckleheads - I've learned that will suck the fun right out of it.
the motorola radios are "commercial" radios. kenwood is ham. i use both. i open up or mod my kenwood and icom radios for use in an emergency. i just made a video yesterday where i took apart my go box and went with 30 dollar amazon prime rack mounts you can bolt to the wall and its awesome! ham ON! peace from loveland, colorado
Commercial radios tend not to have free running VFO to select the frequency. The problem comes to digital VHF/UHF radios. Not only do require special programming software, but different manufacturers have different audio CODEC's which are totally incompatible with each other. Motorola Icom DSTAR YAESU SYSTEM FUSION, and others.
AMEN BROTHER. AS LONG AS I CAN COME UP ON THE NET AND CALL YOU& YOU ANSWER US.ITS FINE WITH US. KEEP UP THE GREAT JOB BROTHER WE SUB. URE COOL & PROFESSIONAL . THANK YOU. U GOT A GREAT CHANNEL.
got some good points my ham gear can do the same and is opened up to other bands that would be illegal to transmit on but in a shtf situation i would not hesitate to do it
New sub here, I appreciate your no-BS approach to comms gear. I have a question on MURS radios, are they still viable as prepper comms or is that a dead end?
CPLBSS88 For now, my comms needs are pretty basic, I'm looking for something a little better than GMRS/FRS. I don't have the budget for HAM gear at the moment. Thanks for the reply.
William Lee my .02 would be to go with a beofeng, they have several models, the UV5r has a lot of accessories but the UV82/83 seems to be a better performer for around the same price. Take a look and see what fits. last I looked they were both well under $100 and can be unlocked to work on a wide range of freqs, including the MURS freqs. Personally though, I typically sub to the "buy once cry once" mentality - especially when it comes to technology. While you may save a few bucks now, what is that broken Beofeng worth 5 years down the road when S has HTF and you cant get a replacement. I say save your pennies and jump for the Yeasu VX7r. These are tools just like anything else in your survival tool box and if you are going to make the investment, you might as well get something that will last. I may however grab a few of the UV82's to play with and keep from beating up the nice radio... if they workout, great, if not, no biggie - they are ~$50 USD and preform well enough as an HT. The biggest lesson I had to learn when it comes to comms is that one should prep their OWN comm plan and not rely on the latest and greatest to get the job done just because the sticker or some sales man says it will work. Hell, a CB radio will do the job just fine, and in some cases may actually be superior. The issues is that CB gear, at least new, is pretty pricey for what it is. I guess in short what I am trying to say is that the situation will dictate your equipment. Figure out what you NEED, then what you WANT, from there its just a matter of researching options will fit your needs. Another great option is the FT60r from Yeasu, if you can find one. They are around $150 or so. I'd say stay away from Wouxun, they are decent but they are almost as much as the Yeasu FT60r, which is far superior. The second lesson I had to learn is the UHF/VHF is not the be-all-end-all solution to every Comm problem. In most cases, you could use homemade wired field phones and be better off in terms of durability, sound quality, and security. Wireless comms, IMO should only be used where Wireless is required. Check out Hiberniason's ch. he has several good vids on comms and a good vid about why he picks CB for his intra-squad level comms. Personally, I lean more towards no electronic comms for intra-squad but they do have their place and advantages. For my uses though, the disadvantages out weigh the pros.
CPLBSS88 really good sound advice. Though, I would like to suggest that those cheaper chinese radios are good to practice and make your mistakes on, rather than risking damaging your good quality models. $35 to learn from hard knocks, then set your sights for the tougher spec radios. One of commpreppers video showed a home/business phone system that could be re-purposed as field phones, really good out of the box idea, and its digital for an extra layer of security. So many ways to skin this cat.
Most of the time I go off on a main subject and spew out the info off the cuff without an outline or script. I, admit, its a major flaw along with the "uummms & ahhs" while trying to put ideas into words. Very few times its because the idea is important enough to repeat itself, but mainly its just a flaw in in my presentation. I do work on it sometimes when I edit the vid. Thanks for the constructive criticism, I will try to do better.
The main difference I see is that HAM often has what I call “on the fly” programming” or programming directly from the radio. A public safety type radio needs to be pre programmed from a computer. For the application of a public safety radio that is perfect. For HAM ops though that is a detriment.
hi there as far as i know you can use anything on amateur radio including home brew yhat is what ham radio is all about you can not use amateur gear on commercial freq though ,as a ham we can build any radio set it up on ham bands and use it we can not use encription exept with rep control codes ,vk2pha
"Amateur radio" gear is not any lesser gear. Amateur doesn't mean beginner. Ham radio gear is the highest grade you can get. The innovators of radio were the HAM operators. Law Enforcement and Military learned from the HAMs. You don't even need a license to use a radio on the job, and they don't understand how to build radios from scratch. The HAMs are the pros, and their gear is the most professional grade. Your video was confusing for that reason.
Motorola is making HAM gear;;; SMP9000... the end is near guys. I have a wouxun kg-uv1p and i have had it since 2010 / 11 and trust me it has taken a beating but it still works like it was brand new. only thing i had to replace so far was the battery. I am about to refurbish it i think since this thing has been dropped off towers and run over twice but other than cosmetics the radio functions great still. people are dumping WIDE band and 800 MHz radios like crazy on ebay. So if your a ham the you can still use wide band legally and get some nice gear dirt cheap from ebay.. I thought there were law that dis-allowed hams from using commercial gear on ham bands but appearantly 9 out of 10 ham say they can use whatever radio gear and any frequency they want when they want. I know this is not true and not all hams do this but there are those who will use the railroad band to chit chat on just because they have a radio that can tune it. props on the syntor x9000 radio there, I have some of those and mastr2's I use for door props. the spectra used the same systems 9000 head with a bit bang hack unless its a 100 watt version which I have a pile of in UHF. Alot of kenwood commercial radios they have a setting in the PC program that you can enable dealer mode which allows you to put the radio into a VFO type mode by depressing a few buttons while turning it on. Also the Motorola GP68 is a part 90 radio and allows direct keypad programming. Kenwood did make a special cable for the mobile there (or maybe a different model) that allowed you to conned two radios to one head unit to have a boot strapped dual band, Motorola also did this with the syntor x series and spectra's i think. I have only seen a couple of them though in use in state trooper cars. VHF-Lo band is the 30 - 60? MHz area where ham is in the 50 - 54 MHz section. Each band spread was sectioned up into allocations for utilities, law, fire, ems, business, etc but I think the FCC did away with that because I am starting to see alot of radios come through here programmed on what would normally be a public safety allocated frequency but being used at some theme park or construction crew and they are licensed on it also...
Ham Gear is like TAPE DECK Audio for me ... Really Commercial Gear is like CD Audio Quality for me ... Actually ... Rather use Motorola Gear For HAM ... Not Into Small Speakers ! Just my Flavor .. everyone has their own perspective of what to use what not to use..... Motorola is Commercial .. plain and simple .... Amateur is Amateur ..... :) My MT1000 99 CH back in 1993 900 Dollars ... My ASTRO SABER III back in 1996 1,500 Dollars My HT600 back in 1988 loved it .... 200 Dollars 2 CH .... Amateur is always better way to go when it comes to cost effective really Motorola ... expensive ham radio :) hahahaha Same Concept ... IPHONE X .. wow Expensive Facebook Phone / Messenger :) But then again ... it's your flavor I guess
Professional radio gear (commercial radio) problem is those radios can't change the frequency. Those radios are not on freqs that are used by the public CB, 2meter, 70cm, HF. best choice Baofeng UV-5R has FM broadcast, Marine, Ham, FRS, GMRS, NOAA, any freq from 136mhz-174mhz and 430mhz-520mhz receive and transmit. Look up the freqs used by public services and you will find they fall in the range of this radio, CB radio cheap, easy hear people all over the country during the daylight hours.
+infowarguy hmm strange... I can front pad program channels into a few of my Motorola commercial radios, so say that again please. There are HEAPS of front pad programmable Motos on the market now, to get the sales people whore out the flash codes turning on every option in sight including Q52/Q53 FPP.
I have been off the air for 25+ years, and thinking of starting up again seeing we are going to be moving South of CT. thinking KY, SC, ??? we just started looking. However a ham shack sounds good. I have been thinking of an Icom for an HF base and a Icom for the HF mobile. rig, and Icom or Yaesu for 2m, 70cm. I want separate radios I don't care for dual band But I will buy one just to have. So, I am thinking 1, HF, 1, 2m mobile, 1. 70cm mobile 1 dual band mobile. and the same in HT's I have a budget of $1500 HF base, $1200 HF Mobile, about $300 per each = $900, and $300 for the HT's 2 two meters and 2 dual bands. So, again 1 HF base, 1 HF mobile, 2 two meter mobile, 1 70cm/440 mobile, 2 two meter HT;s and 2 dual band HT's. Seeing that I have been off the air over 25+ years, and things / radios have changed and wanting to buy new, what models would you recommend ? Thank you.
I really hate making recommendations. dont have alot of dirt time with the ham gear other than what I have. Yaesu, anything has never let me down if thats any resemblance to a recommendation, Thats in dual band 2m/70 cm, have not progressed into the hf world as of yet. The Alinco that I have is alright, but it does have its issues. Lots of intermod interference when in the city of high rf environments. The Mars/Cap modification sometimes make the unit spaz out.
How would a part 90 radio be illegal for ham radio? It seems when you are using them for that use you just put more restrictions for yourself the ham radio operator.
Sorry for the delay in answering, Ive been deployed to a fire. The radios are are also licensed for their particular class. some radios are licensed for both GMRS & part 90, and so forth. Technically, if you use a radio not classed for the service you are using it on, its prohibited. It is, what it is... No one cant tell what class radio you are using by sniffing the frequency from the air.
Ham radio is nearly useless in a SHTF scenario. The FCC has already shutdown amateur radio once (during WWII), so will likely do so again. Beyond that, you want to use the lowest power possible. Makes it harder to RDF and similar. Finally, for the same reason, you want your signal to get lost in the noise. Busy frequencies are better than quite ones. Go with those ideas when choosing your SHTF radio equipment.
+nr3rful for the same reason people mod their cars. Because they can. Because it gives them different features that the original manufacture may have not included or thought of. And because thats what hams do. Hams have always tinkered and experimented with electronics.
It must be remembered that professional and amateur gear each has a specific purpose. Sometimes comparisons between the 2 are apples & oranges comparisons. I see this all the time on YOU TUBE videos within the ham radio community, where someone compares a $5000 dollar 2016 vintage radio against something from 1979. I understand the purpose of your video, but things must be kept in context.
Personally i think ofcom should just charge a license fee on a per year basis as well as your call sign rather than going through the expense travel not to mention cost and if you dont pass any exam you lose what you have just shelled out for but i get it why they have exams im in some ways for and against it i just think that it would bring more people to an interesting activity/hobby all in all ham radios rock
Christ, doesn't this Walter Mitty like the sound of his own voice..does he ever? He could talk an untrained & violent rotweiler down off a meat wagon with the windows open! I congratulate myself that I actually made it through all the way to the end even though I had more exciting things waiting for me to do , like hauling the trash or sweeping leaves in my back yard. I thought we Brits had the monopoly on gibberish.. He wipes the floor with us!
+MauriatOttolink if it is truly so bad then why bother watching till the finish?? Why not just move on? For anyone with radio experience it is a touch boring (I was more watching to hear his opinion) but to those preppers and others just getting started with NFI, what he had to say could make a massive difference to them.
***** I was watching in total disbelief. I just expressed an opinion not expecting you to agree with. You certainly don't change it, any more than I try to change your silly opinion, its silliness being reinforced by reference to 'preppers'. Enjoy your opinion if that's what grabs you? I prefer more meat on my activities.
Of course I am sure you are aware once you key the transmitter your radio can be fingerprinted and you can be voice printed. Also df is instantaneous so your location has been comprimised. Not a big concern in day to day activities unless you are on the government radar but in a police state crackdown keying up could prove disasterous.
+Sam Short I think police state will have other issues to concern themselves with. They have to find the frequency in use first! If there are several chinese repeaters setup over the area on different frequencies it makes it harder to catch on to frequency and location again. Also since the repeater is so small and discrete it is not going to be as easy to find as you think. General location in the middle of a mountainside means little and can give a lot of warning if you have extra sensors around the site (if you are paranoid). As for voice fingerprinting..... ROFLMAO... there is an issue with voice quality there and they are more screwed if the people are more advanced and using P25 as it doesn't reproduce a 100% tone rather near enough is good enough. Whilst we generally know who is who by voice on radio after time it is not like matching DNA as there are some large anomalies and if encryption is used then they don't get voice to match you to.
Glenn O'Reilly, keep laughing as the state takes you down. Fingerprinting a transmitter has nothing to do with voice recognition and is instantaneous. DF'ing a transmitter is also instantaneous and extremely accurate. Militaries all over the world have been using and improving this technology since ww2. The United States currently has fleets of aircraft, balloons, drones, and ground based vehicles for just this purpose. You may be correct in the fact that most of us on the level of importance during a massive crisis or revolution is insignificant but, be aware all the data will be collected all the time and it will be analyzed. The military is very good at what they do and they do it 24/7. So I'll leave you with an old unit motto "break squelch and die" even more true today than it was when I served.
+Sam Short Are you kidding me ??? "keep laughing as the state takes you down" ? The whole "prepper" movement is sickening. It's a shit stain to ham radio and not welcomed by normal folks. No, Obama (or the new guys) is not going to come and take your stuff. The "preppers" are nothing but a bunch of paranoid idiots who know how to make noise about their paranoia . The "preppers", "SHTF" fanboys just need to stay the hell away form me.
+matt9c1 It is no use trying to educate you Matt you are too stupid to understand. I will continue my hobby with a great knowledge of what can and is done on a daily basis. I will be prepared when the time comes. lol
hams been around longer than police radios, why are you are referring to us as playing, Im lic. and my friends are and we dont play, you sound like like a trouble maker, cut the crap we dont need it, there is always a way to break the law, you pretty much id yourself as one, leave it alone, what do you have to gain ?
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I just wanted to point out a slight error in this video, at 6:50 it's stated that hams have access to 144 MHz to 148.995 MHz which is incorrect, close though. We're allowed 144.000 to 148.000... And actually we can not operate right on 148 MHz as part of our signal will be out of band past 148 MHz.. But as a general rule when staying legal that is, it's a good rule of thumb to avoid using the very edge of the band to avoid operating past our licensed privileges.
One reason why your ham rig can tune into Land Mobile Radio Service (LMRS) frequencies next to it is because some rigs are designed for both part 90 and and part 97 use, Beofeng makes walkie talkies for both ham and LMRS use.
If you were to get a GMRS license, you could talk in the GMRS frequencies in the 462 and 467 band, on your ham set, if your Alinco will tune that high. You see if it can tune into the GMRS bands, and if it does, you might want consider getting a GMRS license.
Dear GC - Thanks for your videos. I study this type of information and prepare for many types of scenarios. Mainly, natural disasters, power outages and the like. Food, water and fuel rotations, medical training, bug out, bug in - survival skills, mapping/GPS/communications/solar power and security. I rarely talk about my "preparedness for various plans" as many think its funny and get a good laugh as to what I have in my back pack. Your expertise has helped me gain knowledge and tactical insight. Thanks again.
+Tony K. Really appreciate the kind words. I hear you about talking about preparedness, I just let my actions do all the talking, especially when the power goes out. Take care and thanks again.
An Amateur Radio Operator CAN use Part 90 gear on the amateur radio bands, provided it can be programed, or modified to program, there.
I own several Kenwood TK-760's (VHF), and a few TK-860's (UHF); they are both mobiles and will program down into their respective ham bands "out of the box" (in the FM repeater/simplex portions)... assuming you have the programming cable, KPG-29D software, and a DOS computer with a serial port. They both use the same accessories, including the software and programing cable.
Yes they are limited in the fact that they have no VFO or way to 'modify' channels on the fly (unless you modify the radio physically and program it for that); it only has 32 memory banks, or 'channels'... but they are good, solid, nearly indestructible radios, that should last a lifetime, and have amazing receive sensitivity. They transmit a good clean signal, they are less susceptible to intermod, they are VERY rugged, and they operate in both HAM bands, and Part 90 bands (and are type certified to do so!)... all VERY attractive reasons to own Part 90 gear!
I consider not having a VFO to be a minor limitation, as even your tertiary back-up, back-up, frequencies should already be determined ahead of time anyhow... I tend to stick to less than/about 32 different frequencies in each of the VHF and UHF bands respectively, and rarely stray from those, so it's no big deal for me. A few repeaters, a handful of favorite simplex frequencies, the local ARES comm-plan, a few public service frequencies to monitor, and two local NOAA weather radio frequencies round out my list. There are usually regional Amateur Radio band-plans, sometimes with recommended, 'channelized', simplex frequencies (IE: 146.49, 146.52, 146.55, 146.58, etc...) to maximize usable spectrum while avoiding QRM; local HAM's in my area tend to follow our regional band-plans; so I program the few common local ones, and add a few tertiary ones too.
They make great repeaters too... fixed, deployable, cross-band or otherwise; especially low-power, deployable, cross-band simplex repeaters or links! The KCT-19 terminal interface accessory cord makes interfacing with a repeater, or TNC/digital interface, a breeze.
I spent a good portion of my youth in the CAP, as a radio operator in the radio room at our two state EOC's during both SAR-EX, and active SAR missions. Most of the gear used was commercial, Part 90 gear (mostly the mobiles), but a lot of the HT's were amateur gear with the MARS/CAP mod done; a lot were Kenwood or Alinco. Though at one EOC, we had an amateur grade Kenwood with the MARS/CAP mod in the radio room, worked great with everyone involved (CAP ground teams, CAP air teams, State Police, Fish and Game, and civilian ground teams on amateur frequencies), we just used the memory channels, never the VFO; as an auxiliary of the Air Force, on a live SAR mission, I'm sure the FCC didn't care about type 90 acceptance of the radio..... just sayin'. Of course, that was in the early/mid-90's....
I also served in the military, so when talking about SHTF commo gear... I like rugged, robust, "bulletproof", and IDIOT-PROOF gear! If SHTF tomorrow, and I had to don battle rattle to protect home and country, you can bet it would be a Part-90 HT in the radio pouch.... it'll take almost anything you throw at it, and it will keep calling for back-up/fire/supplies/help.... usually; and you can hand one off to a radio-illiterate comrade, tell him 'channel-1' gets you HQ, 'channel-2' is simplex/talk channel, etc.... and it just works for them, nothing to "mess up".
I'm also not saying I wouldn't/don't own amateur gear.... everything is just "another tool in the drawer" so to speak!
73 and thank you for your channel, I enjoy it! :)
Great post! Some people like to get on their high horse about pro gear vs HAM gear when both have good places and both have a lot of overlap.
Another excellent video! Is there a better place to pick up used equipment than ebay?
Narrow band business band vs Wideband Ham. Narrowband has much less range. It is illegal to use most business bands without a license, which the FCC rarely gives out based on your location. Ham band, you can easily get a tech or general license and easily use them ALL THE TIME, so you get used to using them when you need to. If you need secrecy when SHTF, then you are already in the fan.
Great video. I'm going to search around your other vids to see if you cover the durability issues specifically with the newer to market Chinese radios in greater detail. Also love the old school phone quietly sitting in the background. Shows layers of preparedness.
This is why I have a TK-790/890 Dual Band Remote single head radio. The only thing I'd like on this setup that an immature radio has is the ability to FPP via VFO. Other than that I REALLY prefer my Mil Spec TK-790/TK-890. I get to talk on my Business frequencies, plus ANY 2m or 440 frequencies programmed in, and in SHTF situations I will use any Public Safety, MURS or Business Frequency to facilitate emergency communications.
For the record mate I love your channel as it is and I'm an awkward Englishman!
Don't knock the cheap shit, it's the reason I got my tech license. Am now waiting for the new general license test to go into effect and I'll get my general. All from a $30 dollar HT. It's gotta start someplace.
Yeah expecting people to start in the hobby with a $650 radio is what is going to kill off our hobby faster than ever. I got licensed this year, I'm a General Class, 22 year old, always been interested in everything RF Spectrum related, communications, computers, volunteer work, public safety, etc. Seen a few new HAM's younger than me join up, I don't let people get to me but sometimes it seams like Amateur radio is a gear measurebating contest. Many of the new HAM's need elmer's, not people to gloat about their new super duper HF rig and get on them for having a BaoFeng instead of a Kenwood and two Yaesu's with all the bells and whistles.
Fast Forward one year and I have a Yaesu FT857D, Kenwood AT-130 antenna tuner, Buddipole Deluxe long antenna and an Ed Fong 2m 70cm antenna. And I have my General ticket.
+Patrick Slevin Congrats! I have several radios now and I definitely have the bug but my point is I've heard plenty of jerks on HF criticize youngsters for not having the greatest radios, certainly you can save up, certainly you can get great deals on used radios from reputable HAM's in your community but the skill of the operator and ability to operate with really anything is more respectable. The Extra's who have never made a dipole antenna or don't know how to adjust an antenna with $2500 rigs shouldn't look down on people less fortunate
+Patrick Slevin BTW How do you like the 857D?
No matter where I go in this hobby, I'll never forget it started with a $37 Baofeng HT.
I like a lot of what you are saying here. One thing that i think gets missed in most prepping comms videos is that it takes a great deal of practice to be effective operating, especially during emergency nets. Even just copying down the calls, names, and traffic from weekly nets can be quite challenging.
+Adam Overman as someone who volunteers at the local voly fire service comms unit and have volunteered in other voly comms units I agree 100%. When the SHTF keeping calm and attentive to a radio can be bloody hard.
These modifications you are referring to, are they intended to convert the receiver section into a general class receiver ?
Great info as always. I could not agree with you more on your assessment of ham vs.commercial radios. Thanks for the video.
What is them make and model of the gray and black handheld with the blue tape on the top and the orange battery that was in the middle of the Johnson and Yaesu? Looks like a BK.
Yes sir, specifically a GPH Commander. Thanks for watching.
In my area there is a certain population of amateurs that love to purchase the ex-public service radios to modify it for amateur use,what I am seeing is the price is great for the radio, but many times the radio doesn't work correctly when they receive it OR you need the software/cabling for programming and these items are no longer available which renders the radio useless, or they need to send the radio to some magical place to have it programmed at a additional cost. My opinion, purchase a good name brand amateur gear with the programming hardware & software and should be trouble free. I personally have 4- of the Yeasu FT8900's which has a detachable face plate, has 4 bands 440/144/50/28 MHZ,it has been expanded I can listen to the Public Service with great versatility, if need be, I can punch in the frequency via the key pad, it is also nice to dump the frequencies in via the computer. I have been using these for about 15 years and still going strong. I have been a Ham since 1979,I have purchased probably 35 radios -new and have never had to send one back because it was defective. You cant beat Yeasu/Kenwood/Icom I service medical equipment on squads I always take notice of the 2 way radio equipment they use,I see a lot of the Icom/Kenwood /Yeasu Public services radios on board. Alinco is also good only problem I had was the face of the keys faded away over time.
Good to see you back GG, that dr-635 I got from one of your early videos is still running strong. I snipped the blue wire just like in the movies, lol.
What Ham Radio should I buy today for SHTF soon to come.
Love the old school bendex king and the spectra on the shelf.
Also I prefer my TK-790/890 Dual Band setup because it allows me to have both Wideband for Amateur and GMRS frequencies as well as Narrowband setup for Business (Part 90) and Public Safety as well as the Narrowband MURS and FRS frequencies to be utilized in the event of a life safety issue. Add to that the 790/890 has selectable tones, Public Address system, Intercom if needed, DTMF, Fleetsync (MDC1200) data tx. etc...
I appreciate the video, and what you're doing. IMHO there was a lot of misinformation presented here. Some of of technical, most of it poor vernacular or terminology(frequency vs. channel, memory/VFO etc.) I'm not trying to be over critical, I really like what you're doing here, just some constructive criticism.
Viewers should know transmitting out of band, is not only a end of world situation. As a ham, you should know, we are allowed, at any time to transmit out of band, on any band if there is imminent threat to life or property. Working public service events in very remote areas(excellent comms practice for anyone interested) I've personally transmitted out of band to police and EMS in remote locations to direct help, and responding units. It's not just for SHTF scenarios.
Please keep doing what you're doing, but maybe consider shortening the videos, or reading from notes. Your videos contain A LOT of information, but perhaps half as long would be twice as effective.
Criticism well received and appreciated. Yes, the vids are not well prepared and off the cuff mostly, except for the main idea. I try when I can, usually the physical world does not permit me to have the time & focus to make a better presentation. Though I do enjoy making them even though they are crude. Thanks for watching.
As long as you're having fun making them, we're having fun watching. 73!
CCWSig In an emergency, anyone can use any frequency no license required to call for help.
***** Sigh. Not true.It must only be a legitimate and immanent threat to life or property, and be the most effective way of summoning help.
+Jack Wilson no technically there is no stipulation about being the last available means of communication BUT you may still get your ass dragged over the coals with an official please explain in a court room which even if you win is just pure fking annoying.
Thank you so much for all the time and effort you put in your channel. Keep up the good work.
Great information. But I gotta say, in any SHTF scenario I seriously doubt that the FCC is gonna give a hoot what people are doing on what radio bands. Given the circumstances of SHTF in and of itself, ANY communications for survival would be allowed.
+Gunslinger Survival it's more an issue of staying legal in passive times when FCC is biting people on the ass. Trying to find a workable medium between the two.
*****
Yeah, I get what you're saying. It just irritates me when the topic of communications during and after any SHTF scenario come up...all the HAM Legal Eagles come out of the woodwork to put their two cents in on the legality of it...like it's gonna matter in a disaster situation.
Gunslinger Survival
Yes I agree. That's one reason why Chinese radios are handy for repeaters. Whilst they themselves are not legal/approved you can at least put them on legal frequencies so no one knows or cares. Then hit the SHTF times you can in a flash change to whatever frequency you like to get away from the normal zones.
People looking to raid other people etc will of course be scanning FRS and amateur 2/70 for activity so once the brown stuff starts flying GTFO of the normal bands where everyone will be looking.
*****
Dude, you took the words right out of my mouth. That is EXACTLY the point I'm making. I tell all my radio buddies, CB'ers and HAM's the same thing. Marauder WILL have scanners and radios, too...and they WILL be listening for people talking to each other. They are not dumb, and they will use triangulation and positioning to find the people talking. You're right, when SHTF...stay off the normally used bands. Find a complete band and frequency list and pick a band of frequencies that are not normally used for voice communications...that's the best and safest bet.
Gunslinger Survival something like 77mhz/171mhz/455mhz/845mhz (I'm guess on 800, we have nothing anywhere near me for that so I haven't paid attention to it) is out of the road of most things of consequence and less likely to be looked at and of interest given the number of uneducated who will be running on the regular bands.
I have a 2008 Dodge Charger. Civilian model. Police models have the gear shifter on the column mine has the gear shifter in the center console. I have trouble finding place to mount my scanner and leixan vv898 in my car. I like things neat and tidy. I just cant find away to do it. I have you got any advice for me?
Yeah, thats a tough one. Not much room and its un-tidy bolting it in the open beneath the dash. Try looking through TroyProducts website, they may have a universal mounting console you could put in front of the center console. I hate giving recommendation since such things are a personal taste matter, but look through their offering for a solution, you might get an idea from it. troyproducts dot comm. I'm not affeliated with them, they just make good gear..
I know you are busy but thank you for taking the time to answer me.
Good info. I have been looking into getting some comm gear for a worse case scenario. I want something that is affordable ($500
YTABIN78 I cant speak of all models but a handfull that I've handled or owned myself. My little Yaesu VX7r does monitor shortwave among a wide range of frequencies. I do like Yaesu, borderline fanboy, but another user converted to Icom because the features and menu navigation was a lot simpler or user friendly. I'm sort of agreeing with his observations. Both makes have a good long track record. Dont know if Icom ham radio also listens to shortwave.
On the new police radios they have P25 models out there now. I don't think the ham radios have the capabilities to monitor police bands now. Is that true ? Or am I wrong?
Yeah, the Ham radios cannot monitor public safety P25 digital modes. Only if the PD are still running analog, which thay are still plenty of agencies that still do.
GUERRILLACOMM a radioshack scanner will monitor p25 wtf are you blabbing aabout?? Encryption and p25 are two different things. Orange County CA is all p25 now and i listen just fine.... encryption is avail and most LE IS encrypted but you talk about p25 like its super secret
1) None of the cheap chinese amateur radio gear has the capability to interfere with modern police or military gear.
2) The thing is, "pro" radio gear like modern police radios are trunked systems that constantly rotate frequencies - often during the same exchange. They require a centralized hub or control frequencies, and have to be set up professionally. You could pick up two of the same kinds of radio from two police departments and not be able to talk with each other because they'd be programmed to different frequencies. Ironically, this is done so they do NOT to talk with each other - so that a lot of different public safety services can occupy the same part of the 800 Mhz spectrum and not interfere with one another.
3) I'm not into "Prepping", but if I were, and assuming I'd even want to talk to people instead of hide in a bunker, ham radio gear is what I'd want. Its designed so that communication between two radios is easy; punch in a frequency and go. Pick up a 30 year old ICOM HF tranceiver, a 50 year-old Heathkit, a brand new Elecraft KS3, a 15 year-old Yaesu QRP rig, or a home-made "cw" or morse code transceiver. they can all talk to each other. Also, ham gear is designed to run off of 12V DC power.
Yep
The fact a lot of Amatuer radios are modifiable fall under the Mars/Cap Program going all the way back to the AARS program pioneered in 1925 you can learn more here
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Auxiliary_Radio_System
In case of a blackout or grid down what kind of backup power sources do you use?
2 used AGM batteries on a Samlex Power supply/charger. My comm gear is supplied by the batteries and the charger keeps them topped off until the power goes out. Then the batteries are on their own. I have a couple of 20 watt solar panels I could run outside to keep them running, but its not a permanent setup up. I want to upgrade, possibly next summer with something similar.
Secret squirrel channel!!! LOL!! right up my alley. Thanks gcomm for the info
I've personally transmitted on several scrambled frequencys but with pc running most decryption programs as I used to tweak my radio's but I just keyed up asked for radio check they replied with a it's working lol kinda like cb chatter but just like CB lingo ham is much different on main traffic bands then u wanna chat randomly just switch to alternate like cb with side band you say cq instead of break break - its very interesting I've started taking interest in two ways since I was like 8 but range been my main factor I've gotten out on cb pretty far I know over 40 miles at times on strait am and over 60 on usb & LSB side bands many times but fm is your best range most efficient band to use I've installed these mobile hams in all my personal vehicles plus cb with side bands as well but I'm a truck driver and it's best for in your immediate area to quickly communicate with the guy in your driving lane and such cuz these are fast to grab only 40 channels plus ur sidebandz but mostly strait am 1-40 so it's handy having both RADIOs there relatively small easy to install I use a linear on my cb my ham does not however it's perfectly fine as is idk why cb are limited by law to only push 4 watts out of the box when ham has 55 to 75 on fm bands but never the less there are linier options for hams to .....
Among numerous other radio jobs, I even repaired Motorola train radios.
Safety/hobby, best seems toe a setup which communicate on CB/FRS frequencies.
(In emergencies - add local fire, police and whatever?)
The secret stuff frequency hops, hard to detect because it is below the noise floor.
Great channel. How's your simplex repeater functioning after months of deployment? Looking forward to your next video....
Still going strong on a degraded battery. It shut down for 4 days during overcast followed by snow, then recovered. Hasn't shut down since.
What programming software do you use with the DR-635?
We had a guy up here (NW CT, SW MA) who was posing as a dispatcher on the LCD frequencies. It took a while but the dude got caught. It wasn't his first rodeo either. Other than Amateur radio, US Military field phones are great and occasionally you cand find surplus spools of phone line for them. Some manpack comms are on eBay often.
73, KC1CWP
The flexibility of ham gear is wonderful, but the quality of repurposed Motorola commercial gear is superb. Good presentation.
love your videos the good the bad and the ugly.
Can you recommend a good discussion forum for this topic?
Sorry for the delay in answering. Unfortunately I don't have much time for forums. One in particular I checked out and enjoy somewhat is Survival podcast. they have a comms tread in both ham and other.
I like this video. Do you think the Alinco DR-635T is a good Ham radio?
+Johnny Ledford No, I think there are better options. Kenwood, icom, yaesu.
I actually noticed something quite interesting on a few days ago. I used to have a FT-2900 in my dd but recently swapped it out for a PM400. So after the swap, I had a chance to test the sensitivity of the FT-2900 and compared it to a VX-4000. The VX-4000 had a 5 dB more sensitive receiver in a down and dirty test with a signal gen. Thought that was kind of interesting…
Another thought, we actually tested a IC-7000 out of band (into a load). At 467.7 MHz, it only made 3W. Haven't tested others but I also thought that was a little interesting.
All great points, the average joe has no need for the so called commercial radios. By the way I bought a FTDX-1200 with FFT-1, and 4BTV. I am cutting the radials this weekend.
what is the knife for ?
This is why I love your channel.
johnny wadd Really appreciate the comment. Made my suck ass week disappear as if it never happened. Thank you.
You have made me get going on my communications part of my preps. Studying for ham test. Bought Yaesu VX 8DR radio and many accessories. Ordered some gear to build a repeater like yours. Too much to tell you about here.
GUERRILLACOMM I hope your week turns around. I have been having a few like that lately.
Love the old MCS M01xTMxxx's in the background lol.
The choice is catch22. Professional as you called it (we seem to call it commercial over here) has more features usually (eg P25, encryption, etc) but a lot more restrictions and will often be more greedy on power.
2x Motorola GP300 handhelds (or for a parrot repeater like yours a single) will make a brilliant portable repeater at possibly a cheaper price than 1-2 Baofengs, Wouxuns etc BUT doesn't have the flexibility to shift frequency on sight. The GP300s however are more legal since they have an FCC rating so 6 of one half dozen of the other.
Commercial mobile/base/repeater units in a repeater setup are the ducks nuts for coverage and features but you then need many batteries, a large water proof lockable vented cabinet and huge solar panels to keep up. If there is no security or land ownership issue they are the way to go but for low visibility and portability a couple of baofengs via vox repeater module or self made lead are unbeatable. Hooked up with a pair of ground independent mobile antennas which are still easy to hide they make an excellent close local repeater. I'm all for the repeater pair rather than parrot repeaters though as parrot repeaters imo are much more likely to have "doubles".
Whilst I find the cheap chinese junk handy (hell I managed one day to make a repeater by turning vox on on my UV5RA and hooking a 3.5-3.5 stereo audio lead from the headphones socket of my scanner to the handheld) I do like my Motorola gear, especially my handhelds with FPP. I rarely use FPP as I prefer to program all via CPS but having the feature is handy as is having P25 and better yet P25+encryption with multiplle encryption keys (allows quick easy transfer if a key is broken and allows intercoms with other groups or people on a key DIFFERENT to what we use).
Then on top the cream of the crop is the dinosaur Kenwood HF. We use a mix of HF, VHF-H and UHF-H (450-480).
TLDR amateur vs cheap chinese vs commercial = horses for courses... whichever is most appropriate for your situation and knowledge level imo.
I absolutely love your channel. As a new guy, greatly appreciate your help and gaining a understanding of the guerilla side. My focus is how comms benefit me during shtf, provide a fun hobby, but talking with folks on the other side of the planet, in a more traditional HAM focus doesn't interest me. What you provide seems more practical and useful, and I greatly appreciate your efforts and shtf perspective.
Thanks man, appreciate it. Their are literally hundreds of avenues to take in ham radio, don't have to travel all those roads if you dont want to.
I am seeking knowledge regarding secure radio and video comms for current days when rule of law exists, and tricks and techniques for, god for bid, a period of time when wrol rule, during which secure comms could mean the difference between life and death. I've a background in IT so technology doesn't intimidate, it intrigues me, but as yoiu say there is a large number of roads to travel and I want to avoid time wasted traveling down paths that are not consistent with my goals.
I'm envious of your backpacking options out there. Being on the east coast, anything like that must be shared with 55 million knuckleheads - I've learned that will suck the fun right out of it.
good stuff man, hpoe you are well bud
the motorola radios are "commercial" radios. kenwood is ham. i use both. i open up or mod my kenwood and icom radios for use in an emergency. i just made a video yesterday where i took apart my go box and went with 30 dollar amazon prime rack mounts you can bolt to the wall and its awesome! ham ON! peace from loveland, colorado
+Shutter Mafia Studios (Shutter Mafia) kenwood makes good commercial radios too not just ham radios.
Kenwood makes both ham and commercial radios, same with motorola
i like the kenwood tk 790 and 890 for the power output and durability
I remember the PRC-77 and KIK-13 encryption device.
Commercial radios tend not to have free running VFO to select the frequency. The problem comes to digital VHF/UHF radios. Not only do require special programming software, but different manufacturers have different audio CODEC's which are totally incompatible with each other. Motorola Icom DSTAR YAESU SYSTEM FUSION, and others.
in a emergency anyone can transmit on any frequency, read your laws and rules better life or death you can transmit to anyone
AMEN BROTHER. AS LONG AS I CAN COME UP ON THE NET AND CALL YOU& YOU ANSWER US.ITS FINE WITH US. KEEP UP THE GREAT JOB BROTHER WE SUB. URE COOL & PROFESSIONAL . THANK YOU. U GOT A GREAT CHANNEL.
Actually, 151.88 is allowed for MURS ulicensed opertion, so you could legally transmit on 151.88, as long as you do not exceed 2 watts
got some good points my ham gear can do the same and is opened up to other bands that would be illegal to transmit on but in a shtf situation i would not hesitate to do it
'Yakking on his own bullsh*t channel' well said sir lol
New sub here, I appreciate your no-BS approach to comms gear. I have a question on MURS radios, are they still viable as prepper comms or is that a dead end?
Depends on what you want/need. It works as long as you keep its limitations in mind.
CPLBSS88 For now, my comms needs are pretty basic, I'm looking for something a little better than GMRS/FRS. I don't have the budget for HAM gear at the moment. Thanks for the reply.
William Lee my .02 would be to go with a beofeng, they have several models, the UV5r has a lot of accessories but the UV82/83 seems to be a better performer for around the same price. Take a look and see what fits. last I looked they were both well under $100 and can be unlocked to work on a wide range of freqs, including the MURS freqs. Personally though, I typically sub to the "buy once cry once" mentality - especially when it comes to technology. While you may save a few bucks now, what is that broken Beofeng worth 5 years down the road when S has HTF and you cant get a replacement. I say save your pennies and jump for the Yeasu VX7r. These are tools just like anything else in your survival tool box and if you are going to make the investment, you might as well get something that will last. I may however grab a few of the UV82's to play with and keep from beating up the nice radio... if they workout, great, if not, no biggie - they are ~$50 USD and preform well enough as an HT. The biggest lesson I had to learn when it comes to comms is that one should prep their OWN comm plan and not rely on the latest and greatest to get the job done just because the sticker or some sales man says it will work. Hell, a CB radio will do the job just fine, and in some cases may actually be superior. The issues is that CB gear, at least new, is pretty pricey for what it is. I guess in short what I am trying to say is that the situation will dictate your equipment. Figure out what you NEED, then what you WANT, from there its just a matter of researching options will fit your needs. Another great option is the FT60r from Yeasu, if you can find one. They are around $150 or so. I'd say stay away from Wouxun, they are decent but they are almost as much as the Yeasu FT60r, which is far superior. The second lesson I had to learn is the UHF/VHF is not the be-all-end-all solution to every Comm problem. In most cases, you could use homemade wired field phones and be better off in terms of durability, sound quality, and security. Wireless comms, IMO should only be used where Wireless is required. Check out Hiberniason's ch. he has several good vids on comms and a good vid about why he picks CB for his intra-squad level comms. Personally, I lean more towards no electronic comms for intra-squad but they do have their place and advantages. For my uses though, the disadvantages out weigh the pros.
William Lee I forgot to add; www.miklor.com/
Its a good place to buy from (he sells through Amazon) and also has a ton of info.
CPLBSS88 really good sound advice. Though, I would like to suggest that those cheaper chinese radios are good to practice and make your mistakes on, rather than risking damaging your good quality models. $35 to learn from hard knocks, then set your sights for the tougher spec radios. One of commpreppers video showed a home/business phone system that could be re-purposed as field phones, really good out of the box idea, and its digital for an extra layer of security. So many ways to skin this cat.
Love your channel. Do you have a private way to receive messages.
I just subbed but i do have one very small request or question rather. Why did u keep repeating urself in this video? Just curious
Most of the time I go off on a main subject and spew out the info off the cuff without an outline or script. I, admit, its a major flaw along with the "uummms & ahhs" while trying to put ideas into words. Very few times its because the idea is important enough to repeat itself, but mainly its just a flaw in in my presentation. I do work on it sometimes when I edit the vid. Thanks for the constructive criticism, I will try to do better.
The main difference I see is that HAM often has what I call “on the fly” programming” or programming directly from the radio. A public safety type radio needs to be pre programmed from a computer. For the application of a public safety radio that is perfect. For HAM ops though that is a detriment.
hi there as far as i know you can use anything on amateur radio including home brew yhat is what ham radio is all about you can not use amateur gear on commercial freq though ,as a ham we can build any radio set it up on ham bands and use it we can not use encription exept with rep control codes ,vk2pha
Do you have a ham radio license ?
Yes, among a few other radio related licenses.
Great channel--love it.
Thanks for stepping up man!
"Amateur radio" gear is not any lesser gear. Amateur doesn't mean beginner. Ham radio gear is the highest grade you can get. The innovators of radio were the HAM operators. Law Enforcement and Military learned from the HAMs. You don't even need a license to use a radio on the job, and they don't understand how to build radios from scratch. The HAMs are the pros, and their gear is the most professional grade. Your video was confusing for that reason.
romansten9 ham gear is most certainly not the most professional grade..
KJV1611AV tomato tomato
Harris is the best
I think it's worth mentioning echolink.
That room looks like it would piss off any wife!!! LOL
As wee call them here in uk pmr mobile radio ,
Motorola is making HAM gear;;; SMP9000... the end is near guys.
I have a wouxun kg-uv1p and i have had it since 2010 / 11 and trust me it has taken a beating but it still works like it was brand new. only thing i had to replace so far was the battery. I am about to refurbish it i think since this thing has been dropped off towers and run over twice but other than cosmetics the radio functions great still.
people are dumping WIDE band and 800 MHz radios like crazy on ebay. So if your a ham the you can still use wide band legally and get some nice gear dirt cheap from ebay..
I thought there were law that dis-allowed hams from using commercial gear on ham bands but appearantly 9 out of 10 ham say they can use whatever radio gear and any frequency they want when they want. I know this is not true and not all hams do this but there are those who will use the railroad band to chit chat on just because they have a radio that can tune it.
props on the syntor x9000 radio there, I have some of those and mastr2's I use for door props. the spectra used the same systems 9000 head with a bit bang hack unless its a 100 watt version which I have a pile of in UHF.
Alot of kenwood commercial radios they have a setting in the PC program that you can enable dealer mode which allows you to put the radio into a VFO type mode by depressing a few buttons while turning it on.
Also the Motorola GP68 is a part 90 radio and allows direct keypad programming.
Kenwood did make a special cable for the mobile there (or maybe a different model) that allowed you to conned two radios to one head unit to have a boot strapped dual band, Motorola also did this with the syntor x series and spectra's i think. I have only seen a couple of them though in use in state trooper cars.
VHF-Lo band is the 30 - 60? MHz area where ham is in the 50 - 54 MHz section. Each band spread was sectioned up into allocations for utilities, law, fire, ems, business, etc but I think the FCC did away with that because I am starting to see alot of radios come through here programmed on what would normally be a public safety allocated frequency but being used at some theme park or construction crew and they are licensed on it also...
We used those ef Johnsons at my base for maybe 2 months before they all broke
omg! the prc-77. that thing sucked to carry for 15 miles
I'm still laughing at people who believe that police and military have the best gear 🤣🤣
Ham Gear is like TAPE DECK Audio for me ... Really
Commercial Gear is like CD Audio Quality for me ... Actually ...
Rather use Motorola Gear For HAM ...
Not Into Small Speakers ! Just my Flavor .. everyone has their own perspective of what to use what not to use..... Motorola is Commercial .. plain and simple ....
Amateur is Amateur ..... :)
My MT1000 99 CH back in 1993 900 Dollars ...
My ASTRO SABER III back in 1996 1,500 Dollars
My HT600 back in 1988 loved it .... 200 Dollars 2 CH ....
Amateur is always better way to go when it comes to cost effective really
Motorola ... expensive ham radio :) hahahaha
Same Concept ... IPHONE X .. wow Expensive Facebook Phone / Messenger :)
But then again ... it's your flavor I guess
Good stuff... thank you.
What if the power grid goes off
A good site will have 2 weeks worth of propane generator, solar, and batteries. a poor place will shut off.
thanks
I'm also a new sub and I thank you for the information. May need to hit you up on many subject.
Thanks,
Anytime... But if I delay in answering, its because I'm busy, but I do respond eventually. Thanks for the sub & enjoy..
Professional radio gear (commercial radio) problem is those radios can't change the frequency. Those radios are not on freqs that are used by the public CB, 2meter, 70cm, HF.
best choice Baofeng UV-5R has FM broadcast, Marine, Ham, FRS, GMRS, NOAA,
any freq from 136mhz-174mhz and 430mhz-520mhz receive and transmit. Look up the freqs used by public services and you will find they fall in the range of this radio, CB radio cheap, easy
hear people all over the country during the daylight hours.
+infowarguy hmm strange... I can front pad program channels into a few of my Motorola commercial radios, so say that again please. There are HEAPS of front pad programmable Motos on the market now, to get the sales people whore out the flash codes turning on every option in sight including Q52/Q53 FPP.
I use Harris Kenwood and Motorola
I have been off the air for 25+ years, and thinking of starting up again seeing we are going to be moving South of CT. thinking KY, SC, ??? we just started looking. However a ham shack sounds good. I have been thinking of an Icom for an HF base and a Icom for the HF mobile. rig, and Icom or Yaesu for 2m, 70cm. I want separate radios I don't care for dual band But I will buy one just to have. So, I am thinking 1, HF, 1, 2m mobile, 1. 70cm mobile 1 dual band mobile. and the same in HT's I have a budget of $1500 HF base, $1200 HF Mobile, about $300 per each = $900, and $300 for the HT's 2 two meters and 2 dual bands. So, again 1 HF base, 1 HF mobile, 2 two meter mobile, 1 70cm/440 mobile, 2 two meter HT;s and 2 dual band HT's. Seeing that I have been off the air over 25+ years, and things / radios have changed and wanting to buy new, what models would you recommend ? Thank you.
I really hate making recommendations. dont have alot of dirt time with the ham gear other than what I have. Yaesu, anything has never let me down if thats any resemblance to a recommendation, Thats in dual band 2m/70 cm, have not progressed into the hf world as of yet. The Alinco that I have is alright, but it does have its issues. Lots of intermod interference when in the city of high rf environments. The Mars/Cap modification sometimes make the unit spaz out.
GUERRILLACOMM Thanks, I know what you mean.
How would a part 90 radio be illegal for ham radio? It seems when you are using them for that use you just put more restrictions for yourself the ham radio operator.
Sorry for the delay in answering, Ive been deployed to a fire. The radios are are also licensed for their particular class. some radios are licensed for both GMRS & part 90, and so forth. Technically, if you use a radio not classed for the service you are using it on, its prohibited. It is, what it is... No one cant tell what class radio you are using by sniffing the frequency from the air.
Ham radio is nearly useless in a SHTF scenario. The FCC has already shutdown amateur radio once (during WWII), so will likely do so again. Beyond that, you want to use the lowest power possible. Makes it harder to RDF and similar. Finally, for the same reason, you want your signal to get lost in the noise. Busy frequencies are better than quite ones. Go with those ideas when choosing your SHTF radio equipment.
Why are you modifying ham gear ?
+nr3rful for the same reason people mod their cars. Because they can. Because it gives them different features that the original manufacture may have not included or thought of. And because thats what hams do. Hams have always tinkered and experimented with electronics.
Great video, man! Keep doin' what you're doing! :)
It must be remembered that professional and amateur gear each has a specific purpose. Sometimes comparisons between the 2 are apples & oranges comparisons. I see this all the time on YOU TUBE videos within the ham radio community, where someone compares a $5000 dollar 2016 vintage radio against something from 1979. I understand the purpose of your video, but things must be kept in context.
i have did them both......
Nice points. I'll trade you infantry tactics training for communications training. No bull shit.
Personally i think ofcom should just charge a license fee on a per year basis as well as your call sign rather than going through the expense travel not to mention cost and if you dont pass any exam you lose what you have just shelled out for but i get it why they have exams im in some ways for and against it i just think that it would bring more people to an interesting activity/hobby all in all ham radios rock
I actually fell out of my chair LMFAO, ( i like to work in the shadows, in the gray area of communications) OMG stop i peed a little.
Christ, doesn't this Walter Mitty like the sound of his own voice..does he ever?
He could talk an untrained & violent rotweiler down off a meat wagon with the windows open!
I congratulate myself that I actually made it through all the way to the end even though I had more exciting things waiting for me to do , like hauling the trash or sweeping leaves in my back yard. I thought we Brits had the monopoly on gibberish.. He wipes the floor with us!
+MauriatOttolink if it is truly so bad then why bother watching till the finish?? Why not just move on? For anyone with radio experience it is a touch boring (I was more watching to hear his opinion) but to those preppers and others just getting started with NFI, what he had to say could make a massive difference to them.
***** I was watching in total disbelief.
I just expressed an opinion not expecting you to agree with. You certainly don't change it, any more than I try to change your silly opinion, its silliness being reinforced by reference to 'preppers'.
Enjoy your opinion if that's what grabs you?
I prefer more meat on my activities.
Of course I am sure you are aware once you key the transmitter your radio can be fingerprinted and you can be voice printed. Also df is instantaneous so your location has been comprimised. Not a big concern in day to day activities unless you are on the government radar but in a police state crackdown keying up could prove disasterous.
+Sam Short I think police state will have other issues to concern themselves with. They have to find the frequency in use first! If there are several chinese repeaters setup over the area on different frequencies it makes it harder to catch on to frequency and location again.
Also since the repeater is so small and discrete it is not going to be as easy to find as you think. General location in the middle of a mountainside means little and can give a lot of warning if you have extra sensors around the site (if you are paranoid).
As for voice fingerprinting..... ROFLMAO... there is an issue with voice quality there and they are more screwed if the people are more advanced and using P25 as it doesn't reproduce a 100% tone rather near enough is good enough. Whilst we generally know who is who by voice on radio after time it is not like matching DNA as there are some large anomalies and if encryption is used then they don't get voice to match you to.
By the time they get there I'll be gone
Well, just hope they're using P25...that protocol has more holes than a block of Swiss cheese. DF goes both ways.
Glenn O'Reilly, keep laughing as the state takes you down. Fingerprinting a transmitter has nothing to do with voice recognition and is instantaneous. DF'ing a transmitter is also instantaneous and extremely accurate. Militaries all over the world have been using and improving this technology since ww2. The United States currently has fleets of aircraft, balloons, drones, and ground based vehicles for just this purpose. You may be correct in the fact that most of us on the level of importance during a massive crisis or revolution is insignificant but, be aware all the data will be collected all the time and it will be analyzed. The military is very good at what they do and they do it 24/7. So I'll leave you with an old unit motto
"break squelch and die" even more true today than it was when I served.
+Sam Short Great points...
+Sam Short Are you kidding me ??? "keep laughing as the state takes you down" ? The whole "prepper" movement is sickening. It's a shit stain to ham radio and not welcomed by normal folks. No, Obama (or the new guys) is not going to come and take your stuff. The "preppers" are nothing but a bunch of paranoid idiots who know how to make noise about their paranoia . The "preppers", "SHTF" fanboys just need to stay the hell away form me.
+matt9c1 It is no use trying to educate you Matt you are too stupid to understand. I will continue my hobby with a great knowledge of what can and is done on a daily basis. I will be prepared when the time comes. lol
@@matt9c1 People like you are why I stay away from ham. Bunch of old guys griping about their doctor's appointments while pretending it's still 1960.
Awesome! Subbed!! ;)
Nice
144.000 - 148.000 . NOT 148.999 . Are you a Ham ?
guy it, like a car and and shown them how to male it go faster, are you a FCC cop want to be ?
hams been around longer than police radios, why are you are referring to us as playing, Im lic. and my friends are and we dont play, you sound like like a trouble maker, cut the crap we dont need it, there is always a way to break the law, you pretty much id yourself as one, leave it alone, what do you have to gain ?
"prepper". Ugh, please stay away from me.
You stay away from me first, fudd.
you have no business doing it and shouldn't do it, worry about your guns, they mean more, mental health may be needed
You still doing vids
Thank you so much for all the time and effort you put in your channel. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for stepping up man!