BaoFeng Video Review

Welcome everyone to our first in-house video, Today the subject will be radio communications, please enjoy and if so inclined check out this product in our store listed above.











Tweet

Additional review here:

Economy Communications

General tip of the day #1

Smart Phone Contacts

     In this day of everything and anything digital I would like to relate a recent experience that I had to endure here not too long ago and it touches on an area that I had really not looked at. My fun started with the destruction of my smartphone, to be exact my device became  the victim of a really bad case of concrete poisoning ( drops from 30+ feet will do that.) 

     Now here is why it was such a problem, Look at your phone when you get a call, does the number show up or a name ? Like many of you most people I know that call me are entered into my contacts so when lets say Dave calls I see Dave show up and that's how I call Dave as well, look up his name and call. What I am getting at here is that we really don't have to remember phone numbers anymore we just look up the name and hit the little highlighted green phone symbol and connect away and don't even give is a second thought. 

     Now when I lost my phone to a complete and early destruction I stood dumbfounded because every number to everyone I knew was now unavailable to me until I could get a new phone and pull everything down from the cloud and repopulate a new phone. Now here is the embarrassing part, I didn't even know my home phone number..... Really, My office number? Nope, I had to look at the side of my work van to get that...... EPIC FAIL on my part........

      So long and short of this experience is you never know when you might lose a valuable piece of equipment that many of us use so much now in our daily lives. We are now so tethered to this communication device that when we lose it we really put ourselves in a pickle with regard to phone numbers and that could severely hurt your communications options in an emergency. 

     How to fix it: Going old school and break out the little black book so to speak. I have now one of these and have all of my important contacts in it and I don't have to worry about the battery going dead of dropping it and  shattering it into base fragments. This book is small enough that it fits in a pocket and you hardly know it's there.       

Your thoughts?  

Problem solved

Tweet

Economy Communications

     Communications, we take them for granted that we will always have them when we want or need them. 

     This can be a true statement a good part of the time especially during normal times of peace and tranquility, unfortunately those good times tend to be interrupted from time to time and there is almost not a thing we can do about it, or is there.

     Many of us in this day and age can not go more than 20 minutes without looking at the piece of electronic equipment in our front pocket, yes our cell phones. These devices have become an inseparably part of out every day carry and we have become almost a slave to them and I know when mine does not work it turns into a minor inconvenience in normal times, now imagine if you really needed it for say an emergency?

I have touched on various forms of communications in previous posts and I believe that many people under rate how important they can be in that emergency situation where normal forms of infrastructural communications are not available. Infrastructural forms of communications fall into the category of your cell phone and your land line, we all know that storms can take out cell towers or power lines that connect the system and make some form of hard line connection at some point, yes even cell phones at some point go all Alexander Graham Bell  on us and turn into either copper of fiber optic lines during there journey to their destination so therefore a failure can happen. Another disruption that we have all experienced at some point in our lives it the "ALL CIRCUITS ARE BUSY AT THIS TIME"

The bottom line here is to have some sort of an emergency backup in place to be able to communicate, knowledge is power to borrow the phrase from Mr.Sir Francis Bacon.

Knowledge of what is going on in an emergency situation is of vital importance, it will allow you to make the best possible decision in an event, it can also in a way give a calming effect because you know what is happening and where, it removes the unknown or doubt, again knowledge is power and it is an advantage that you should take at every opportunity.

The product that I would like to introduce today Is one that I have and use and I am very glad that I have come across it and I will be adding more of them to my inventory here shortly. The above and below product that you see it the BAOFENG UV_5R  2 way radio, this radio is a dual band that covers UHF 400-480MHz VHF 136-174MHz or as some of you might recognize this as part of the HAM radio band as well as the FRS, GMRS and the MURS band, this one radio will cover them all. 

To take full advantage to this radio one should obtain their Ham radio license as they have become far easier to obtain in the past few years especially since they have dropped the code requirement (Morse Code) from the technician class. Tests are of multiple choice and with a small amount of study ( online options ) for free it makes this a very attractive form of communications. I will note that you can still obtain this radio without having a license and use it for a passive scanner which will still give you a wealth of information and the ability  to legally use it ( transmit ) on non ham channels that fall into the above mentioned FRS, GMRS and MURS channels, You can listen in on the ham and emergency weather alert channels but you are again forbidden to legally transmit on these ham channels without your license but in a life or death situation no one will throw you in jail. 

My only wish with this radio is that it were made in the US but like so many other thing it is not but that is for another post both past and future. What attracted me to this radio it the coverage it can provide as well as it's front keyboard that allows you to program it yourself although there is a computer cable you can buy that will allow you to program it through your computer if you wish. The best feature though has to be the cost of the radio, an almost unheard cost of around $50 

I would put this piece of gear into any collection, it is light enough to carry anywhere and versatile enough to cover many of the bands you may need so check it out and give it some consideration, there are many accessories that go along with this radio as well, I rate it a top buy for sure. 

New Blog Debut.

Today I wish to welcome to the blog world " expedient wired comms " headed up by Dr. D who is a veteran of the telecommunications industry. Dr. D's initial  post is Getting Started so if you have a chance please stop by and add a few words of encouragement, feedback is always appreciated.

Scott R

     In response to the nasty weather that occurred this weekend I know more then a few may have been caught off guard by the event. I believe that having some type of weather alert radio is absolutely invaluable to keep informed of pending weather emergencies. Modern weather alert radios will monitor NOAA broadcasts ans with SAME technology they can be programmed to alert you in your specific county. For further information on this product as well as additional capabilities just click on the picture.

Prepology 

Tweet

A Brief Thought on The Tsunami Warning Systems

     We have just had one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded (top 5) off the coast of Japan, Thousands are feared dead and damage will most likely be in the billions if not trillions as a result of the Tsunami. This Tsunami has also traveled across the pacific to touch upon Hawaii and the west coast of the US causing damage. We also have reports that Nuclear plants in Japan are having issues and may have to release some pressure that may be radioactive. As far as the Tsunami warnings I hope that many will continue to head these alerts in the future and not become complacent due to this being a large event. Going up against a wall of water is a loosing battle, elevation and good warning are a key component to dealing with it but depending on where you are you may have hours or minutes to get to safety. Here in the US we are blessed with an abundance of radio and television as well as S.A.M.E. weather alert radios so take advantage of the options.

Prepology

     
Tweet

Live Radio Reference Site

My Adventures in Self Reliance  Brought up a good source on a comment on one of my earlier articles today. For those with a computer who want to listen to state and local police, fire and emergency traffic without a scanner you can go to this site and listen in.  http://www.radioreference.com/

If you get a chance stop my and say Hi over at My Adventures I am sure she would appreciate it. 

Prepology

 

Communications During Civil Unrest or Riots

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

     We know here from recent events such as in Egypt, Iran, China and other countries that they will clamp down on electronic communications when they feel it is going against them. With the explosion in the last 20 years of several types of personal communications devices Governments have sought ways to limit the flow of information both going out or in. It used to be that news papers, radio and television were our main forms of information and they were either owned or tightly controlled and regulated by the Government.  With the advent of cell phones, Blackberry, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and text messaging the grip of Government censorship has been lessened to some extent and we are now able to see things that are happening worldwide that we couldn't before. Governments though are working hard  to increase their control of censorship on these new information outlets, recent efforts can be seen such as in Egypt where they are trying to shut them down to stem the tide of riots in the country.

     Now how does this translate into anything that might affect you here in this country? Well call me crazy but  we from time to time have our own riots here, not too often but we do have them and they can be nasty, ugly, deadly and generally someplace you don't want to be. I also have no doubt that our own Government has taken under advisement the pro's and con's of shutting down communications during times of unrest, we currently have an ongoing debate about the internet kill switch, but my gut feeling says they are looking further then that. One case in point that I think they will site was the rash of "flash mobs" created by twitter account users that created mini on-site riots and general mayhem.

      We here in the US and other countries have become very dependent of our wireless toys as forms of communications to the point of where we might compare not having them to drug and alcohol withdrawal, I know from my personal standpoint that I go nuts when I can't plug in and I am sure some of you might have the same issue. Having a good flow of information regardless is very important and you should always have some sort of a backup, some options include AM/FM radio, Ham, CB, Multiband Scanner anything to keep you in the loop during a disturbance. Information can be a powerful thing, it can tell you whats coming or where a problem is and help you in deciding where you want to be during that. Another benefit of having some type of non government controlled communications can the the ability to stay in touch with friends and family, food for thought.

Prepology
   

Related articles

• Reports say Egypt Web shutdown is coordinated, extensive - CNN (news.google.com)
• Virtual Insanity: Egypt Shuts Down Internet as Protests Intensify (theroot.com)
• Flash Mob Causes Mall Evacuation (drudge.com)
• What A Flash Mob Is & How You Can Participate (makeuseof.com)

China makes Skype illegal

China makes Skype illegal
By: Malcolm Moore in Shanghai

In the latest move dashing Western internet company hopes of breaking into China, it was announced that all internet phone calls were to be banned apart from those made over two state-owned networks, China Unicom and China Telecom.

China seems to want to stifle communication in their country, well control is more like it. Censorship is alive and well in the country and any chance they can clamp down on it the do, this is not only a problem in China but you would be hard pressed to find a government anywhere that does not get involved with censorship at some point. The take away here is that the Chinese people will find a way to get around it and they already have, do not think for a minute that something like this could never happen here and on a larger scale, there are already EO's on it. Think of the Internet kill switch and shutdown debate from a few weeks ago under the guise of a cyber attack for our own good. I have a fear of any government that has the ability to shut down or control all forms of communication when ever they want, they only reason they do this is to hide things from us, usually their mistakes or lies. Information and news is power and having it is very important as we base certain decisions off of it. Having several venues of information is important to have in case of failure or shutdown such as in the story, have a backup or three.

Prepology 

Related articles

• China declares Skype illegal (intomobile.com)
• Most Americans support an Internet kill switch (net-security.org)
• Schwartz On Security: The Zombie Internet 'Kill Switch' (informationweek.com)
• Skype Faces Ban in China (pcworld.com)

Communications this weekend

Communications

     In my travels this weekend from NM back to AZ we were a 2 convoy trip so we decided to pull out some rarely used Motorola radios for a good road test. Now while Motorola might be a good brand I have found that for the most part you will get pretty much the same results out of whatever brand you use, so save your money.  FRS, GMRS, MURS type radios are what you will find in most stores and are what I call the cheap throw away radios and at under $100 usually for a pair they are what they are, very short range and cheap. Many people are drawn in to the advertised range of 12 or 19 or 31 mile range and that would be true if you had the absolute best possible conditions, mountain top to mountain top with perfect weather is not something you are going to get. You would be good to get a few miles at best out of a pair of radios, power output and a small antenna are the biggest limiting factors in their performance. So needless to say I was not surprised with the results we got from the Motorola’s we used, on very flat and straight highway we were able to maintain about 2 miles of separation before we got nothing but static, again this was about what I thought we would get.

     When it comes to communications you can spend whatever you want from a low of $20 on sale to thousands of dollars, this really is one area where you really do get what you pay for, no one size fits all, everything is a trade off. One area not to over look is CB radio, equipment is not too expensive and range can be decent within reason. The best performance is usually by base station to take advantage of excellent antenna’s that are available but you give up mobility in this configuration, Range can be 15 to 20 miles. For mobile vehicle applications with a good antenna you can achieve good results in open areas of many miles and in cities that gets cut down but I would take it over a handheld. One other advantage of a CB radio is what is called upper and lower side band giving you an increase to 12 watts and an additional 80 channels, this can increase your range. Keep in mind though that your antenna is more important than the amount of power you have almost always.

     The cream of the crop for communications is ham radio, this covers short range to world wide communication and again the sky is the limit with respect to cost but used low range equipment won’t kill you either.  The section for Morse code has been dropped so it makes it relatively easy you to get your ticket these days and there are plenty of groups out there that will help you study and get you set up to take the test, it is well worth it.

Prepology

Emergency Broadcast System Coming to Cell Phones

Oh this should be interesting either way, I can see it as a great help but also something that can be abused, good, Bad?

Matt Liebowitz
SecurityNewsDaily Staff Writer
LiveScience.com Matt Liebowitz
securitynewsdaily Staff Writer
livescience.com – Tue Nov 16, 2:40 pm ET

The Emergency Broadcast System is getting a modern-day upgrade -- moving from the television to the cell phone.
Today (Nov. 16), communications company Alcatel-Lucent announced the creation of the Broadcast Message Center (BMC), a feature that enables government agencies to send immediate alerts to mobile phones in the event of a state, local or national emergency.
The messages, similar to the warnings that periodically interrupt television broadcasts, will be sent via text message using the BMC, and will be geographically-targeted. For example, an alert pertaining to a road closure in a particular town will only be distributed to mobile phones in that area, while a significantly larger group of people will receive text warnings in the event of a city-specific or nationwide crisis.
The BMC will act as a "secure interface between the emergency management agency" and the mobile phone carrier, the press release said. Warnings will contact people in the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster, inclement weather, highway accident, business evacuation, school or campus emergency, Amber Alert and other crises.
Morgan Wright, vice president of Alcatel-Lucent, stressed the need for a messaging system that works with modern society.
"With the public increasingly relying on cell phones, it becomes mission critical for service providers to be able to share critical, time-sensitive information over these devices during times of crisis," Wright said.
The Broadcast Message Center has been tested already in San Diego and Tampa, and is currently in field trials with all the major mobile phone carriers, said Mark Hudson, Alcatel-Lucent spokesperson. Hudson told SecurityNewsDaily that the BMC is scheduled to be in operation by April 2012.

Lessons from the Morgan Hill, CA Cyber attack

     While this article is dated by a few months it does teach some valuable lessons in the prepping community.


http://perens.com/works/articles/MorganHill/

Report Blasts Military For Not Being Nuke-Proof By Olivia Koski July 22, 2010

     The article below I found while perusing some other site, it does make sense to keep older antiquated equipment around for many reasons not just including EMP issues. Some older equipment has a simplicity to it that can be a teaching tool never mind the fact that you can actually work on it in the first place...Enjoy


Report Blasts Military For Not Being Nuke-Proof
By Olivia Koski July 22, 2010

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010...ng-nuke-proof/

If, by some chance, you end up surviving the nuclear apocalypse, don’t count on the U.S. military to be around to help you rebuild. Or don’t expect all its fancy electronics and communications equipment to work, at least.

That’s the strongly worded, rather ominous assessment from a joint Defense Science Board/ Threat Reduction Advisory Committee Task Force, which warns in a recent report that the military needs to wake up to its vulnerability to nuclear attack.

Have a plan

It's here on the beach and if you live or work here you are a little screwed, do you have a plan?




This event will cause many people harm both physically and economically for years to come. If you were directly involved in business that is ocean derived you are going to take a hit, sure down the road as lawsuits are filed and claims are paid you might recover but what about the right now?

Do you have cash reserve? Do you have a place to go if you have to move out of the area? Whats your plan?

This is a disaster for sure and it will be debated to death and then some but for the now lets look at bugging out.  If that is your plan, you should have a general plan that can cover multiple disasters man made or natural.

Having a dedicated vehicle to leave the area in would be nice but in reality we would be bailing out in what we have, our daily driver. ( at least until we win the lottery )
Having our vehicle in tip top shape maintenance wise and a full tank of gas ( or close to it ) would give you a good step up. Do you have some supplies stashed in your vehicle? Maps, GPS, compass. One piece of equipment that I think everyone should have in their vehicle is some form of communications, one of the simplest, easiest and cheapest would be a CB radio. While on the road there is almost always information available on local conditions, knowing what is going on will help you plan your route, remember knowledge is power.

I have always been partial to COBRA radios because they work and can be modified in many ways ( not all mods are legal ). The model shown is a cobra 148 GTL series this comes with 120 channel capability (40 am, 40 upper sideband and 40 lower sideband). The only additional capability I wish this unit had is the weather alert feature, this covers the national weather emergency band and is activated even when the radio is off. In the big world of radios there are more expensive, better and worse but this is a proven radio and there are hundreds of thousands of them out there so they must be doing something right. No matter what you do, add a radio to your bag of tricks.

Radio option

For those looking for a slightly more secure form of 2-way radio communication these might be option. They work on the same principle as military frequency hopping radios, but in an economical price range that we can afford. So far I have seen mixed reviews on these but I think that they will give you a better form of privacy than what is currently available, but still keep to the rule of not repeating anything on the airways that you wouldn't say to Mom.

In addition there is also a model that will enable you to send a text message and remain silent, A very good option.

Got a call from the oldest from the high school, early out come pick me up please. So I drive down there and run into 1000+ students leaving at the same time also, needle in a haystack time. Comms are a very important thing to have and they are very useful for when you need them. What I have done is gone with very in-expensive FRS type radios, they are cheep and have good local range and fit tight in with what I want them to do. We now have a standing family rule that a radio goes with them where ever they go, they are so small that you barely notice them, most of the time they reside in the backpacks of my kids and if there is a special event or some change in the daily program and need to be picked up they know to turn them on. Now some of the pro's is that they are cheep, no monthly contract and they will work with the power off (grid down). The drawbacks are that privacy is limited at best as is range also, the range is always shown under ideal conditions and real world range varies and is always less. Either way this can be a powerful tool to add to your arsenal of tricks.......Scott