Intro to Radio Communications

[11Bravo]

I ordered the antenna and an offset attenuator.
Hope the big brown truck shows up sometime next week and get to try it out.
Have to get my general and try out HF maybe.

Edit: Got the stuff but have been in the middle of a mini-blizzard here so haven't gotten out to try it.

[Ga Shooter]

OK. I tagged this a while back but finally just got around to reading all the pages. Much like Navigating Collapse I am coming into this blind as a baby sewer rat. I will list out what I want/need for my setup if it is possible or you can tell me what I need. Some of my expectations may be unrealistic but here is my list. I live in Savannah, GA, which is on the coast. We are hurricane prone. My bug out location is about 90 miles inland and heavily wooded. I have family that I would want to communicate with in Birmingham, AL and Central, IL as well as the bug out location and home. In case of TEOTWAWKI I would like TC between hand helds up to 30 miles. Would the base unit need to be up and running for the hand units to be operational? Can you tap a hand unit into the base for very long distance ( hand held relayed through base in bug out to communicate to AL?) I am very interested in the 6' pole portable set up but I do not understand at all. Please help. Thanks.

ETA: I also would like to be able to listen to local Police/Military/Aviation/Fire/EMS etc.

[QuietShootr]

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[Ga Shooter]

Thank you for the reply. Please forgive my ignorance but let me see if I understand. If I purchase a Yaesu FT897D along with
Antenna tuner
High-current 12v power supply (23A or more)
Cable and some basic antenna devices (baluns in a few different flavors, etc.)

and VX170's or Vx812's I can expect to be able to talk to people over the US with the base unit and talk between HT's up to a couple of miles. The HT's will communicate with base at same distance. Where does th 6' diapole come into play? What license do I need? You also mentioned a modifiaction to increase frequency range where do I find out about this?

[QuietShootr]

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[Ga Shooter]

Thanks for the info. It looks like there is only $100.00 diff. in the price and for that I would want the ability to add internal batteries. I have started reading code97 to prepare for the test. I am sure that I will have more questions as I get into this more. It looks like this will be a lot of fun but I am way behind on the learning curve. Do I have to have a Tech license before I get a General license or can I go straight for General? It will take me a couple of months to get up to speed and set up. Please stay tuned for further questions.

[QuietShootr]

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[Ga Shooter]

I was talking about just $100.00 in the price of the unit itself. I can always buy the acces. later to make that part functional right? Or do I have to buy all of it upfront? Thanks for the link. I tried the Technician and passed General not yet. Do you know where I can find a test facility?

[jhurt]

The back pack portable rig sounds fascinating, especially for emergencies. As far as external power source, could you make up a cable with, say, battery clamps on the end and carry that in the pack, then just clip it onto a car battery or tractor, snowmobile, whatever? So long as the voltage/amperage was within the proper spectrum.

[faithmyeyes]

I'm coming late to your post, but I thought I'd add my $0.02.

I live in Savannah, GA, which is on the coast. We are hurricane prone. My bug out location is about 90 miles inland and heavily wooded. I have family that I would want to communicate with in Birmingham, AL and Central, IL as well as the bug out location and home.

You need to know that there is no simple way to do this reliably. An HF radio is capable of the distance, but due to the many factors that affect signal propagation you won't be able to count on one frequency working among all your locations at any given time. An HF communication solution for your scenario won't be "set and forget" unless you have tens of thousands or more to spend on a station. Here's my thoughts on your scenario:

• Don't get too narrowly focused on HF radio. You might not have to resort to HF radio if there is some telephone or Internet capability intact, even if it's sporadic. Craft your plan to use the best available option, taking all options into account.

• In your worst-case scenario, minimize the the need for long-distance communication. It needs to be OK if you can't get through more than once a day at a pre-arranged time, or better yet, once a week. In that scenario you'll likely have more pressing issues than phoning home anyway.

• Have one person in each location become a communications expert. It's that person's job to get a General or Extra class Amateur Radio license, and learn as much as they can about the many ways to communicate in Amateur Radio, then set up and test their ideas pre-disaster. There's no neatly-wrapped foolproof solution for this scenario, so having people who understand comms and radio well enough to improvise, adapt, and repair if necessary will be essential.

• Plan on an HF radio in each central location. You might consider the ICOM IC-7000, Yaesu FT-897, Kenwood TS-2000, and a couple others... but you shouldn't need to spend more than $1500 or so per radio. A modern 100 watt transmitter like the ones I mentioned will need a 12V DC power source capable of 20+ amps continuous (when transmitting). Good deep-cycle batteries work fine, just make sure you have a way of charging them off-grid.

• You'll need enough antenna feeder (coaxial cable or twin-lead) to get from your radio to your antenna, and you'll need an antenna - possibly more than one. Wire-dipole type antennas are probably your best option for HF, but what works best will depend on the terrain at your location, what you have to hang the antenna(s) on, etc. HF antennas are generally not portable, and the ones that are make a major trade-off in efficiency. There's no way to tell whether a hypothetical set-up will be "good enough" for you without actually trying it, so buy an ARRL Antenna Book for each of your comm experts and set them to work.

• Be aware that extremely narrow-bandwidth modes like CW (Morse Code) and data modes like PSK31 can sometimes be effective when a voice signal can't get through. Having the equipment and skills to use those modes gives you more options.

In case of TEOTWAWKI I would like TC between hand helds up to 30 miles. Would the base unit need to be up and running for the hand units to be operational?

Handhelds operate on VHF and UHF frequencies, which require a near-line-of-sight signal path. The only way you'll be able to get 30 miles is to have a repeater in an elevated location or on a tower (how high depends on the terrain). Same-band duplex repeaters like those run by many local amateur radio clubs and those used by public-service agencies are expensive to set up and can be fiddly to maintain. However, cross-band and simplex repeaters are much less expensive, with the trade-off of being more fiddly to use. The differences take some explaining, so I won't go into all of it here.

Keep in mind that everyone who wants to use a system like this needs an appropriate license. For Amateur Radio, a Technician license will suffice for VHF/UHF. You aren't going to be able to do much beyond low-power line-of-sight (a few miles or less depending on equipment and terrain) with any handheld that doesn't require a license.

Can you tap a hand unit into the base for very long distance ( hand held relayed through base in bug out to communicate to AL?)

Yes, it's possible to set up a system that will repeat VHF/UHF signals from a handheld onto an HF frequency. There's different ways of doing it. Check out Kenwood's "Sky Command" for one example.

ETA: I also would like to be able to listen to local Police/Military/Aviation/Fire/EMS etc.

Most modern HF radios and handhelds offer extended receive coverage (they can receive frequencies outside the amateur radio bands). If this is something you want to do a lot of, though, or if your local agencies use digital or trunking systems, you'll probably want a dedicated scanning receiver.

If I can clarify or be of further help, just reply here or shoot me a PM.

cheers
FME