That Mesh system looks to be worth checking out better. It's limited but I could see the utility of it as well.
OPSEC Communications
- Thread starter Weedygarden
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Here's another brand of mesh antenna.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...om-20&linkId=f1d2a91969bf726def5fe833c280a85e
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...om-20&linkId=f1d2a91969bf726def5fe833c280a85e
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This would be a great addition to our preps.
I have wondered what it would take to build your own cell tower on your property?
Before you go out and spend money on a smart phone and a receiver/transmitter think about how you will power it.
It is no better than any other radio in a grid down situation. You need electricity to run all of them. A simple cheap CB radio has enough power to get a range of 5 miles in line-of-sight communication. You can get a bit farther over water or by using skip, if you know how. Without repeaters or transceivers your phone or hand held radio won't get you much farther than that CB radio. They all take power to run so you need to decide if you want to power one radio or your phone and a transceiver to get the same utility. Note: the 11 meter CB with a good antenna will work better in most areas than a two meter or higher frequency radio at the same power level. 2 meter and above are easily blocked by the foliage in evergreen forests - that is why search and rescue use 80 meter for field work.
It is no better than any other radio in a grid down situation. You need electricity to run all of them. A simple cheap CB radio has enough power to get a range of 5 miles in line-of-sight communication. You can get a bit farther over water or by using skip, if you know how. Without repeaters or transceivers your phone or hand held radio won't get you much farther than that CB radio. They all take power to run so you need to decide if you want to power one radio or your phone and a transceiver to get the same utility. Note: the 11 meter CB with a good antenna will work better in most areas than a two meter or higher frequency radio at the same power level. 2 meter and above are easily blocked by the foliage in evergreen forests - that is why search and rescue use 80 meter for field work.
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Thanks for the reality check, and, I believe that some of the radios mentioned in the original article from Frank are a better way to go.
I am not promoting the mesh system with cell phones. The only advantage I can see is that everyone (except me) have a smartphone already and the comms are (supposedly) encrypted. We already have two-way radios for use here with several ways to charge them. We can always talk in code if required.
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I think discussing codes would be a great discussion to have. I have seen discussions where one person is trying to talk to another in a way that someone else doesn't get, but the person who should get it, doesn't. It would take some practice and for some, a printed sheet, which would blow the whole deal in some situations.
In my family, we use HT units. MURS, FRS and GMRS for the non-hams, 2m and 70cm for the licensed hams. The base antenna is a Comet QP-1 hung from the top beam in my attic, which is around 30 feet above ground. All the mobile units have an HT + magnetic mount antenna. And the family homes, other than my home with the base station, have an HT + a Slim Jim rollup antenna. It's all pretty inexpensive: I probably have around $125 in the base station and around $40 - $50 in each of the other locations. Could have probably lopped off $50 by building the base station antenna myself, but I'm lazy like that.
To maintain privacy, we do have verbal codes for certain situations. I think the trick is to only have a few and keep them simple.
Our max working range simplex from base to mobile varies between 5 and 20 miles, depending on which frequencies we're using. We've also learned that 70cm signals will get around obstructions that stop a 2m signal dead in its tracks, but you do sacrifice some range in that situation. Anyway, it's a simple setup, but it works really well. Our motivation was communication in the event of an emergency that disrupts cell service (the "Big Three" where we live are earthquake, severe winter storm, and power outage).
We've also been experimenting with sending txt messages via APRS - cell phone connected to HT (we shut off the cell service and wifi when we do this in order to simulate a full outage). It works OK, but we're still working out some of the kinks - one of which is communicating via txt with those lacking the ham license. We're also thinking about getting into CB SSB radios...
To maintain privacy, we do have verbal codes for certain situations. I think the trick is to only have a few and keep them simple.
Our max working range simplex from base to mobile varies between 5 and 20 miles, depending on which frequencies we're using. We've also learned that 70cm signals will get around obstructions that stop a 2m signal dead in its tracks, but you do sacrifice some range in that situation. Anyway, it's a simple setup, but it works really well. Our motivation was communication in the event of an emergency that disrupts cell service (the "Big Three" where we live are earthquake, severe winter storm, and power outage).
We've also been experimenting with sending txt messages via APRS - cell phone connected to HT (we shut off the cell service and wifi when we do this in order to simulate a full outage). It works OK, but we're still working out some of the kinks - one of which is communicating via txt with those lacking the ham license. We're also thinking about getting into CB SSB radios...
I think using the APRS stations are a great way for sending messages, even for non hams. I consider being able to set them up as remote stations under someones call sign to be fine. We had folks around here that ran 4-8 APRS stations at one time for various events and such.
CG SSB (single side band) allows you to almost double your range, all else being equal. SSB CW and a rhombic antenna will get you out to the horizon at least. That is 30 miles with a 30 foot tower.
You taught me something. Please elaborate on the 80m SAR thing - I've never heard of that. I know there are frequencies in every band for sending distress messages, but I never heard of rescue using HF like that before. Is this line-of-sight vertical or conventional atmospheric bounce horizontal?
Match the radio range with the task. Example; If you're checking the fence line that's a mile from your base, don't use a radio with a range of ten miles to contact your base!
The larger the area of your broadcast, the greater possibility of eavesdroppers intercepting your broadcast.
The larger the area of your broadcast, the greater possibility of eavesdroppers intercepting your broadcast.
80 meter is roughly 3.5 to 4 MHz. It is fairly low on the shortwave bands. The reason it was used in the Cascades and Olympics was that it penetrates the forested area better than the 2 or 6 meter band.
80 meter is hard to stop in a permeable environment. It won't go through rock or tunnel walls but it will bounce off most hard surfaces. The drawback is that 80 meter band requires a bit more power and a long antenna so it is not a good mobile radio frequency. There are typically base stations set up and the mobile units remain in proximity to either the base stations or signals are relayed from those further out.
The band can be used for "scattering" signals because it bounces of any relatively flat surface including the ionosphere. I used to listen to Radio Moscow and the Radio Free Europe back in the early 70s using a rhombic antenna on my shortwave receiver. A ton of laughs! I also had some 1/4 wave inverted V antennas on my roof to pick up for different directions. None of my antennas were readily visible so I was kind of a ghost listening station. I listened to VLF signals (all streaming binary) that are used to send information to subs underwater but it is very boring most of the time with just time signals sent out. You know that something is going on when you get a lot of traffic going but no way to tell what it is exactly. That was at about 4.5KHz. It was being transmitted from north of Seattle near the Canadian border. It had to be an antenna strung between two mountains because the wavelength is so long. The weird thing is that the signal travels through the ground and water and not through the air very well.
Anyway, It has been a long time and there are better ways to get information today.
80 meter is hard to stop in a permeable environment. It won't go through rock or tunnel walls but it will bounce off most hard surfaces. The drawback is that 80 meter band requires a bit more power and a long antenna so it is not a good mobile radio frequency. There are typically base stations set up and the mobile units remain in proximity to either the base stations or signals are relayed from those further out.
The band can be used for "scattering" signals because it bounces of any relatively flat surface including the ionosphere. I used to listen to Radio Moscow and the Radio Free Europe back in the early 70s using a rhombic antenna on my shortwave receiver. A ton of laughs! I also had some 1/4 wave inverted V antennas on my roof to pick up for different directions. None of my antennas were readily visible so I was kind of a ghost listening station. I listened to VLF signals (all streaming binary) that are used to send information to subs underwater but it is very boring most of the time with just time signals sent out. You know that something is going on when you get a lot of traffic going but no way to tell what it is exactly. That was at about 4.5KHz. It was being transmitted from north of Seattle near the Canadian border. It had to be an antenna strung between two mountains because the wavelength is so long. The weird thing is that the signal travels through the ground and water and not through the air very well.
Anyway, It has been a long time and there are better ways to get information today.
