COMMS 101 2M VHF. Contents / Layout: 1. Requirements: 2. Scope 3. Background & Introduction 4. Preparatory Info 5. Equipment List

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1 COMMS 101 2M VHF Premise: Having reliable communication in the local area is a critical survivability step in any personal or community preparedness plans. Without information, there is no intelligence, and without intelligence, you have sub-optimal defensive capability. Objective: To enable a person without specific technical knowledge to quickly acquire the ability to establish basic, local, 2-way communications to aid them in personal and community preparedness. Contents / Layout: 1. Requirements 2. Scope 3. Background & Introduction 4. Preparatory Info 5. Equipment List 1. Requirements: If we had to list a set of overall requirements for this guide (COMMS 101), it would be this: Range: Tactical Communication (Stable Simplex 0-2 Miles) Local Communication (Stable Simplex 0-20 Miles Repeater (0-40 Miles) Operation: 2M VHF Cost Effective Simple to Operate Fit scenarios of on-body carry, mobile (vehicle), or residence Simple to maintain Portable, mobile-capable, rugged Commonly used equipment Multiple-use, interoperable Can serve as building block for future capabilities 2. Scope of this Guide: Band / Frequency: The world of radio communication is huge. We are going to focus efforts on only what is needed for beginners to get on the air. This means 2 meter VHF with either hand-held or mobile radios, operating either on foot, in your vehicle, or in your home. Your own equipment: It means that your goal is to rely on direct radio to radio (simplex) contact as much as possible, and rely as little as possible on someone else s repeater station. There is no guarantee repeaters will always be operating.

2 3. Background & Introduction: Although the authors have IT and military backgrounds, we were new to amateur radio. Our goal was to define some local communication requirements, and then self-experiment, trying to view the process as a non-technical person would experience it. Our plan was to start with the most basic, inexpensive equipment and keep adding, upgrading and tinkering until we had solid communications. We wanted to create a plan that required as little training, cost and maintenance as possible, resulting in a recipe that anyone could use to easily implement a basic information / communication ability. What was supposed to be a one month project turned into a many month live experiment. We found that things won t usually work as expected out of the box, and we were learning about equipment capability and options as we progressed. You will need to do some reading, experiment, and lean on other amateur radio operators for advice. Use this guide as your road map and be persistent. This stuff is important, but it also isn t too hard. You can be listening in a couple days, and transmitting with a license in as little as 30 days if testing is available. Communication in general, and in particular Amateur Radio (same as Ham Radio), has dozens, if not hundreds, of knowledge areas and technologies. It is easy to get lost and feel overwhelmed with the choices available. When you are feeling like you are buried in the weeds, pick your head up and focus on the Objective. Refer back to this guide or one of the excellent websites and resources out there and only do things that support your near term objective: local, reliable communications on 2M VHF. 4. Preparatory Info: These are somewhat random bits of information and advice that should help you build a fundamental knowledge base. Listening, Talking & Training: Listen First. Listening and gathering intelligence about your area is significantly more important than transmitting. For general preparedness, you should listen much more than you talk. There are many fine articles already written on monitoring, so we won t cover it here. It is often called SIGINT, or Signal Intelligence. You can listen without a license, which means you can buy the appropriate radio today, get familiar with how it works, and work on your license at the same time. Talk & Training: You will not know protocols, frequencies and whom to contact when it matters most unless you practice. Establish a regular communication plan (weekly practice) with your friends and participate in weekly net check-ins with local ham groups. Make your friends today. Meet them face to face while you still can. Training Tip. Buy the Communications S.O.I. Quick Reference for the Communicator by John Jacob Schmidt ( for your communications binders (SOI=Signals Operating Instructions). It is $6, a ready-made communication plan and reference, and well worth it. Plus, it helps AmRRON (American Redoubt Radio Operators Network) expand their training and outreach. It would take you months to figure out a workable format on your own if you were just starting. With the AmRRON SOI you will have the same guide in your hand that hundreds of other Radio Patriots are using.

3 Tactical and Local: We view Communications at three levels: Tactical, Local and Multi-State. Tactical and Local Comms are more immediately important that what is happening in another state. Master Your Equipment: Master your equipment now. You will not magically push the right buttons when goblins are running down your street. Read the manuals, twist the dials and explore the menus. I can t tell you how many times I ve tried to check into a net only to find my tone settings somehow changed and I could not activate the repeater, which means I could hear everyone else but they could not hear me. That s annoying in normal times when I have to dig out the manual try to troubleshoot something I didn t take the time to learn, but may be life-threatening when you re trying to call for backup or warn your family. Your group should standardize on the communication equipment. The controls and operation will be familiar, which is especially helpful in a stressful situation. We chose some of the most common radios as recommendations so that if you need to use someone else s, there is a higher likelihood of being a model you are familiar with. Also, within a manufacturer, different models will have similar operation, so there is some transfer there as well. Don t Rely On Someone Else s Infrastructure: Communications are either simplex or repeater. Repeaters are someone else s infrastructure. They receive your message, and repeat it over a larger area. You can communicate over much longer distances using repeaters, but you are now dependent on someone else s infrastructure working. Simplex is when two radios talk directly to each other. There are pro s and con s to both. Whenever possible, you want to be able to communicate simplex, because if the grid goes down or there is general mayhem, there may not be any operational repeaters for you to use. It also helps with OPSEC (Operations Security) since it is likely that less people are listening on a simplex channel than a repeater channel. The downside to simplex is that your range is greatly decreased. License or Not: It is possible to do tactical communications without needing a license if you use FRS or MURS radios (much lower power / range), or if you choose to just operate without a license. We are going to focus on ham radios which need a license. Amateur radios give you much greater power, range and frequency spectrum to use, and you can upgrade antennas. See the insert on how to get your license fast. There is an ongoing debate about getting a license and being on the FCC s list, or just operating illegally. Here is our position: Get a license if you are operating amateur radio. Bands & Frequencies: Most Amateur Radio communications happen on three frequency spectrums HF, VHF, and UHF. In each spectrum, there are multiple bands. A Band is a common frequency range where communications happen. Without going into detail at this point, understand that a frequency has a wavelength. As an example, the VHF band frequencies ( MHz) are approximately 2 meters in wavelength. You are in the 2M band when operating on frequencies of MHz. There are other VHF bands, but 2M is the most common.

4 For the purposes of this guide, the goal is to get working on the 2M VHF band. However, the ham radio versions of walkie-talkie radios (H/T s, or Handi-Talkies for ham radio) usually can receive/transmit on both 2M (VHF) and 70 cm (UHF). If you are using UHF, you will be in the frequency range of MHz. Keep it simple for now, use 2M VHF in the frequency range of You don t need to worry too much about bands other than understanding where you are transmitting or listening. You will hear 2M, VHF, and 14x.x MHz used interchangeably (sometimes too loosely), and all you need to know is that they all refer to the same place if you are a beginner the 2M band. Example: I ll catch you on the 2 Meter band, let s try national simplex Line of Sight: The VHF and UHF bands are line of sight (LOS). This means your radio needs to have a relatively direct view to the other radio or the repeater tower. This is not the case with the HF band for example, where the signal bounces off the ionosphere and enables much longer distance communication. This is the same reason why you can sometimes hear AM radio broadcasts (AM is close to the HF spectrum) from different areas of the country, but your car s FM reception is limited to about 50 miles within sight of the tower. What LOS means to you is that buildings, hills, mountains and the curvature of the earth all can interrupt your signal to another person. Antennas & Faraday Cages: The antenna is the most important part of your entire set of gear. It is better to have a good antenna mounted higher than it is to have a big radio with a lot of power output. We also make these recommendations to enhance the mobility, portability and interoperability of your equipment. Without going into a lot of antenna detail right now, you should understand that the radio signal radiation pattern can be very different for different antenna types. Some advanced antennas can have a very tight, directed beam, very much like a high power flashlight. The antennas you will first encounter will radiate in all directions. Some radiate almost equally in a sphere (omnidirectional) while others may be squashed like a doughnut. Usually, the more you can squash the pattern, the more energy (signal) you can direct in a useful direction (like not straight up at the moon) and increase the power gain and range. One quick thing on Faraday cages. A Faraday cage is basically a metal enclosure that blocks the signal either to or from your antenna. This topic is worth a whole article on its own, but just understand that if you are operating in a metal building like Lowes, Walmart, a Convention Center, an office building or your car, your signal will get blocked, just like when you don t have cell service inside buildings. You may be able to communicate, but at significantly less range. This is why it is important to get an antenna outside the vehicle if you are mobile. Power: Power output only matters when transmitting, and even then, your antenna is always the most important part of your equipment. If you are primarily listening, you don t need 1000 Watts of expensive rig. The Antenna is the key to effective receiving.

5 Connectors & Pigtails: Radios connect to the antenna either directly or via coax cable. You will find that there are two common connectors in use for beginner radios. They are SMA and SO-239/PL-259. The SO/PL are just the female/male versions of that plug. If you are using a scanner, you will see a third type of connector (BNC). Ignore everything else for now. You will need to buy adapters, or pigtails, that let you connect hand-held radios to larger antennas (to increase interoperability & range). Most H/T s are designed for short whip antennas that screw into the radio (SMA connector). H/T s can be connected to a larger external antenna via coax cable, but the cable has a different connector (SO-239 connector), so you need a pigtail adapter. Larger radios are not meant to mount directly to antennas without using coax, so you normally don t need an adapter between a larger mobile radio and an antenna, the antenna already comes with the correct connector on the coax. You will need to make sure you specify the connector type that fits your radio when you order the antenna. It will probably be SO-239/PL-259 (same thing, just a female / male version). We are not going to get into things like impedance matching or SWR here. If you buy what we tell you, it will work and you don t have to worry about it for Comms 101. FCC Rules: Two quick FCC rules that everyone should know. 1) Encrypting or otherwise obscuring the meaning of messages while transmitting is illegal. No mafia codes or One Time Pads. 2) Under an emergency situation (your interpretation), you are allowed to use any means necessary to communicate, including frequencies you do not have a license for (or any license at all), encryption (hide your message from bad guys in the hood listening in), or power beyond legal limits. Nuff said. 5. Equipment List: Please understand there are many fine manufacturers out there. We chose the items that follow based on wide usage, fair price and good quality. If you want to research on your own and shop around, please do so. We prefer buying radios new, but if you are tight on cash, you get bargains for used radios at HamFests or local clubs if you do your research. All of our recommendations attempt to take advantage of portability, multiple-usage scenarios, cost and compatibility. Order of Purchases: You should make your purchases in the order given if you are phasing them in: Step One H/T first plus most critical accessories to establish tactical communications Step Two Magnetic mount antenna & pigtail to make your H/T car-mobile and extend H/T range Step Three Base station antenna, increases range of H/T at your residence Step Four Mobile transceiver to increase range via power Step Five DC Power Supply (lets you bring your high power mobile radio inside and connect to your base antenna for the most range.

6 This order will let you systematically increase your communication zone as you add equipment, and also maximize your ability to interconnect your equipment for portability and interoperability. All equipment is double duty and reusable as you continue to build out your communication capability. Note that we have generally ignored tax or shipping in estimates. Ham Radio Stores: Although many of the equipment prices quote Amazon as examples, there are other places that you can get some of the equipment cheaper than Amazon, especially when you start buying more expensive equipment. Go with Amazon or EBay for the lightweight sub-$100 items, check the amateur radio dealers when you start dropping cash on better radios or bigger antennas. Research: You can, and should, read equipment reviews here: Buy or Build: I like to build antennas. It helps me understand them and I do have the background for it. What I ve found is that it is often a break-even on the parts cost (for more basic antennas), and then you have to worry about understanding how to tune them and the extra equipment needed to tune the antenna. You will be tempted to build when you see an antenna that looks like it was made from junk copper tube and PVC in the corner of your garage. Our advice: Remember the Objective. Get on the air FAST. Buy your first few antennas. Step One: Handheld: H/T Baofeng UV5R Under $30 on Amazon, Output power selectable 1 or 4 Watt. Operates on 2M VHF and 70cm UHF! The antenna that comes with the radio, is a stock rubber duck antenna. The antenna is a female SMA, the radio has a male SMA connector. Step One: Baofeng UV5R AA Battery Case Nagoya NA-771 Why we like this: Cheap, transmits on 2M (VHF) & 70 cm (UHF). Almost everyone we know has one which means you all will understand each other s equipment. Most Baofeng radios have interchangeable accessories as well and it can run on AA s. Baofeng is changing their name to Pofung, so you may see both out there. Is it it cheap Chinese junk? Maybe. People report that it holds up fairly well. Everyone has one. Quantity has its own quality, and for under $30 I would rather abuse two of these than a single $160 Yaesu H/T. Alternatively, there is the BaoFeng BF-F8HP 8W High Power, for $63 if you have a little extra cash. We originally tried stepping up from the 4 Watt to an 8 Watt to see if we could improve our local range, but ultimately we needed the Mobile Yaesu for effective local comms. At $63, you are almost half way to a good mobile transceiver. We bought this because we wanted to know if going to 8 Watt for $63 was enough, or if we had to take the step up to a $150 transceiver. It turns out we needed the transceiver for full comms-up simplex. I like my Tripower, I use it as my primary H/T, but it isn t the most cost-effective if you plan to execute this particular guide as the cornerstone of your communication plan.

7 Our advice here if you only have $30-$60 to spend start with the UV5R. If $60 is burning a hole in your pocket, buy two UV5R s instead of one 8 Watt model. Get a spare and pre-program it with local freqs for your family or neighbor to hand out for when things go sideways and you need to give them quick comms. Optional Accessories: Power: It comes with a charger, but you can order an optional AA battery case which can hold alkaline or rechargeables. BaoFeng Battery Pack. Alkalines and rechargeables have different voltages, so this comes with dummy battery that you use with 5 alkalines to ensure the correct voltage, otherwise you use 6 rechargeables. You can also order a car battery eliminator (connects power directly to radio) for it which is sort of handy. $8. Put the car battery eliminator last on your list if you are prioritizing. Antennas: You should get an optional 16 antenna for it that is more flexible and boosts gain. We use the Nagoya NA-771 for $11. It will connect directly to the radio instead of the rubber duck. Programming: We highly suggest a programming cable for $21 (get the authentic FTDI cable to avoid chipset problems) Genuine FTDI BaoFeng Programming Cable. The programming software is free, called CHIRP. You can input your frequencies without programming software, but once you start to really use the radio, you ll want the software. The download is at Miklor s website. If you own a Baofeng, you need to go to the website, which is a great resource for your Baofeng questions. If you have a Baofeng, you should spend a good amount of time on his website. All your beginner technical questions will likely get answered there. Do you need to buy software? If it is just you, you could just keep a small frequency card and dial in what you need and not buy the software. If you travel a lot, you can create software profiles for different geographic areas and just load up your radio if you are traveling to another region. This is mostly to change the repeater stations available. If you are going to be the Comms guy for your group, you will get tired of manually programming everyone else s radios and you might make mistakes assigning channels. Entry + best Options: $62. Radio, Battery Pack and 16 whip antenna. Good, basic, portable, effective tactical comm package for one. Add an extra UV5R, Battery Pack and Nagoya. Now you can fully equip a friend in your neighborhood and you have effective tactical neighborhood comms. You can listen / scan for others beyond your neighborhood and probably have extended transmit range if repeaters are functioning. Add a bunch of rechargeable AAs, a solar charger and a case of dogfood, and now you are the Commo Road Warrior! We bought the optional handset microphone. We haven t used it once. Spend your money elsewhere.

8 Step two: Magmount Antenna: Tram 1185 Amateur Dual-Band Magnet Antenna. Dual band 2M VHF / 70cm UHF This means that with a pigtail adaptor, you can use it on both bands of your Baofeng 2M VHF and 70cm UHF. The Tram will have a PL-259 connector which will plug right into the SO-239 connector on the back of the Mobile Yaesu FT-2900R. If you want to connect it to your H/T (which has an SMA connector), you will need a pigtail adapter. This is an acceptable and recommended configuration (H/T hooking to a bigger, better antenna). To do this, you ll need this adapter: DHT Handheld Antenna Cable for Wouxun Baofeng Quasheng Linton Adapter for UHF Base and Mobile Antennas SMA Female to UHF SO-239 Female Connectors 6. Step Three: Base Antenna: These are used in a fixed location, like your home or apartment. You can put them in your yard, your office, or your attic. You can bring some models to the field or in your go-bag as well. If it is inside the home, you need to be careful transmitting at higher powers because they do radiate energy. Heavy Duty Slim Jim antenna. It is made by N9TAX that can handle 100 watts and has a radiation angle between 5-8 degrees off the horizon. Woohoo! It is portable but it can handle our H/T s as well as higher power mobile radio. It also comes with 15 ft of coax. That is a pretty good length that comes in handy. Remember Dual Usage whenever possible. If you want to add more flexibility, then also buy a smaller roll-up Slim Jim after the heavy duty one. Step Four: Mobile: Yaesu FT-2900R 2M/VHF only. $190 on Amazon, Yaesu FT-2900R 75 Watt 2 Meter VHF Mobile Transceiver Amateur Ham Radio or available at for $ Step TWO: Tram 1185 dual-band antenna SMA female to SO-239 female pigtail connector Programming cable Free CHIRP software Step Three: Heavy Duty Slim Jim (by N9TAX) Step Four: Yaesu FT-2900R transceiver Programming cable It has multiple power settings, max 75W (75, 30, 10, 5) and built like a tank. Technician license required to transmit. Requires 13.8 VDC and 15 amps. If you don t have power, slip it in your plate carrier. I suspect it is Level 3A protection. This has a SO-239 Antenna connector, which will fit any standard magmount antenna (most have a PL-259 connector which fits the SO-239). It is not designed to connect to any of your H/T antennas (either the rubber duck or the Nagoya) and you should not try to run it like this (we didn t check the specs, but you d probably exceed the power ratings on some small antennas, plus you decrease your output). With your magmount antenna, out of the box, this is mobile for your vehicle.

9 Optional Accessories: You can operate it out of your home, but you d need to purchase an additional DC 13.8V power supply (discussed below). These DC Power Supplies are commonly available at Radio Shack for a reasonable price ($40-$70). You could use the same magmount antenna in your home that use for your vehicle, so the only additional item would be the power supply. You should put the magmount antenna on a cookie sheet for stability and an antenna ground plane, hook it to the radio, hook the radio to the power supply, and you are ready to go. Note that this is not the best antenna for a home base, but it will work well enough. Just like the H/T, you will eventually want programming software- Yaesu USB FTDI Programming Cable. There is a laminated guide available which is a condensed version of the operating manual for about $20. I have one, but I like the paper manual better. This is probably because these entry level radios are so powerful in terms of menu options, that a condensed guide is like drinking from a fire hose. I suspect that if I were to carefully read the original manual cover to cover a few times and really learn my radio (do as I say, not as I do), the laminated guide would be my go-to. It is definitely something I want in my go-bag for field operations. You can wait on this but I think you will eventually want it. Step FIVE: Power SupplY: If you want to operate your Yaesu mobile in your residence, you will need a power supply that puts out amps. I use a Radio Shack power supply ( amps). It is cheap ($42 now, originally $59) and I could Step FIVE: Astron VS-35M (or similar) pick it up locally, although with Radio Shack closing locations it might be harder to find. Power supplies can get expensive and are heavy, so shipping will kill you. When you graduate to HF you will probably be buying a much bigger, more expensive power supply. If you can t find a Radio Shack version, keep your purchase under $100 and make sure it matches your radio amperage needs (Yaesu is 15 amps). If you want to buy once, cry once, I m using an Astron VS-35M for HF which could be used for your first mobile radio as well. It has variable voltage / current with meters and 35 amp output. Heavy. Make sure you get it from someone who offers free shipping or you ll pay as much for the UPS man s back as you do for the power supply. You will end up buying all sorts of banana plugs and connector junk. Your mobile radio will likely come with bare wires, so you ll need to do some connector work or soldering. Remember to keep thinking interchangeable. You ll be moving radios and antennas from your home to your car and sooner or later, to the field.

10 How to Get Your FCC License: Remember the goal: Get on the air FAST. This is what worked for us. Our opinion is that you will learn more by doing. Learning radio is a contact sport. You will need some good fundamental knowledge to start, but you need to get on the radio. If you feel you learn better in a different way, by all means do what works for you. There are full books available to learn all the possible theory behind it, online courses you can pay for, and structured software you can buy. I followed the method following for my license test and it took me 2-3 weeks to get ready and pass it. I spent anywhere from minutes a day studying and taking practice exams. Test Structure: The Technician license exam is a 35 question test drawn from a question pool of 426 questions. The question pool is divided into 10 sub elements (T0 T9). Sub elements are subdivided into question groups (topics). You can see every possible question that could be on the test before you take the test. They are publicly posted. There are 35 topics represented in the question pool. One question will be randomly selected from each topic to make up a Technician exam. You must correctly answer a minimum of 26 questions on the exam to obtain a Technician license. Do NOT attempt to memorize answers to questions based on the way they appear in a question pool or testing app. The questions and associated answer choices on the exam may be shuffled. There is no time limit on exams. NOTE: You may take more than one exam during an exam session at no additional cost provided you pass each exam in the required sequence Technician, General, Amateur Extra. For the purpose of this guide, you are only worrying about the Technician Test. Download this free study guide. Choose the Technician one: On your smart phone, download and install: Amateur Radio Exams Ham Test Prep You might like one better than the other, but they do the same thing. They contain the entire question pool and lets you select how you want to take random tests. Please ensure the app has the latest test pool. They change every few years, and the Technician pool changed in The current Technician pool is good from Do a search and find out when the next Technician test is in your area so you can plan. Do this: 1. Start by reading the first section in KB6NU s guide. 2. Work through the guide one section at a time. 3. After you finish one section, take a random test in one of the apps.

11 4. Take a few more random tests. You can select just that element if you want. Ignore (or guess) at any questions that you haven t covered yet. This will expose you to every question over time. 5. When you seem to be scoring high on that section, move on to the next section. It will take you about 30 minutes a day to read a section and take 1-2 practice tests. 6. Take a few random tests throughout the day. It will only take minutes. If you are in the bathroom, take a test instead of playing QuizUp. 7. After a week, you will have seen most, if not all of the questions on the exam, you will have enough background knowledge to understand the questions (KBN6NU s guide gives some explanation, it is not just an answer memorization.) 8. Sometimes you may find a topic that needs more research than what is found in KB6NU s guide. We purchased the ARRL guide, but there are many fine free resources on the internet. 9. We suggest for items that require a calculation, you don t try to memorize the answer, but instead calculate it. For example, wavelength and frequency are related like this: Wavelength = 300 / Frequency in MHz. You can bring a basic calculator to the exam. Here is how you know if this method is working for you or not. You will take an entire practice exam in the phone app and you will consistently score 85 or higher. If you can do that five times in a row, you re ready. If you can t, then you need more reading and practice, or you should find another method that works for you. What to Read, Watch & Study: In this section, we re going to present websites, videos and podcasts you should use to help accelerate your learning. These are presented in the order you should visit themto build on your knowledge methodically. AmRRON is the American Redoubt Radio Operator s Network. AmRRON is a network of Patriots and Redoubters who have volunteered to keep each other connected when other means of communications are unavailable or unreliable. AmRRON operators participate in scheduled nets to practice using nonconventional communications. Buy their SOI Communications Plan, $6 Sam Culper was a U.S. Army and contract Intelligence Analyst with multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He now trains and teaches Preppers and Patriots how to use Intelligence Techniques to build strong community defense and preparedness plans. Be sure to check out his other website as well at Hearts & Minds Podcast Although not directly communications related, this is one of my personal favorites and I recommend you listen to it at some point. If you are communicating on the radio to prepare for tougher times, you are the kind of person that will appreciate what Sam has to say in this podcast.

12 Sparks is a US Army veteran and a former writer for the Special Forces underground publication, The Resister. The level of information you will find on his site is amazing. Don t get lost, just read and absorb. Dan Morgan Retired U.S. Army Special Forces Communications Master Sergeant. Another must-read for how to do realworld comms and other fieldcraft. Learn About Gear: Learn about Baofeng radios: USAGE SCENARIOS: Tactical Communication Scenarios Simplex Walking or Vehicle Minimal equipment 0-2 miles By tactical we mean close range (0-2 miles), on-the-move, quick, conversational type of communication. You do not have access to a repeater in this scenario, or a lot of equipment. Example 1: An example would be you and a few friends are driving together as a group in separate cars to rendezvous at a campsite. You can rapidly exchange bits of conversation, road directions and etc. using H/T s when everyone in the group is driving within a couple of miles of each other. Example 2: Once you arrive at your destination, you can use your H/Ts to coordinate with each other on-scene. This type of radio communication can be blocked by hills or too many buildings. Example 3: You are coordinating with Neighborhood Watch after an act of vandalism knocked out cell service to your area. The equipment in this scenario would be: Baofeng H/Ts with either stock or the 16 whip antennas. One thing to be aware of is that if you are operating a radio inside a vehicle, the vehicle will tend to act as a blocking shield to the antenna a Faraday cage. This is probably not a big deal if the other car is within eyesight, but your range will become limited as the distance increases between you. Local Communication Scenarios Level 1 Simplex Walking or Vehicle Upgraded Magmount antennas and/or higher power mobile transceiver 2-10 miles The goal is to increase range with better antennas. Example 1: Suppose that your group is from several towns in different areas of the county and you have others back in town with roof mounted antennas who want to keep in touch. To maintain communication while on-the-move, to you could still use H/Ts but with external magmount antennas on top of the vehicles.

13 Example 2: You are forced to bug-out due to an train derailment carrying dangerous chemicals. The cell signals are jammed because of the dramatic increase in usage due to the evacuation. Because you have your H/T with a Magmount in your car, you are able to keep in contact with other radio operators outside the immediate area who keep you informed with important information. They are also able to pass messages along to your family that you are safe. Because you have a radio, know how to use it, and a network of radio friends, you are informed and your family is reassured. Equipment: The most important part is the external, magmount antenna. Power does not do as much as most people think. A roof top magmount antenna, though inexpensive, will give you very good range in open country as compared to an inefficient rubber duck antenna that comes on H/ Ts. An H/T hooked into the roof mounted real antenna will give you seriously improved performance, a maximum range of 8 15 miles not being unusual, even without using a repeater. Of course, adding a higher power transceiver can likely increase the range even further. Local Communication Scenarios Level 2 Simplex Walking, Vehicle or Base Upgraded Base Antennas with H/T or Mobile Transceiver miles Often there is a desire to have independent local communication that the basic H/T cannot provide while using the standard rubber duck antenna. By using the same radio, but hooking it to a base station antenna, mounted HIGH and in the clear, you will GREATLY extend your communication range. In general, you will want to use an antenna that transmits well in all directions; these are called omnidirectional antennas. (To keep this introduction simple, I will not discuss directional beam antennas.) House-to-house, it is easy to communicate 20 miles or more over flat terrain if both stations have base station antennas 25 feet or higher, with a clear path between them. Equipment: H/T, Pigtail, Heavy Duty Slim Jim (N9TAX) All-In Option: Mobile transceiver, Base Antenna, DC Power Supply Local Communication Scenarios Level 3 Repeater Walking, Vehicle or Base Upgraded Base Antennas with H/T or Mobile Transceiver miles By using a ham repeater, even in flat terrain, we can usually cover a circle on the ground 40 miles across. If you are lucky enough to live within range of a mountain top repeater, you can literally have a 100 mile range using an H/T or mobile 2 meter transceiver. The higher the repeater is above ground level, the greater the range. Local ham repeaters provide serious communications capability that is not dependent upon commercial infrastructure (such as cell phones and internet) as long as the repeaters have power/generators running and have not been heavily damaged. Some repeaters have back-up power systems for just such contingencies, including automatic back-up generators and solar recharging systems.

14 The risk as we ve mentioned already is that if you become dependent on repeaters and they are inoperative for some reason (grid down, maintenance), you will have a serious disruption in your normal communications procedures. Use them, but plan to operate without them. Equipment: Nothing more than you already on hand for the Level 2 Local Scenario. Vendor Resources Ham Radio Outlet ( GigaParts ( Ham City Radio Inc. ( Universal Radio ( R & L Electronics (www/randl.com) That s it. We learned a lot on our own journeys, and even more putting this guide together. We hope you will find something valuable here. We intentionally included resources that were not directly radio related. You will find that as you go down this path, you will understand that there is a synergy between information, sharing that information, intelligence that comes from that information and a decision on actions to take as a result of communicating information.