Ham Radio Freedom

Anti Federalist said:
Ham Radio Freedom
by David Hathaway


http://lewrockwell.com/orig13/hathaway4.1.1.html

....The ruinous policy of converting all over-the-air broadcast TV to digital transmission has greatly reduced signal coverage. On the eve of that grand edict taking effect several years ago, many historic stations went out of business rather than spending the money to convert to less effective technology that would reduce their broadcast range. The pay satellite and cable TV lobby won out on that one over the free providers. Digital doesn’t always mean better. The same thing applies to cell phones. Remember when cell phones used to sound clear, with fuller audio fidelity, and very little signal lag? That was back when 3-watt transmitters and broader band analog signals were an option. Regulators have caused the robust quality of cell phone communication to degenerate over time. Your current cell phone emanates a very low powered, very narrow band digital signal which is also plagued with multiple other state-caused unintended consequences like poor hybridization (the ability of both sides to interact at the same time) over the extremely narrow digital signal, low quality compressed audio, and latency delays in the digital stream (when you both keep interrupting each other because you think there is silence when your friend is actually talking).
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Remember the good old days when there were only 3 broadcasters and only 1 in 100 people had a cellphone?
 
Hey Matt, has the Ron Paul community worked out a method to ID potential Ron Paul friendlies in the area? A contingency that doesn't break the FCC rules, now but will be useful in a bad situation in the future?

I remember discussing that while HAM operators can't speak in code, they can at least recognize someone locally with a basic walkie talkies talking to the HAM operator speaking a recognizable identifyer. Say things go to belly up and FCC is in disarray, a method in which we can still recognize friendlies may be useful.
 
CQ CQ CQ
CQ Ten CQ Ten CQ Ten
This is green73 calling CQ Ten and standing by.

Fuck off Florida.

CQ DX CQ DX CQ DX...
 
where would one go to learn this skill.... I'm talking beginner level ham operation. I'd like to have one for SHTF/TEOTWAWKI
 
jllundqu said:
where would one go to learn this skill.... I'm talking beginner level ham operation. I'd like to have one for SHTF/TEOTWAWKI
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No skill involved, especially since they've eliminated the morse code test. They put out books (and now it's online) with all the possible test questions and answers. One read through should get you a pass. I passed the Extra at 15. Tests are given out all over. Some googling will give you the nearest location.
 
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Icymudpuppy said:
What would happen if a guy got all the equipment and started operating without a license? How would he be tracked?
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Depends on weather it's HF or VHF. VHF is easy to DF (direction find) and hams will track you down first, and maybe confront you, then notify the FCC. The FCC would send out a van to prove it was you, then issue a warning letter. Do it again and maybe another letter and a light fine. Third time is usually a heavy fine like $10k or jail time if it is malicious interference. Really boils down to if you are just rag chewing, malicious interference on the ham bands, or malicious interference with commercial users and cops (probably the worst).

All the enforcement info is public (see the warning letters section):
http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/AmateurActions/
 
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Matt Collins said:
The premise is somewhat faulty.

I'm a ham myself, but the thing is this - it's a government granted privilege to be able to operate and you must identify yourself, and you must pass a test and submit your info to the FCC for the credentials. And you are not allowed to scramble or code or encrypt your conversation / transmission.
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None of that is required where I live. Well, I know nothing about laws relating to this but um, yeah, that's not how it works in New Hampshire. You buy a radio for under $50 and do what you want. No one bothers you.
 
Keith and stuff said:
None of that is required where I live. Well, I know nothing about laws relating to this but um, yeah, that's not how it works in New Hampshire. You buy a radio for under $50 and do what you want. No one bothers you.
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The FCC has commandeered control over the electromagnetic spectrum if you live in the US.
 
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The range of t.v. is less with digital, but what is gained is the number of stations. It's all UHF now, but each station can have several channels now, which has increased choices. There are many broadcast stations with the same formats as cable........metv and antennatv is like tvland, this network is like amc, tuff tv is similar to spike network, and there's even weather channels on broadcast, now. One station carries local minor league baseball games. So, more is gained, than lost.
 
jllundqu said:
where would one go to learn this skill.... I'm talking beginner level ham operation. I'd like to have one for SHTF/TEOTWAWKI
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For my Tech (beginner) license I used this: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4DB84547ED6C4BF4

Passed with a 100%. Memorize and spew.

Most hams in my area study for both the Tech and General license exams and test for both at the same time. Here it's $15.00 to take the exam whether you test for the Tech, General, or Extra -or two or all of them.

I didn't have the time to memorize both the Tech and General first time around so they'll get another $15.00 out of me when I test for the General around late June.

For the General I've got the latest ARRL (NRA of ham radio:rolleyes:) study guide/cd practice test w/book.

I'd highly recommend buying a cheap VHF radio as you're studying for the license. It gives you a sense of the other hams that are out there and what they might expect of the new guy. You can identify the statists or the patriots by just listening.;)

Also do a search for any clubs in your area. Hams are generally very helpful to newcomers.

Keep asking away if you have any questions about any of this stuff and someone here will probably have some good advice for you or be able to point you in the right direction.
 
Matt Collins said:
The FCC has commandeered control over the electromagnetic spectrum if you live in the US.
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No doubt there are petty laws and regulations. There are some people that try to Live Free or rise above such nonsense as much as possible. It doesn't always work but it has for several years all over NH in from time to time in the border states.

I understand that it isn't the best route for everyone. For the record, I also know free staters that do get ham licenses.
 
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Hearing South Africa on 10 meters lately and a few folks out this way worked him. I heard him but he was pretty scratchy with my antenna. The local hams later in the week were bummed because S. Africa guy started skipping HI and going for New Zealand contacts. Oh the drama! lol :rolleyes:

Mississippi was booming in here on 20 meters the other night. About 4,100 miles with my hi-tech speaker wire antenna strewn around the living room. lol

EVERYTHING is DX in Hawaii. :D

Looking forward to my first DX "RPF contact" when I get my station and general license in order... I just hope it ain't Matt! hi hi J/K Matt! :p
 
Tropospheric ducting on two meters into Hawaii from the mainland last night/this morning:

tropo_6_4_2013.png

http://aprs.mountainlake.k12.mn.us/ (current)
http://dxworld.com/144prop.html

Only hearing CA police repeater traffic so far -but still pretty amazing stuff. :eek:

Doing some local scanning and all of a sudden the cops accents changed! lol
 
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Anti Federalist said:
One of the best characteristics of ham radio is related to privacy. It is impractical for a government snooper to easily grab data about ham communications. The state goes for the low hanging fruit. It has become so easy to snoop en masse that the government rarely monitors anything that is not connected to a grid in this country. The extent of government domestic radio monitoring is usually limited to some review of general radio frequency activity, not usually hard-targeting any individuals. It is much easier to require Google to search for key words in stored gmails. It is very easy to do the same with Verizon wireless for text messages. It is easy to require a cooperating cell phone company to tap a cell phone from a thousand miles away and cause the Electronic Serial Number (ESN) tracked device to route all of its data and communications to a central government repository. There is practically no legwork for these mass intercepts and they are required of, and facilitated by, private communications providers under laws like the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). It is near impossible to grab stored communications content through a grid for most ham radio communications.

There is no longer a logging requirement for ham radio, so there will not be the possibility of an audit of personal logs that were previously mandated regarding your historical communications. The frequencies and modes are so varied that it would require a team to try to understand the vagaries of the communications of one small group of radio operators. There is no ESN assigned to your device that allows the government to track you. The common usage of directional antennas in ham radio would require an interceptor to not only know the band, frequency, mode, and time of the transmission but, to effectively calculate angles and azimuths and place himself in the path of the signal with suitable equipment. Too close or too far from a transmitter would cause an interceptor to miss the communication entirely when ionospheric bounces are involved in international communications. Most ham communications immediately vanish into the ether after the conversation and it would require an old school recorder, a pair of headphones, and a real-time dedicated team of government operators spinning the dial to try to grab a snapshot of your specific communications. The truth of the matter is that this is cost prohibitive and is not often attempted on a domestic level. Why would law enforcement agencies bother trying to mobilize a bunch of unionized, carpal tunnel, flexitime, flexiplace, overtime-seeking, perdiem-seeking teams for one-off targeted intercepts anyway when Americans have given up gazillions of bits of data that only require a contractor-provided computer system to profile, slice, dice, sort, and spit out the desired results.
...
Many ham radios can be modified to operate in other bands. Google "ham radio mods" and you will see many step-by-step articles describing how to get the most out of your radios.
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I'm going to call BS on the privacy argument here. First off, people can and do listen to what you are broadcasting, including the gvmt. That licensing is required should be a huge red flag! If anything goes down, you can expect a kick at your door and saying goodby to your radio gear.

As to detecting and tracking you down, others have addressed this in this thread, so I'll just add a couple of things here: There are at least 2 "elephant cages" (Wullenweber) still in operation. You can see what they look like by looking at the illustrations on pgs 14-17 of this document:

http://www.premium-rx.org/ref/wullenweber.pdf

and a certain defense contractor has been building RF/DF "hunter / killer" vans for the feds since at least the late '70's...

it IS possible to uniquely "fingerprint" your voice, your "fist" (morse) and your transmitter. It's also possible to determine if the equipment is being operated off a 110 or a 220v power grid, which is a 50/50 sort on probable country of origin.

it IS possible to remotely determine what frequency you are monitoring:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_RAFTER
Since most radio receivers are of the superhet design, they typically contain local oscillators which generate a radio frequency signal in the range of 455 kHz above or sometimes below the frequency to be received. There is always some radiation from such receivers, and in the initial stages of RAFTER, MI5 simply attempted to locate clandestine receivers based on picking up the superhet signal with a quite sensitive receiver that was custom built. This was not always easy because of the increasing number of domestic radios and televisions in people's homes.

By accident, one such receiver for MI5 mobile radio transmissions was being monitored when a passing transmitter produced a powerful signal. This overloaded the receiver, producing an audible change in the received signal. Quickly the agency realized that they could identify the actual frequency being monitored if they produced their own transmissions and listened for the change in the superhet tone.
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While there are things you can do to reduce your chances of being caught/intercepted, there is some basic advice dating back to WWII:
Never broadcast from the same location twice and never from someplace you are staying.
Change call signs (if any), frequencies and broadcast times regularly.
Keep it short! - burst transmission is best.

MACSOG in Cambodia sometimes used small weather balloons to launch a throw away transmitter on a timer so it would be far away when it started broadcasting at 15 min intervals at low power for aircraft to pick up.

In today's world, the best bet might be Internet radio to send pics of cute cats (hiding encrypted text inside).

Anti Federalist said:
Reciprocal usage of your U.S. license is allowed while you are travelling in many countries with no additional licensing requirements. Many foreign countries will grant you a license if you simply show them your U.S. license and pay a fee. In reality, residents of many third world countries use modern ham radio equipment for short and long distance communication as commonly as Americans use telephones and no licenses are applied for and no fees paid.
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And in other countries, you will be taken out back and shot if found with a radio.

I've been meaning to post something about a throw away BoB transceiver as I recently got a new one that I'm figuring out. It's ironically one that is mentioned in the OP, the Baofeng UV-5R. At $40 (one guy on youtube scored one on e-bay for $30), it is truly a throw away. Something you are not going to get real bummed about if it falls out of your pocket and sinks to the bottom of the lake... Some things I've found out about it in early research:

The users manual is very basic, has microscopic font sizes and whoever translated it does not have the best command of English. So it's on par with just about every other imported electronics item out there.

It is possible to modify it, as with most radios. Mods vary from replacing and interfacing some of the electronics to things it was never designed to do, to just extending the frequency ranges, which is common.

http://www.miklor.com/ <== best source so far!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baofeng_uv5r/message/1973
http://www.liorelazary.com/index.ph...-baofeng-uv5r&catid=14:baofeng-uv5r&Itemid=17
http://hackaday.com/2013/02/28/hacking-a-ham-radio/

Programming it by hand is supposed to be a royal pain. There is software available that can make it easier. Someone said the USB drivers were a pain to install, and suggested getting the serial cable instead.

It can pay attention to 2 frequencies at once, so I think it can be used as a repeater.

The battery pops on and off really easily, so looks like it has a good charge and fast replace. Extra's are $11 each. A USB cable is $8 and software is a free download. The battery has a slot in it's base that mates with the charger, so I'm thinking of cutting down the charger base to just the minimum as right now, it's larger than the radio. The wall wart to charge the batteries is at a slightly "off" voltage and I'm wondering how tolerant it is to slightly different voltages. I'm partial to carrying a universal wall wart that supports many voltages and plug sizes so I can use it on anything from laptop to cell phone, rather than carrying a bag full of wall warts. There is a aftermarket attachment that will run the radio off 12v car current, but won't charge the battery and another that also replaces the battery and will allow it to be run off AAA or AA batteries. It only fits the UV-5R and not other variants.

You may want to swap out the factory antenna. It's got a screw in adapter so fits Motorola antennas or you can get an adapter ar radio shack for any other antenna.

This is a credit card sized radio (HxW) but it's about 1" thick. 1/4th of that being the battery.

Does anyone have this radio and if so, what can you add?

Another credit card sized radio is part of the Alinco line, and they are generally considered "bodyguard" radio's. Same HxW, but it's 1/4" thick. There is the DJ-C1, DJ-C5 and the current model is the DJ-C7T/E. The newest model seems to be selling for around $120-140 and there is a C5 on Amazon right now with a $40 bid. Your mileage will vary. If space and weight are issues, this might be your ticket! It does, however have an internal battery, so that's a hard limit on it's usefulness. Opening up this radios radio frequency range is a matter of clipping one wire. Tiny wires, so a nail clipper will do the trick.

The OP mentions this radio that I haven't seen: Wouxun KG-UVD1P that is retailing on Amazon for $114. Did find a good tutorial on programming it with software: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB4t1kXu9HQ It's over 30 minutes, so not something everyone wants to watch. I really don't know anything about this radio other than it's freq range can be expanded by programming it via software.

Also found this, that seems pretty generic:

Handheld Transceiver Repeater Tutorial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5npCb2hrE0c

County Comm has a really nice receive only pocket shortwave, but dang! they are asking $44 for one now! Used to be $25. Sometimes they have batches of them that receive "different" frequency ranges as part of custom order over-runs. I have yet to find a mod for this radio, but they are really nice for a BoB. 150 hours on 2 AA's...

http://countycomm.com/gp4light.html

So, does anyone have specific experience with specific radios or recommendations for one. Remember, the context here is for something to live in a BoB.

-t
 
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tangent4ronpaul said:
I'm going to call BS on the privacy argument here. First off, people can and do listen to what you are broadcasting, including the gvmt. That licensing is required should be a huge red flag! If anything goes down, you can expect a kick at your door and saying goodby to your radio gear.
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Not exactly, the licensing is to keep the riff-raff out and ensure people know what they are doing (unlike CB). In the event of a SHTF situation, the government will probably call on the hams to assist them.
 
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