Offgrid Regional Communication - No Random Contacts Series
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- čas přidán 13. 07. 2024
- If you want to learn how to establish communications in your region when the cell network and Internet goes down, don't miss this video. I'll share with you how you can reliably establish contacts 30 to 300 miles. We're going to make a "planned" 265 mile contact from Arizona to Utah. How is this possible? Answer: G.S.P. = Gear, Skills & Planning
0:00 Introduction
0:41 Mission Objective
2:18 Commo Plan
3:18 265 Mile Radio Contact
6:25 Radio, Antenna & Camp
8:51 After Action Report: Planning
12:50 After Action Report: Gear
15:20 After Action Report: Skills
18:02 Close
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#thetechprepper #offgrid #emcomm #norandomcontacts #nvis
There’s a lot of good stuff here. I love your focus on resonant, efficient antennas and VOCAP for planning. Been a ham for 23 years, and I love seeing people doing stuff like this.
Glad to hear it, Scott. I'll touch on more VOACAP as we do more HF targeted contacts in this series. Time to get back to VHF/UHF for 3 or 4 videos, then back to HF.
I've used VOCAP and other realtime systems, but I rely on 80m and time of day for reliability. During some disaster the Internet will not be available. Between solar maxima 40m may not be available.
Amateurs are left with 60m and 80m that are reasonably reliable and somewhat predictable.
@@vironpayne3405 You are right. I keep a historical log of all my 40m/75m/80m NVIS contacts to help with my personal prediction. In terms of software, I am incorporating the "voacapl" Linux command line tool into EmComm Tools along with the projected solar datum going several months into the future. What does this mean? Well, it means that I can perform a similar analysis 100% off-line, in real-time using my offline Tactical Awareness Map as the friendly user interface.
No random contacts is is how I operate. Pre established frequencies and
We use the frequency clock to make contacts:
Minutes past the top of hour:
00-2.5 min 75 meters
2.5-05 min 60 meters
05-7.5 min 40 meters
7.5-10 min 20 meters.
10-12.5 min 17 meters
It works everytime.
Good man! Keep up the good work. Thanks for sharing your approach.
I like the real practical, real world approach that you have with amateur radio. When i'm in Texas, I will be doing some more testing from there. Sent you a message.
Morning, Doug. There will be no shortage of practical exercise here. I am way behind on email...the mail bag has exploded in the last couple of months. We'll have to try a contact when you're in Texas. Be well.
@@TheTechPrepper I will be in texas thanksgiving week. I will send you an email with details.
The bands certainly cooperated for you. Nice work! I listened for you and heard nothing but Asian broadcast shortwave stations coming across the ocean. I may have been a bit late.
I also listened and called for you on 144.200 from the San Diego mountains. Nothing heard there either.
Band agility will go a long way for you in making this success not just a random occurrence, thanks to cooperating band conditions. 60 and 80 m are essential NVIS bands, particularly in the morning. Luckily, the sun has been so active that 40 m worked as well.
Understand that a tuner doesn't just fool the radio and waste the extra power - that's an OM's tale. The tuner adds inductance and capacitance to match the antenna to the 50 ohm output of the radio so power is efficiently passed to the antenna. Losses are typically small, particularly with good antenna design.
Good Morning, Adam. Yes, the bands were very kind to Mike and myself that morning.
I tried you for about 15 minutes at 1545 UTC, but nothing. I was about 600' feet short from the planned summit, so I was in somewhat of a compromised position. I only had the PackTenna TrekMount, but it was fun trying to call you anyhow. I did not hear anything on 144.200 MHz.
Thank you for chiming in on the OM's tale. As a new ham, I hear a lot of conflicting comments. That's part of the reason why I enjoy hands-on experimentation when possible. I appreciate everything you do for the hobby. We need more hams like you.
73's
I was right to be excited about this series. Proof? My son emailed me the link to this video telling me how much he loved it! You He, and I need to share a couple of frosty beverages around a campfire here at the dwelling sometime! Bet there would be a lot of laughs and no drama! Your direction on these videos aline almost perfectly with our interests!
Thank you again for the time and effort you put into these videos, I learn something from each one!
That's fantastic. That was my hope for this series, too. Yes, I loved to join you guys for a beer some day. I am planning on attending some of the amateur radio events next year (e.g., TBARC hamfest (AZ), Quartzfest (AZ), Dayton and possibly Orlando). If I am able to transition out of my day job next year, I plan to hold some training events in the backcountry. I am no expert, but I am happy to share what works and what I know.
Good job Gaston. You are pretty much on spot. I was taught this in the military and after retiring from the military I have taught this to the military. It had become a lost art and now is making a come back in the military since someone had the bright idea that satellites act a secondary purpose as targets..
Thank you for your service, Brian. Sadly, I never served our great country, but I am drawing on various U.S. Army FM's and TM's for the content in this series. I'm trying to plant the seed slowly of what is possible, but we're going to get much more advanced and explore many of the techniques you probably taught. Take care and God bless.
Great video! I appreciate what you're doing for the ham radio and prepper community. You definitely are inspiring me to get out there and experiment with coms. FYI, the indoor lighting was perfect in this video.
Thanks, Chris. I appreciate you calling out the "preppers" as I consider myself as an outsider in terms of the ham radio community. I would not go so far to say, that I am anti-ham, but I believe that there is too much focus on everything being perfect and by the book. My approach is to do more with less and be able to improvise in the field. My goals with this series to make that point that, there is not simple solution to comms. Instead, I'd like to share my experience in using different tools (i.e. radios, antennas and modes) to solve specific scenarios. In the end, I hope for everyone to draw what they need from this toolbox. The dungeon will be an ongoing work in progress. Glad to hear that the lighting was a little better.
@@TheTechPrepper I find it amazing how much you and I think alike with coms and just simply being prepared. I appreciate how you've kept your channel organic and realistic. In my training and experience there are so many situations I've had to deal with that are outside the training received. Common sense and thinking outside the box can make the difference between wining or loosing and life or death. Keep up the good work!
@@iflylo96 You are "dead on balls accurate". ;-) Thinking and problem solving is key. I'm a software engineer and love solving problems. Have a good night, Chris.
Great video. I love seeing other's setup and success with NVIS communications. Keep the videos coming.
Thanks, will do. NVIS is a game changer. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Excellent Commo exercise. Military style planning and precision.
Glad you enjoyed the exercise. Once we get some of these foundational videos out of the way on "how" to carry out various types of communications via radio, we'll jump into more tactical scenarios in the field. It should be fun. I will be drawing inspiration from a number Field Manuals (FM's) that U.S. Army has put out. Cheers.
Testing with your gear is the key to finding out what works for your particular set up and communication needs. Another good video in an excellent series.
You're exactly right. Each field exercise is an opportunity to identify deficiencies and improve. Glad you enjoyed it.
I love the run through. Also that you both used QRP radio and field expedient antennas. Excellent recap and lessons learned too. Looking forward to more. NVIS is such an amazing tool.
Thanks, Eric. This style of operation is not for everyone, but it does prove the point that you can make targeted contacts with low power and field antennas that don't quite meet the standards of "text book" deployments. More coming. Cheers to another 818 user! I hope you're enjoying your rig.
@@TheTechPrepper true true. Thanks for demonstrating the power of this rig. I heavily considered your content in making my decision. It gives me more than I can possibly work with. I’m just hoping that Yaesu steps up to make an update.
I'm 100% with you on the OM part. I was with the club (all OMs, but not the sad kind, I'm the only young one) during field day, and some of the group members (not me) made contact from mid-east coast US all the way down to South America (one made contact with Chile) with 100 watts and random wire on a 9:1 unun. I don't get to practice often, but it is fun to do these experimental antenna projects when I can. I would like to try the rain gutter antenna just to see what happens, then maybe just leave it for SWL or see if it can pick up local stuff to record on the SDR.
I've done backpack portable NVIS (plus) on an EFHW at 3' at the feed point to 20' at the top. From a POTA activation in NH I had contacts on 40m to all 6 of the New England states plus NY, MD, NJ, PA, WV, TN, FL, MI, NC and Ontario. Distances range from 36 miles to 1289 miles and everything in between. With the same antenna on 20m I hit from AK to Spain. No tuner was used on either band. NVIS doesn't necessarily have to be done on a NVIS specific antenna.
washington?
Again, your pesentation is excellent. Your delivery is easy to follow and I am downloading your videos for archival. You've made me re-think the path I was on regarding my communication protocols and equipment requirements. Thanks for you efforts.
Glad you like them! My style is a bit raw with poor video quality, but hopefully the content is good enough for most people. Cheers.
GMan, amen bother. Working in the same direction and built a 40/80m dipole NVIS. Tested it from 24ft to 6ft and usable at all heights. 24ft was definitely stronger but if you don't have that possible, go for it! GSP! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!
Morning, Dick! Glad you enjoyed it. Good luck with your 40/80m dipole for NVIS. I have also found that the slightly higher heights perform better. In general, 16ft for the apex is typically as high as I can go. I plan to modify this design and add links to support 40m/60m/75m/80m. Stay tuned and be safe.
Another great video.
Brother, awesome video. I look forward to more videos. I enjoy your content 👍🏼
Great radio exercise!
This is a hugely inspirational video! I'm working on my license now and hope to be making intentional contact with people in nearby pronvices next summer.
Cheers from the 🇨🇦 Arctic.
If you want to try to south central AB, contact me.
@@malenve6vid I'll reach out when I get there. Talking the zoom course through RAC right now.
@@johndrives7013 sounds good.
Glad to hear that, John. Comments like this make the effort worthwhile. Good luck on your license. You will not regret it.
Absolutely. I need to cover global, targeted comms as part of this series. You will absolutely be my "known quantity". I try to chase your spots, but have been batting zero so far.
Another great video in this series 👍
Thanks, Jason. Even with the planning, there was a lot of room for error on this one. I am glad it worked out. I would have released the video anyhow even if it failed. Be well, my friend.
I know very little about what you're doing. But I have made a jungle antenna for my Baofeng, lol
I want to say I enjoy your channel and am amazed at your tech ability. I think you started another hobby and I'll never see my wife again!
Enjoy the content!!
Morning, Samuel.
Be careful with this hobby; it's addicting. I started this channel as a general purpose prepping channel during the pandemic with the intent of just spending a month on communications then moving back to other topics. It's been two and a half years and I'm still barely scratching the surface of what's possible.
You'll never see that wife of yours if you start going down all rabbit holes radio has to offer.
Thanks for the support.
Another informative video. I wasn't even aware that 6w could reach that far.
Glad you found it useful. This technique is very powerful. I use this daily from the house to stay in contact with the same operator. NVIS propagation was discovered by the US military decades ago.
Great as always! Thanks for the info.
Ron! I always like it when you pop in. You are very welcome.
Heresy! Throw out the ARRL Handbook? LOL!!! Loved the video. I was doing 80M NVIS WINLINK P2P to a station 23 miles away with blocking hills between us. Worked. I went to a meeting and was asked to do a presentation on the Buddipole. During the class I realized that everyone was taking notes. I use the book but I use experience more.
Fantastic work! NVIS is great for digital as you pointed out. We a 40m and 80m Winlink RMS Gateway approximately 60 miles from my QTH. NVIS is pretty reliable day or night between those two bands. 73
Nicely done!! You guys are giving me ideas to emulate. Thanks for uploading the video!
Glad to hear it. Good luck with your experiments.
That is not to put a fine point on it Bloody Outstanding. As a Prepper in the uk we have to use NVIS to keep our comms on this small island. Always used 80M for this neck of the woods 2hrs after sunrise and 1hr before sunset seems to be the best times at the moment for close in HF comms. Sure you have to practice this to find out. Great stuff mate many thanks.
Great VID, another to add to my favs.
That's high praise. Thank you, Matt!
So many good things here. Thanks for solid content. 73
You are very welcome. You guys are an amazing bunch.
Great job guys.
Thanks, Richard. Planning is everything!
Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it. The new video just dropped. It's not a field video, but it's another targeted contact where I learned an interesting lesson. Cheers!
Impressive, well done.
Thank you! Cheers!
Amazing stuff Gaston. Always looking forward for your next videos. Also having this portable ops and very valuable. GSP.
Thanks, Diego. Glad to hear it. The field videos are a ton of fun to make. I was skeptical whether this was all going to come together. I appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful Sunday.
Another awesome video, I really enjoyed. You grasp the objectives of Ham radio with experimentation and building your own antennnas which is a real asset. I remember running an NVIS antenna many years ago to work about 200 miles by just dropping the antenna along the ground with success. I know hams here in VK Land that have used wire fences and a tuner with great success. Thanks again for your series, keep up the good work.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I am not surprised that using a fence and a tuner works. Cool stuff. NVIS for the when. Cheers from the US!
Excellent video Gaston! 👏👏👏👏👏👏
This is hands down one of my favorite videos. It's amazing what 5 watts, a radio and little planning can do.
You are right, training is key. Great video! GSP! 73
Cheers! Keep training.
Great video this is what my prepper group is building and planning thanks KX4XT
Glad to hear it. Well done. Keep up the good work.
Fantastic exercise
Glad you like it!
Get stuff you are putting out!
Just watched this video a second time. I agree with you that many times, what is written in books is more than is necessary to actually make a contact. Other times you need everything in the book and more. Sometimes a very minimalist approach works out just fine. You had great success that day. But what if....What if the sun was active with a mass ejection ? What if the SFI numbers were low ? In cases, other than with expected band conditions, you may not have made the contact. I think it's important to know the SFI numbers if available. If not, listen to the bands before venturing out. You can usually make a good determination of how good the bands are. In some cases, you may need 20, 40 or even 100 watts to get the job done. You may need more height on your antenna. I like having the capability of upping my game if the contact is a must make contact. Even then, you may fail, but at least you have used the type of equipment that had the best chance of a completed contact. In SHTF, we won't have many band condition indicators except for listening and knowledge of where we are in the 11 year cycle. (you have not operated when the cycle is at it's low point. It's a challenge). Your desert soil is some of the worst for NVIS work. I think I would at least have a taller pole and maybe a reflection wire available to place under the antenna. But that's just me. I like the fact you used the prediction program in advance. Not sure if it takes things like SFI into account, but if it does, it would help with planning. In SHTF, the prediction program may not be available. I'm that guy who wants to have more in the bank than I might need, but only use what is necessary. There are always many things to think about. Weight and ability to carry what you need is a consideration. A portable amplifier to go with a qrp rig would be a great way to go. Low power usage and the ability to step it up if necessary. As always, I very much enjoyed your video. Your journey is a fun one to watch. This is just food for thought, not a critique of what you have done.
Another great video Gaston! I've thoroughly enjoyed watching your journey in the world of Ham radio. You are definitely an asset to the Ham community as well as the preparedness community. Keep up the great work.
Glad you enjoyed it. It's been a blast bringing you and the community along. I am no expert, but I want to share as much as I can as I work through the hobby. Theory is great, but I don't want it to get in the way of me exploring and testing setups in less-than-ideal deployments. Take care and thanks for the support.
Nice job!
Donnie! Thanks for stopping by. Glad you liked it.
Dungeon looks less dungeony. Great test of NVIS. As always your videos provide valuable practical information.
Morning, Dennis. Thanks for the support as always.
I opened my mouth and stated a bunch of incorrect info on the tuner front. But, it looks like a bunch of comments came through with corrections. It's great to have the support of people smarter than myself.
Definitely trying to move towards a less "dungeony" atmosphere when filming in the shack. Have a good one.
Looking fresh with the new hat and lighting. Your original NVIS video is why I'm subscribed. Another great one. Have had some struggle with my own home brew dipole on 40 to where I switched to a end fed for field (my backyard really), but you're making me want to try again. Fail, Learn, Fail haha
Definitely, give the build another shot. I love these simple antennas as you can fix them in the field with a pocket knife and some electrical tape. I had the most MacGyver'd setup with the lighting, too. There were two saw horses, a 2x4 and two of my wife's lamps. Thanks for the ongoing support.
This has to be one of my most favorite videos that you have done. I passed my General 2 weeks ago and looking around to see what HF rig I want to get. I’ve enjoyed your videos for the SOTA, manpack, and outdoor hiking with minimum radio gear. 73, KC2KNA
Glad to hear that. Congratulations on your General upgrade. You'll never regret your decision. Enjoy those SOTA activations and be safe out there.
Yessir, the resonant antenna and the room to erect it is a great thing.
Yep. If you have the room, they're an excellent tool to maximize your RF efficiency. Have a good one.
Great video, very timely I think.
Glad to hear it! Thank you. This question is asked very often: "How can I communicate with my family 200 miles out". Give it a try.
Thanks for the coffee donation. You rock! I can almost taste that new camera and lighting for the "dungeon". ;-)
Apologies for the delayed response! GREAT video! This is exactly what I want to see. The NRC concept is perfect for SHTF.... and I'm not interested in contesting or just throwing it all into the wind and hoping I make a contact with a random HAM.
No worries. I can't respond to shit these days. Things are getting busy here, but I love that you guys are keeping me busy. Cheers, David.
Love seeing these videos, still getting gear around for doing some trials here when i get some free time. Keep the awesome videos coming along! 73 K8CAG
Cody, keep training. I'm a firm believer of learning from failure. After 2.5 years of being on the air, I still fail multiple times per week and learn something valuable every time. More content coming. Have a good one.
Very Good. You organize and document your requirements and you execute to plan. There are OMs that do that too, often using CW, from back before we had the cool miniature radios. It is a different task to run the tower and the amp for "random contacts" to hundreds of countries. Don't think I don't have a backpack with spool out antennas too. Thanks for the great presentation.
Sorry, I did not mean to call out the classical OMs. I was referring to a small set of offensive, salty hams that I have personally run into on HF. 99% of the hams have been amazing and are always willing to help. Glad you enjoyed the presentation. 73 de KT1RUN.
Another good one Gaston. Lighting was okay, I don't mind either hat!!
Glad to hear it. I am working on this. I am saving the channel funds for a better camera and lighting equipment. The GoPro works great outdoors, but it is rough for indoor use. Cheers!
This was a FANTASTIC video! I’ve always wanted to do this very thing, and this is inspiring me to do that. The RF modeling software is really cool! Thank you and 73
Morning, Grim. Glad you like it. I really enjoy sharing the practical aspects of amateur radio with you guys. I almost missed that commo window. I really wanted to film the camp/station setup, but there was no time. Take care.
@@TheTechPrepper Thanks for the work you do in creating this content. Seeing how you plan and pivot when things don't go as planned, really makes it more approachable for people that are new to this field. 73's from KD9TUV
Well, I am impressed. When I heard your time and band I thought it was about an hour early for 40m, if its open, and about an hour late for 80m. Fortunately, though not stellar this solar cycle has been pretty good.
In my opinion 80m NVIS is the money band for reliable NVIS. In a solar minimum 40m is hit and miss at best.
When get more play time I need to work 60m NVIS.
True! High power is not the answer. The military HF manpack radios usually top out around 20W-25W. They do have digital voice which does increase reliability.
True! A true resonant antenna is always better than an antenna requiring a tuner.
Great video! Keep up the good work!
Good Morning, Viron! It's always great when you jump into the comments. I appreciate your insights.
I agree, 75m/80m NVIS is very reliable. We have a regular net on 3.868 MHz with the locals around 0530L time. There's even an ARDOP Winlink RMS gateway 60 miles that works very well on 75m in the evenings and early morning.
Cheers!
Very cool Gaston, I like the prediction software, the antenna is the ticket, I am building two radios, a TYT 8900, and my QRP rig the 818nd, with a digirig, hopefully I can get things together before the end of the year.
Thanks for being a dedicated viewer, David. Sorry for the delay. I needed some time with the YL after releasing this one. The prediction software was a wonderful aid. We'll revisit it multiple times in this series. I plan to do an end-to-end walkthrough of VOACAP. Good luck with your stations. You have the perfect mix of capabilities between the TYT-9800 and FT-818. Have a wonderful day!
Another great video from which this "OT" is learning! (Not all of us old folks are alike!) I appreciate your using dedicated length dipoles. They are simple and keep SWR down in your coax. And I agree if one used an antenna tuner feeding into coax, the potential high SWR on the coax from a mismatch of the antenna can cause hot spots in the coax and thus signal loss.
However, I tend to like open transmission lines (450 - 600 ohms) which are very low loss feeding a "doublet" antenna which can work on all bands. Of course, this does require an antenna tuner, especially one with a balun that will give a balanced output to the feed line. There are some QRP models that are relatively small, and, in conjunction with the SWR meter on the transceiver, a great match can be achieved and all the energy can get to the antenna. Not to take away from your concepts at all, just adding some thoughts to the conversation.
I think I'm sold on the FT-818ND! Thanks!
Good Morning, Kathleen. I did not mean to lump you into the "OM" group. Please ignore my comment and as I did not mean any offense to you are 99% of the hams on the air. I may have used that term incorrectly.
Personally, I almost gave up on the hobby even before I got started. I spent my first two years without making a contact. There was a very closed local group when I first got started that refused to acknowledge my call when I first got on the air. I ended up not having a contact for two years and was about to give up. When we left the city, 2.5 years ago, I decided to try once more on a different repeater, and my Elmer Mike WB4ZKA answered my call. We have been great friends since. In general, the experiences have been positive since then, but there are a few salty operators that I still run into on HF. I am wondering how many other new hams are turned off by a first bad experience? That's the main reason why the channel is kept simple, practical and fun.
Glad you enjoyed the video, even if there were a few portions that were technically incorrect. Live and learn. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Doublet and some of the corrections. I've been meaning to make one for a while and have 100' of 450 ladder line waiting to be used.
The FT-818ND is great. I owe you an email response!
73 de KT1RUN
@@TheTechPrepper , when you get to know me better, you’ll see I have a great sense of humour. And, I know EXACTLY what you’re talking about, those hams that, rather than taking you under their wing and give a person some slack on being new, would rather just criticize. I’m so glad you stuck it out! You’re turning out great videos! And, as someone who has been in Emergency Management for a long time, you are spot on in your approach! The “after action reports” are vital in reflecting on what went right and what went wrong. I’m glad you emphasize those so that all you viewers will learn from that as well.
@@W1KAB-9 I am looking forward to the friendship. We need more hams like yourself.
Nice job, and at 6watts... I'm going to have to look at some of your DIY single band antenna builds. You've peaked my interest! THANKS AK7RM (East Mesa)
Another local! It's to e-meet you. All you need is a 6 watts and a wire. ;-)
Excellent example of NVIS. Using NVIS will be key for regional or local coms when other methods of communication are not available. NVIS is especially useful for close in coms when you live in an area with hills and mountains that prevent line of sight or ground wave communication. Although not needed in this case, a piece of wire, 5 % longer than the dipole, on the ground directly under the wire will help the signal go straight up at a higher strength. It's my understanding that if off to one side or the other, it can help push more signal in one direction or the other if needed. This is something I want to experiment with more. I have a NVIS 40/80 meter fan dipole in my yard and use the wire on the ground on a regular basis. I have not done an A/B comparison yet. I also have portable 40 and 80 meter antennas. The wire would take up little room in your bag and could prove to be an asset in tough conditions. Maybe something to look at for a future video. Just get out and do it. Thanks for another great video. P.S. Why did you not have a roll up J Pole in your bag for the APRS ? I find the J Pole to be something that is always in my go bag. In an emergency, it will be far easier to get help on 2 meters (in many cases, repeaters available) than to set up HF in NVIS. Just a thought. I know your video was mission specific. One other thing. If you don't already have a radio, the Yiegu G-90 is also an excellent portable radio. It has a great built in antenna tuner (+9 to 1 range and offers up to 20 watts output). The Yaesu is a great radio, but I find the G-90 to offer many more features. Many of them very useful. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. I think the Yaesu to a tougher radio. The G-90 requires a separate battery. Both have low battery draw. The G-90 also reads CW. Something good for those of us who don't do CW. The G-90 is a SDR radio. Look at both before buying. If I had the $$$, I'd be using the Icom 705. Great portable radio, especially for ease of use in digital modes. None of this is to take away from the great video. You did a great job !
I am enjoying this series as it demonstrates why proper planning is essential when it comes to communications in emergency situations. Far too many who consider themselves preppers just grab a BaoFeng or other cheap chinese radio to toss in the bag and hope they will be able to contact anyone with them. This video specifically demonstrates the importance of including the HF bands for long distance communications.
Well said, Jason. I am trying to drill in your very point with every video. You have the right outlook, in my humble opinion. Developing a variety of radios skills may be an invaluable asset some day. By the end of this series, I hope that I achieve my goal of presenting a toolbox of techniques for carrying out multiple, different types of communications to achieve everything from local comms to global comms to everything in between. Cheers!
Some of this stuff reminds me of the items Q came up for Bond. James Bond. 50 years ago .
Items shaken. Not stirred!
Funny you mention the spy theme. We're going to get into some pretty controversial classical techniques used by intelligence operators and the military later in this series.
NVIS best antenna dipole tuned at the NVIS height, very flat inverted V, adds a bit of vertical gain.
Nice Video. I would say you were very successful on your portable ops mission. You hit the nail on the head first thing, key word...."planning" and a plan B, C, or D if Plan A doesn't work. As for having a big station, since I haven't hit the lottery yet, I guess I'll have to stick with my barefoot HF radio and home made fan dipole. The main key to any portable ops is first antenna efficiency, and secondly, have or know what your "power budget" is going to be or have available at the time of your ops.
Excellent point on antenna efficiency and power budget. I am still waiting for those lotto numbers to hit. Daddy needs a 65' tower and some LMR-400. ;-)
This is pretty cool. I've got to say the p-planning is the most complex part.
What I can't justify is $17.50/watt for top name brand solar panels when lesser but decent brands are around $2/watt. Of course we want reliable gear not made in a sweatshop, but we all have finite resources and have to make decisions. I feel like I'm nitpicking and you don't deserve that.
Planning is the most important aspect in my humble opinion. I take no offense. I am fully aware of budgets. In my particular case, I look at these a tools for emergency preparedness where life or limb could be at risk. I have also had very good success with the larger 20 watt version over the last two years in my harsh environment. When I discovered that 20 watts was over kill for my use case, I decided to scale down to save space and weight in the pack. This was not fun for the wallet. Pick what works best for your needs and budget. I appreciate the honest feedback. These panel are not inexpensive. I have 400 watts of panels for the same price on my roof. ;-)
BS Booyah - well planned and nice contact. I need to take another crack at my NVIS 75m dipole - need to get it a little higher on my little urban lot. We work a weekly (40m in summer/75m winter) local net and it is a challenge to get local HF NVIS contacts, but completely agree that we can do anything if we plan and execute. Time to go play the CA QSO party for an hour - heading to beach and experimenting with some wires. Oh and yes, a much more cheery dungeon! Cheers!
Morning, bud. Thanks for popping in. Definitely give that 75m dipole a shot.
Keep the NVIS protocol going man! We’re the next gen HAM’s. Thinking outside the box. I’ve been practicing the techniques in NGA for a few years now. See what you can do with the Thales broadband whip on you’re 818. TNC to BNC on front antenna. I was able to make a few contacts on 6m with it at 1.7swr. Antenna analyzer says it’s all over the place but when I plug it in it performs. ✌️kay em for you you dee
Will do. I like your idea of running a Thales whip. Someone else mentioned this some time back. I'll keep the NVIS testing going. Cheers.
Great to see. Getting ready to set up an NVIS antenna setup for the house. I'm primarily interested in comms within Texas and neighboring states. Our RACES region in South Texas has an HF net, but the usual antenna heights do just what you said. Shoot right over. Now if I can also figure out how to set up my mobile VHF rig for APRS AND figure out how to use it that will help.
Best of luck on your station setup. For APRS, it's easiest if you upgrade to rig that has built-in APRS capabilities.
I actually have two mobiles that can do APRS. 2 - VGC VR-N7500 (one is rebadged RT-99). Just need to actually dedicate the time to really get into it and be hands-on with it. Time and focus. Yep, it'll be a while. 73
Learning QRP stuff is mission critical in low power situations.
My Icom 703+ sips power on receive. And sips power on transmit. Mission critical during the Uri Ice Storm.
Great video. I regularly make 559 mile NVIS interstate contacts using 15W here in VK land almost any time of daylight. NVIS rocks for intra and interstate.
PS Using either 40m EFHW or 40m dipole at 5 foot above ground level.
Glad you like it. NVIS is an amazing technique with very modest requirements. Thanks for echoing your experience for all the newbies reading the comments. Take care.
I'm really looking forward to using your software
Thanks. It is very much delayed. It's pretty much on hold until I can exit the day job. Sadly, there are no more hours in the day.
That was bad ass
Thanks. Honestly, I had no idea this exercise was going to work out this well. This is why we train. Have a good one.
@@TheTechPrepper you too man, love the content.
You should start a secret Santa type recreational group called no random contacts. Basically someone signs up and is giving a contact assignment. It could become something like pota or sota.
That's an interesting idea. I like it.
O.M. ? You mean sad hams? LoL. I've made excellent contacts on 11m band, 4 watts (maybe 8 watts due to mode LSB) off of a mobile magnet mount on a radiator about 30' up, indoors. Talked to Iowa and another South Eastern state. Conditions were good that day. I've made some pretty spectacular contacts over the years. That's what keeps it interesting.
Thirty some odd years ago, I picked up a mantra from someone with a lot more experience than I. The 6-P rule. Propper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. In those years, I've come to realize and experience how some are completely inept and stumble through life.
Yes, that is what I meant. I did not want to steal NotARubicon's expression. It's amazing what you can do with QRP and a wire. The 6-P rule is a great philosophy.
@@TheTechPrepper I forgot to mention that I'm in Canada, so those contacts would be a lot more unusual than some.
Yes, randy is funny guy. Keeps the people coming back. LoL
Great video! I'm glad you were able to make the contact on the first call. It's nice when a plan comes together. You've show your 40m NVIS antenna in many videos. Have you ever thought about doing a video to show a detailed WSPR plot from the field to show how close/far away stations can hear you at QRP or QRPp power levels? I think that information would be interesting to see. Also, which VOACAP website did you use? That RF clock chart looked very handy.
Morning, Sean. Thanks for mentioning WSPR. Yes, we will cover it in this series. I have a technique that we will use to show where you are propagating 100% offline. I WSPR and FT8 an a lot for this type of analysis.
I used the www.voacap.com/hf/. The RF "Prop Wheel" is a handy tool.
Be advised, I am building an offline tool that will do this using the "voacapl" command line tool under Linux. It will be integrated into my offline comms platform (EmComm Tools) as soon as I have some free time.
73 de KT1RUN
@@TheTechPrepper very cool. I'm really enjoying your videos and have been going through your older videos as I have time. Lots of great information.
You used a near vertical sky wave, propagation reflected mostly up comes down like a big umbrella, nor a lot of long range skip
Another excellent installment! The antenna setup shows just how far from the 'perfect' setup you can be and still have excellent comms. You glossed over the best part, however, VOACAP. I might be on the high end of the more technical aspects of ham radio, but I would really like to see an in depth video on it. It is an amazing tool, and not that hard to understand. Bill - KK7IGZ
Good Morning, Bill. I am really enjoying it when you stop by. Yes, that was exactly the point. There's text book and there's what can we improvise in the field. I promise I'll get to VOACAP. We will be doing a lot of targeted HF contacts in this series and that tool will come up multiple times along with an end-to-end walk-through.
@@TheTechPrepper Thanks, Gaston. I've been getting caught up with your videos, so I don't always comment on the latest. I truly enjoy your attention to detail and the scientific process. Believe it or not, I have a BSME and a BSEE, so I do love the science and the theory. The field work, however, is where it all comes together. Again, thanks for what you do. Looking forward to working with you in the future.
@@billking3313 Cheers to someone how appreciates this approach to solving problems. I was a Computer Engineering major and switched to English Literature as I thought I wanted to be a technical writer 20 years ago. In the end, I found myself working as a software consultant building content-driven, dynamic sites. I want out... Thanks for the ongoing support.
@@TheTechPrepper My day job pays the bills, but is not at all my passion. I've been a wildland firefighter for many years, (my son as well), and we've been working on a wildland firefighter tracking program for almost 5 years. Working to integrate a fire modelling program developed by the USFS. Tough road. Working with a software team in India. Off-grid comms is part of the integration. I'm a windows guy, or python. Not a raspberry Pi fan for serious work. Anyway, I'll hit you up via email and we can converse more professionally off grid. Keep it coming...
Gratz on the QSO. Nice mission. I wouldn’t say a tuner lies, it produces a match. But yes, you will take a hit on power. On the other hand, what if you don’t have a resonate wire? Or if your comms plan requires a backup band? Your pack will fill up with custom single band wire antennas. And remember, you threw off your perfect match by putting your NVIS system so low anyway (unless you trim tuned it for that height and ground). Even qrp maximum power isn’t everything. It is just another tool to consider when choosing the antenna system compromises to fit your mission.
But not casting shade. It was a good video and successful mission! Just wanted to offer some nuance.
Thanks, Thomas! Good call out. I really should not have opened my big mouth about the tuner as it looks like I was completely wrong. Unfortunately, I have heard all of things I have mentioned by one ham or another over the last two years. I really appreciate all the corrections from yourself and the others in the comments.
Actually, I tuned my antenna for this height (4-5 ft.) in the same terrain. My match was 1.2:1 at this height in this environment. Am I still missing something?
I have a linked dipole planned for this series that will cover 40m/60m/75m/80m. My radio bag also included two very small wire antennas: a 20m EFHW and 17m dipole (of similar design) just in case there's a contest and the bands are packed.
I also have a random wire and antenna and QRP manual tuner in my bag of tricks, but did not bring it. This video was more about selecting the right tool for the job. Over the course of this series, I'll share my experience with different bands, antennas, radios and modes to solve different problems. There is no one solution for everything,
Thanks for your feedback. Take care.
Good stuff. Sorry if I came off too strong or critical. No, I don’t think you missed anything (other than the HT issue you already covered). You planned a mission, and accomplished it, then communicated it well. Good stuff!
@@thomasr.jackson2940 Not at all. This is a public forum. All feedback welcome. Cheers!
Awesome brother, love your channel. Wanted to know if you have any filters in your 818 ?
Thank you. I have been trying to find the classic Collins mechanical filters, but those things are like purple unicorns these days. However, Thomas Witherspoon of Q R P e r recently sold me a 200Hz SSB filter from International Radio Corp, but I did not have time to install it for this video. I can't wait to try it out. Cheers.
As a ARES EC in N.H. and my home ant is NVIS about 19ft up.. Get good footprint in all New England..Perfect for EmComm , i don't need to call Ohio, i will need to call Conn..
You have the perfect setup for your local goals. Well done!
Excellent. Just get out there and learn by doing. I've been after my local guys for over 10 years to try out short skip (N.V.I.S. propagation). They are the local kings of Amateur Radio and have no interest in learning more. These are the OM's referred to. Most new Hams get a tech license, yet do not get out there and get real experience, and advance their knowledge and skills. You are putting them to shame. One could have an Extra Class license and have little on air experience. Think outside the Ham box.There is a radio services that does not require a license, such as MURS, that anyone can get started. GMRS is a no test license that costs only $35 and it covers the entire family. You do not need a Ham license to have effective radio communications, but you will be limited to local communications, yet that may be all that one truly needs to organize a defense as all in your neighborhood can participate using common license free GMRS/FRS hand held transcievers. Those who are closest in proximity will be far more import to your welfare than someone miles away.
We need more hams like you. I appreciate the knowledge that you continue to share on the comments. I always look forward to your feedback and insights. I am fully aware that my style is not for everyone, but I do try to make my personal use of radio practical and train by experimenting with real-world scenarios. I am ok being the "anti-ham, ham". Thanks for calling out the other services. I will be covering GRMS soon and we'll go back and revisit some improvements that I have made following the first MURS video. 73's
@@TheTechPrepper One might glean from my articles on radio over on Survival blog of how unconventional I can be. For example, my next article might be about operating a remote transceiver via field phone to avoid RDF. For the purpose of COMSEC, (Communication Security), I do not share everything on the internet that can be done. Even though you are on the fast track, there is no point in wasting time getting to where you might want to go. As preppers, time is short and there is much more to learn., not only about radio, but also about everything else. It is a balancing act, yet the kind of radio you are into is critically important and there are precious few who are learning about it. and you are demonstrating on video others can learn from in a professional way. Bravo. Without commo, we can not provide early warning and coordinate a defense against roving gangs. Yes, 2 meter will be central, but there is far more to be learned to be successful. In fact, in a mad max collapse, I might stay off 2 meter as much as possible.........
Because of the geography where I live, 300 mile contacts are no big deal. I can easily hit a repeater on the opposite side of one of the biggest valleys in the country (over 100 miles wide) and then people another 100+ miles away can also hit it. But my local club repeater that's 2 miles away? No such luck. I'm blocked by several ridges, and the only way to talk to someone literally in the same small mountain town as me is with NVIS.
Before 2m repeaters, 80m was used for local ground wave comms
A bunch of locals in this area still use ground wave propagation for 75m/80m for very close-in comms (< 20 miles). It works pretty well. Thanks for sharing.
Great video however I do take exception with the statement that antenna tuners just “fake the radio into thinking it has a good match when it doesn’t and waist a lot of energy in the form of heat” is not correct. This is a common belief among hams and is what I believed. A good book on the subject is “Reflections” by M. Walter Maxwell (chapter 17 gives a good summary). The book explains how a tuner can make a non resonant antenna resonate. There is , however a small amount of power loss by the tuner but this might be in the order of 5%. In preparation for Field Day this year I did some WSPR testing of a random wire non resonant antenna against a 20m 1/4 wave vertical and an EFHW and the random wire antenna with tuner performed as well as both.
Thank you for correcting me. I am grateful that a few others have corrected me as well. I am still trying figuring this stuff out and have heard a lot of conflicting information on tuners over the last couple of years. Time to buy “Reflections” by M. Walter Maxwell.
Higher the di pole is , shallow angle can go farther but miss 100- 200 mile range
Can you tell me where the video is for the antenna is you were using here? Thanks
Hey tech, I use NVIS several times a week 100 to 471 miles on 80 or 40m 230mi seems to be the sweet range. I USA an ah4 random wire tuner and 100ft of ace hardware clothesline.
I appreciate you sharing your success with NVIS. The clothesline wire from Ace Hardware looks to be a very inexpensive ($8.00 USD) option. Nice work!
@@TheTechPrepper I send radio emails with winlink there are about 19 RMS (radio mail server) stations in my 55 Yakima to 471 Idaho falls range. I contact them all frequently from different locations, conditions and configurations at some point some top performers will pull out ahead these are the ones I go to when I have important traffic. VARA HF is my mode of choice.
I have a mobile set up and have plates I can park my truck or any vehicle on that will allow me to put up 2 20ft masts I have vertical and directional antennas for uhf and vhf. Like you practice has helped me improve my skills. Thank you for your practical videos
Corona De Tucson AZ here
Cheers to another local! Thanks for stopping by and saying, hello.
Great video, but I would like to know your recommendations about which one of the radios could cover up to 100km without a repeater or tower, please?
Thanks. This technique works for that same range. I actually talked to another operator in Tucson (185.39 km) after this exercise. I also routinely have good success much closer in. I'll cover this technique for county-level comms as part of this series.
Have you tried JS8CALL? It is a low power digital mode that you would only need to add a tablet or laptop computer, maybe a interface if your radio doesn't have a USB. Many radios do have USB now. I know that means more power if you are out for a long time but for short time the laptop battery should be good.
Yes, I have and I do run JS8Call. In fact, I run a lot of digital modes. The FT-818ND manpack shown here has a DigiRig Mobile permanently mounted to the frame and there's a Panasonic CF-20 Toughbook (convertible laptop/tablet) in the pack. These days, my group and I are using fldigi/flsmg for VHF/UHF but also HF. We are going to cover a lot of digital, including APRS, NBEMS, JS8Call and HFLink. in this series. Here's a field video with the FTM-6000 and the DigiRig if you are interested: czcams.com/video/bRMQuY2hVzo/video.html
I use my home made magentic loop antennas, works good for very high angle NVIS and my Icom IC- 7100 portable.
Do you live in Northern Gila County? Love that area of AZ, have family there
I am in Maricopa county just north of Phoenix. It's incredibly green here now with all the rain we've been getting. Most of my local NVIS contacts in the area are with operators running loops. 73
I do not care what it was designed to do. I do care what it CAN do.
Gene Kranz
APOLLO 13.
Bingo. Great quote!
That 40m signal had a real echo sound to me so NVIS was working.
Yep. It was too far for ground wave and UT is clearly in my skip, so I am pretty sure this was NVIS, too. Thanks for the comment.
How do you what length antenna for what frequency?
Interested in more about the dipole
It's a nice simple, inexpensive build. Checkout the first NVIS video link in the description. I showed the step-by-step build there. This new build has just a few tweaks like the addition of the banana plugs and wire winder. Those are optional features anyhow.
Pretty cool, would it be better to use usb during the day and lsb at night just curious.
Good question. The type of mode has been set by convention not by time of day. The convention is to use USB for 20m and above and LSB below. However, 80m is typically a good nighttime band while 40m is good during the day.
Who said you couldn’t do 250 miles? We do it all the time, for the passed 20+ years
I see lots of different types of antennas being used on various youtube channels. Is this just part of the hobby exploring different antennas or does one or two configurations work all the time on hf? Is there a different configuration for every type of location.. do i need to know a dozen types of configurations? (Not licensed just watching and internalizing)
Every antenna has its purpose, applications and pros and cons. You should have a general idea of what each antenna is designed to do so that you can pick the right antenna for your desired communication task and operating locaation. You may want watch my "No Random Contacts" series as I specifically talk about "how" and "why" I select each antenna, radio and radio service. czcams.com/play/PLZpc6PnzmzmHfXxqeluz6q-rYCElhMuZa.html
Thought I commented already but I can't see my comment anywhere. Have you used your local ionosonde to determine foF2? Highly useful for the really close NVIS contacts, better than VOACAP.
That's strange. Thanks for posting again. I have not used my local ionosonde before. Thanks for putting this on my radar. 73's
Have you thought of a way to use the sordins/disco with the 818, or is the juice not worth the squeeze? Great video.
I have, but it's just a matter of getting more funds to finance another adapter. It's on my list of gear to research and buy. It would be good for OPSEC.
@@TheTechPrepper I'm doing the research to build it right now if I have success I'll post what I did to DIY
Have you tested a HF vertical antenna for NVIS?
Yes. I have had no success. It does not have a high enough take-off angle for NVIS.
Please attempt a very close contact between 1-30 miles with 40/80 m. With geography that eliminates the probability of HF ground propagation. I see many NVIS tests but none at very close in distances that are not prone to HF group propagation.
I do this regularly on 75m voice. There is a station 17 miles from me. I believe that it may ground wave proportion at play. This video captured that contact: czcams.com/video/-pKLZCuWZY4/video.html
@@TheTechPrepper We (PrepperNet Asheville in the mountains) have tested NVIS 40/80m Voice for our group EComm and find it not effective within < 30. As you have experienced 75m works close which matches our experience, but all these contacts can be explained by ground propagation. When a station is in a deep valley with significant terrain between stations NVIS has not been effective < 30 miles out. I believe the true “Vertical” as opposed to “Near Vertical” is not being reflected straight back down. Which results in a skip zone for NVIS of ~30 miles. This is highlighted in most all NVIS literature as it is effective from “30-300” miles and not “0-300” miles. Our goto has been VHF/UHF repeaters as we have excellent stations on Mt Mitchell and Mt Pisgah in addition to our strategically placed private repeaters. Still Looking for a robust EComms solution in mountainous terrain for < 30 miles. Suggestions?
@@echopapa243 My solution for the < 30 mile range is to essentially deploy a poor man's repeater using a rig that is capable of cross-band repeat. Personally, I use the Yaesu FT-8900 (manpack) or the Kenwood D710 (vehicle mounted). We are still testing this technique out with my group, but the plan is deploy it at a high point such as a ridge line or mountain top. I have a "No Random Contacts" video planned to demonstrate this as part of the series.
Gaston, if you want to try hitting Alberta, let me know.
Will do. You are the last "concentric circle of communication" (i.e. global) that I have on my list for this series. I look forward to an out of country contact with you, my friend.
Great video! I don't quite understand at 6:04 ....who "told you" that you couldn't make a relatively short distance contact on 40m with that configuration? Similar contacts are made every day.
14:44 The "RF entergy loss in the form of heat" comment regarding the use of a tuner is not correct at all. An antenna doesn't have to be resonant to radiate well, and a resonant antenna doesn't necessarily outperform a non-resonant antenna. An example of this is a 5/8 wave whip antenna or an off center fed dipole. Just so you know, an antenna tuner is typically 95%-97% efficient and rarely gets hot while in use.
Excellent question. I have been told at least a few dozen times by hams on HF over the last two years essentially these things:
1. "Don't even bother getting on the air if you're unable to deploy at a half wavelength."
2. "If you go below 1/10 wavelength for NVIS that the ground is absorbing much of the signal, so don't bother."
I've also been told on our local AZ nets on 75m (3.868 MHz) that there's no way I'm running QRP and that I'm pulling their leg because of my antenna height above ground and low power.
I nearly dropped out of the hobby a few times. I'm sure that there are other new hams that run into these salty operators. In general, most of the experiences have been good.
I agree that going the text book route will improve your effectiveness, but sometimes that's not possible especially as a field operator.
Cheers!
Thanks for the correction.
@@TheTechPrepper Again, thanks for creating all of these videos. The terminology you use to describe these scenarios and actions is spot on, and I love the "less is more" philosophy.
@@TheTechPrepper whoever told you No2 is full of BS. Using digital modes I’ve made contacts from 0-300 on 80m nvis with the antenna 6-8 feet off the ground. Thanks for another good one….