Here's my new com setup

[izzyscout21]

So, in planning for all things to go south, or just for emergency communications, I set myself and my "group" up with mobile coms.

I purchased 4 Motorola Radius P110's and 12 Motorola SAber 2's.

The P110's are UHF band, business class radios and will provide good coms in urban envvironments and just good general use radios. I have hand mic's, throat mics, and headsets for all of them. I was also able to score some Eagle Industries Radio pouches made specifically for this radio.

The Saber 2's are programed with both HAM freq's and MURS channels. This gives me some good versatility in their use, and the ability to reach out farther than the 110's. They are VHF band, so they will be perfect for use around here. Extra mics and headsets are on order. I've already tested these out to around 13-15 miles, resulting in crystal clear coms.

I figure both sets of radios will provide ample communication capabilities for myself and the rest of the team. I still want to get a base station HAM setup, but baby steps.

What do you guys think?

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/DSCF4477.jpg

[bacpacker]

Sounds like a flexible, useable, set up. I've never used either of those, but the look like they should do you well.

[LUNCHBOX]

Speaking of group related emergencies. Do you happen to have any channels designated? Hint--Hint.

We might need to discuss that.

[izzyscout21]

HAM preset channel 1 for now. It's a simplex freq, no repeater for now.

I'll get everyone that has one a channel breakdown, just for reference. But you wont need it unless you give the freq to someone. Everthing is preset in the Saber

[ladyhk13]

What about an EMP/solarflare? Will they be hit?

[LUNCHBOX]

^^
Lady, I think they would be hit pretty hard and I'd say that if we get either of those scenarios radios won't be our top concern.

[ladyhk13]

^Does anyone wonder how we would communicate if all advanced forms of communication went down?

[Sniper-T]

do you and your group have callsign designations? you may NOT want to be using your real names over the air. additionally... you may want a code, in that you may not want to discuss 'real' situations, over the air, when made up terms could be better for opsec.

I'm not military, nor even ex... so this stuff isn't second nature to me, but these are my 2 cents worth.

[LUNCHBOX]

^Does anyone wonder how we would communicate if all advanced forms of communication went down?

Member "callsign" recognition??? (visual-big letters)

[izzyscout21]

^Does anyone wonder how we would communicate if all advanced forms of communication went down?

I'm pretty sure that through our discussions, if things were ever bad enough to meet up, we'd all know it, and just do it. No commo reqiured.

Callsigns and codenames? meh. I've had quite a few of them over the years. Whatever the other guys want to be called.

"Lunchbox, this is Izzy, over. What do you think?"

[The Stig]

I'm pretty sure that through our discussions, if things were ever bad enough to meet up, we'd all know it, and just do it. No commo reqiured.

Callsigns and codenames? meh. I've had quite a few of them over the years. Whatever the other guys want to be called.

"Lunchbox, this is Izzy, over. What do you think?"



So I guess my plan to use the call-sign "Massive Johnson" is ill advised?

Rubber Ducky?

Stroker Ace?

Dammit....now I have to rework everything.

[The Stig]

^Does anyone wonder how we would communicate if all advanced forms of communication went down?

I've wondered about it but my guess is something causing the entire communications grid to fail, for a lengthy period of time, would be rather serious. As much as I'd like to stay in touch with everybody my assumption would be I'd be more focused on surviving day-to-day and trying to stay in touch with my family in the county.....let alone friends across the country.

Maybe I'm just being short-sighted here and someone will say "xyz is a simple form of comms over a long distance" but as yet I haven't discovered it.

[bacpacker]

Just a small legal notice inserted here. As long as things are still up and running, it is illegal to use code or anything similar while using the HAM bands for your comms. After SHTF I don't think it will be an issue. This is a FCC rule. I'm not sure about the bus bands.

That said, having that worked out in advance would be worth planning out in advance.

[Stormfeather]

do you and your group have callsign designations? you may NOT want to be using your real names over the air. additionally... you may want a code, in that you may not want to discuss 'real' situations, over the air, when made up terms could be better for opsec.

I'm not military, nor even ex... so this stuff isn't second nature to me, but these are my 2 cents worth.


I'm pretty sure that through our discussions, if things were ever bad enough to meet up, we'd all know it, and just do it. No commo required.

Callsigns and codenames? meh. I've had quite a few of them over the years. Whatever the other guys want to be called.

"Lunchbox, this is Izzy, over. What do you think?"




"Company Leader Calling Raven. . .Company Leader Calling Raven. . Company leader to identify Baker Team "

heheh, had to do it!

[izzyscout21]

My callsign used to be Commanche Grey 6 Romeo. When I was an instructor it was Ghost 6

[izzyscout21]

"Company Leader Calling Raven. . .Company Leader Calling Raven. . Company leader to identify Baker Team "

"Acknowledge green smoke, over."

[Stg1swret]

A series of Semiphore stations would be the way to go if communications were to be down long term.

"The desert is wet." I repeat, "The desert is wet."

[Stormfeather]

HAM preset channel 1 for now. It's a simplex freq, no repeater for now.

I'll get everyone that has one a channel breakdown, just for reference. But you wont need it unless you give the freq to someone. Everthing is preset in the Saber

How hard would it be to put a repeater up in my area, and would this be of any benefit if we did?

[izzyscout21]

How hard would it be to put a repeater up in my area, and would this be of any benefit if we did?

for that question, I would refer you to bacpacker. He's my RTO and subject matter expert on all things radio.

[bacpacker]

Stormy ham repeaters are typically used on high band VHF(144-148mhz) and UHF(440-446mhz). In some cases they are uded on low band VHF(50-54mhz) and even less frequently on 10M(28mhz.
In all cases I know of they are for shorter range comms. For example our most wide area local repeater cover a large portion of TN from Chattanooga to about Greenville and west to about Crossville. However it has been coordinated not to interfere with other surrounding repeaters on that freq. It is on a mountian top at 4000+ft elevation and is running 50-100 watts using commercial grade antennas. A typical repeater set up would cover maybe 40-50 miles. In your area being somewhat flat unless you could get your antenna up on a cell tower, water tower, or tall building your coverage would probably be. More like 30-50 miles.
I have never used a 10m repeater, so I will not comment on those . If you want i can do a little research on them.
I hope this was somewhat useful.

[austinrob]

4000' damn that's nice.

Best we can do in central TX is 1680' tower just NE of Ft. Hood. it's local county EOC repeater and covers a good chunk of central TX. (K5EHX Amateur Radio Repeater Mapping (http://k5ehx.net/repeaters/qrepeater.php?id=12688)) I can't hit it from here with my 5W HT, but I have a mobile rig in my future.

[bacpacker]

It is very nice. Best thing is the owner is Chief Engineer for a local radio station and got access to the tower with generator capabilities. It stays up for all but direct lightning strikes and he keeps all the gear up to date and tuned up.
We have another repeater near here that's over 5000' but it's older and not maintained as well.

[bacpacker]

for that question, I would refer you to bacpacker. He's my RTO and subject matter expert on all things radio.

Izzy, you shouldn't blow so much smoke bout me. I don't qualify for SME on anything. I just try and stumble along and not step on myself too much.

[izzyscout21]

Izzy, you shouldn't blow so much smoke bout me. I don't qualify for SME on anything. I just try and stumble along and not step on myself too much.

You're the mad genius offering advice on my coms setup. I hold you responsible;). That make you MY SME on all thing radio. You should really be careful when you give info to a gear whore. Look what happens.LOL

[bacpacker]

Mad Genius! I like that. The Mad part is accurate, the genius part, not so much. You gotta remember, I ain't hardly responsible for myself, let alone anything else. :)

[Stormfeather]

Stormy ham repeaters are typically used on high band VHF(144-148mhz) and UHF(440-446mhz). In some cases they are uded on low band VHF(50-54mhz) and even less frequently on 10M(28mhz.
In all cases I know of they are for shorter range comms. For example our most wide area local repeater cover a large portion of TN from Chattanooga to about Greenville and west to about Crossville. However it has been coordinated not to interfere with other surrounding repeaters on that freq. It is on a mountian top at 4000+ft elevation and is running 50-100 watts using commercial grade antennas. A typical repeater set up would cover maybe 40-50 miles. In your area being somewhat flat unless you could get your antenna up on a cell tower, water tower, or tall building your coverage would probably be. More like 30-50 miles.
I have never used a 10m repeater, so I will not comment on those . If you want i can do a little research on them.
I hope this was somewhat useful.

So, with this knowledge, im assuming that installing a repeater in my AO would not be beneficial in reaching down south to you guys there? Unless possibly its a 100w or better repeater? Ive got access to hilltops that are pretty high in the region, and have always wanted to get more into, but lacking time is always a main factor it seems! Now, I had friends out in Calif that would reach several hundred miles with their setups, but from what I understood, they had multiple repeaters. I only got to look at their setup once before I got stationed out in Wisconsin, so wasnt too familiar with it.


Mad Genius! I like that. The Mad part is accurate, the genius part, not so much. You gotta remember, I ain't hardly responsible for myself, let alone anything else. :)

This is like me. . . can hardly be responsible for myself, much less others. That being said, anyone want to try out this new thermobaric explosive I cooked up on my George Foreman Grill out in the garage? :eek:

[Sniper-T]

... anyone want to try out this new thermobaric explosive I cooked up on my George Foreman Grill out in the garage? :eek:

Oooohhhh!!!! Pick me pick me!!!!

[izzyscout21]

This is like me. . . can hardly be responsible for myself, much less others. That being said, anyone want to try out this new thermobaric explosive I cooked up on my George Foreman Grill out in the garage? :eek:

I'm so in.............

[bacpacker]

Stormy i don't think a repeater would help you get contact with us. The multiple repeaters you mentioned in Cali sounds like a linked system, which would work to get to us. Down side is you need one about every 40-60 miles between us. There used to be a linked system that went from Kentucky up into Michigan and over 2 Chicago. It was sweet, i could talk to folks all along the route on our way to Mi. It came in handy one year when we drove up in a snow storm. It helped us avoid some of the worst area's. I'm not sure if it's still up or not. I do need to look into that.
Basically each repeater is owned by a different person on radio club an they decide to create a linked system. If someone drops. Out it breaks the link and then you just have 2 short section. It works but takes a lot of folks workin together to keep it up.
BTW what time is the thermo party? Wonder how that would work for an anvil shoot?
:)

[mitunnelrat]

Hey izzy, how big are the Saber batteries? Will they fit in a grenade pouch, or are they too tall for that?

[izzyscout21]

Hey izzy, how big are the Saber batteries?

Not too big.


Will they fit in a grenade pouch

I'll check.


I'll try to get a few pics up later.

[izzyscout21]

as requested, here's a few measurements. Tunnelrat, they will indeed fit into a grenade pouch.


http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/DSCF4511.jpg

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/DSCF4512.jpg

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/DSCF4513.jpg

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/DSCF4514.jpg

[mitunnelrat]

Awesome. Thank you. I just happen to have a couple of those pouches on hand already. The fact these batteries will fit in them will make updating my vest for comms much easier.

[izzyscout21]

FYI: there is a radio pouch in your box with the knife. Thoght it might help.

[mitunnelrat]

Oh man, that helps more than you might realize! Since a grenade pouch will work for a battery its the only thing I needed to complete the comms update to my vest! Awesome, thanks again!

[izzyscout21]

Oh man, that helps more than you might realize! Since a grenade pouch will work for a battery its the only thing I needed to complete the comms update to my vest! Awesome, thanks again!

No problem man. It's the least I can do since you are going to be breaking....er, I mean testing my knife.............:o

[Stormfeather]

Hey Izzy, whats the fittage like between reciever and battery on those sabers? Shaky loose? Rock solid? minimally tight? Does aftermarket batteries matter?

[izzyscout21]

mine have a touch of wobble, but that may be because I bought aftermarket batteries from ebay. That said, I have taken them out and played with them outside with no issues. especially once you throw them in an MBITR pouch. Good to go. Some have more wobble than others, but until I get my hands on OEM, I'll chock this up to cheap aftermarket. I have yet to get one of the batteries to come loose unintentionally.

[Stormfeather]

Good to know. I purchased a Saber radio and a aftermarket battery, and found them to have a little bit more wobble than I was comfortable with. Good idea about the imbitr pouch, will try that. Will see if I can lay my hands on some OEM batteries as well, if the fittage is better, will report it back here so everyone will have a heads up about it.

[Sniper-T]

Can you define where the wobble comes from? a shim, or a tweaking of the lock might remedy that!

Aside: Grenade pouches???? can you guys seriously buy grenades down there????

:eek:

[mitunnelrat]

I can't speak for the rest of these guys, but I live near Detroit, so of course "I" can buy grenades! :D

I'm just playing, sort of. Even if grenades were legal here I wouldn't buy any. I have this aversion to handling any explosive device where I (or somebody I know and trust) didn't personally cut the fuse, especially so when its no more than 5 seconds at its longest burn time, and depends on me throwing it to clear myself of the blast radius. I just use the pouches for smaller items, like this or a compass.

Raids in Detroit have turned up grenades though.

[izzyscout21]

Can you define where the wobble comes from? a shim, or a tweaking of the lock might remedy that!

Aside: Grenade pouches???? can you guys seriously buy grenades down there????

:eek:

A shim would probably work, but again, I dont see a reason to mess with it. It doesn't wobble to the point of failure or anything like that. I would bet an OEM battery (if even available.... $$$) would be a lot tighter fit.

Grenades..........no, not really. We can buy a ton of greande pouches though...........

[bacpacker]

Izzy does the battery slide across to the locked position? Or is it more of a hook then move up into place type? I know some ham type HT's have more "play" than others. There aren't many that have a really tight fit unless it's the type that the battery is basically the back of the radio when attached.

[izzyscout21]

it slides across the bottom to lock in.

[bacpacker]

I kinda doubt the battery would come off, short of the lock breaking. Sounds more like the plastics mold was the exact size it should have been. Probably getting worn out and the dimensions drifted.

[LUNCHBOX]

Did somebody say grenades????? Oooooooh pouches....

[Stormfeather]

Got a assfuckton of grenade pouches in ACU if anyone is interested. . .

[mitunnelrat]

Hey Izzy, whats the fittage like between reciever and battery on those sabers? Shaky loose? Rock solid? minimally tight? Does aftermarket batteries matter?


mine have a touch of wobble, but that may be because I bought aftermarket batteries from ebay. That said, I have taken them out and played with them outside with no issues. especially once you throw them in an MBITR pouch. Good to go. Some have more wobble than others, but until I get my hands on OEM, I'll chock this up to cheap aftermarket. I have yet to get one of the batteries to come loose unintentionally.


Good to know. I purchased a Saber radio and a aftermarket battery, and found them to have a little bit more wobble than I was comfortable with. Good idea about the imbitr pouch, will try that. Will see if I can lay my hands on some OEM batteries as well, if the fittage is better, will report it back here so everyone will have a heads up about it.

I just picked up four new OEM batteries in the past week. They're rock solid.

[izzyscout21]

where did you get the OEM batteries?

[bacpacker]

The two I ordered (non OEM) fit pretty good, just slight movement when latched in place. They feel about as good as some of my ham HT's do.

[mitunnelrat]

Ebay, my friend. Pretty sure they're OEM

[izzyscout21]

For those of you in the group running these Sabers:

We are still organizing the Freq list.

Most of us (myself included) have units that hold 120 channels.

As you can imagine, with that many channels, this takes a little careful planning when trying to decide the fills for each one. We dont want to have a bunch of random crap programmed in there.

We are currently evaluating the freq list and trying to find some more "obscure" freqs to aid in opsec.

When we finalize the fills, I'll let everyone know the procedure for getting them filled.


Izzy

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

I guess I need to be more vigilant on the comms threads. I'm about done with the two guns for the neighbor so I should be getting the other tower soon and possibly assembling one here for now until we move out to the new property. It might be a while till that happens so I might as well get up and running with some gear. At least we'll see If I can reach out and touch some of you. For all I know LadyHK13 and I will have the "sanctuary" WTSHTF...........

Be safe.............the night is your friend