Posted on 03/22/2013 12:36:02 PM PDT by Kartographer
73,
Cal
The tech behind wired voice telecom is essentially over 100 years old. Everything since is just ways to aggregate the links.
Yea, if you have 2 handsets, you can wire two lantern batteries together in series and have a private line. Throw in a few dollars in transistors, transformers, and circuitry and you can even make it ring on the other end when you pick up the handset.
If ever society collapses a bit of work can turn a dead phone system into a neighborhood alert network.
You do not need any batteries. The microphone in the handset can generate enough to power it for sometimes up to 5 miles. The old “Sound Power” handsets had two alligator clips that were used to communicate for linemen to get the right wires connected.
Good, so am I. I do not advocate non-hams buying ham gear to use in case of an emergency when getting a license is so easy.
I am however a huge advocate of folks getting a ham license to be prepared for an emergency. Our local hams offer “license in a day” courses and testing during which we get a 96% pass rate. We offer testing before our monthly club meetings and weekly at our casual breakfast. We have installed 2-meter radios in our local police dispatcher office and at the fire department at no cost to them. We have a radio donation program to those hams who can not afford a radio. They are 2-meter radios and we set them up for all the local repeaters. We have connectivity into the local AF Base comm center.
You no longer need to know Morse code to use Morse code. There are small portable Morse code readers and converters that you just type in your message and it goes out in code. It receives Morse code and displays it as text. There are even more effective means of low power communication. JT65 is one and is in widespread use.
I agree with having the license to learn the material and learn the basics of radio. However, in a survival situation, the last thing anyone should worry about is if they have a license to use some part of a spectrum.
Thank you so much for the clarification.
I have two outdoor antennas that can I drive four scanners with. I took a TV Antenna and made a bracket to put the elements vertical the other antenna is a discone. I ran a lead from each antenna through a TV signal Amp 50 MHZ-900 MHZ then through a signal splitter going to the scanners. That's how I pick up several states away. I had maybe two birdies on frequencies that didn't matter but it worked great. Living on the side of a high ridge helps also LOL.
I'm lucky that all the agencies I want to hear are in the clear & either in the 150's 450's or 460 MHZ bands. I do have a trunk tracker though if needed. I also have the local HAM repeaters. Most of the time you'll know about a tornado a couple minutes before NOAA hits the alert.
Sounds like you have the scanner situation well in hand.
Repeaters sitting near the top of 4000 ft high mountain peaks are great communications enhancers! Higher is usually better for VHF and UHF radio signals.
Why not get your amateur ticket?
The funniest thing I ever heard was on a local Low Band freq for a very small nearby town. It was on the 49MHZ I think. I hear "This is a national alert. Be on the look out for a woman 5' whatever, black hair..." then it stopped. I'd listened enough to know by the sound what was going on. But the two Barney Fifes one at the PD the other on Patrol didn't and they were arguing accusing each other of playing around with the radio. I called them up and said neither one of you was messing with the radio it was Skip because I heard it also. The cop asked Who's Skip?
Another one was where someone had stolen a handheld sheriffs dept radio from a local high school. The perps decided to have some fun and start broadcasting. The dispatcher kept them yakking while the sheriff and deputies triangulated on his broadcast. He was using the 460 MHZ band and they went 5 MHZ higher and tracked him down by his broadcast to the repeater LOL. When I do have my scanners on I keep one running local control frequencies. You know when they're nearby then.
Any thoughts on pursuing you amateur license?
It’s a big discussion in progress at The Bunker. Once we get to pony up the dough, we can do it...
The license is free. The testing fee is $15.00 for 2013. There is no requirement to buy ham gear to have an Amateur Radio License.
:nodding: Let me run that by Household Six!
Hit send too soon.
Hope you or youall pursue the license. Good for 10 years. Don’t take up much space.
73,
Cal
At least they could send soup.
Pots=. Plain old telephone service
VoIP=. Votive over Internet protocol. (Think Vonage, cable TV phone,etc)
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