I was on QRZ.com the other day being attacked by haters, who insist on QRO power. Like a minimum of 100watts for anything. In my opinion, we should all learn to use the least amount of power we can to achieve communications. Another point about radio preparedness is focus. I have zero interest in DXCC from a contesting station. Everything I do is about learning or training to use the gear I have, to understand how the bands work (and when). I suppose the most frustrating thing about preparedness radio is trying to convince people that they need training and skills. Anyway, this is an excellent video!
Thanks Julian. If there was a 100W radio that fit in my shirt pocket I would buy one... As long as I could reduce power output at will. Power sucks electricity and the main issue for me is battery weight and recharging. All those high power radios would stay on the air for a few days, then what? Not to mention that between fitting a heavy battery in my bug-out bag or food/water, I would not hesitate ;-)
Exactly on the power. From my military days you use only the power you need to accomplish the task. And in the Cold War days remote that antenna at least one grid square away and speak no longer than 1 minute. Morse code used with burst traffic used to be used a lot back in that time also. Great video! New sub.
Your example with the Torch and the Laserpointer is straight on point! White light has a huge Bandwith, being a mixture of lots of wavelengths. A Laserpointer on the other Hand, has only one wavelength, one frequency and therefore has a very small bandwidth. Plus of course, the beam of the torch is just wider as the laserpointer. So yes, just the perfect example to explain Morse! Sorry, the physicist in me couldn't help but be astonished by the "obviously" great analogy :) 73 DJ6KR Konrad
Most of my Radios have shown to be "Schrödinger-Stable" but I don't know about your fancy military style ones ;) Could you give a guess on what speed (WPM) you were using in those QSOs in the end? I had a great moment, when i realised, i could unterstand quite a lot of it, this morning. Back to LCWO ! CWfe! ;)
My comment comes a little late, but I just ran across this video now. I agree 100% with your advice. I like your presentation style Gil, nice and laid back and easy to follow. Thanks for the work you put into your videos.
Wow! Great video. Glad I found you and going to subscribe here in a minute. I am a new ham operator less than two months now. I have two radios… A mobile base unit that is 2 m and a handheld that is 2 m and 70 cm. I really need to get off my rear end and learn Morse code!
The whip seems to work very well. I make contacts every time I try it, including one from France to North Carolina once on 20m. It also works well on 30m and 40m CW. I haven't tried 40m SSB since I don't have the LSB mod.
Pleased to say I have had some success with getting my small group licensed but I agree generally it is difficult to get people to get a ham licence . Comms are important but so are a whole host of other things that the prepper needs in their arsenal. Very easy to get over balanced in one area. See this a few times in weapons and comms but not so much in self sufficiency. Growing food is very hard time consuming work. Maybe that's why. Larry M3MPD Uk RAYNET.
Excellent video. One argument FOR higher power might be using an NVIS antenna. That application is a bit specialized, but from my research and testing, an inverted V dipole setup for NVIS doesn't work well on QRP power.
The maximum contact made with a PMR 446 radio (erp 500mw) was 330 miles from one high hill in England to a high place in the Netherlands. No idea what weather conditions were like. 89 miles is common (apparently)
@@RadioPrepper Get up on a hill with a Motorola or Retevis RT 24 PMR 446, and give it a try; it's great fun, like the "million miles per watt" trials that Hams ran a few years ago. Stand facing Dover, 22 miles away and see how far you get...you'll be surprised. Mike, G7...
My personal record on PMR446 is 198 km from JN89FC to JN69WQ. The guy on the other side managed to get 520km QSO that day. I manage to get few >100km QSOs on almost every portable.
Hi Gill. Your videos are great. I was watching your recent video in the Canary Islands. A bit unfortunate that you didn't get a contact. A couple of thoughts - do you think that with the low power of the Mountain Topper, your 174 coax is a weak link? 174 coax can be a bit lossy. I was wondering whether, given the low power, that the balun and coax were doing you a considerable disservice. I was thinking, that you might have much better success with an endfed dipole, tuned to the bands in question. Keen to know your thoughts.
+MrDaim0 RG-174 certainly has a cost. I avoid using it above 20m and avoid longer lengths of it. On lower frequencies it isn't bad. A tuned antenna would have worked better, no doubt.
Salut Giles, Que penses-tu du FT897 comme "radio survivaliste" (1A en RX)? Aurais-tu quelques références et modèles de radios pour le CW avec une très basse conso? Dernière question, j'ai un PRC-10 mais je ne sais pas par où commencer pour le faire fonctionner, je peux t'en parler par mail?
Hi Gil, I am a little late to the party on this one as I have just subbed your channel. QRP is my preferred use of radio and unfortunately I do not do CW at all. I thoroughly enjoy using my FT-817 on 4500mah lipo batteries which weigh in at 317g each, I carry 3 of them with a portable 40w folding solar panel. My preferred antennas are home made inverted V half wavelength resonant on the band I am using. I do not like to carry a tuner so having a resonant antenna is vital for my set up. Thank you for your video and keep sharing. Power is no substitute for skill........ :) 73 M6KVK
Im a CB radio operator. I can talk 20 miles on 45 watts with no problem on my base station In a survival situation there are no limits for me. I can broadcast morris code on the CB band and go a lot further if I had to. So when SHTF nobody will care and I will get out.
Great video! Thinking beyond HT VHF/UHF simplex! For simple antennas, 25~30 MHz SSB out to >20 miles (32km) is better than 50 MHz (6 meters). If I had to choose only one HF survivalist band, it would be 5 MHz; 60 meters is by far the most dependable for daily NVIS and regional comms in mid-latitudes and the north. 7 MHz often has at least a 60 miles (100km) dead skip zone. IMHO, there is no need for >300 mile (500km) comms in a survivalist situation. For non-hams, CB SSB at 27MHz is the only way to get a signal out of the immediate neighborhood.
Hi thanks for your practical approach i have a ft 991 my call is mw6goy i was wondering what you think to it ,it has been modified with a wide strap insted of the hand carry and is carry able over large distances i was interested in you thoughts on powering it many thanks Christopher Rees mw6goy south Wales
Thanks. The biggest issue with this radio is the current draw. Powering it up will cost you in both money and weight. See Julian's channel OH8STN Survival Tech Nord. He has the best solutions for you.
I know this is an old Video Gil but what is the Morse Key you are using and can you recommend any reasonable price keys for the Poor like me as I can no longer afford the silly price's they are asking on fleabay..My original Brass key I gave away years ago to a Ham in ZL land.
@@RadioPrepper Bummer so you don't recommend it then I guess. Looked cool! Highlander quality is not what it used to be I guess. Or maybe it's was a fake??? So many of them on eBay....
Correct. I think the difference is more like 5W CW = 100W SSB. I've had cases when nothing could be heard on SSB and CW went through... See: www.qsl.net/k4fk/presentations/Mode-sensitivity-2013-Dec-QST-Siwiak-Pontius-1.pdf
You state that long distances can be obtained using only milliwatts, yet say that an HH using 5-10 watts on 2 metres is only line of sight? How about being on a mountain or high hill with a five watt HH? Quite a long range there then! 😳
Most of the time line-of-sight, but some propagation modes like tropospheric ducting can extend that to hundreds of kilometers. And yes, altitude! I once made a 340km contact using 5W and my friend talked to the same guy on 100mW. We were at 2000m altitude.
Great video! I would suggest that you also insert a simple discussion about the daytime vs night effects on bands and propagation. I would highly recommend the Yaesu 817ND OR THE 897D (both of which I own) for this purpose. Check out my qrz page for more info. Keep up the good work! 73s KD9JEO
i love ham radio BUT as a PREPPER THING NOT SO MUCH. the best thing i can see is just a lot of hearing what's going on more than anything no mic required. let me explain. will men and helicopters or the military stop everything just merely because i have a ham radio calling for help ! ? nope. in fact if any one does answer the call it could be anyone maybe some one looking to take what little i have not too mention some one ho is just waiting too find out where i am because they heard everything. on there silent ham radio. if i know a prepper and know he has stored food that might be good for me and bad for them. if you know what i mean. so sr where are you hiding out ohh well just come out it would be easier for use to find you ser we really have not got that time right now to go looking for you. come on out.. and then what happens ? well i might be over doing this or am i ?
Certainly that is something to keep in mind. You would probably not be calling for help, as you say, probably nobody would come. I see radio more as a means to exchange vital information..
Greetings from the USA I'm a new subscriber found your Channel very interesting I will be checking in 5th Battalion 18th North Carolina State Defense militia where we go one we go all we are Q... how are unit uses a Yaesu 450d transceiver in our operations with open transmit and receive covers all frequencies from 150 kilohertz do about 55 megahertz our called is Sierra Delta Foxfire 1...
I was on QRZ.com the other day being attacked by haters, who insist on QRO power. Like a minimum of 100watts for anything. In my opinion, we should all learn to use the least amount of power we can to achieve communications. Another point about radio preparedness is focus. I have zero interest in DXCC from a contesting station. Everything I do is about learning or training to use the gear I have, to understand how the bands work (and when). I suppose the most frustrating thing about preparedness radio is trying to convince people that they need training and skills.
Anyway, this is an excellent video!
Thanks Julian. If there was a 100W radio that fit in my shirt pocket I would buy one... As long as I could reduce power output at will. Power sucks electricity and the main issue for me is battery weight and recharging. All those high power radios would stay on the air for a few days, then what? Not to mention that between fitting a heavy battery in my bug-out bag or food/water, I would not hesitate ;-)
Send me a link to that thread...
Whenever someone claims that QRO power is the only way, I just answer that between 5 watts and 100 watts, there's only 2-something s-meter points...
+Elektro LUDIKITS Oui, et le poid des batteries devient prohibitif!
Désolé Gil, j'ai retiré mon commentaire parce qu'en fait tu en parlais dans la vidéo. Et je suis entièrement d'accord avec toi !
Exactly on the power. From my military days you use only the power you need to accomplish the task. And in the Cold War days remote that antenna at least one grid square away and speak no longer than 1 minute.
Morse code used with burst traffic used to be used a lot back in that time also.
Great video! New sub.
Number 8 was my favorite.
I think I might like to make a video response or followup to this video in the future.
Excellent video, no disagreements.
Probably the best prepper radio video I have seen. Great info on the 40m comm. Thank you so much.
Thanks.
Your example with the Torch and the Laserpointer is straight on point! White light has a huge Bandwith, being a mixture of lots of wavelengths. A Laserpointer on the other Hand, has only one wavelength, one frequency and therefore has a very small bandwidth. Plus of course, the beam of the torch is just wider as the laserpointer. So yes, just the perfect example to explain Morse!
Sorry, the physicist in me couldn't help but be astonished by the "obviously" great analogy :)
73
DJ6KR
Konrad
I should have mentioned that you can't look at your radio while sending Morse to avoid collapsing the radio wave function ;-)
Most of my Radios have shown to be "Schrödinger-Stable" but I don't know about your fancy military style ones ;)
Could you give a guess on what speed (WPM) you were using in those QSOs in the end? I had a great moment, when i realised, i could unterstand quite a lot of it, this morning.
Back to LCWO ! CWfe! ;)
Probably about 13wpm. Better learn no slower than 15wpm, ideally 20.
Radio Prepper i am doing it on 30WPM with Fransworth Timing at the moment. I want to be 100% sure i memorize the melody and can't count dits and dahs
My comment comes a little late, but I just ran across this video now. I agree 100% with your advice. I like your presentation style Gil, nice and laid back and easy to follow. Thanks for the work you put into your videos.
Thank you!
My favorite ham radio video.
Thanks!
Very good advice. Thanks Gil!
This is a 'must hear' video. Keep up the great work.
Michael VA6XMB 73's
Wow! Great video. Glad I found you and going to subscribe here in a minute. I am a new ham operator less than two months now. I have two radios… A mobile base unit that is 2 m and a handheld that is 2 m and 70 cm. I really need to get off my rear end and learn Morse code!
Good start, now you need to get on HF!
All valid points. High power and complicated antenna setups takes the challenge out of amateur radio...almost snobbish in my opinion.
Thanks for this video! Great to see your manpack in CW and SSB operation with the whip antenna. -KQ6XA
The whip seems to work very well. I make contacts every time I try it, including one from France to North Carolina once on 20m. It also works well on 30m and 40m CW. I haven't tried 40m SSB since I don't have the LSB mod.
Very good video.I agree with everything in it.I use a bow and arrow to shoot a line over the treetops where it's safe
I agree 100% with your opinions on the subject matter was covered.
Très instructif, merci beaucoup !
Most informative. Going to look into 6m a lot more for local comms. Many thanks Larry M3 MPD UK RAYNET
The only issue with 6m is that you need a license of course and it is very hard to convince non-hams to get one...
Pleased to say I have had some success with getting my small group licensed but I agree generally it is difficult to get people to get a ham licence . Comms are important but so are a whole host of other things that the prepper needs in their arsenal. Very easy to get over balanced in one area. See this a few times in weapons and comms but not so much in self sufficiency. Growing food is very hard time consuming work. Maybe that's why. Larry M3MPD Uk RAYNET.
Excellent video. One argument FOR higher power might be using an NVIS antenna. That application is a bit specialized, but from my research and testing, an inverted V dipole setup for NVIS doesn't work well on QRP power.
Thanks Sean. i need to do more testing using NVIS on 80m.
well explained my friend
The maximum contact made with a PMR 446 radio (erp 500mw) was 330 miles from one high hill in England to a high place in the Netherlands. No idea what weather conditions were like. 89 miles is common (apparently)
Amazing!
@@RadioPrepper Get up on a hill with a Motorola or Retevis RT 24 PMR 446, and give it a try; it's great fun, like the "million miles per watt" trials that Hams ran a few years ago. Stand facing Dover, 22 miles away and see how far you get...you'll be surprised. Mike, G7...
My personal record on PMR446 is 198 km from JN89FC to JN69WQ. The guy on the other side managed to get 520km QSO that day. I manage to get few >100km QSOs on almost every portable.
Hi Gill. Your videos are great. I was watching your recent video in the Canary Islands. A bit unfortunate that you didn't get a contact. A couple of thoughts - do you think that with the low power of the Mountain Topper, your 174 coax is a weak link? 174 coax can be a bit lossy. I was wondering whether, given the low power, that the balun and coax were doing you a considerable disservice. I was thinking, that you might have much better success with an endfed dipole, tuned to the bands in question. Keen to know your thoughts.
+MrDaim0 RG-174 certainly has a cost. I avoid using it above 20m and avoid longer lengths of it. On lower frequencies it isn't bad. A tuned antenna would have worked better, no doubt.
Salut Giles, Que penses-tu du FT897 comme "radio survivaliste" (1A en RX)? Aurais-tu quelques références et modèles de radios pour le CW avec une très basse conso? Dernière question, j'ai un PRC-10 mais je ne sais pas par où commencer pour le faire fonctionner, je peux t'en parler par mail?
Bonjour. A mon avis 1A c'est trop. 100mA max pour une radio CW, 250mA max pour BLU. Oui: gil@radiopreppers.com
Hi Gil, I am a little late to the party on this one as I have just subbed your channel. QRP is my preferred use of radio and unfortunately I do not do CW at all. I thoroughly enjoy using my FT-817 on 4500mah lipo batteries which weigh in at 317g each, I carry 3 of them with a portable 40w folding solar panel. My preferred antennas are home made inverted V half wavelength resonant on the band I am using. I do not like to carry a tuner so having a resonant antenna is vital for my set up. Thank you for your video and keep sharing. Power is no substitute for skill........ :) 73 M6KVK
Awesome, glad to have you here :-)
Im a CB radio operator. I can talk 20 miles on 45 watts with no problem on my base station In a survival situation there are no limits for me. I can broadcast morris code on the CB band and go a lot further if I had to. So when SHTF nobody will care and I will get out.
Keep in mind that long distance communications is not really a matter of power but propagation and antenna height for local and near-regional ranges.
like to know how you do cw on a CB ?
Great video! Thinking beyond HT VHF/UHF simplex! For simple antennas, 25~30 MHz SSB out to >20 miles (32km) is better than 50 MHz (6 meters). If I had to choose only one HF survivalist band, it would be 5 MHz; 60 meters is by far the most dependable for daily NVIS and regional comms in mid-latitudes and the north. 7 MHz often has at least a 60 miles (100km) dead skip zone. IMHO, there is no need for >300 mile (500km) comms in a survivalist situation. For non-hams, CB SSB at 27MHz is the only way to get a signal out of the immediate neighborhood.
Good points Bonnie. The reason I prefer 6m to CB is the added privacy and slightly shorter antennas... I wish we had 60m in France...
Hi thanks for your practical approach i have a ft 991 my call is mw6goy i was wondering what you think to it ,it has been modified with a wide strap insted of the hand carry and is carry able over large distances i was interested in you thoughts on powering it many thanks Christopher Rees mw6goy south Wales
Thanks. The biggest issue with this radio is the current draw. Powering it up will cost you in both money and weight. See Julian's channel OH8STN Survival Tech Nord. He has the best solutions for you.
I know this is an old Video Gil but what is the Morse Key you are using and can you recommend any reasonable price keys for the Poor like me as I can no longer afford the silly price's they are asking on fleabay..My original Brass key I gave away years ago to a Ham in ZL land.
Hi, I can't watch it here at work but probably my Kent paddles..
Just rewatched after you latest video. What jacket is this by the way?
I found it on EBay. Highlander Odin. The zipper broke...
@@RadioPrepper Bummer so you don't recommend it then I guess. Looked cool! Highlander quality is not what it used to be I guess. Or maybe it's was a fake??? So many of them on eBay....
#8 !!!
CW concentrates the output power in a narrower bandwidth. Some comparisons say " don't pin me on this " 25 watts ssb can go as far as 10 watts CW.
Correct. I think the difference is more like 5W CW = 100W SSB. I've had cases when nothing could be heard on SSB and CW went through... See: www.qsl.net/k4fk/presentations/Mode-sensitivity-2013-Dec-QST-Siwiak-Pontius-1.pdf
You state that long distances can be obtained using only milliwatts, yet say that an HH using 5-10 watts on 2 metres is only line of sight?
How about being on a mountain or high hill with a five watt HH?
Quite a long range there then! 😳
Most of the time line-of-sight, but some propagation modes like tropospheric ducting can extend that to hundreds of kilometers. And yes, altitude! I once made a 340km contact using 5W and my friend talked to the same guy on 100mW. We were at 2000m altitude.
Great video! I would suggest that you also insert a simple discussion about the daytime vs night effects on bands and propagation. I would highly recommend the Yaesu 817ND OR THE 897D (both of which I own) for this purpose. Check out my qrz page for more info. Keep up the good work! 73s KD9JEO
I should have talked about that, thanks. In a future video...
i love ham radio BUT as a PREPPER THING NOT SO MUCH. the best thing i can see is just a lot of hearing what's going on more than anything no mic required. let me explain. will men and helicopters or the military stop everything just merely because i have a ham radio calling for help ! ? nope. in fact if any one does answer the call it could be anyone maybe some one looking to take what little i have not too mention some one ho is just waiting too find out where i am because they heard everything. on there silent ham radio.
if i know a prepper and know he has stored food that might be good for me and bad for them. if you know what i mean. so sr where are you hiding out ohh well just come out it would be easier for use to find you ser we really have not got that time right now to go looking for you. come on out.. and then what happens ? well i might be over doing this or am i ?
Certainly that is something to keep in mind. You would probably not be calling for help, as you say, probably nobody would come. I see radio more as a means to exchange vital information..
I wouldn't advise contesting either. Probably not a good idea during those times.
Awesome information! K1NBT
Greetings from the USA I'm a new subscriber found your Channel very interesting I will be checking in 5th Battalion 18th North Carolina State Defense militia where we go one we go all we are Q... how are unit uses a Yaesu 450d transceiver in our operations with open transmit and receive covers all frequencies from 150 kilohertz do about 55 megahertz our called is Sierra Delta Foxfire 1...
Doesn't get much cooler than that ;-)
really whats with the flag on your jacket
Nothing. It was on the jacket when I bought it.
@@RadioPrepper You're an Anglophile, nothing wrong with that!
I have a Gadsden flag there now ;-)
@@RadioPrepper 👍👍😀
Enjoying your vids. Sub'd. G1JXI
Thank you Allan.