I’m one of those that would absolutely LOVE to learn about comms. I have the desire, the wherewithal, the need, and the ability. I simply lack the TIME.
I’m trying to learn more but don’t know how to acquire the knowledge needed.. I have a digital bofang but don’t know how to program it..and use it effectively.
I'm blessed to have a buddy that is into comms. Anything more than a boafeng just doesn't click in my brain. So him setting up a meshtastic and atak network is amazing
Friends of mine that I go camping with, who insist they are relatively prepared, refuse to learn radios. I got them to buy baofengs. We programmed them in the middle of nowhere, and used them to great effect where we shouldn't be intercepted anyway. Meshtastic is the next thing I hope to spend more time with.
I lived in maui during the fires and its what got me interested in radio. Saw first had how the fishermen, aviators and big wave surfers who already had radios were the only ones who could coordinate and help the community
This seems WAYYYYYY above bare minimum. Wouldn't this setup require every single user to be a HAM? I'm wondering if setting up a GMRS repeater and doling out radios to friends/family within a 25 mile radius would work. This would require GMRS licenses but at least this wouldn't mean taking a freaking SAT test just to use a walkie talkie.
@@Snuggles5000 §97.403 Safety of life and protection of property. No provision of these rules prevents the use by an amateur station of any means of radiocommunication at its disposal to provide essential communication needs in connection with the immediate safety of human life and immediate protection of property when normal communication systems are not available.
Dude, you need to upload more. I like your intel briefing style of posting given what is happening in the world now a days. From one service member to a retired one, keep up the good work.
In my opinion, long range comms "strategic" - beyond your home or neighborhood - will be either unnecessary or nearly useless. You need to be able to move shoot and communicate to win battles e.g. defending your home/neighborhood. You aren't going to be calling in air strikes, ordering supply drops/shipments, linking up with friendly forces to take over City Hall, etc. You aren't General Patton or some other pipe dream. The _tactical comm_ notion is the icing on your prepping plan, not the foundation. There are LOTS of things you should have done before acquiring that gear. Then you need to have a comm Protocol/Procedure, that is: - clear concise words in specific ways - used in appropriate moments for FAST PRECISE MEANING Your comm protocols/procedures requires appropriate _HOW_ and _WHEN_ . Otherwise your team (and you) will be confused, ignorant of what's going on, etc. It may actually be worse than having no comms. I can't stress this enough - fast, precise, and meaningful. I'll give you can example of _bad commo_ : "Hey, I'm over here and have been digging around, thinkin' about how much I miss the old times, Anyways, I heard a commotion and looked over there and saw somethin'. " - Didn't identify themselves - Imprecise location (i.e. "here" might as well be anywhere) - Imprecise description of what they were doing, what they heard, what they saw, the location of the sighting - Unnecessary information - Wordy Failures happen when the comm radio is used incorrectly. Your team needs training...hours of it, until your team reaches the state of being "unconsciously competent". That is my professional opinion. And unless you have some level of, ideally professional, training/knowledge/skill level, you could be doing more harm than good. If you can't... even paintballing, playing Fortnite, HUNTING game animals with _the team you will work with_ could give you a higher level of useful skill than a bunch of preppers who spent thousands on comm gear, who can just competently _operate_ the equipment. _It ain't always your gear, it's how you use it._ At least that's what my wife tells me.
The advantage of long range comms would be gather, inform, and recruit those who can/want to do the bare minimum. Regardless if they are using it to communicate back to you, broadcasting far and wide will make it much harder any enemies foreign or domestic to conquer if you are at least available to give people an alternative. They may not take up arms, but they will still be an asset. Hearts and minds.
I only read the first couple lines and am responding to that alone. Not everyone lives in a neighborhood. Some live in rural areas with neighbors/friendlies that are miles apart. Sometimes there's hills and mountains between them. If you need to communicate you need to figure out a means to do so and long range offerings may be the answer. Your neighborhood isn't the only one that matters. This information is for everyone.
I’m gonna take a moment to respond to the spirit of your comment rather than nitpick you out of ignorance. You took the time to raise an incredible point and that’s comms training and experience in USE and not operation. My opinion is that in most cases individual comms would actively worsen battlefield communication errors in a sort of shtf context. You could have the slickest setup imaginable but now put 10 untrained individuals on comms trying to talk to eachother during an action and the fog of war increases it does not decrease. People stepping on eachother, covering the channel, don’t know how to be concise and brief, no communication hierarchy, no agreed upon glossary. It’s a mess and I think it takes experience to understand how bad that can get when nobody is on the same sheet of music during an action. You see it in law enforcement all the time when you turn the stress dial up, and cops theoretically do have some amount of comms training. I think people are tempted to believe that “oh, we have radios, we’ll just talk to eachother and it’ll be great!”
Yes, you got it. And those "in the know", who have transitioned through the stages of incompetence to unconscious competence will have experienced all that personally, or as a team in training. I haven't even mentioned that effective use of comms can get inside the opposing force's "OODA" Loop and win a fight.@@jf7393
@@jf7393 Agree on this totaly. Knowing your place and limitations. Indeed being brief and concise. Thinking Ahead and working ahead. Listening skills. Trust. It is not just about buying fancy communication electronics.
meshtastic is advancing rapidly and more functions become avaliable as development goes on. for your presented use case setting the device role to "client hidden" and rebroadcast mode to "known only" will drastically reduce airtime and turn off all routine broadcasts . nodes will still rebroadcast but "only speak when spoken to" and this will make it even harder to find them if you keep communications to a minimum.
FCC is about to sell out the 902-918mhz range to NextNav for advanced gps stuff we need more public comments against the fcc ruling comments are due September 9th I believe otherwise Meshtastic is gone in the us
Don't forget about lasers. With low atmospheric scattering (weather) and correct housings, the origin and destination can be essentially only visible to each other. There are IR (850/940nM) lasers with TTL modulation for a few bucks each - with a serial ouput from a C.O.T.S. MCU is enough to drive the laser to transmit, and a photodiode receiver wih an IR filter (like a TSP34356) going into a serial input on the same MCU to receive. This is basically the same technology used for IR remote controls - but with a longer range and more focussed emitter. You could get datarates up to 9600bps point to point.
What's needed is a set of deadhand (inertial navigation) rf silent drones with matching receivers. Send the drone up with encrypted messages let it broadcast while running at random pre determined intervals. Turn off it's radio then have it evade (via either high altitude or terrain following altitude depending on environment) and then land. Assuming it's rotary parachute recovery can mask noise at the LZ. Assuming it's fixed wing gliding can also be effective. Using composites and avoiding right angles can lower its cross section along with ferrite based paints. Simple affordable designs that meet those criteria exist in the opensource world. If you're planning to use tech... use it... don't pretend to use it.
Okay, drop the hostilities and start think about reality. First, it doesn’t matter WHAT you are flying, it’s going to need metal parts do do the real work. Wires, batteries, motors… Start looking to things that require IMAGINATION to overcome those obstacles. Drones are NOISY. So are most prop driven ANYTHING. However, there have been model helicopters (gyrocopters, actually) that the blades turn so slow that they are silent. Probably not useable, but maybe worth having in the back of your head. Fixed wing aircraft… Silent? A glider comes to mind. Light, and can carry a payload, like a camera. A simple slingshot setup can launch one quite high, get your image, get it back down. Probably going to be plastic, foam, fiberglass, even cardboard. Start thinking outside the box. The simpler it is, the tougher it is going to be to defend against it. I’m open for discussion, because I like doing things that cannot be defended against effectively.
I bought my first uv-5r in 2018. That thing stays in my truck these days n I just use it for following railroad crew chatter. It still works, never broke down. Since then I have moved up with radios for use with my sewing club but I still got that old sucker.
Thanks for doing this overview. All you points are well made, correct. Your emphasis on the fact that most people will be unprepared. Being realistic needs to be heart and soul of any comms plan. Based on my personal experience I can confirm this is true, and also frustrating.
Excellent Video And Information! I Love My Old School 1970's C.B.Radios! They're Not High Tech But, They Get The Job Done For Localized Comm's, Hiking, Camping And When Traveling On Highways And Freeways For Traffic Conditions/Emergencies, Etc! 😎
There should be zero doubt: it's not a matter of it being an unknown. I interviewed at Garmin before for their sat comm devices, the topic of end-to-end encryption came up, they were so against the concept I didn't get the position in spite of a wealth of experience. It's a business constraint on the end of Garmin that they can see into the content of every message.
Lot of people are about using more power for better range but the ruler of thumb to prevent direction finding is use just enough power to get your msg through.
You bring up some very good points in this video, and even though I’m embarrassed to admit it, when it comes to “comms” and comm related information, I instantly become bored and fall asleep. Yet, communications are absolutely vital for any type of emergency situation.
I was also bored at the beginning. But I forced myself to watch two weeks DAILY content about radios. And now I'm pretty advanced and started loving the topic. Exactly like night vision, guns, gear and prepping. Now it's also radios! And damn, I wish I started sooner. It takes time but trust me, you will love it some day. There a crazy things to discover in the radio world!
The biggest thing that your going to need above else is leadership. This will solve many shortcomings that can be controlled. Next is putting the right people in place to solve how you communicate with that leadership and at time it could be as simple as a courier.
Can you do a video (or series) showing us what to get, how to program, and how to tune in to S2 Underground if, say, the internet goes dark? This is exactly where I would want to get my information from in case of any such emergency.
It's trivial to locate anyone using a system like this with off the shelf gear. It's not a big deal for emergencies, but anything involving adversaries, your location is broadcast with every transmission. Cracking off the shelf HW encryption is likewise trivial. Better to transmit in the clear if you're trying to organize a disaster response that doesn't involve adversaries as reaching out to other groups can help find resources and establish regional priorities. If you're worried about comms in an adversarial environment you need to be 100% dark or grey. Tactics need to evolve or devolve to pre radio days if you're worried about real bad dudes (cartels, rogue operators, rogue gvmt)... Russia has proven that the game has changed. Squak and either die or assist in someone's intelligence collection.
There are ways to use them that make them more difficult to intercept the transmission or DF. Obviously not as good as high end options with full digital encryption, but when the SHTF, you use what you have and not what you wish you had.
@@fallingleaveskungfu certainly, however disaster response is different. That should be set aside. If you're concern is local tactical security or survival evasion escape and rescue the capability needs to exist. Training to function in a challenging environment means understanding that Ukraine changes EVERYTHING. Meaning: new skills, new tech, new strategy, new tactics. I'll post the other comment below that I made as an example for how a to coordinate activities between squads or companies operating inside the other side's wire or when there is no wire.
@@fallingleaveskungfu What's needed is a set of deadhand (inertial navigation) rf silent drones with matching receivers. Send the drone up with encrypted messages let it broadcast while running at random pre determined intervals. Turn off it's radio then have it evade (via either high altitude or terrain following altitude depending on environment) and then land. Assuming it's rotary parachute recovery can mask noise at the LZ. Assuming it's fixed wing gliding can also be effective. Using composites and avoiding right angles can lower its cross section along with ferrite based paints. Simple affordable designs that meet those criteria exist in the opensource world. If you're planning to use tech... use it... don't pretend to use it.
@@fallingleaveskungfuI think the realist concern is that the most basic radio direction finding is something many people can do with nothing but a similar radio, however I really doubt that any commercially available equipment would do anything to mask your location against government agencies, at least after a little while. If you had multiple deployments to sandboxes like myself starting in 02 and continuing on you saw certain…special… equipment added to the trucks. This was because as one group of devices were stopped a different bunch would start showing up then updates were loaded to our trucks or new equipment replaced the old. Any signal on the EM spectrum can be jammed, any can be detected, any can be triangulated. Consider that military radios using the most advanced encryption still have new encryption loaded all the time because any encryption system used can eventually be cracked or at least triangulated. Lets say that a government agency, from China of course, has an agency with nearly unlimited funds and world class systems and people dedicated to decryption and location. This New agency even writes Songs About their prowess. What chance does your commercial radio have?
outside of radio waves heliography sun and mirrors, scouts once sent a msg this way in the LA smog 10 miles, in AZ the army used it to get the last of the natives, options options
Many thanks for that. We have a small MAG in the Uk. We have 13 members in our small village group of which two are Hams (My self and wife).I have to say the Baofengs have been a godsend with all of the group having at least one. Being non radio girls and boys the Baofengs 888 are perfect for them. We have a dawn weather report net every morning on the village channel to keep usage up with about 75% of the group participating regularly. Yes I agree it can be hard to keep interest going. Thanks again.
9:13 He's entirely right and even in small situations like a privately owned VOIP server, even if you may know who owns it, they WILL listen. Server and infrastructure owners LOVE listening.
This was the perfect "dumbed down" level of information for me, THANK YOU! I'd throw you a 6 pack if you had superchat enabled. The very least I can do is give a single cheek effort on comms. I have nothing. Thanks again.
ATAK and or Meshtastic could be good for an emergency / disaster response. I don't think the LoRa mesh networks have any place in a tactical environment as the mesh device has to put out a continual beacon signal to stay connected and those are easily found and identified and found with a TinySA Ultra. You could use ATAK as a stand alone device for individual geospatial awareness only receiving GPS coordinates. The second you start emitting a signal you can be found even if encrypted. Love the videos. Keep up the great work.
Good point. AM transceivers put out a “standing wave” that has to be “vibrated” by an AM transmitter. FM does not have this foible, but it’s also, as a general rule, line of sight. It can be bounced off of certain structures, but not much use after that.
@@dangeary2134 the modulation for LoRa devices is LoRa modulation or chirp spread spectrum. Good long range distance with low power. It's cool tech I have a few Lillygo devices. My concern is that if it squawks it can be targeted. EMCON and F3EAD is a thing.
There is a setting to turn off the beacon, so it only emits when sending a message. But really the hard thing about the mesh network is that there are so many other signals so they don't know which one to track
@@mineton1293 yup. My concern is dudes thinking they can larp their squad up with ATAK / meshtastic in minecraft not knowing how dangerous a small k!ll team with basic sigint gear can be. = loot drop w/ locating beacon.
Reading the comments it seems a lot of people think the “Comms Guy” has to make everyone a Comms Guy. A guy can collect info/intel for the group with regional and long range comms. The group would have tactical/local comms (2m, frs, gmrs) for short range group comms. This is just a way to look at the picture. Not right or wrong just one of the ways it could work. It works for emergency responders everyday.
I have never heard this said better. But you are perfectly right! If you don't own the wire, or the equipment, your comms are subjected to the whim of the owner!
Go get (2)TYT UV380s, NMO mount/B10 antenna, and a NanoVNA. (TYT has encryption.) Build a 2m dipole with #4 copper wire (Solid) and test with the NanoVNA. Place dipole on roof in a horizontal position and install B10 on vehicle. The TYT has ARPS or text over radio. I can send texts as far as 70+ miles away with this setup. HTs (Handhelds) at 5 watts! Programming DMR suck and this is a learning curve for sure. But all in all it will be about $300-$350 out the door. Reliable 2-way communication voice and text. (Data too if you wanna get into that.) Note: Do not buy the GPS version. It pings your location when you send data.
Great Video and Info ! A good basic radio set up is the battery powered AM/FM/WB (NOAA Weather Band radio) for local info ! With a one hundred foot wire antenna then you can pick up large cities around the country (like WGN at 720 AM from Chicago) at night ! Also maybe a CB-radio for car or truck use to see what road conditions are like. tjl
I’m also one of the 3 comms guys in my bunch of hoodlums and family. I have comms, backup comms, backup for the backup, and am building a meshtastic net in my city. I’ve got 8 nodes out there and 4 more coming this next week. I have given out 32 radios for Christmas and have another 40 other radios including 3 mobiles, a manpack, and a base station. So realistically if every last person in the group went on mail buoy watch and dropped theirs overboard I have them covered……….with a pouch this time. You do mention items that I haven’t even thought about but could be essential. Going to Walmart later.
Excellent video. Not too High Speed, not too Low Speed. It'd be great if you offered on-site group training on radio use/network bldg for teams/communities. Thanks for all your efforts in info.
I use a Baofeng with either rattlegram or andfldigi, this is burst trans making location finding difficult. You can encrypt the msg with one time pad. This allows for digitial trans over the Baofeng. With the concept transmit and move, you can evade apprehension.
Just get homing pigeons. It's cheaper and harder to intercept. Also, this is a no technology solution to an age-old problem of sending messages to those that need comms. You can still buy them, and they are great pets. They can come and go as free-range birds and get some of their own food, and you can supplement feed for them as they need it. A no technology solution in a shit hits the fan situation is priceless.
Coms are nothing to dismiss. I have no clue as to the extent of battle hardened veteran’s knowledge, but I went up against them. In a friendly game of Airsoft. Learning new things like tactics and teamwork with someone you’ve never met… Everyone is Rambo until they meet the Military. There were several games that the “dissidents” could have won, but for the lack of comms. One pair of simple walkie-talkies, and the outs would have been reversed just by virtue of advance warning from the guy that was tracking them.
I've always thought, it would be handy to learn Klingon, that way I wouldn't have to worry about encryption on any analog radio, but then again, I'd also have to have someone to communicate with in Klingon.
Honestly... maybe not my favorite "entertainment" source on youtube, but for sure my favorite youtuber when you **exclude!** entertainment. The value of the channel is very valuable in a community that thinks the way ours does. I commend the hard work.
Just bought a second Anytone 878 after the recent cellular debacle... now I have 2 handheld and a vehicle mount that can all talk with AES256 or with any other uhf/vhf as needed.
I’m into comms; encrypted radio, meshtastic, all that stuff. For some reason I’ve been not been able to get most people to take this stuff seriously, and I don’t understand why.
I’m the only one that takes firearms and comms seriously in my family and it’s hard for me being gen z to even make friends cause everyone rather be friends on social media then real life.
Read “The Ant and the Grasshopper” and you’ll have a fair idea of the reason why people are so ho hum about things. They laugh at the idea of PREPPERS and such people.
Wow, this is great. 2024 has got a lot of people thinking; and rightly so. It looks like I have a lot of studying to do. I'm still working on encrypted smoke signals.
I love the comms content, thank you for this video! I really enjoy the long-form informational videos, glad to see you're still doing this type of content!
Great info for all of us to glean information/planning. I REALLY need to heed this advice and get with the program. My COMMS currently amount to a coupla' Midland X-Talkers. They are ok for "neighborhood" (non-contested) but should any "balloons go up" I'd be hurting - quickly. THANK YOU S2.
Learn a dead language pick up a HAM radio. I am Native American and speak our traditional language and can teach others the same skill. Almost like a code talker from WW1/WW2. Let’s make code talking great again.
Even on the volleybfire dept we have issues with people not charging or listening to their radios. It doesn’t help either that half of us half analog, half have digital, and County is switching entirely to digital. For those of you looking at HAM licenses, go get GMRS first. 10 year license and repeater capable. Not sure about encryption, but it’s a cheaper alternative to amateur radio and a good way to practice without having to use public channels (FRS channels which anyone with a Walmart walkie can hit) and without breaking FCC regulations assuming you aren’t talking in code and whatnot.
S2U is a great resource! Keep producing information and connecting those of us with the happy burden of eternal vigilance. Great adjunct to Mike Glover's book, "Prepared."
I’m new to your channel, but that battery rant hit hard for someone who was a sole sound engineer for amateur stage shows, no one would charge their mics and I would have to run through the theater mid show to swap batteries on a soloist.
You can encode any data (including images) into text using either a base64 encoder or codegroup, then send it as messages over meshtastic. On the other end, it can be decoded from the text back into "binary" or image format. This would allow you to send a picture, if needed.
I've got a baofeng on my kit. If someone wants to program it because they know how and want to communicate, cool. I have 0 interest in it past turning it on and hitting talk and maybe 3 other functions. Meshtastic sounds like a good idea. No one can learn or be good at everything. That's why there is a term "comms guy" not comms neighborhood. Yet. The comms guys job in the group is to have the specialized knowledge and skills to set the group up with comms ready to be used and teach basic operation. Imagine if the blacksmith got upset that no one had a forging hammer or even attempted to make their own knives. Lol.
I've got 4 Lora nodes sitting on the shelf..and a local FM transmitter to broadcast. These Lora nodes have been able to communicate up to 6km last I checked...but that's been a while...additionally you can set up 1 As a repeated to extend the distance. I havent touched this since I built the nodes...I'm wondering if the software has had any updates? Guess I need to delve back into it.
I've had my general class license for over 15 years, and I encourage all who are interested to take the time to study and get their ham tickets. It'll take some effort, but it's not terribly difficult. You don't have to be an eletronics genius. I'm certainly not, and if I can pass the tests, then you can, too.
Absolutely Pukka content! Thank you. Big fan of The Wire! However, I'd be remiss to not say I didn't miss your more "involved" posts. Been following this meshtastic tech for a grip. It is starting to seem like something that we could comfortably integrate into my "minecraft server" contingent. Keep it up! I'm still of the ilk, that transmission will get you smoked. But, that does not preclude having the capability.
Perfect for getting your signal out if you can run up that repeater version of the mesh device to around 500-1000 feet can bring your line of site capability ten fold. Only situation is having one’s drone being tracked if so equipped.
Not a fan of Meshtastic for Red Dawn, but just because it's really cool, or as a backup plan, I'm all for it. Thankfully, Red Dawn is the least likely scenario, (but we can all dream.) Ham radio on the other hand is much less helpful to the community as a whole if those bands get swamped with non Ham traffic. That has everything to do with the way Ham operators do what they do. Not the technology or frequencies themselves. There's no magic in the box. It'd just be sort of like a bunch of untrained folks trying to jump in and direct air traffic, most non Hams will be in the way more than they'll help. That being said, if you needed to get indvidual emergency messages out, make the call on any frequency you can find someone and if it's a Ham frequency, the Hams can and will help direct or relay your traffic. I'm not against Ham radios in the hands of the unlicensed, with the understanding that it'll be more useful for listening to gain situational awareness than to use as your own personal tactical communications. In Ham training, the FCC says you should use which ever frequency you have the best chance of making contact regardless of your license or the lack there of, but what constitutes an emergency is an immediate danger to life or property when no other means of communication are available. "I'm hiking with my friend who has a heart condition/diabetes/severe allergies and they're unconscious. I'm out of cellphone range." Yes. Please call on any radio frequency you hear someone. Say "Break, Break: I have emergency traffic." You may have to say it several times. FM signals especially favor the strongest signal, so if that's not you, you gotta keep trying until someone hears you in between calls. Make sure you can give your location, as much information as you have and any Ham operator will assist any way they can. (Usually by relaying your information to 911.) Speak, don't yell. Yelling into a radio distorts the audio signal. War movies lie. If the situation requires super secret squirrel communications I suggest something else. Ham radios just aren't the right tool for that job. Regarding Baofeng? Ehh. Most Hams have one or two. They're technically terrible radios, but they're cheap and mostly work in a pinch. Seventy three. (For those who don't know, that's just Ham Speak for "Best wishes.")
Something like the uv-k5 that can listen on HF frequencies could stand in for the sat-com links at least in one direction. With the right firmware they can transmit very messily on HF too.
I think having a radio without sensitive electronics, possibly 1980s-50s would be ideal for EMP or blackout scenario. Possibly would like to be able to build a radio and understand it better, communicate long range. I bought an Anytime 878UV plus radio (Dual Band DMR/Analog VHF, 6W UHF APRS RX & TX) a few years ago. I just never have gotten to getting a license. It’s all confusing in a way, not sure what exactly to do, also the time, money, and legality of owning a license has kept me from using it.
The non-comms people in the group should get paired up with the motivated comms guys in the planning stages, so they know who to turn to or where to go. Maybe I missed you saying this or maybe it's implied. But having this planned ahead of time with addresses etc noted down.
This definitely seems like a system I need to look into for family and close friends. Likewise, I am the "comms" guy of the group, although the interest has peaked others within my circle. But overall, a "plug and play" system may be what they need. Great informational video!
What if you use text to speech with meshtastic? You already have to communicate to the device with your phone. Have a screen reader running and pipe the output to your headset.
I didn’t hear what the limitations were of meshtastic. Hills, distance, Mountains, tall buildings etc. stopping it’s comms? Point to point distance for communications? Weather factors that affecct it?
Thank you for the great video. You always have wealth of knowledge and as a Gen. amateur radio operator you always point me towards other forms of communication. I’ll spread the word.
I might add that I was in Army Acquisition and worked in the Project Office that built ALL military encryption devices and software. Thus my concern about using anything Chicom. I could tell you a story about Chicom espionage and theft of the software, but that get into classified spaces. I just know the Chicoms can access everything.
I do want to say this as a well versed COMMS guy that the thought that encryption will keep any coms private is a fantasy or misunderstood issue. Our government can completely block all COMMS whither they are encrypted or not. However COMMS are absolutely needed for many emergency situations. The biggest issue is getting people to understand that they will need to receive info and may need to get out passed the local area. HF capabilities are also needed and the know how when it’s time for use.
Radio's always kinda interested me. But I also see myself finally getting my radio certificate/diploma. But none of my friends and family are interested in radio or anything regarding military or prep work. So I'd just sit in my room with my fancy radio, looking at how nice the dial pods look and feel etc.
Get your license anyway. There will always be somebody to talk to, you likely have a repeater within line-of-sight. You'll learn the radio stuff you need, and learn your equipment at the same time. Also, if you're lucky, you may have a prep-minded community (a local repeater in my AO has a weekly PrepNet that is great for meeting like-minded people, as well as learning tons of good info...and not just radio-related). It's nearly free, it's good knowledge to pick up, and I guarantee you will have more than one radio after a short time :D
I'm surprised you didn't bring up Whistles. A bulk pack of whistles is inexpensive, easy to pass out to absolutely everyone in a neighborhood. Instructions are simple: blow your whistle in case of an emergency and you need assistance, continue blowing your whistle until help arrives. For responders/QRF, if you hear a whistle blowing do 3 long blows on the whistle while responding. In a quiet power out neighborhood or middle of the night a whistle can be heard from a half mile away.
Can you guys make a video about how to set up DMR radio (e.g. AnyTone) to use AES encryption? Or can you point me to info on how to somewhere else? I tried to set up my two AnyTones for testing, but they don't seem to want to decrypt correctly?? Of course this is purely for testing/tinkering, not actually operating...
Check out the recent series by The Tech Prepper. also search DMR Simplex programming. Understanding how to program a DMR radio at all is the hard part. Setting the channel to use encryption is a small part.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
I am the comms guy, and I'm still working to learn so much. It's so hard to get other people involved or to get them to take responsibility.
I’m one of those that would absolutely LOVE to learn about comms.
I have the desire, the wherewithal, the need, and the ability.
I simply lack the TIME.
@@dangeary2134 One step at a time! You can learn a lot just catching stuff from S2 and HRCC.
I’m trying to learn more but don’t know how to acquire the knowledge needed.. I have a digital bofang but don’t know how to program it..and use it effectively.
Maybe GMRS could be a good fit for your crew? One license for everyone that you can take care of.
@@speedlimit6869Just watch tons of videos on it, and link up with someone else who has one. It just takes practice.
I'm blessed to have a buddy that is into comms. Anything more than a boafeng just doesn't click in my brain. So him setting up a meshtastic and atak network is amazing
I'm going into battle
And I need your STRONGEST potions
Oh yeah after I learned to manually program a baofeng felt like I'd discovered fire the first time
wow!!👊
@admiralsnackbar2811 you can't handle my strongest potions
@@JayTX. 😂😂💯.Yeah,me too!This just isn't my language,but it's SO important to get this ! respect from Texas,Brent
Friends of mine that I go camping with, who insist they are relatively prepared, refuse to learn radios. I got them to buy baofengs. We programmed them in the middle of nowhere, and used them to great effect where we shouldn't be intercepted anyway.
Meshtastic is the next thing I hope to spend more time with.
Luckily, a sub $100 radio is an easy sell. My "gun snob" buddy wanted us to all get $500 digital radios.
@@kerbalairforce8802 A $25 radio, $40 with accessories, was way worth it. Easy sell is an understatement.
@@kerbalairforce8802 It all comes down to whether or not you want to be monitored. It all depends on what you're using your radio for.
Camping without comms is the antonym of, "prepared"...
@@kerbalairforce8802 A sub $100 radio also is going to be listened in on by anyone with a paperclip, 3 grains of sand, and a wisp of gumption...
I lived in maui during the fires and its what got me interested in radio. Saw first had how the fishermen, aviators and big wave surfers who already had radios were the only ones who could coordinate and help the community
You had me at bare-minimum
This seems WAYYYYYY above bare minimum. Wouldn't this setup require every single user to be a HAM? I'm wondering if setting up a GMRS repeater and doling out radios to friends/family within a 25 mile radius would work. This would require GMRS licenses but at least this wouldn't mean taking a freaking SAT test just to use a walkie talkie.
@joshua511 Meshtastic doesn't require a license, and HAM doesn't require a license in emergency, which I assume SHTF would be one...
@@Scaliadwho defines emergency in this case? Power outage? Localized flooding? What qualifies?
@@Snuggles5000 §97.403 Safety of life and protection of property.
No provision of these rules prevents the use by an amateur station of any means of radiocommunication at its disposal to provide essential communication needs in connection with the immediate safety of human life and immediate protection of property when normal communication systems are not available.
@@Snuggles5000 The FCC regulates HAM.
Dude, you need to upload more. I like your intel briefing style of posting given what is happening in the world now a days. From one service member to a retired one, keep up the good work.
Yes 🎉
Yes
I just discovered MeshTastic this past weekend. Your uploads are on point.
be careful one of the mod on their discord is banning people for no reason.
@Tony-eo8zzConsidering upgrading your stock antenna if haven't already done so? Hearing it makes a BIG difference. 😊
This is not a coincidence, this is how marketing campaigns work.
In my opinion, long range comms "strategic" - beyond your home or neighborhood - will be either unnecessary or nearly useless. You need to be able to move shoot and communicate to win battles e.g. defending your home/neighborhood. You aren't going to be calling in air strikes, ordering supply drops/shipments, linking up with friendly forces to take over City Hall, etc. You aren't General Patton or some other pipe dream.
The _tactical comm_ notion is the icing on your prepping plan, not the foundation. There are LOTS of things you should have done before acquiring that gear. Then you need to have a comm Protocol/Procedure, that is:
- clear concise words in specific ways
- used in appropriate moments for FAST PRECISE MEANING
Your comm protocols/procedures requires appropriate _HOW_ and _WHEN_ . Otherwise your team (and you) will be confused, ignorant of what's going on, etc. It may actually be worse than having no comms. I can't stress this enough - fast, precise, and meaningful.
I'll give you can example of _bad commo_ :
"Hey, I'm over here and have been digging around, thinkin' about how much I miss the old times, Anyways, I heard a commotion and looked over there and saw somethin'. "
- Didn't identify themselves
- Imprecise location (i.e. "here" might as well be anywhere)
- Imprecise description of what they were doing, what they heard, what they saw, the location of the sighting
- Unnecessary information
- Wordy
Failures happen when the comm radio is used incorrectly. Your team needs training...hours of it, until your team reaches the state of being "unconsciously competent". That is my professional opinion. And unless you have some level of, ideally professional, training/knowledge/skill level, you could be doing more harm than good. If you can't... even paintballing, playing Fortnite, HUNTING game animals with _the team you will work with_ could give you a higher level of useful skill than a bunch of preppers who spent thousands on comm gear, who can just competently _operate_ the equipment.
_It ain't always your gear, it's how you use it._ At least that's what my wife tells me.
The advantage of long range comms would be gather, inform, and recruit those who can/want to do the bare minimum. Regardless if they are using it to communicate back to you, broadcasting far and wide will make it much harder any enemies foreign or domestic to conquer if you are at least available to give people an alternative. They may not take up arms, but they will still be an asset. Hearts and minds.
I only read the first couple lines and am responding to that alone. Not everyone lives in a neighborhood. Some live in rural areas with neighbors/friendlies that are miles apart. Sometimes there's hills and mountains between them. If you need to communicate you need to figure out a means to do so and long range offerings may be the answer. Your neighborhood isn't the only one that matters. This information is for everyone.
I’m gonna take a moment to respond to the spirit of your comment rather than nitpick you out of ignorance. You took the time to raise an incredible point and that’s comms training and experience in USE and not operation.
My opinion is that in most cases individual comms would actively worsen battlefield communication errors in a sort of shtf context. You could have the slickest setup imaginable but now put 10 untrained individuals on comms trying to talk to eachother during an action and the fog of war increases it does not decrease. People stepping on eachother, covering the channel, don’t know how to be concise and brief, no communication hierarchy, no agreed upon glossary. It’s a mess and I think it takes experience to understand how bad that can get when nobody is on the same sheet of music during an action. You see it in law enforcement all the time when you turn the stress dial up, and cops theoretically do have some amount of comms training.
I think people are tempted to believe that “oh, we have radios, we’ll just talk to eachother and it’ll be great!”
Yes, you got it. And those "in the know", who have transitioned through the stages of incompetence to unconscious competence will have experienced all that personally, or as a team in training.
I haven't even mentioned that effective use of comms can get inside the opposing force's "OODA" Loop and win a fight.@@jf7393
@@jf7393 Agree on this totaly. Knowing your place and limitations. Indeed being brief and concise. Thinking Ahead and working ahead. Listening skills. Trust.
It is not just about buying fancy communication electronics.
meshtastic is advancing rapidly and more functions become avaliable as development goes on. for your presented use case setting the device role to "client hidden" and rebroadcast mode to "known only" will drastically reduce airtime and turn off all routine broadcasts . nodes will still rebroadcast but "only speak when spoken to" and this will make it even harder to find them if you keep communications to a minimum.
FCC is about to sell out the 902-918mhz range to NextNav for advanced gps stuff we need more public comments against the fcc ruling comments are due September 9th I believe otherwise Meshtastic is gone in the us
Don't forget about lasers.
With low atmospheric scattering (weather) and correct housings, the origin and destination can be essentially only visible to each other. There are IR (850/940nM) lasers with TTL modulation for a few bucks each - with a serial ouput from a C.O.T.S. MCU is enough to drive the laser to transmit, and a photodiode receiver wih an IR filter (like a TSP34356) going into a serial input on the same MCU to receive.
This is basically the same technology used for IR remote controls - but with a longer range and more focussed emitter. You could get datarates up to 9600bps point to point.
What's needed is a set of deadhand (inertial navigation) rf silent drones with matching receivers. Send the drone up with encrypted messages let it broadcast while running at random pre determined intervals. Turn off it's radio then have it evade (via either high altitude or terrain following altitude depending on environment) and then land. Assuming it's rotary parachute recovery can mask noise at the LZ. Assuming it's fixed wing gliding can also be effective. Using composites and avoiding right angles can lower its cross section along with ferrite based paints. Simple affordable designs that meet those criteria exist in the opensource world. If you're planning to use tech... use it... don't pretend to use it.
don't even bother with lowering the cross section. Its low demand enough you can use radar transparent fibreglass for almost the entire airframe
@@Vrilltrooper-of-sillymaxxia If fiberglass is radar transparent, then wouldn't plastic be as well?
Imagine worrying about all this stupid bullshit when shtf and not just surviving like a chad
@@ibm_businessman6033loot drop
Okay, drop the hostilities and start think about reality.
First, it doesn’t matter WHAT you are flying, it’s going to need metal parts do do the real work.
Wires, batteries, motors…
Start looking to things that require IMAGINATION to overcome those obstacles.
Drones are NOISY. So are most prop driven ANYTHING.
However, there have been model helicopters (gyrocopters, actually) that the blades turn so slow that they are silent.
Probably not useable, but maybe worth having in the back of your head.
Fixed wing aircraft…
Silent? A glider comes to mind.
Light, and can carry a payload, like a camera.
A simple slingshot setup can launch one quite high, get your image, get it back down.
Probably going to be plastic, foam, fiberglass, even cardboard.
Start thinking outside the box.
The simpler it is, the tougher it is going to be to defend against it.
I’m open for discussion, because I like doing things that cannot be defended against effectively.
I bought my first uv-5r in 2018. That thing stays in my truck these days n I just use it for following railroad crew chatter. It still works, never broke down. Since then I have moved up with radios for use with my sewing club but I still got that old sucker.
Your opening sentences hit me so different after this hurricane season.
So much gratitude for all your work!
God bless!
I think you did a good job of explaining all this, and I’m still in the dark.
Me too lol so confused
Thanks for doing this overview. All you points are well made, correct. Your emphasis on the fact that most people will be unprepared. Being realistic needs to be heart and soul of any comms plan. Based on my personal experience I can confirm this is true, and also frustrating.
Excellent Video And Information!
I Love My Old School 1970's C.B.Radios! They're Not High Tech But, They Get The Job Done For Localized Comm's, Hiking, Camping And When Traveling On Highways And Freeways For Traffic Conditions/Emergencies, Etc! 😎
my favorite S2 video in a while
There should be zero doubt: it's not a matter of it being an unknown. I interviewed at Garmin before for their sat comm devices, the topic of end-to-end encryption came up, they were so against the concept I didn't get the position in spite of a wealth of experience. It's a business constraint on the end of Garmin that they can see into the content of every message.
Wait, what? That's embarrassing for Garmin.
Thanks for returning to your roots with the tradecraft/technical videos.
Lot of people are about using more power for better range but the ruler of thumb to prevent direction finding is use just enough power to get your msg through.
You bring up some very good points in this video, and even though I’m embarrassed to admit it, when it comes to “comms” and comm related information, I instantly become bored and fall asleep. Yet, communications are absolutely vital for any type of emergency situation.
I was also bored at the beginning. But I forced myself to watch two weeks DAILY content about radios. And now I'm pretty advanced and started loving the topic.
Exactly like night vision, guns, gear and prepping. Now it's also radios! And damn, I wish I started sooner.
It takes time but trust me, you will love it some day. There a crazy things to discover in the radio world!
The biggest thing that your going to need above else is leadership. This will solve many shortcomings that can be controlled. Next is putting the right people in place to solve how you communicate with that leadership and at time it could be as simple as a courier.
Can you do a video (or series) showing us what to get, how to program, and how to tune in to S2 Underground if, say, the internet goes dark?
This is exactly where I would want to get my information from in case of any such emergency.
shortwave RX plus ghostnet
Look up the S2 Ghostnet comms plan
Look up his video entitled “Off Grid Receive-Only JS8Call” it’s exactly what your describing
It's trivial to locate anyone using a system like this with off the shelf gear. It's not a big deal for emergencies, but anything involving adversaries, your location is broadcast with every transmission. Cracking off the shelf HW encryption is likewise trivial. Better to transmit in the clear if you're trying to organize a disaster response that doesn't involve adversaries as reaching out to other groups can help find resources and establish regional priorities. If you're worried about comms in an adversarial environment you need to be 100% dark or grey. Tactics need to evolve or devolve to pre radio days if you're worried about real bad dudes (cartels, rogue operators, rogue gvmt)... Russia has proven that the game has changed. Squak and either die or assist in someone's intelligence collection.
This. I think comms are like white lights on a rifle: very situational and a double-edged sword.
There are ways to use them that make them more difficult to intercept the transmission or DF. Obviously not as good as high end options with full digital encryption, but when the SHTF, you use what you have and not what you wish you had.
@@fallingleaveskungfu certainly, however disaster response is different. That should be set aside. If you're concern is local tactical security or survival evasion escape and rescue the capability needs to exist. Training to function in a challenging environment means understanding that Ukraine changes EVERYTHING. Meaning: new skills, new tech, new strategy, new tactics. I'll post the other comment below that I made as an example for how a to coordinate activities between squads or companies operating inside the other side's wire or when there is no wire.
@@fallingleaveskungfu What's needed is a set of deadhand (inertial navigation) rf silent drones with matching receivers. Send the drone up with encrypted messages let it broadcast while running at random pre determined intervals. Turn off it's radio then have it evade (via either high altitude or terrain following altitude depending on environment) and then land. Assuming it's rotary parachute recovery can mask noise at the LZ. Assuming it's fixed wing gliding can also be effective. Using composites and avoiding right angles can lower its cross section along with ferrite based paints. Simple affordable designs that meet those criteria exist in the opensource world. If you're planning to use tech... use it... don't pretend to use it.
@@fallingleaveskungfuI think the realist concern is that the most basic radio direction finding is something many people can do with nothing but a similar radio, however I really doubt that any commercially available equipment would do anything to mask your location against government agencies, at least after a little while.
If you had multiple deployments to sandboxes like myself starting in 02 and continuing on you saw certain…special… equipment added to the trucks. This was because as one group of devices were stopped a different bunch would start showing up then updates were loaded to our trucks or new equipment replaced the old.
Any signal on the EM spectrum can be jammed, any can be detected, any can be triangulated. Consider that military radios using the most advanced encryption still have new encryption loaded all the time because any encryption system used can eventually be cracked or at least triangulated.
Lets say that a government agency, from China of course, has an agency with nearly unlimited funds and world class systems and people dedicated to decryption and location. This New agency even writes Songs About their prowess. What chance does your commercial radio have?
outside of radio waves heliography sun and mirrors, scouts once sent a msg this way in the LA smog 10 miles, in AZ the army used it to get the last of the natives, options options
🎉 That's great news!
Many thanks for that. We have a small MAG in the Uk. We have 13 members in our small village group of which two are Hams (My self and wife).I have to say the Baofengs have been a godsend with all of the group having at least one. Being non radio girls and boys the Baofengs 888 are perfect for them. We have a dawn weather report net every morning on the village channel to keep usage up with about 75% of the group participating regularly. Yes I agree it can be hard to keep interest going. Thanks again.
9:13 He's entirely right and even in small situations like a privately owned VOIP server, even if you may know who owns it, they WILL listen. Server and infrastructure owners LOVE listening.
This was the perfect "dumbed down" level of information for me, THANK YOU! I'd throw you a 6 pack if you had superchat enabled. The very least I can do is give a single cheek effort on comms. I have nothing. Thanks again.
ATAK and or Meshtastic could be good for an emergency / disaster response. I don't think the LoRa mesh networks have any place in a tactical environment as the mesh device has to put out a continual beacon signal to stay connected and those are easily found and identified and found with a TinySA Ultra. You could use ATAK as a stand alone device for individual geospatial awareness only receiving GPS coordinates. The second you start emitting a signal you can be found even if encrypted. Love the videos. Keep up the great work.
Good point.
AM transceivers put out a “standing wave” that has to be “vibrated” by an AM transmitter.
FM does not have this foible, but it’s also, as a general rule, line of sight. It can be bounced off of certain structures, but not much use after that.
@@dangeary2134 the modulation for LoRa devices is LoRa modulation or chirp spread spectrum. Good long range distance with low power. It's cool tech I have a few Lillygo devices. My concern is that if it squawks it can be targeted. EMCON and F3EAD is a thing.
There is a setting to turn off the beacon, so it only emits when sending a message. But really the hard thing about the mesh network is that there are so many other signals so they don't know which one to track
@@mineton1293 yup. My concern is dudes thinking they can larp their squad up with ATAK / meshtastic in minecraft not knowing how dangerous a small k!ll team with basic sigint gear can be. = loot drop w/ locating beacon.
There is a mode that turns the beaconing off.
Reading the comments it seems a lot of people think the “Comms Guy” has to make everyone a Comms Guy. A guy can collect info/intel for the group with regional and long range comms. The group would have tactical/local comms (2m, frs, gmrs) for short range group comms. This is just a way to look at the picture. Not right or wrong just one of the ways it could work. It works for emergency responders everyday.
Glad I have my Ham license, but I need to work on preparing for my 2nd level ham license
I have never heard this said better. But you are perfectly right!
If you don't own the wire, or the equipment, your comms are subjected to the whim of the owner!
Go get (2)TYT UV380s, NMO mount/B10 antenna, and a NanoVNA. (TYT has encryption.) Build a 2m dipole with #4 copper wire (Solid) and test with the NanoVNA. Place dipole on roof in a horizontal position and install B10 on vehicle. The TYT has ARPS or text over radio. I can send texts as far as 70+ miles away with this setup. HTs (Handhelds) at 5 watts! Programming DMR suck and this is a learning curve for sure. But all in all it will be about $300-$350 out the door. Reliable 2-way communication voice and text. (Data too if you wanna get into that.) Note: Do not buy the GPS version. It pings your location when you send data.
Was expecting a 'Wire' and was pleasantly suprised!
(Only 3 channels have a vibrate notification on my phone)
This is of leading-edge relevance and perspective, following logical pathways to effective response to “until it does “. Thanks!!
This is a great video and really thought out. Your hard work on this subject is appreciated.
The upcoming Baofeng will have onboard encryption and require lithium batteries to run the SoC that handles it.
What model # ?
Source ? (asking for a friend)
@@BobBob-il2ku this
Which? You must mean a Baofeng DMR model?
I like the big picture look on coms you bring us. Thanks
Great Video and Info ! A good basic radio set up is the battery powered AM/FM/WB (NOAA Weather Band radio) for local info ! With a one hundred foot wire antenna then you can pick up large cities around the country (like WGN at 720 AM from Chicago) at night ! Also maybe a CB-radio for car or truck use to see what road conditions are like. tjl
I’m also one of the 3 comms guys in my bunch of hoodlums and family. I have comms, backup comms, backup for the backup, and am building a meshtastic net in my city. I’ve got 8 nodes out there and 4 more coming this next week. I have given out 32 radios for Christmas and have another 40 other radios including 3 mobiles, a manpack, and a base station. So realistically if every last person in the group went on mail buoy watch and dropped theirs overboard I have them covered……….with a pouch this time. You do mention items that I haven’t even thought about but could be essential. Going to Walmart later.
Great video as always. Keep in mind, for actual tactical use, Meshtastic puts out a constant signal that can be df’d pretty easy.
Excellent video. Not too High Speed, not too Low Speed. It'd be great if you offered on-site group training on radio use/network bldg for teams/communities. Thanks for all your efforts in info.
Great content as always; fight in the shade.
Fight for what
@@caam0000 move along
@@caam0000Your life.
@@caam0000we FIGHT for ISRAEL and our JEWISH OVERLORDS. like a REAL AMERICAN PATRIOT DOES!
@@hyperboreanforeskinAMERICA AND RUSSIA BROTHER, BOTH HAVE BEEN ISRAEL SUPPORTERS LONG TIME, TEAM GOOD GOYS
I use a Baofeng with either rattlegram or andfldigi, this is burst trans making location finding difficult. You can encrypt the msg with one time pad. This allows for digitial trans over the Baofeng. With the concept transmit and move, you can evade apprehension.
S2 can you suggest some good shortwave channels for receiving good information
thanks so much
Yes I would second this request
Third!
Just get homing pigeons. It's cheaper and harder to intercept. Also, this is a no technology solution to an age-old problem of sending messages to those that need comms. You can still buy them, and they are great pets. They can come and go as free-range birds and get some of their own food, and you can supplement feed for them as they need it. A no technology solution in a shit hits the fan situation is priceless.
IPoAC has great data throughput, but latency is really rough and packet loss sucks...😢
If all you have is FRS, it may be limited range but may help stay in touch. Limited range _can_ be an asset too.
Coms are nothing to dismiss.
I have no clue as to the extent of battle hardened veteran’s knowledge, but I went up against them.
In a friendly game of Airsoft.
Learning new things like tactics and teamwork with someone you’ve never met…
Everyone is Rambo until they meet the Military.
There were several games that the “dissidents” could have won, but for the lack of comms.
One pair of simple walkie-talkies, and the outs would have been reversed just by virtue of advance warning from the guy that was tracking them.
I've always thought, it would be handy to learn Klingon, that way I wouldn't have to worry about encryption on any analog radio, but then again, I'd also have to have someone to communicate with in Klingon.
20% of white males know japanese. Let's start there
Michael Dorm
Honestly... maybe not my favorite "entertainment" source on youtube, but for sure my favorite youtuber when you **exclude!** entertainment. The value of the channel is very valuable in a community that thinks the way ours does. I commend the hard work.
Just bought a second Anytone 878 after the recent cellular debacle... now I have 2 handheld and a vehicle mount that can all talk with AES256 or with any other uhf/vhf as needed.
Thank you comms guys because radio gives me a feeling i havent felt since highschool math class
I’m into comms; encrypted radio, meshtastic, all that stuff. For some reason I’ve been not been able to get most people to take this stuff seriously, and I don’t understand why.
I’m the only one that takes firearms and comms seriously in my family and it’s hard for me being gen z to even make friends cause everyone rather be friends on social media then real life.
Read “The Ant and the Grasshopper” and you’ll have a fair idea of the reason why people are so ho hum about things. They laugh at the idea of PREPPERS and such people.
Wow, this is great. 2024 has got a lot of people thinking; and rightly so. It looks like I have a lot of studying to do. I'm still working on encrypted smoke signals.
I love the comms content, thank you for this video! I really enjoy the long-form informational videos, glad to see you're still doing this type of content!
This video was spot on. Very helpful, keeping things in a fair perspective. Great video
Excellent video. Very mature attitude to the subject. Less doom and gloom and more down to earth.
Great info for all of us to glean information/planning. I REALLY need to heed this advice and get with the program. My COMMS currently amount to a coupla' Midland X-Talkers. They are ok for "neighborhood" (non-contested) but should any "balloons go up" I'd be hurting - quickly. THANK YOU S2.
Learn a dead language pick up a HAM radio. I am Native American and speak our traditional language and can teach others the same skill. Almost like a code talker from WW1/WW2. Let’s make code talking great again.
I'll take you up on that. Your language needs a rebirth and I'd love to be a part of that.
Right on!!
Bravo!
@@@@@
That’s awesome
I have my TA-312’s. And my backup is a string with two cups. I’m all set.
Even on the volleybfire dept we have issues with people not charging or listening to their radios. It doesn’t help either that half of us half analog, half have digital, and County is switching entirely to digital.
For those of you looking at HAM licenses, go get GMRS first. 10 year license and repeater capable. Not sure about encryption, but it’s a cheaper alternative to amateur radio and a good way to practice without having to use public channels (FRS channels which anyone with a Walmart walkie can hit) and without breaking FCC regulations assuming you aren’t talking in code and whatnot.
This is an awesome video. You make a lot of great points that people dont think about.
You made this video for ME.
Thank you.
I heard you
S2U is a great resource! Keep producing information and connecting those of us with the happy burden of eternal vigilance.
Great adjunct to Mike Glover's book, "Prepared."
I’m new to your channel, but that battery rant hit hard for someone who was a sole sound engineer for amateur stage shows, no one would charge their mics and I would have to run through the theater mid show to swap batteries on a soloist.
You can encode any data (including images) into text using either a base64 encoder or codegroup, then send it as messages over meshtastic. On the other end, it can be decoded from the text back into "binary" or image format. This would allow you to send a picture, if needed.
Got my t beam supreme yesterday and already picked up 3 other nodes. One repeater as far away as 20 miles
I've got a baofeng on my kit. If someone wants to program it because they know how and want to communicate, cool. I have 0 interest in it past turning it on and hitting talk and maybe 3 other functions. Meshtastic sounds like a good idea.
No one can learn or be good at everything. That's why there is a term "comms guy" not comms neighborhood. Yet. The comms guys job in the group is to have the specialized knowledge and skills to set the group up with comms ready to be used and teach basic operation. Imagine if the blacksmith got upset that no one had a forging hammer or even attempted to make their own knives. Lol.
Great video, info, and strategy!
At 29 minutes, where is that neighborhood? Looks really nice.
I miss the 40 minute periodic run-down videos. Please bring those back.
My 1st time hearing about Meshtastic. Sounds like an interesting backup tool to put in the comms toolbox!
Design field exercises where they need them and fail or have to physically run to deliver the message when they can’t perform.
Thank you for this input. As a leader in my community I'm going to put this to use.
I've got 4 Lora nodes sitting on the shelf..and a local FM transmitter to broadcast.
These Lora nodes have been able to communicate up to 6km last I checked...but that's been a while...additionally you can set up 1 As a repeated to extend the distance. I havent touched this since I built the nodes...I'm wondering if the software has had any updates? Guess I need to delve back into it.
27:00 paper by default maintains localized static data unable to be remotely disrupted or intercepted, it requires no power to do so.
I've had my general class license for over 15 years, and I encourage all who are interested to take the time to study and get their ham tickets. It'll take some effort, but it's not terribly difficult. You don't have to be an eletronics genius. I'm certainly not, and if I can pass the tests, then you can, too.
Absolutely Pukka content! Thank you. Big fan of The Wire! However, I'd be remiss to not say I didn't miss your more "involved" posts. Been following this meshtastic tech for a grip. It is starting to seem like something that we could comfortably integrate into my "minecraft server" contingent. Keep it up! I'm still of the ilk, that transmission will get you smoked. But, that does not preclude having the capability.
Did you think about putting a Meshtastic module on a RC plane or drone to increase the range, at certain hours of the day ?
Perfect for getting your signal out if you can run up that repeater version of the mesh device to around 500-1000 feet can bring your line of site capability ten fold. Only situation is having one’s drone being tracked if so equipped.
Not a fan of Meshtastic for Red Dawn, but just because it's really cool, or as a backup plan, I'm all for it. Thankfully, Red Dawn is the least likely scenario, (but we can all dream.) Ham radio on the other hand is much less helpful to the community as a whole if those bands get swamped with non Ham traffic. That has everything to do with the way Ham operators do what they do. Not the technology or frequencies themselves. There's no magic in the box. It'd just be sort of like a bunch of untrained folks trying to jump in and direct air traffic, most non Hams will be in the way more than they'll help. That being said, if you needed to get indvidual emergency messages out, make the call on any frequency you can find someone and if it's a Ham frequency, the Hams can and will help direct or relay your traffic. I'm not against Ham radios in the hands of the unlicensed, with the understanding that it'll be more useful for listening to gain situational awareness than to use as your own personal tactical communications. In Ham training, the FCC says you should use which ever frequency you have the best chance of making contact regardless of your license or the lack there of, but what constitutes an emergency is an immediate danger to life or property when no other means of communication are available. "I'm hiking with my friend who has a heart condition/diabetes/severe allergies and they're unconscious. I'm out of cellphone range." Yes. Please call on any radio frequency you hear someone. Say "Break, Break: I have emergency traffic." You may have to say it several times. FM signals especially favor the strongest signal, so if that's not you, you gotta keep trying until someone hears you in between calls. Make sure you can give your location, as much information as you have and any Ham operator will assist any way they can. (Usually by relaying your information to 911.) Speak, don't yell. Yelling into a radio distorts the audio signal. War movies lie. If the situation requires super secret squirrel communications I suggest something else. Ham radios just aren't the right tool for that job. Regarding Baofeng? Ehh. Most Hams have one or two. They're technically terrible radios, but they're cheap and mostly work in a pinch. Seventy three. (For those who don't know, that's just Ham Speak for "Best wishes.")
Something like the uv-k5 that can listen on HF frequencies could stand in for the sat-com links at least in one direction. With the right firmware they can transmit very messily on HF too.
I think having a radio without sensitive electronics, possibly 1980s-50s would be ideal for EMP or blackout scenario. Possibly would like to be able to build a radio and understand it better, communicate long range.
I bought an Anytime 878UV plus radio
(Dual Band DMR/Analog VHF, 6W UHF APRS RX & TX) a few years ago. I just never have gotten to getting a license. It’s all confusing in a way, not sure what exactly to do, also the time, money, and legality of owning a license has kept me from using it.
The non-comms people in the group should get paired up with the motivated comms guys in the planning stages, so they know who to turn to or where to go. Maybe I missed you saying this or maybe it's implied. But having this planned ahead of time with addresses etc noted down.
Baofeng has a new GMRS based on the UV 5R. Reviews I've seen look pretty good
Just saw a RUclips video that discusses TEA-1
encryption vulnerabilities - it seems to be a brand new entranceway
This definitely seems like a system I need to look into for family and close friends.
Likewise, I am the "comms" guy of the group, although the interest has peaked others within my circle. But overall, a "plug and play" system may be what they need.
Great informational video!
What if you use text to speech with meshtastic? You already have to communicate to the device with your phone. Have a screen reader running and pipe the output to your headset.
Thanks much... ill 1:10 investagate mestastic and of course short wave receivers ..great stuff keep the good work!!
I didn’t hear what the limitations were of meshtastic. Hills, distance, Mountains, tall buildings etc. stopping it’s comms? Point to point distance for communications? Weather factors that affecct it?
Thank you for the great video. You always have wealth of knowledge and as a Gen. amateur radio operator you always point me towards other forms of communication. I’ll spread the word.
I might add that I was in Army Acquisition and worked in the Project Office that built ALL military encryption devices and software. Thus my concern about using anything Chicom. I could tell you a story about Chicom espionage and theft of the software, but that get into classified spaces. I just know the Chicoms can access everything.
Thank you so much for doing this video!
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I do want to say this as a well versed COMMS guy that the thought that encryption will keep any coms private is a fantasy or misunderstood issue. Our government can completely block all COMMS whither they are encrypted or not. However COMMS are absolutely needed for many emergency situations. The biggest issue is getting people to understand that they will need to receive info and may need to get out passed the local area. HF capabilities are also needed and the know how when it’s time for use.
Radio's always kinda interested me.
But I also see myself finally getting my radio certificate/diploma.
But none of my friends and family are interested in radio or anything regarding military or prep work.
So I'd just sit in my room with my fancy radio, looking at how nice the dial pods look and feel etc.
Get your license anyway. There will always be somebody to talk to, you likely have a repeater within line-of-sight. You'll learn the radio stuff you need, and learn your equipment at the same time. Also, if you're lucky, you may have a prep-minded community (a local repeater in my AO has a weekly PrepNet that is great for meeting like-minded people, as well as learning tons of good info...and not just radio-related). It's nearly free, it's good knowledge to pick up, and I guarantee you will have more than one radio after a short time :D
FOMO fear of missing out
I’m our comms guy too. Thanks for this. Coming up with kits for people that are not comms nerds is definitely difficult
A really nice thing about meshtastic is being able to normalize it between friends.
I'm surprised you didn't bring up Whistles. A bulk pack of whistles is inexpensive, easy to pass out to absolutely everyone in a neighborhood. Instructions are simple: blow your whistle in case of an emergency and you need assistance, continue blowing your whistle until help arrives. For responders/QRF, if you hear a whistle blowing do 3 long blows on the whistle while responding. In a quiet power out neighborhood or middle of the night a whistle can be heard from a half mile away.
Can you guys make a video about how to set up DMR radio (e.g. AnyTone) to use AES encryption? Or can you point me to info on how to somewhere else? I tried to set up my two AnyTones for testing, but they don't seem to want to decrypt correctly?? Of course this is purely for testing/tinkering, not actually operating...
Check out the recent series by The Tech Prepper. also search DMR Simplex programming. Understanding how to program a DMR radio at all is the hard part. Setting the channel to use encryption is a small part.
Not sure on Anytone. If TYT I could help.
Fantastic video! Thank you S2 Underground. Please keep it up with the comms videos and information.
A video on the comms go kit would be awesome