Great job. My recommendation is to add a short Medivac plan when performing field ops. Do a quick lookup of the hospitals in your area, paying specific attention to the "trauma level" and emergency frequencies for contact. Include the life-flight helos! Not all hospitals are created equal. If a serious (enough) accident occurs, you'll know who to call & how.
Excellent recommendation. I have those details in my field notepad and will add them to the plan. You're right about the hospitals not being equal. Not all of them stock anti venom. Pit viper bites concern me the most.
Great stuff, man! You've inspired me to get off my duff and start thinking about, implementing, and testing my own emergency comms plan and setup. I really appreciate the effort and thinking you put into these videos, as well as the gear and exercises you conduct. They are quite helpful, even if I plan to use slightly different gear for my own setup.
My pleasure. Are there other content creators with more experience than myself touching on these topics? I can't seem to find anything. Good luck with your plan and your exercises.
My pleasure. I'll be sure to thank everyone. It will be interesting to see how this goes as no one, including myself, has made a contact over fldigi. Our local repeaters owners have not permitted us to test over the repeaters yet. Should make for an interesting field exercise and AAR. We all have to start somewhere.
Nice event and training opportunity! Pretty cool on the manpack bag. Since you asked... In the military your Mission Brief would be in a standard 5 paragraph OPORD format. A quick internet search will probably bring up the format, but a brief explanation: Situation - Kind of a 'whats going on' overview. - Area of Operation: In addition to the obvious area overview and key point summary of the area your operation is taking place in, some roll weather/terrain into this section - Area(s) of Interest: Other places that could impact your mission - Enemy forces: Things against our favor (not just limited to enemy people/fighters/units, especially for 'peacetime/peaceful' operations); Some roll weather/terrain/etc into this section - Friendly forces: Things in our favor; 'us' and other units taking part in the same mission, - Other stuff that many examples include that may or may not be relevant Mission - 5 W's of what your doing. Short, efficient, concise description of what you're doing. The 'elevator speech' of your mission. Execution - How you're going to accomplish the mission - Usually includes lots of other sub-elements, like CONOP, Intent, routes, key tasks, intel, secondary objectives, coordinating instructions, end state Service & Support - Supply, Transportation, MEDEVAC, etc. Command & Signal - How do we get a hold of each other and How do we get a hold of the cheeseburger that put this mess together - Signal: Freqs and callsigns; Pyro/smoke; challenge and passwords; code words - Command: Chain of command (route to pass info so someone that should know whats going on, gets the appropriate information) Your format covered most of the relevant factors for **your** operation. The opord can be a bit cumbersome but if you're in the habit of reading them, you know right off where each piece of information you're looking for is located. They are designed to be pretty flexible, but - like an all season tire, that also means it usually isn't the optimum solution for a given specific scenario.
Thanks for taking the time to explain the OPORD. I'll give it a search online. "...the cheeseburger that put this mess together" had me laughing this morning. Thank you.
be alert everyone everywhere you go. Practice situational awareness. Stay safe everyone. Thanks for the support I’ve gotten on my channel. Means the world to me. Keep prepping while you can, everyday is an opportunity.
Great video and it looks like a solid plan, You mentioned the Tonto national forest and I immediately thought to myself that even though I am in New Mexico (Western) we both have access to the EAARS network. Looking forward to seeing how the exercise goes.
Glad to hear that you're enjoying the series. I am still learning myself, so I am happy that some of these experiences are helpful. Good luck with digital!
This is super cool. As far as military stuff, I wouldn’t even bother comparing; what your doing is more important. In the military, there is no real testing of equipment specifically, because the contracts do the testing, then the mil buys it and that’s what you get, along with a manual on what to do with it. It’s more of an accessory than a focus, so on an op order the “comms plan” is a list of callsigns, some emergency frequencies (the main battle-nets etc are pre-programmed to freq-hop on zulu time, so it’s not really something we mess with), as well as a comms PACE plan.
Thank you. I think you're right. I'll stick with my comms plan as it worked really well. (Catch part 2 & 3 if you have time.) I don't recall if I had the field manual in this video, but I used an old US Army FM from the 80's as inspiration for the FM I wrote for this and future exercises. The format and writing style were two elements that I drew inspiration from.
I didn't read the manual initially and pleasantly discovered what those six wonderful buttons were doing. Glad to see that you have same radio. Do you ever do anything on the 6/10m bands?
Sounds like fun! Our 2m FM standard NBEMS protocol is start at high-speed. If high-speed doesn't make the contact in two tries then bump down to medium speed for two tries, then slow 2X, and finally Oliva. I actually prefer using my Andriod phone acoustically coupled to my FT-897D vs. using my Signalink USB and laptop. The simplicity is great leading to fewer fails due to settings issues. The downsides are less modes and a big loop to cycle through for modes. When there are issues, 98% of the time its a person on a laptop with software settings issues that doesn't practice or is new. When things are going well we do "mystery modes" testing automatic mode detection and switching. Some auto mode switching is more reliable than others. SSB may provide some improvement, but not everyone has 2m SSB and addition radio settings can introduce more variability reducing reliability. Lately we are playing more JS8CALL. I was part of 58th Signal Bn during the best of times and worst of times. Worst of times because we were redoing the comms manual which meant for about six months we had field orders of a few hundred pages long in constant revision. It was the best of times as we did final field testing of the first generation of digital subscriber gear and our "A" game during deployment testing resulted in having to rewrite and raise the standards army wide. I started out there as the Bn training NCO as an E4, but that was short lived as E6 I replaced got sent back from recruiting school as she was pregnant. The S2/S3 shop wanted to keep me, so they created a driver slot. It was a much better position to learn from because I went everywhere to see everything. Zero usable experience though. Proud peace time vet, 12/83-12/87. They got their driver use out of me. One time I had three 2 1/2 trucks, a jeep, and two blazers for one exercise. I had plenty of time in the TOC. Our procedure is based on flatland along the Space Coast of Floridia. In your situation improving antenna situation is probably the first move. We test with our after hurricane antenna setups. I made receive sound a bit difficult but usually I decode with my phone 3'-4' from the radio in any orientation. The point being for operational security you should be able to lower the volume to a near whisper with close acoustic coupling. After a hurricane operational noise is not a consideration. The unattended auto receipt does work well when setup correctly. From time to time you see a message decode perfectly or near perfectly in the text window scrolling by but it will not generate a message in the in box, even though you get a correct check sum. If you do not need to forward I consider that a non-issue.
I am new to NBEMS as is our group, so any tips like this are very useful. By speed, I assume you're referring to MT63-2000, 1000 and 500? That's interesting about your preference on acoustic coupling. I almost bumped it from the list of tests, but I'll be sure to keep it now. Thank you for your service and for all the tips.
@@TheTechPrepper Yes, speed being wider modes being faster. If you have a dedicated setup for NBEMS the external soundcard like Signalink is more reliable, but if you are multimode with varying settings acoustic couple is easier to reproduce. I use the last joint on my finger for my guage to couple the phone to my mic when transmitting. Holding everything can be a bit uncomfortable on longer messages, but if you a not Net Control it shouldn't be an issue. Receiving is fairly forgiving as to volume and distance. However, I prefer to just set my phone charging cradle on top of my FT-897 with phone hanging over the speaker. For my setup it is important to unplug the phone charger due to RFI. There can be a little futzing to get the sweet spot but not much. If you are having issues either tx or rcv check you radio settings and make sure noise filters, etc are off. For the record I am running a Galaxy +S9. My operating position is laying in bed most of the time. That is more difficult with a laptop. When I acoustically couple in my Chrysler 300 it is little more finicky, but not much. I mainly need to flatten the EQ on the car radio. In either operating position I have a comfortably loud listening volume suitable for normal voice communications. Of course your operational needs may prohibit normal listening volumes so see how low you can turn down the volume.
This was outstanding planning. I watched all three on my TV, and am not able to make comments when I do that. I'll stop in the other two episodes to leave thoughts. In many ways, this is inspirational. Will be planning something similar with a group of friends in Oklahoma. You keep saying, "I'm not prior service". You don't look like you are too old to join the Army or Air National guard. Just a thought. You'd have to get a waiver for your tattoos, but I think it is doable. :) Blessings, Brother. great video.
Planning is everything. When I entered amateur radio I decided to borrow planning techniques from my software engineering profession. It seems to work well. I'm on QRZ. Shoot me a note on how your exercise goes. Best of luck! 73 de KT1RUN.
VERY well thought out VERY well presented! Thanks for the interesting & informative video. Regarding your test event, it's fun when everything works perfectly but I'd suggest that it would serve you well if a lot of it does NOT work as planned. Only THEN will you have the guidance you need to improve the hardware, software, procedures... whatever. Good luck! -Scott, K4KDR
It's always great when you stop by, Scott. You're welcome. I am pretty sure things are going to go sideways. No one has used fldigi and I've only tested it myself between two stations where I controlled both of them. This will be a great learning experience for all of us (including the viewers). Take care.
I'm new to radios. Working with gmrs and testing for ham in a few weeks. I live where wild fires have forced us to evacuate several times. Power outages are also a problem. In those critical moments, comms are kinda pointless. It's nice to contact my neighbor and instruct him to fire up the generator. But we have a sop for evacuation. We have limited mobility from road closures. Once I was stuck in traffic and I was trying to get home to help with the evacuation and I got a message telling me which roads were less congested. As you could imagine being away, kids home alone and receiving a message from the state " mandatory evacuation". . Any way I don't know who else has shared this experience.
Good luck with your license. It never hurts to have more skills under your belt. It's surprising how much a simple dual band HT can do when you're looped into your local communications scene.
Dude, if you're not a veteran, more's the pity for the rest of us. You would have made an excellent Communications officer. You certainly think like one.
Thanks, but I am not. I regret not serving and in hindsight would have benefited in enlisting before college. I have tremendous respect for all the men and women who have and continue to serve our country.
Re: bag mfg. I recommend Tactical Tailor in Tacoma, WA. Do you recommend any radios that aren't disco'd? I'm having a tough time keeping up with your radio recommendations because of lack of inventory. Also, just bought a Digirig based on your videos ....AWESOME!! Thanks
So those laptops, is there any advantage besides environmental protection? Ive not well versed in tablet/ 2 in 1 chips so don't know where to begin when looking for a laptop that can preform well enough while being outside for long periods of time and not be super expensive.
Yes, there are. This is my personal short list of non-environmental features. 1. They have two batteries: one in the screen and one in the dock. The dock battery is depleted first, then the tablet/screen. 2. It has optional support for a built-in LTE/GPS module. This allows you to still have an available USB port when using just the tablet. No need to waste the one USB port on the tablet by connecting an external USB GPS dongle. 3. The screen works in full sun, with gloves and with sweaty hands. 4.
I would be up to joining one of your test exercises in the future. And I can help bridge that gap in what is done in the emergency services realm. KC0SCT
Great to know. Look me up on QRZ and shoot me an email. If this works well, I'll try and organize another event. I would love to learn more. I'm actually adding a couple of other modes to test during this exercise--namely, some faster modems. We may even try an ICS-213 form.
Great video series. One quick question. You have shown use of Raspian on a PI and said that you use Linux on the tough-book.. Out of curiosity, if you don't mind saying, what version of Linux are you running there? I've watched many of your videos and have passed some of them along to some of my ARES members. Thanks!!!
Glad you like it. I am running Ubuntu 22.04 on the CF-20. It's very stable and runs well on this machine from circa 2008. I was surprised to find that the touch experience works well. I'm basing my EmComm Tools OS on this version of Ubuntu.
Remember, Pogo said, "We have seen the enemy, and he is US!" We are engaged in psy-ops: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers in heavenly places." Make an enemy a brother whenever possible by communicating love 599 towards all.
Not yet as I haven't started my ICS training. It's in the plan for this year. I'll research NIMS. I plan to start with the IC 100 and 200 training. Thanks.
Yaesu made the move away from general purpose radios with the 6-pin packet connector in favor of C4FM, I'm sure with the idea of trying to lock you into C4FM. The 6000 looks like a great radio, but I can't help but think that it's overpriced, even if it does come in cheaper than the Kenwood TM-V71 which I would consider the Kenwood version of that radio. I wish they would have continued to make the FT-7800/7900 or if it was a parts issue, updating the design to work around that issue. Like the video, what digital modes are you running ? Vara/Packet ?
That's an odd move as there's a larger world of digital out there. I run 1200 bps packet, vara FM and a variety of modems using fldigi (MT63-2KL and 8PSK1000F).
@@Bob814u I hope you enjoy it. The trick is finding the right bag for this combo. I'm working on a design for one I hope to produce for a limited production run (50 bags). My prototype uses the Helikon-Tek E&E pouch as a base. I had to cut the top flap and add additional cordura to make it clear the top of the radio. Enjoy the frames.
Regarding your bag design, please don't make it just big enough for what you've chosen to carry. Everyone's loadout is going to be a bit different and there's nothing more frustrating than having a bag that's not quite big enough to add that one thing that I need. Give it a little extra room. Also add external lashing points.
You make an excellent point, but this first one will be purpose-built for the ARMOLOQ pack frames and for the FT-817/8, FTM-6000 and FT-8900. I have decided to only make 50 as that's the minimum order. I will be keeping 10 for myself, so this will be a very limited special edition run. I really need this pack to fulfill my particular use cases. I'm already using bags that sort of work and need these to fit the application. The current prototype has plenty of attachment points. It can be run off a two-point sling, carried by the grab handle, attached to hook and loop panels, attached via MOLLE or attached using the D-rings. I'm sure there are other bags that are more generic on the market that might work for a broader audience. I really appreciate the input, but this will likely be a one off project so that I can get back to other projects rather than trying to start a full blown bags business. Thanks.
Hi Gaston, i made a comment but can't find it back, maybe yt removed it because of a link that was in there. Let me know if you got it! it was about winlink type software. Kind regards and have a nice day!
@@TheTechPrepper Ok, i can maybe show you the specs of the software. If you like the software i can maybe put the link in a mail. The software is called DWS Dutch Winlink System. The program is in english. Specs: What is the Dutch Winlink System? It is basically Winlink Express with hard needed extras a new PH3J Packet Agent (incl. digipeater, monitor) that supports a lot of KISS TNC's support of a 'virtual ether' where RMS Packet stations and digipeaters can be created that simulate 1200 baud on-air speed APRSIS32 is added for visualization of stations etc. provides for Internet independant operation: pre-installed OSM (OpenStreetMap) maps install files of common USB to serial driver a config tool (DWC) will configure all the programs. DWC provides update alerts for Winlink, PH3J Packet Agent and other software. RMS Packet / RMS Relay stations can also be configured with DWC.- If i am wright there is also software to configure the OSM maps to you area. Let me know what you think of it, have a great day!
@@TheTechPrepper your welcome Gaston! Take this callsign to the browser: pa7rhm include a dot and (N)ovember (L)ima behind it. There you find all the software this man had made. Hope this works LOL.
What about a 1st Aid Kit, Anti Venom for Snakebites or Scorpions, Garlic to keep Vampires off and stuff... ? Some Folks out there might laugh their As off reading these Lines. But if you once got bitten by a fuckin' Green Mojave like I did in 2007 and been thru a couple Black Widow Bites then everyone understands my Concern. I know that Gaston knows his Area out there better than any Forest Ranger, Trapper, Police Men or Jehovas Witness Member and his able to help himself out incase of the worst Case. And this is why it's major important to know how to operate UHF/VHF Radios and which Antenna is the best one to cover a large Circle of Distance to call for medical help or to receive emergency calls from outside in the Middle of Nowhere / Desert to take Action helping other People. It's important to know about APRS, GPS and Navigation Systems Gaston thx for your great work and Professionality. I strongly recommend as many People as possible to like und subscribe to your and / or Charlie's Red Summit RF Channel. you Guys doing such a fantastic job. I mean that. Happy mid of the Weekday & 73 de YFUG from southwest Germany 💯👍🙋♂
I always enjoy it went you stop by, Uncle Günter. I left out the paragraph on medical, but will add it back. I always carry an IFAK (sometimes two) depending on the group. It's snake season and they'll be up and sunning themselves at this time. There's not much you can do with a pit viper bite other than staying calm, keeping the injured party's heart rate down and calling for evacuation. You'd be surprised how few hospitals carry anti-phenom. Definitely, take a picture of the snake for identification if you can. Avoidance and being aware of your surroundings is your friend. 73 de KT1RUN
I know that they exist and have the IC-100, 200, 700 and 800 training's on my list of todo's for this year. Thanks for the link on IG. I'll check it out tomorrow. Thanks for the help!
All the forms you need for FEMA, Red Cross, ARRL, are all in NBEMS flmsg. I recommend that everyone be familiar with FEMA NICS. However, I am not partnering with FEMA by getting certified. Depending upon who is in office it can be a heavy handed ham handed organization. Become part allows me to deploy outside my area to disasters. If I am in the disaster area I can operate under ARES without FEMA certifications.
Great job. My recommendation is to add a short Medivac plan when performing field ops. Do a quick lookup of the hospitals in your area, paying specific attention to the "trauma level" and emergency frequencies for contact. Include the life-flight helos! Not all hospitals are created equal. If a serious (enough) accident occurs, you'll know who to call & how.
Excellent recommendation. I have those details in my field notepad and will add them to the plan. You're right about the hospitals not being equal. Not all of them stock anti venom. Pit viper bites concern me the most.
Great stuff, man! You've inspired me to get off my duff and start thinking about, implementing, and testing my own emergency comms plan and setup. I really appreciate the effort and thinking you put into these videos, as well as the gear and exercises you conduct. They are quite helpful, even if I plan to use slightly different gear for my own setup.
My pleasure. Are there other content creators with more experience than myself touching on these topics? I can't seem to find anything. Good luck with your plan and your exercises.
@@TheTechPrepper I haven't noticed any other creators out there with more experience, but to be honest, I haven't really looked, either.
I am excited for this exercise and especially the AARs! Thank you for doing this and also the volunteers for their time and effort.
My pleasure. I'll be sure to thank everyone. It will be interesting to see how this goes as no one, including myself, has made a contact over fldigi. Our local repeaters owners have not permitted us to test over the repeaters yet. Should make for an interesting field exercise and AAR. We all have to start somewhere.
Nice event and training opportunity! Pretty cool on the manpack bag.
Since you asked... In the military your Mission Brief would be in a standard 5 paragraph OPORD format. A quick internet search will probably bring up the format, but a brief explanation:
Situation - Kind of a 'whats going on' overview.
- Area of Operation: In addition to the obvious area overview and key point summary of the area your operation is taking place in, some roll weather/terrain into this section
- Area(s) of Interest: Other places that could impact your mission
- Enemy forces: Things against our favor (not just limited to enemy people/fighters/units, especially for 'peacetime/peaceful' operations); Some roll weather/terrain/etc into this section
- Friendly forces: Things in our favor; 'us' and other units taking part in the same mission,
- Other stuff that many examples include that may or may not be relevant
Mission - 5 W's of what your doing. Short, efficient, concise description of what you're doing. The 'elevator speech' of your mission.
Execution - How you're going to accomplish the mission
- Usually includes lots of other sub-elements, like CONOP, Intent, routes, key tasks, intel, secondary objectives, coordinating instructions, end state
Service & Support - Supply, Transportation, MEDEVAC, etc.
Command & Signal - How do we get a hold of each other and How do we get a hold of the cheeseburger that put this mess together
- Signal: Freqs and callsigns; Pyro/smoke; challenge and passwords; code words
- Command: Chain of command (route to pass info so someone that should know whats going on, gets the appropriate information)
Your format covered most of the relevant factors for **your** operation. The opord can be a bit cumbersome but if you're in the habit of reading them, you know right off where each piece of information you're looking for is located. They are designed to be pretty flexible, but - like an all season tire, that also means it usually isn't the optimum solution for a given specific scenario.
Thanks for taking the time to explain the OPORD. I'll give it a search online. "...the cheeseburger that put this mess together" had me laughing this morning. Thank you.
be alert everyone everywhere you go. Practice situational awareness. Stay safe everyone. Thanks for the support I’ve gotten on my channel. Means the world to me. Keep prepping while you can, everyday is an opportunity.
Great video and it looks like a solid plan, You mentioned the Tonto national forest and I immediately thought to myself that even though I am in New Mexico (Western) we both have access to the EAARS network. Looking forward to seeing how the exercise goes.
Howdy, neighbor. I'll have to check out EAARS. Thanks!
Cant stop watching....great work. (i know, its old content)
More to come! I documented my entire comms journey starting with my first contact. Binge away!
Really enjoy the concepts you are working on and the videos. I need to understand the emcom digital stuff better. Working on it
Glad to hear that you're enjoying the series. I am still learning myself, so I am happy that some of these experiences are helpful. Good luck with digital!
Nice plan! Can't wait to see the AAR on all if it.
Thanks, Chris. If this goes well, I plan to open this up to some of the other Arizona locals like yourself in the future.
This is super cool. As far as military stuff, I wouldn’t even bother comparing; what your doing is more important. In the military, there is no real testing of equipment specifically, because the contracts do the testing, then the mil buys it and that’s what you get, along with a manual on what to do with it. It’s more of an accessory than a focus, so on an op order the “comms plan” is a list of callsigns, some emergency frequencies (the main battle-nets etc are pre-programmed to freq-hop on zulu time, so it’s not really something we mess with), as well as a comms PACE plan.
Thank you. I think you're right. I'll stick with my comms plan as it worked really well. (Catch part 2 & 3 if you have time.) I don't recall if I had the field manual in this video, but I used an old US Army FM from the 80's as inspiration for the FM I wrote for this and future exercises. The format and writing style were two elements that I drew inspiration from.
Excellent work!
Thank you! Cheers!
Great video and great to see the progress in emcomm. Can’t wait to grab one of those bags. Keep up the great work. 73’s KK7BPV
Thanks for stopping by, Roger. Which radio do you have? I think you'll enjoy the bag once they're ready. 73 de KT1RUN
@@TheTechPrepper 857D
I have that radio and the hot buttons are such a good feature, I wish more radios had them.
I didn't read the manual initially and pleasantly discovered what those six wonderful buttons were doing. Glad to see that you have same radio. Do you ever do anything on the 6/10m bands?
@@TheTechPrepper Honestly I haven't. The main reason I bought it was it has the interface port. I use it for NBEMS for ARES.
Sounds like fun! Our 2m FM standard NBEMS protocol is start at high-speed. If high-speed doesn't make the contact in two tries then bump down to medium speed for two tries, then slow 2X, and finally Oliva.
I actually prefer using my Andriod phone acoustically coupled to my FT-897D vs. using my Signalink USB and laptop. The simplicity is great leading to fewer fails due to settings issues.
The downsides are less modes and a big loop to cycle through for modes.
When there are issues, 98% of the time its a person on a laptop with software settings issues that doesn't practice or is new.
When things are going well we do "mystery modes" testing automatic mode detection and switching. Some auto mode switching is more reliable than others.
SSB may provide some improvement, but not everyone has 2m SSB and addition radio settings can introduce more variability reducing reliability.
Lately we are playing more JS8CALL.
I was part of 58th Signal Bn during the best of times and worst of times. Worst of times because we were redoing the comms manual which meant for about six months we had field orders of a few hundred pages long in constant revision.
It was the best of times as we did final field testing of the first generation of digital subscriber gear and our "A" game during deployment testing resulted in having to rewrite and raise the standards army wide.
I started out there as the Bn training NCO as an E4, but that was short lived as E6 I replaced got sent back from recruiting school as she was pregnant.
The S2/S3 shop wanted to keep me, so they created a driver slot. It was a much better position to learn from because I went everywhere to see everything. Zero usable experience though.
Proud peace time vet, 12/83-12/87.
They got their driver use out of me. One time I had three 2 1/2 trucks, a jeep, and two blazers for one exercise.
I had plenty of time in the TOC.
Our procedure is based on flatland along the Space Coast of Floridia. In your situation improving antenna situation is probably the first move.
We test with our after hurricane antenna setups.
I made receive sound a bit difficult but usually I decode with my phone 3'-4' from the radio in any orientation. The point being for operational security you should be able to lower the volume to a near whisper with close acoustic coupling.
After a hurricane operational noise is not a consideration.
The unattended auto receipt does work well when setup correctly.
From time to time you see a message decode perfectly or near perfectly in the text window scrolling by but it will not generate a message in the in box, even though you get a correct check sum. If you do not need to forward I consider that a non-issue.
I am new to NBEMS as is our group, so any tips like this are very useful. By speed, I assume you're referring to MT63-2000, 1000 and 500? That's interesting about your preference on acoustic coupling. I almost bumped it from the list of tests, but I'll be sure to keep it now. Thank you for your service and for all the tips.
@@TheTechPrepper Yes, speed being wider modes being faster.
If you have a dedicated setup for NBEMS the external soundcard like Signalink is more reliable, but if you are multimode with varying settings acoustic couple is easier to reproduce.
I use the last joint on my finger for my guage to couple the phone to my mic when transmitting. Holding everything can be a bit uncomfortable on longer messages, but if you a not Net Control it shouldn't be an issue.
Receiving is fairly forgiving as to volume and distance. However, I prefer to just set my phone charging cradle on top of my FT-897 with phone hanging over the speaker. For my setup it is important to unplug the phone charger due to RFI. There can be a little futzing to get the sweet spot but not much.
If you are having issues either tx or rcv check you radio settings and make sure noise filters, etc are off.
For the record I am running a Galaxy +S9. My operating position is laying in bed most of the time. That is more difficult with a laptop.
When I acoustically couple in my Chrysler 300 it is little more finicky, but not much. I mainly need to flatten the EQ on the car radio.
In either operating position I have a comfortably loud listening volume suitable for normal voice communications. Of course your operational needs may prohibit normal listening volumes so see how low you can turn down the volume.
@@vironpayne3405 Thanks for the additional tips. I like your idea of using the charging cable with the FT-857 and using your joint as a spacer. 73
Excellent! You just grabbed 2nd gear and mashing the gas to the floor.
Pretty much!
This was outstanding planning. I watched all three on my TV, and am not able to make comments when I do that. I'll stop in the other two episodes to leave thoughts. In many ways, this is inspirational. Will be planning something similar with a group of friends in Oklahoma. You keep saying, "I'm not prior service". You don't look like you are too old to join the Army or Air National guard. Just a thought. You'd have to get a waiver for your tattoos, but I think it is doable. :) Blessings, Brother. great video.
Planning is everything. When I entered amateur radio I decided to borrow planning techniques from my software engineering profession. It seems to work well. I'm on QRZ. Shoot me a note on how your exercise goes. Best of luck! 73 de KT1RUN.
@@TheTechPrepper WILCO
This looks really interesting to see how it goes.
We'll see. We have a plan, but no experience yet. But, this will be a great way to learn together.
VERY well thought out VERY well presented! Thanks for the interesting & informative video. Regarding your test event, it's fun when everything works perfectly but I'd suggest that it would serve you well if a lot of it does NOT work as planned. Only THEN will you have the guidance you need to improve the hardware, software, procedures... whatever. Good luck! -Scott, K4KDR
It's always great when you stop by, Scott. You're welcome. I am pretty sure things are going to go sideways. No one has used fldigi and I've only tested it myself between two stations where I controlled both of them. This will be a great learning experience for all of us (including the viewers). Take care.
This is an excellent channel....tons of great info! You deserve every sub. 👍 73
Thanks, David! It's great sharing with all of you along the way. I appreciate the sub.
Thats a great kit you put together.
Thanks. It's working pretty well. Just a few more tweaks are needed. Have a good one.
I'm new to radios. Working with gmrs and testing for ham in a few weeks. I live where wild fires have forced us to evacuate several times. Power outages are also a problem. In those critical moments, comms are kinda pointless. It's nice to contact my neighbor and instruct him to fire up the generator. But we have a sop for evacuation. We have limited mobility from road closures. Once I was stuck in traffic and I was trying to get home to help with the evacuation and I got a message telling me which roads were less congested. As you could imagine being away, kids home alone and receiving a message from the state " mandatory evacuation". . Any way I don't know who else has shared this experience.
Good luck with your license. It never hurts to have more skills under your belt. It's surprising how much a simple dual band HT can do when you're looped into your local communications scene.
Dude, if you're not a veteran, more's the pity for the rest of us. You would have made an excellent Communications officer. You certainly think like one.
Thanks, but I am not. I regret not serving and in hindsight would have benefited in enlisting before college. I have tremendous respect for all the men and women who have and continue to serve our country.
Subscribed! Thanks! :)
Thanks for the sub!
Re: bag mfg. I recommend Tactical Tailor in Tacoma, WA. Do you recommend any radios that aren't disco'd? I'm having a tough time keeping up with your radio recommendations because of lack of inventory. Also, just bought a Digirig based on your videos
....AWESOME!! Thanks
So those laptops, is there any advantage besides environmental protection? Ive not well versed in tablet/ 2 in 1 chips so don't know where to begin when looking for a laptop that can preform well enough while being outside for long periods of time and not be super expensive.
Yes, there are. This is my personal short list of non-environmental features. 1. They have two batteries: one in the screen and one in the dock. The dock battery is depleted first, then the tablet/screen. 2. It has optional support for a built-in LTE/GPS module. This allows you to still have an available USB port when using just the tablet. No need to waste the one USB port on the tablet by connecting an external USB GPS dongle. 3. The screen works in full sun, with gloves and with sweaty hands. 4.
I would be up to joining one of your test exercises in the future. And I can help bridge that gap in what is done in the emergency services realm. KC0SCT
Great to know. Look me up on QRZ and shoot me an email. If this works well, I'll try and organize another event. I would love to learn more. I'm actually adding a couple of other modes to test during this exercise--namely, some faster modems. We may even try an ICS-213 form.
Great video series. One quick question. You have shown use of Raspian on a PI and said that you use Linux on the tough-book.. Out of curiosity, if you don't mind saying, what version of Linux are you running there?
I've watched many of your videos and have passed some of them along to some of my ARES members.
Thanks!!!
Glad you like it. I am running Ubuntu 22.04 on the CF-20. It's very stable and runs well on this machine from circa 2008. I was surprised to find that the touch experience works well. I'm basing my EmComm Tools OS on this version of Ubuntu.
MARS has a lot of good training out there also. Greats videos.
Yes they do. Thanks!
Remember, Pogo said, "We have seen the enemy, and he is US!"
We are engaged in psy-ops: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers in heavenly places." Make an enemy a brother whenever possible by communicating love 599 towards all.
Great info. Have you considered incorporating the NIMS ICS forms?
Not yet as I haven't started my ICS training. It's in the plan for this year. I'll research NIMS. I plan to start with the IC 100 and 200 training. Thanks.
Yaesu made the move away from general purpose radios with the 6-pin packet connector in favor of C4FM, I'm sure with the idea of trying to lock you into C4FM. The 6000 looks like a great radio, but I can't help but think that it's overpriced, even if it does come in cheaper than the Kenwood TM-V71 which I would consider the Kenwood version of that radio. I wish they would have continued to make the FT-7800/7900 or if it was a parts issue, updating the design to work around that issue. Like the video, what digital modes are you running ? Vara/Packet ?
That's an odd move as there's a larger world of digital out there. I run 1200 bps packet, vara FM and a variety of modems using fldigi (MT63-2KL and 8PSK1000F).
Do you have any files for those communications plan forms.?They look useful. Did you make those or did you find them somewhere?
Not yet. I still need to scrub them of personal information. I'll post them on my web site as soon as I have some spare cycles.
I'm very interested!
In the bag? If so, great. I'm finally making progress with the prototype.
Where did you get the rack for the 8900? I have them on my 857 and 817. Thanks de KE5ES
These are the new TPA pack frames from ARMOLOQ. I worked with the owner on this design. Visit www.armoloq.com
@@TheTechPrepper started the order process. "Take my money!"
@@Bob814u I hope you enjoy it. The trick is finding the right bag for this combo. I'm working on a design for one I hope to produce for a limited production run (50 bags). My prototype uses the Helikon-Tek E&E pouch as a base. I had to cut the top flap and add additional cordura to make it clear the top of the radio. Enjoy the frames.
Where do you get the mount for the radio?
The company is called ARMOLOQ: armoloq.com
Regarding your bag design, please don't make it just big enough for what you've chosen to carry. Everyone's loadout is going to be a bit different and there's nothing more frustrating than having a bag that's not quite big enough to add that one thing that I need. Give it a little extra room. Also add external lashing points.
You make an excellent point, but this first one will be purpose-built for the ARMOLOQ pack frames and for the FT-817/8, FTM-6000 and FT-8900. I have decided to only make 50 as that's the minimum order. I will be keeping 10 for myself, so this will be a very limited special edition run. I really need this pack to fulfill my particular use cases. I'm already using bags that sort of work and need these to fit the application.
The current prototype has plenty of attachment points. It can be run off a two-point sling, carried by the grab handle, attached to hook and loop panels, attached via MOLLE or attached using the D-rings.
I'm sure there are other bags that are more generic on the market that might work for a broader audience. I really appreciate the input, but this will likely be a one off project so that I can get back to other projects rather than trying to start a full blown bags business.
Thanks.
4:30
Hi Gaston, i made a comment but can't find it back, maybe yt removed it because of a link that was in there. Let me know if you got it! it was about winlink type software. Kind regards and have a nice day!
Thanks for letting me know. Negative. I don't see it in the "held for review" comments bucket. YT is notorious for deleting comments with links.
@@TheTechPrepper Ok, i can maybe show you the specs of the software. If you like the software i can maybe put the link in a mail. The software is called DWS Dutch Winlink System. The program is in english. Specs: What is the Dutch Winlink System? It is basically Winlink Express with hard needed extras a new PH3J Packet Agent (incl. digipeater, monitor) that supports a lot of KISS TNC's support of a 'virtual ether' where RMS Packet stations and digipeaters can be created that simulate 1200 baud on-air speed APRSIS32 is added for visualization of stations etc. provides for Internet independant operation: pre-installed OSM (OpenStreetMap) maps install files of common USB to serial driver a config tool (DWC) will configure all the programs. DWC provides update alerts for Winlink, PH3J Packet Agent and other software. RMS Packet / RMS Relay stations can also be configured with DWC.- If i am wright there is also software to configure the OSM maps to you area. Let me know what you think of it, have a great day!
@@vd89198 Interesting. I am pretty sure I stumbled on this not to long ago. Thanks for sharing the details in line. It's time to take a closer look.
@@TheTechPrepper your welcome Gaston! Take this callsign to the browser: pa7rhm include a dot and (N)ovember (L)ima behind it. There you find all the software this man had made. Hope this works LOL.
@@vd89198 Thanks. What a great site!
What about a 1st Aid Kit, Anti Venom for Snakebites or Scorpions, Garlic to keep Vampires off and stuff... ? Some Folks out there might laugh their As off reading these Lines. But if you once got bitten by a fuckin' Green Mojave like I did in 2007 and been thru a couple Black Widow Bites then everyone understands my Concern. I know that Gaston knows his Area out there better than any Forest Ranger, Trapper, Police Men or Jehovas Witness Member and his able to help himself out incase of the worst Case. And this is why it's major important to know how to operate UHF/VHF Radios and which Antenna is the best one to cover a large Circle of Distance to call for medical help or to receive emergency calls from outside in the Middle of Nowhere / Desert to take Action helping other People. It's important to know about APRS, GPS and Navigation Systems
Gaston thx for your great work and Professionality. I strongly recommend as many People as possible to like und subscribe to your and / or Charlie's Red Summit RF Channel. you Guys doing such a fantastic job. I mean that. Happy mid of the Weekday & 73 de YFUG from southwest Germany 💯👍🙋♂
I always enjoy it went you stop by, Uncle Günter. I left out the paragraph on medical, but will add it back. I always carry an IFAK (sometimes two) depending on the group. It's snake season and they'll be up and sunning themselves at this time. There's not much you can do with a pit viper bite other than staying calm, keeping the injured party's heart rate down and calling for evacuation. You'd be surprised how few hospitals carry anti-phenom. Definitely, take a picture of the snake for identification if you can. Avoidance and being aware of your surroundings is your friend. 73 de KT1RUN
@@TheTechPrepper 💯👍👍👍💯🙋♂
Great work Gaston. Are you familiar with FEMA ICS forms? I sent you a link via IG.
I know that they exist and have the IC-100, 200, 700 and 800 training's on my list of todo's for this year. Thanks for the link on IG. I'll check it out tomorrow. Thanks for the help!
All the forms you need for FEMA, Red Cross, ARRL, are all in NBEMS flmsg.
I recommend that everyone be familiar with FEMA NICS. However, I am not partnering with FEMA by getting certified. Depending upon who is in office it can be a heavy handed ham handed organization. Become part allows me to deploy outside my area to disasters. If I am in the disaster area I can operate under ARES without FEMA certifications.