S2, you have taken an immense burden upon yourself to give us your daily reports. The burden of knowledge is heavy, but regardless of the state of the world or our great nation, please know that you we all appreciate your efforts and the energy you put into your channel and remember that it is not in vain and that you are never alone. In the darkest hours of the night the enemy may slip into our minds and try to discourage us but know you are doing the good work. Please always remember that there is a community out there that you belong to and will be there for you when needed. Divided we will fall, but together we will achieve greatness. Godspeed S2.
WEIII....Well stated, and 100% spot on. Your comment speaks volumes and is how I feel as well. This is the land of the free, and the free will overcome, especially united together.
I went to my friend irl that streams games and told him what i saw the other day. He deleted my message and threaten me with a block, but didnt because i know him. I have no one to talk to either.
You can get your amateur radio or gmrs license and make friends with other people who like comms! I'm having a lot of fun talking across the country on 20 watts and a wire
Go ahead and test for your General while you're there. It doesn't cost anything extra (if I remember correctly). I kick myself over and over because had I went ahead and test for my Gen after my Tech test, I would have passed with flying colors. Now I have to restudy all the stuff all over again.
@AJohnSmith I only wish that were true... but lezbe honest.... How many units...even 11B spend more Mondays at the motor pool doing vehicle maintenance and only do weapon maintenance right before the range?
Depending on what they are prepping for, I'd bet those guns will become useless / out of ammo in weeks or months from whatever event they are prepping for too. Not a reason to not carry, but boy maybe split the emphasis of funding and training up imo
I don't even have that in comms but same. Outside my house. I have a buddy outside the city who is like minded and we share chickens with for eggs. Him and a family member near him are on the "Oh sht list" of people. We are talking Mesh and UHF/VHF radios. No knowledge on either or very little. . As for like minded people. I would say gun shows, PA we are having a huge event called ReadyCon that's preparedness focused and I believe a good place to meet like minded people. My buddy with the chicken coop we have talked and I'll be going to his church soon. Pastor is trying to get the whole congregation into preparedness for basic emergencies. What blows my mind, I work in TacMed training as a contractor and I would say 1 out of 20 guys us actually squared away on basic supplies. Out of everyone I know it's me, my GF and 1 buddy out of maybe 45 Cadre that rotates in and out depending in availability. So not even that is useful. Some students at open enrollment but rarely do my contracts get me involved with open enrollment stuff.
Food, water, guns, ammo, medical, German Shepherds. I balanced my approach to prepping and am getting more "diverse" in my commms recently. CB and UV5R in my truck. Sat phone always in my daily carry bag along with medical, 5 mags and a Sig226 Legion. I need to learn more about comms which is why I am here. If you could, maybe a "cost efficient" comm node for someone on a budget. (UV5R's are @$30 and perfect for intro comms close by that neighbors can communicate with in a pinch.
I'm in a very similar situation. Squared away on the basics and expanding as much as possible but comms is lacking with where I would like. Bare bones knowledge but a lot of radio fudds Don't care to tease people unless they have a $4-500 radio in my experience. Even working in TacMed training we've used budget-ish Motorola radios with great results, but "junk" compared to many of the ham guys. I'm going to be working a conference in PA called ReadyCon that's going to have some comms guys, also canning, wild edibles and other stuff. First of its kind of event in the NE which I believe will be huge. I'm hoping to have someone watch my table so I can sit in the comms section for an hour or so and learn. I know of guys running 300 mesh nodes across Philly who have badass mesh systems but that's way out of my budget and knowledge. Me and the one buddy I trust, I have chickens with him and our family outside the city want to make a mesh node chain so we can communicate when things get bad. Just figuring out the system, time to setup and test and funds to build the nodes.
I think uvr5 are good for throwaway radios or to just hand out without really caring if you’re getting them back or if they break. For primary, waterproofing feels extremely important. I’ve found some good GMRS ip67 radios, the king of UHF/VHF is Yaesu FT OR VX-6R. I’ve seen many torture tests on RUclips where the “waterproof” baofeng just don’t hold up. Just something to think about.
Ten years ago I just wanted to know how to access a repeater with a Baofeng. Ten years and thousands of dollars later I have multiple VHF / UHF & HF radios and portable antenna systems. Balance is a good thing. Beans, bullets, band aids, Bibles along with radios, firearms, maps and books to teach the principles of Liberty. Can some food, hit the range, hit the gym, practice your comms, do your area intelligence analysis and develop your community.
I bought a house near a base while I was in. Put it on the market and when times got tough I moved into the house. I know no one nearby. But one of the first things I did was to put up a community board at the entrance to the subdivision and introduced myself. Then I printed off business cards offering dog walk services. I don't think I can count on anyone completely but I now have dozens of people ever day that I'm out who flag me down in the store or out and about cause they know me from work or dog walking or church
Water, Food, Shelter, Medical, Security, Comms, Power, Transportation, Fuel. Not sure how many categories there are, but Comms is one of em for sure! CARRY ON!
You've systematically helped me change my approach on every single aspect of "the game". Thanks to you I have quick cards,my wife knows how to use equipment. You've helped me become a better teacher for her. So thank you man. Like really. Thank you.
22:18 Factually, that's precisely what we want.... That's why most of us are here... Like it or not, you showed us that you have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to take a very significant leadership role in what comes next.... Like my Gunny used to say "you screwed up when you let us know that you were good at it"
An important thing to keep in mind whenever there's an adversarial disaster going on is to not always be the first person who stands up and tries to rally people around you. Those people are the first to be turned into mince meat when their communications equipment puts a target on their head or results in their stuff being commandeered. If you're a prepper that admits to everyone that you have tons of food, its a guarantee that your food will be taken from you if anything happens for no other reason than to deal with broken logistics.
100% correct most of us will not be the "high speed, door kicker" types. I believe and know from the contract work i do in TacMed training doing training, OpFor and logistics. Most people have NO idea How important logistics and medical is and how much of a PITA it is to get support in without comms. Be it a phone or radio. We have a PACE for care, Evac, and other worst-case scenario events at a class. Who is doing what. Who is a driver, who is rendering aid and where will a vehicle meet for an Ambulance hand off, even where could a Medivac land in a serious injury or heart attack. Etc. Same with logistics. Planning and movements of supplies, information and resources is such a valuable tool in an SHTF event. All good to have a door kicker rig, a Gucci rifle, the lightweight high threst armor and mods, but if you can't get water, have food, have basic sustainment and trauma medical care. A nasty blister or cut thats now infected will take out that operator. I've been in TacMed trainings where a guy comes in and has a $4500 kit before rifle and night vision but doesn't have a bandaid, blister prevention or even ORS for dehydration when you ask what Sustainment he carry's. I've seen this a handful of times. This is more common than not. Same guys I've talked to at lunch or after a class have zero water, food, medical or other basics stored at home or vehicle's.
My family from my father to me have been preparing for just natural disasters and other crises. You know, it sees whether it's tornadoes or hurricanes or snow storms. The first idea is. How long do you plan to be without power? I tell everyone start with.Can you go a week without food or water being supplied outside of yourself?Can you go a month? three months? Once you know, you're going to have the food and water to survive.The next step is to have the first aid and firearms to defend it and yourself and deal with accidents and then comes to be able to communicate with the outside world and maintain an awareness of what's going on outside your particular crisis hot zone. Because if you don't have your own food and water I can't really help you.We can work together basically everywhere after that
We are in the get set stages as in "get ready, get set, GO"! THANK YOU for all the good work shared with us. Radios are not as "sexy" as night vision or suppressors but when it is "GO" time we will need to communicate to coordinate!
I have had a tech license for about 14 years so this is interesting to me. I originally got it to be able to run more wattage on my fpv flights with rc gear. You're giving me even more of an incentive to get moving again on at least my passing the general test. Thanks for the video, s2! 👍👍
Only halfway through this video but soon I will be implementing a communications plan for my whole family/ group I train with, and their familes. Over the last few months I've been learning and I've found GMRS radio will be the best for my situation which is: large group of friends and family; urban/ mostly suburban; within a typical commuting distance but still scatteted; some hills and terrian between us but nothing more than small urban hills. I chose GMRS for the families because of the simplicity of use, it's turn-key and cheap, and with some basic instructions everyone can be connected with repeater access. On the tactical level, me and my guys have unlocked VHF/UHF handhelds that do both GMRS and HAM. I will be investing in an actual base station because I can afford it and can direct people, especially since I'm kind of the head of the whole operation. To note: this is only in the case phone/internet goes down for any reason.
I moved 1k miles to Nevada. New job new home. I didn’t know anyone. CB radio, 2m/10m I met people, good people. Radio doesn’t have to be a hobby but it could be like a TV and you just use it like a microwave or tv. I just got into JS8call from your videos and now getting some locals on 11m doing it too. I do enjoy your content. Thank you sir
Thanks for what you do. Your content is top notch. Your encouragement to get into radio was the spark I needed a while back and it has been an awesome and valuable experience.
mister underground, you likely heard me complain in the comments of one of the ghost net videos about how hams don't make it easy or very comprehensible on how to get in to radios, I'm working on a simple sharable google doc file to share that's more or less a massive jumpstart guide on things i wish i knew or things i wouldn't have learned if i didn't know hams a bit more savvy than I, if there's some way i could share this doc to you in private for some idiot checks before i go pasting this all over the place, id appreciate it.
I don't think we as hams make it hard to get into radios. Technology and the subject itself is. There are people who spend 4-6 years or more getting an RF engineering degree and still don't know it all. RF, engineering, physics, etc etc are all parts of comms. And that doesn't include all the menus and sub menus of the actual radios you have to learn LOL :) We Hams aren't the ones making it hard. The subject itself is. People who think I just wanna push a button and talk are gonna have a hard time when it don't work that way. I hate the answer to peoples question being (It Depends) but in comms that's the answer a lot of times.
@@mikemcdonald5147 you are right in the aspect of it being more of a barrier of intelligence and info which isn't the hams fault, but what is the community's fault is that there has never been much of a clear path to info. Personally I'm a bit of a slow learner and an unfortunate product of the horrible attention span killer that is short videos, and though it was good practice to just hit the books and search for hours on end about simple concepts, that's gonna be a turn off to simple folks who can help grow and defend an industry. Take mountain biking for example (I am not one and think it's gay), if I wanted to get in to it I know that it's as easy as going in to a bike shop with a few hundred dollars and asking somebody "hey I'm new to this, what kind of bike should I get and what trails should I go on and what should I avoid" and I'm off to the races, where with ham stuff I had basically no clue where to start, what info was important to know, and just a general end goal of the whole deal. It's like going in to that same bike shop and having the guy give me a 4 hour lecture on every trail in the area, trail riding styles, bike suspension setups and if I can't regurgitate it for their test then I can't get in to it. I think as a community hams prioritize long range contacts and local net practice over lowering the barrier to entry and creating a clear path to success. The clearer we make that path then the less the nets will be shitted up
Thank you S2, you help me think of how to balance the path forward. I appreciate your dedication to helping us all get to a better position that we all need. It going to get crazy and people need to prepare.
Communication is valuable. For multiple reasons. You can listen, to see what is going on. Coordinating events and such. Instead of having to walk a mile to tell someone something or check on them. Personally, FSR (Family Service Radio), NOT ALOT HAVE IT. CB radio, base and mobile, preferably. KIDS WALKIE TALKYs! Sounds weird, BUT they all have the SAME FREQUENCY and EXTREMELY "SHORT" RANGE! So not everyone is going to be listening!
Just want to say you sounded really fed up being that loner. I'm a bit of a loner too and I love my own company. There's a saying, a problem shared is a problem halved, but I see it as doubled 😅 here's to all the people that don't need people 🍻
A shortwave listening radio (such as Techsun etc.) is a great way to start. If you have a larger property, it is easy to set up a long wire up in the trees. By listening, you can learn a lot.
One of the things about leadership is that some people are good at giving people unity of effort and purpose by assigning people to roles, with duties and responsibilities, then giving them orders and follow up to make sure they are doing what they are told. Other people provide a different kind of leadership - they show people the way, but the people themselves have to not just hear the call, but self actualize their roles, duties, and responsibilities and formulate their own orders and matrix their own performance. This is the type of leadership S2 provides. One leadership is about maning the equipment, and the other is about equiping the man. At this stage it is critical to equipment the man.
Being a bit of a fringe radio geek with a budget I've fallen mostly on valve my radios and a smattering of short range ham radios for local and regional communications. And settled on inexpensive low power radios with scramblers for "secure" comms. I also use sdr radios for long-range listening (which are dirt cheap). The real difference seems to be practice. Do the stuff. Usr your gear. Know what you're doing. Love you content. You be doing a great to use all.
You have inspired me to get a Panasonic tough book to run an SDR setup as well as maps, books and other essential information. Pillar of the community.
Thank you for this. This topic has been weighing on my mind a lot recently and you’ve given me the perspective needed to know my path forward, or at least where to start. Thank you S2!
Great talk, and I agree, balance is a good thing. One point though, HF may still be crucial even for local comms. For example, if you live in a mountainous region, say Appalachistan, you may need to reach someone useful that is only 10-miles away, but they're on the other side of the ridge. Unless you have an off-grid repeater, VHF/UHF ain't going to cut it. 80 & 160 meters are great bands for local comms in mountainous terrain when utilizing NVIS; it's also hard to DF when utilizing proper techniques to "hide" (there's an entire USMC FM about the topic).
Some radio service planning thoughts No license / short range: FRS, MURS, CB License / Short Range: GMRS (family license - no testing, repeater capable) License / Long Range: Amateur Radio (individual license - testing required, access to multiple bands - HF, VHF, UHF - based on license level)
S2U, You should probably make this video as top of the playlist for RF comms. As a grunt, I hate watching some guntubers that say pistol "X" is the last pistol you have to buy. That may be the case for that one person. @phantomf4747 gave his setup and it's similar to mine, but needs vary. Much like weaponry, get what suits the most likely situation, and work outwards from there. During the AT&T outage last month, I set up a PACE plan for my family. Although HF has the best range, I settled for 40 watt GMRS transceivers in manpacks with some handhelds.
Many people want to know what kit to buy. I think developing a checklist of necessary skills, field activities and other forms of checks (to ensure of continued knowledge) alongside a rather basic minimum equipment list might help people get started. If someone goes ahead and gets, say, a decent handheld (HT) and decent mobile, I think they will be more apt to actually learn their equipment over spending dozens of hours to research and think, "I still don't know what the best solution is, for me." The truth is you will never have a perfect solution for your problems. I see it as a form of commitment. You can always sell or give away the equipment, or, to many people just having the stuff will give peace of mind; there is value in that. This is opening a huge can of worms because all the factors S2 mentioned are going to dictate which skills you are checking and how often. The single apartment resident isn't going to spread out a 40m antenna at a local park (or preferably one well outside the city) every weekend, but could easily get radio checks off a local repeater or send some digital comms on 2m/70cm while eating dinner. Meanwhile someone with land could leave their HF antenna setup all the time and never have anyone on V/UHF to talk to. S2, I think the community could benefit from a baseline equipment checklist, as well as some practical skills checks. Remember the S6 slides where they outlined this huge, complicated communications architecture? We could make it simpler, but with examples like you often incorporate (a rural, a suburban and urban, respectively). You could start by talking about the difference between handheld, mobile and home setups. Something like a HT will only need what comes in the box plus a programming cable and MAYBE a better PTT. A mobile setup gets more intricate. They can swap between backpacks and vehicles readily. Many Yaesu's and ICOMs are quadband so having a baseline of your standard V/UHF whip along side an adjustable dipole might be perfectly acceptable baseline equipment. Home setups can be discussed at a later time. We're not trying to build the pentagon or a 24/7 emergency operations center here. I think getting someone to start with a simple comms system of an HT and a Mobile (be it in their car/truck, home or in backpack) can be done for less than $1000. The skills gained and lessons learned here will allow people with vested interest, the LEADERS, to identify if they need to get more intricate and start looking at better capabilities, to include encryption, data bursting, etc. I don't see a need to start with a Moto P25, or a Silvus, or anything crazy, but if you need to go down that path would you not prefer starting on a .22 before you buy some gucci non-sense?
Great talk , needed to hear it, all aspects must be addressed (check), Definitely a lot more wisdom than just comm priorities, the older you get the more motivation (or lack there of) plays a key role in being squared away in the proper fashion. Thanks S2 👍🏻
Thank you for all the info you share and your hard work sir. Cannot begin to tell you how much i appreciate the radio videos, i get more than enough info about firearms and this is so needed.
Señor Underground, thanks for the video's and knowledge drops constantly. I've put like minded friends onto your channel and learned a lot. Comms is a major blindspot for most i know. I know for me I'm functional "special" when it comes to basic communications on radios beyond turn on, hook to ear pro and be on the correct channel. I have maybe 4-5 people to talk to. 3 in my area, 2 in my house. 1 doesnt even have a radio. So yeah thats less than ideal. I'm hoping to meet some people at a 3 day event in PA called ReadyCon in late August focused on a wide variety of preparedness. I believe these things and gun shows have some potential for meeting good people who you can see if you mesh well with. Weve had guys who seemed cool, then ego, attitudes or just seeming like they're more going to be a threat in a SHTF has scrubbed all those guys from even considering them for a small group of friends we have who are faith based and close enough that we know we would support each other, OpSec is critcal and we all enjoy what we do.
Radio is Very important! The ability to find out how widespread a problem/outage is. Is Very important! Weather your power is out cause of a tree on the lines... or EMPs have knocked out world wide communications. A Radio, wire, and 12v battery will give you the Ability to reach thousands of KMs.
Great topic and thanks for sharing your approach! I'm sure we've often heard that "what weapon system will be best for me?" question... Purpose; would you take a smart-car off roading? you probably can.. thanks for sharing again - good thoughts here.
This is great info. I'm not sure if you have ever covered this angle, but anyone can buy an rtlsdr for $35 and use free software to scan for freqs that are providing information versus actually communicating. I know that low cost SDRs sparked my interest in radios many years ago, and it would do the same for others. Maybe some people dont want to transmit for whatever reason, but want to receive information for situatuonal awareness. Low cost SDRs do just that. The software is free and there are many variants. I would suggest that route for everyone to at least be prepared and capable of knowing what is happening. It also keeps your RF signature at zero. Let others talk, be the one that just listens.
Suburban Detroit generalist. My main point of interest in coms is maintaining contact with my son in any event ( amongst other family and close friends). Eastpointe to royal oak is about 10 miles. Super novice just starting to reach out and learn.
I like to think of things in order of precedence of what's required to live: 1. Always water 2. Always food Top two are nonnegotiable because without those two nothing else matters. Start with a 72hr supply and gradually build it out from there. The goal should be 30 days. 3/4. shelter and security (firearms) can be flip flopped depending on the environment. 5+ will be things like med/comms/transportation etc. In my opinion, things in the 5+ range are debatable and situationally dependent.
Everyone I've talked to locally knows that comms is important, but they don't put any effort into getting licensed and practicing. All they do is buy a Baofeng and keep on practicing their rifle drills. It will never change.
Need a good Multi channel radio. Like, AM/FM, SHORTWAVE, MARINE, AIRCRAFT ECT. REMEMBER, with Shortwave radio, you need to run a Long wire (10-30 foot) to receive anything.
Not necessarily. The telescopic antennas on portable short wave radios are quite decent, and in certain environments they perform better than wire because wire enhaces rf noise.
The jsh call. That's something I can start listening in on? Could you point me to where I can start with that?... Thanks for all the info. Your new feeds are awesome.
As a door kicker we can't do our job without news and good Intel. From my experience a good radio operator is worth more than a handful of trigger pullers. We all have our roles find your's and do it well.
Thank you S2 for talking to us, we appreciate your intelligence, and sharing what you know and love. Is the best way to stay connected through ghost net? And where do you get the info you put on the wire? I really appreciate getting to hear the straight dope and would like to gather info for my family, I just don’t know where to get it from😀
I don’t have anyone to talk to! My family is unaware unbelievers and I have always built my life on being independent. I’m not a joiner. Shitf will be a solo event for me. I can only prepare for myself. I will have to depend on others for information I guess.
On top of tithing %10 to church on a sub $70k a year I want to devote %12 to savings and within there I try to use risk matrix vs. permanent durable and expendable supply categories.
S2, you have taken an immense burden upon yourself to give us your daily reports. The burden of knowledge is heavy, but regardless of the state of the world or our great nation, please know that you we all appreciate your efforts and the energy you put into your channel and remember that it is not in vain and that you are never alone. In the darkest hours of the night the enemy may slip into our minds and try to discourage us but know you are doing the good work. Please always remember that there is a community out there that you belong to and will be there for you when needed. Divided we will fall, but together we will achieve greatness. Godspeed S2.
We really do appreciate it
AMEN ✝️ 🙏 YES I GOTCHA BACK ,MOST IMPORTANTLY, GOD HIS YOU FIRST 🙏 🙌 ❤️
WEIII....Well stated, and 100% spot on. Your comment speaks volumes and is how I feel as well. This is the land of the free, and the free will overcome, especially united together.
The man has kind eyes, he’s one I’d trust my life to I feel like.
Amen ❤
I always get excited about comms stuff...then realize i have no one to talk to
Haha I am the same way.
I went to my friend irl that streams games and told him what i saw the other day. He deleted my message and threaten me with a block, but didnt because i know him. I have no one to talk to either.
You can get your amateur radio or gmrs license and make friends with other people who like comms! I'm having a lot of fun talking across the country on 20 watts and a wire
Exactly… especially in the GMRS world of comms.
Get people. Work people, neighbors, friends, get anyone you can and build a better community
Taking my hamm licensing class and testing this weekend
Fool, paying to be tracked.
Go for general at the same time
Good luck!
Go ahead and test for your General while you're there. It doesn't cost anything extra (if I remember correctly). I kick myself over and over because had I went ahead and test for my Gen after my Tech test, I would have passed with flying colors. Now I have to restudy all the stuff all over again.
@@jeffhuntley2921 thank you
You say your radio knowledge is limited, but for someone like me who has zero, it is great that you share the basics & your logic, thank you
A pattern decades old, a whole lot of focus on shooting, not so much on moving and communicating.
Only dorks who’ve never done the things or studied tactics.
Do both. Set up a radio at the range. 😂 my kids have.
@AJohnSmith I only wish that were true... but lezbe honest....
How many units...even 11B spend more Mondays at the motor pool doing vehicle maintenance and only do weapon maintenance right before the range?
Depending on what they are prepping for, I'd bet those guns will become useless / out of ammo in weeks or months from whatever event they are prepping for too. Not a reason to not carry, but boy maybe split the emphasis of funding and training up imo
Satellite text devices, 7watt walkies and shortwave, I feel comfortable with just those 3... mostly as I have no friends to talk to anyway.
I don't even have that in comms but same. Outside my house. I have a buddy outside the city who is like minded and we share chickens with for eggs. Him and a family member near him are on the "Oh sht list" of people. We are talking Mesh and UHF/VHF radios. No knowledge on either or very little. .
As for like minded people. I would say gun shows, PA we are having a huge event called ReadyCon that's preparedness focused and I believe a good place to meet like minded people. My buddy with the chicken coop we have talked and I'll be going to his church soon. Pastor is trying to get the whole congregation into preparedness for basic emergencies. What blows my mind, I work in TacMed training as a contractor and I would say 1 out of 20 guys us actually squared away on basic supplies. Out of everyone I know it's me, my GF and 1 buddy out of maybe 45 Cadre that rotates in and out depending in availability. So not even that is useful. Some students at open enrollment but rarely do my contracts get me involved with open enrollment stuff.
No man an island. Why not many friends or allies?
Food, water, guns, ammo, medical, German Shepherds. I balanced my approach to prepping and am getting more "diverse" in my commms recently. CB and UV5R in my truck. Sat phone always in my daily carry bag along with medical, 5 mags and a Sig226 Legion. I need to learn more about comms which is why I am here. If you could, maybe a "cost efficient" comm node for someone on a budget. (UV5R's are @$30 and perfect for intro comms close by that neighbors can communicate with in a pinch.
It's naive to expose your resources
I'm in a very similar situation. Squared away on the basics and expanding as much as possible but comms is lacking with where I would like. Bare bones knowledge but a lot of radio fudds Don't care to tease people unless they have a $4-500 radio in my experience.
Even working in TacMed training we've used budget-ish Motorola radios with great results, but "junk" compared to many of the ham guys.
I'm going to be working a conference in PA called ReadyCon that's going to have some comms guys, also canning, wild edibles and other stuff. First of its kind of event in the NE which I believe will be huge. I'm hoping to have someone watch my table so I can sit in the comms section for an hour or so and learn. I know of guys running 300 mesh nodes across Philly who have badass mesh systems but that's way out of my budget and knowledge. Me and the one buddy I trust, I have chickens with him and our family outside the city want to make a mesh node chain so we can communicate when things get bad. Just figuring out the system, time to setup and test and funds to build the nodes.
@@Raao1 I exposed what? You have no idea where I am or who I am. I appreciate your concern but I’ll be fine bro. 👍🏻
I think uvr5 are good for throwaway radios or to just hand out without really caring if you’re getting them back or if they break. For primary, waterproofing feels extremely important. I’ve found some good GMRS ip67 radios, the king of UHF/VHF is Yaesu FT OR VX-6R. I’ve seen many torture tests on RUclips where the “waterproof” baofeng just don’t hold up. Just something to think about.
@@TheBiggE. appreciate it brother! I’ll look into them!
Ten years ago I just wanted to know how to access a repeater with a Baofeng. Ten years and thousands of dollars later I have multiple VHF / UHF & HF radios and portable antenna systems.
Balance is a good thing. Beans, bullets, band aids, Bibles along with radios, firearms, maps and books to teach the principles of Liberty. Can some food, hit the range, hit the gym, practice your comms, do your area intelligence analysis and develop your community.
Beans, Bullets, Band-aids Bibles & Baofengs 😅
So true!
Thanks for all the hard work @S2
I've noticed GMRS getting much more popular over the last few months.
Yes, and just like Ham, you have to tell the GOVT YOUR EXACT LOCATION!
@@jessemills3845 not exactly. They need an address or a PO box.
Very much so
Notarubicon has joined the chat
@@That_Guy5575
I love that guy 😂
I bought a house near a base while I was in. Put it on the market and when times got tough I moved into the house. I know no one nearby. But one of the first things I did was to put up a community board at the entrance to the subdivision and introduced myself.
Then I printed off business cards offering dog walk services.
I don't think I can count on anyone completely but I now have dozens of people ever day that I'm out who flag me down in the store or out and about cause they know me from work or dog walking or church
Water, Food, Shelter, Medical, Security, Comms, Power, Transportation, Fuel. Not sure how many categories there are, but Comms is one of em for sure! CARRY ON!
Thank you S2 Underground for the daily WIRE and these specialty long form technical videos.
I always learn something while watching and listening to your videos. Thanks for all you do
You've systematically helped me change my approach on every single aspect of "the game". Thanks to you I have quick cards,my wife knows how to use equipment. You've helped me become a better teacher for her. So thank you man. Like really. Thank you.
Neat! Listening while actually - building a short wave transceiver!
22:18 Factually, that's precisely what we want.... That's why most of us are here... Like it or not, you showed us that you have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to take a very significant leadership role in what comes next.... Like my Gunny used to say "you screwed up when you let us know that you were good at it"
S2, you're one of the most interesting folks on the 'Tube. Thanks for sharing your valuable knowledge with us. Your updates are priceless.
✌️😜 Always informative Brother, thanks for all you do ⚔️ God Bless us All 🇺🇸🙏✝️
Brother you are not alone
An important thing to keep in mind whenever there's an adversarial disaster going on is to not always be the first person who stands up and tries to rally people around you. Those people are the first to be turned into mince meat when their communications equipment puts a target on their head or results in their stuff being commandeered. If you're a prepper that admits to everyone that you have tons of food, its a guarantee that your food will be taken from you if anything happens for no other reason than to deal with broken logistics.
Great perspective. And just the right kind of attitude. IMO.
100% correct most of us will not be the "high speed, door kicker" types. I believe and know from the contract work i do in TacMed training doing training, OpFor and logistics. Most people have NO idea How important logistics and medical is and how much of a PITA it is to get support in without comms. Be it a phone or radio. We have a PACE for care, Evac, and other worst-case scenario events at a class. Who is doing what. Who is a driver, who is rendering aid and where will a vehicle meet for an Ambulance hand off, even where could a Medivac land in a serious injury or heart attack. Etc.
Same with logistics. Planning and movements of supplies, information and resources is such a valuable tool in an SHTF event. All good to have a door kicker rig, a Gucci rifle, the lightweight high threst armor and mods, but if you can't get water, have food, have basic sustainment and trauma medical care. A nasty blister or cut thats now infected will take out that operator. I've been in TacMed trainings where a guy comes in and has a $4500 kit before rifle and night vision but doesn't have a bandaid, blister prevention or even ORS for dehydration when you ask what Sustainment he carry's. I've seen this a handful of times. This is more common than not. Same guys I've talked to at lunch or after a class have zero water, food, medical or other basics stored at home or vehicle's.
My family from my father to me have been preparing for just natural disasters and other crises. You know, it sees whether it's tornadoes or hurricanes or snow storms.
The first idea is. How long do you plan to be without power? I tell everyone start with.Can you go a week without food or water being supplied outside of yourself?Can you go a month? three months?
Once you know, you're going to have the food and water to survive.The next step is to have the first aid and firearms to defend it and yourself and deal with accidents and then comes to be able to communicate with the outside world and maintain an awareness of what's going on outside your particular crisis hot zone. Because if you don't have your own food and water I can't really help you.We can work together basically everywhere after that
We are in the get set stages as in "get ready, get set, GO"! THANK YOU for all the good work shared with us. Radios are not as "sexy" as night vision or suppressors but when it is "GO" time we will need to communicate to coordinate!
I have had a tech license for about 14 years so this is interesting to me. I originally got it to be able to run more wattage on my fpv flights with rc gear. You're giving me even more of an incentive to get moving again on at least my passing the general test. Thanks for the video, s2! 👍👍
Only halfway through this video but soon I will be implementing a communications plan for my whole family/ group I train with, and their familes. Over the last few months I've been learning and I've found GMRS radio will be the best for my situation which is: large group of friends and family; urban/ mostly suburban; within a typical commuting distance but still scatteted; some hills and terrian between us but nothing more than small urban hills.
I chose GMRS for the families because of the simplicity of use, it's turn-key and cheap, and with some basic instructions everyone can be connected with repeater access. On the tactical level, me and my guys have unlocked VHF/UHF handhelds that do both GMRS and HAM. I will be investing in an actual base station because I can afford it and can direct people, especially since I'm kind of the head of the whole operation.
To note: this is only in the case phone/internet goes down for any reason.
Good stuff man keep up the hard work. Been following for a while still learning but your information has helped a lot! Thank you
I moved 1k miles to Nevada. New job new home. I didn’t know anyone. CB radio, 2m/10m I met people, good people. Radio doesn’t have to be a hobby but it could be like a TV and you just use it like a microwave or tv. I just got into JS8call from your videos and now getting some locals on 11m doing it too. I do enjoy your content. Thank you sir
Thanks so much for your updates.
Just got my general because of you. Thanks for all you do!
S2, thank you for all of your efforts! You have spoken to me and many others in much of what you said here. A lot of food for thought!
Thanks S2! This was a greatly appreciated post, on so many different levels. Stay gold!
Between your channel and Radio Made Easy, I've spent more on radios and training than I ever thought I would.
Thanks for what you do. Your content is top notch. Your encouragement to get into radio was the spark I needed a while back and it has been an awesome and valuable experience.
mister underground, you likely heard me complain in the comments of one of the ghost net videos about how hams don't make it easy or very comprehensible on how to get in to radios, I'm working on a simple sharable google doc file to share that's more or less a massive jumpstart guide on things i wish i knew or things i wouldn't have learned if i didn't know hams a bit more savvy than I, if there's some way i could share this doc to you in private for some idiot checks before i go pasting this all over the place, id appreciate it.
I don't think we as hams make it hard to get into radios. Technology and the subject itself is. There are people who spend 4-6 years or more getting an RF engineering degree and still don't know it all. RF, engineering, physics, etc etc are all parts of comms. And that doesn't include all the menus and sub menus of the actual radios you have to learn LOL :) We Hams aren't the ones making it hard. The subject itself is. People who think I just wanna push a button and talk are gonna have a hard time when it don't work that way. I hate the answer to peoples question being (It Depends) but in comms that's the answer a lot of times.
@@mikemcdonald5147 you are right in the aspect of it being more of a barrier of intelligence and info which isn't the hams fault, but what is the community's fault is that there has never been much of a clear path to info. Personally I'm a bit of a slow learner and an unfortunate product of the horrible attention span killer that is short videos, and though it was good practice to just hit the books and search for hours on end about simple concepts, that's gonna be a turn off to simple folks who can help grow and defend an industry. Take mountain biking for example (I am not one and think it's gay), if I wanted to get in to it I know that it's as easy as going in to a bike shop with a few hundred dollars and asking somebody "hey I'm new to this, what kind of bike should I get and what trails should I go on and what should I avoid" and I'm off to the races, where with ham stuff I had basically no clue where to start, what info was important to know, and just a general end goal of the whole deal. It's like going in to that same bike shop and having the guy give me a 4 hour lecture on every trail in the area, trail riding styles, bike suspension setups and if I can't regurgitate it for their test then I can't get in to it. I think as a community hams prioritize long range contacts and local net practice over lowering the barrier to entry and creating a clear path to success. The clearer we make that path then the less the nets will be shitted up
Thanks for all your work man, it's very much appreciated. Hope you're doing well.
Thank you S2, you help me think of how to balance the path forward. I appreciate your dedication to helping us all get to a better position that we all need. It going to get crazy and people need to prepare.
Communication is valuable. For multiple reasons.
You can listen, to see what is going on.
Coordinating events and such. Instead of having to walk a mile to tell someone something or check on them.
Personally, FSR (Family Service Radio), NOT ALOT HAVE IT.
CB radio, base and mobile, preferably.
KIDS WALKIE TALKYs! Sounds weird, BUT they all have the SAME FREQUENCY and EXTREMELY "SHORT" RANGE! So not everyone is going to be listening!
👊🏻👀👍🏻
Just want to say you sounded really fed up being that loner. I'm a bit of a loner too and I love my own company. There's a saying, a problem shared is a problem halved, but I see it as doubled 😅 here's to all the people that don't need people 🍻
A shortwave listening radio (such as Techsun etc.) is a great way to start. If you have a larger property, it is easy to set up a long wire up in the trees. By listening, you can learn a lot.
I've been encouraging family and friends for a few years now to, at the very least, obtain a decent shortwave receiver.
One of the things about leadership is that some people are good at giving people unity of effort and purpose by assigning people to roles, with duties and responsibilities, then giving them orders and follow up to make sure they are doing what they are told.
Other people provide a different kind of leadership - they show people the way, but the people themselves have to not just hear the call, but self actualize their roles, duties, and responsibilities and formulate their own orders and matrix their own performance. This is the type of leadership S2 provides. One leadership is about maning the equipment, and the other is about equiping the man. At this stage it is critical to equipment the man.
I hear you brother. From out in the wilderness. I'll be going ancient analog. Smoke signals. Praying to God Almighty 🙏🇺🇲 10:38
If you rely on batteries, alternative power sources are a must for charging.
A small solar panel goes a long way if you limit your device usage.
Garner, NC. went live yesterday. not that anyone would know except you all. ;^}>
Informative and important information. Thanks for what you do and being a solid and sincere human being
Nice. Remember to relax and enjoy the journey.
Being a bit of a fringe radio geek with a budget I've fallen mostly on valve my radios and a smattering of short range ham radios for local and regional communications. And settled on inexpensive low power radios with scramblers for "secure" comms. I also use sdr radios for long-range listening (which are dirt cheap). The real difference seems to be practice. Do the stuff. Usr your gear. Know what you're doing. Love you content. You be doing a great to use all.
Always awesome. Thank you.
The DPRK have begun to monitor S2 Underground broadcasts. Sincerely, thank you for the useful information. ✍️
Thanks. This sort of discussion really HELPS those of at the CB Radio level! Stay Frosty.
You have inspired me to get a Panasonic tough book to run an SDR setup as well as maps, books and other essential information. Pillar of the community.
Keep Fighting In the Shade ,good talk , always good to hear from you Tim N.Y.
What is that painting above the monitor of? Thanks for the video.
Thank you for this. This topic has been weighing on my mind a lot recently and you’ve given me the perspective needed to know my path forward, or at least where to start. Thank you S2!
Great talk, and I agree, balance is a good thing. One point though, HF may still be crucial even for local comms. For example, if you live in a mountainous region, say Appalachistan, you may need to reach someone useful that is only 10-miles away, but they're on the other side of the ridge. Unless you have an off-grid repeater, VHF/UHF ain't going to cut it. 80 & 160 meters are great bands for local comms in mountainous terrain when utilizing NVIS; it's also hard to DF when utilizing proper techniques to "hide" (there's an entire USMC FM about the topic).
Thank you for what you do.
You inspire.
Some radio service planning thoughts
No license / short range:
FRS, MURS, CB
License / Short Range: GMRS (family license - no testing, repeater capable)
License / Long Range: Amateur Radio (individual license - testing required, access to multiple bands - HF, VHF, UHF - based on license level)
S2U,
You should probably make this video as top of the playlist for RF comms.
As a grunt, I hate watching some guntubers that say pistol "X" is the last pistol you have to buy. That may be the case for that one person. @phantomf4747 gave his setup and it's similar to mine, but needs vary. Much like weaponry, get what suits the most likely situation, and work outwards from there.
During the AT&T outage last month, I set up a PACE plan for my family. Although HF has the best range, I settled for 40 watt GMRS transceivers in manpacks with some handhelds.
Many people want to know what kit to buy. I think developing a checklist of necessary skills, field activities and other forms of checks (to ensure of continued knowledge) alongside a rather basic minimum equipment list might help people get started. If someone goes ahead and gets, say, a decent handheld (HT) and decent mobile, I think they will be more apt to actually learn their equipment over spending dozens of hours to research and think, "I still don't know what the best solution is, for me." The truth is you will never have a perfect solution for your problems. I see it as a form of commitment. You can always sell or give away the equipment, or, to many people just having the stuff will give peace of mind; there is value in that.
This is opening a huge can of worms because all the factors S2 mentioned are going to dictate which skills you are checking and how often. The single apartment resident isn't going to spread out a 40m antenna at a local park (or preferably one well outside the city) every weekend, but could easily get radio checks off a local repeater or send some digital comms on 2m/70cm while eating dinner. Meanwhile someone with land could leave their HF antenna setup all the time and never have anyone on V/UHF to talk to.
S2, I think the community could benefit from a baseline equipment checklist, as well as some practical skills checks. Remember the S6 slides where they outlined this huge, complicated communications architecture? We could make it simpler, but with examples like you often incorporate (a rural, a suburban and urban, respectively). You could start by talking about the difference between handheld, mobile and home setups. Something like a HT will only need what comes in the box plus a programming cable and MAYBE a better PTT. A mobile setup gets more intricate. They can swap between backpacks and vehicles readily. Many Yaesu's and ICOMs are quadband so having a baseline of your standard V/UHF whip along side an adjustable dipole might be perfectly acceptable baseline equipment. Home setups can be discussed at a later time. We're not trying to build the pentagon or a 24/7 emergency operations center here. I think getting someone to start with a simple comms system of an HT and a Mobile (be it in their car/truck, home or in backpack) can be done for less than $1000. The skills gained and lessons learned here will allow people with vested interest, the LEADERS, to identify if they need to get more intricate and start looking at better capabilities, to include encryption, data bursting, etc. I don't see a need to start with a Moto P25, or a Silvus, or anything crazy, but if you need to go down that path would you not prefer starting on a .22 before you buy some gucci non-sense?
Thank you. So much. God bless and protect you. We love you- keep the great work up. You’re saving our family and many others with your knowledge.
Great talk , needed to hear it, all aspects must be addressed (check), Definitely a lot more wisdom than just comm priorities, the older you get the more motivation (or lack there of) plays a key role in being squared away in the proper fashion. Thanks S2 👍🏻
Another great channel is “dirty civilian” if anyone is wanting more stuff like this.
Link?
What else ya got?
Probably some of the worst advice I’ve ever seen was from that channel. It’s theorycell stuff at best and a rich kid showing off at worst.
I subbed for a short time but too much hype on gear and not enough substance in my opinion
ViktoriousDead puts out some good content.
S2, thanks for constantly talking with us. You are awesome!
Thank you for all your doing
Thank you for all the info you share and your hard work sir.
Cannot begin to tell you how much i appreciate the radio videos, i get more than enough info about firearms and this is so needed.
Señor Underground, thanks for the video's and knowledge drops constantly. I've put like minded friends onto your channel and learned a lot. Comms is a major blindspot for most i know. I know for me I'm functional "special" when it comes to basic communications on radios beyond turn on, hook to ear pro and be on the correct channel. I have maybe 4-5 people to talk to. 3 in my area, 2 in my house. 1 doesnt even have a radio. So yeah thats less than ideal. I'm hoping to meet some people at a 3 day event in PA called ReadyCon in late August focused on a wide variety of preparedness. I believe these things and gun shows have some potential for meeting good people who you can see if you mesh well with. Weve had guys who seemed cool, then ego, attitudes or just seeming like they're more going to be a threat in a SHTF has scrubbed all those guys from even considering them for a small group of friends we have who are faith based and close enough that we know we would support each other, OpSec is critcal and we all enjoy what we do.
Funny timing, I just got the Tecson PL-330 in a couple of days ago and am trying to figure out how to use it (complete radio noob here)
Knowledge is power, if you know the plans of your adversary, you will have the upper hand in winning the battle.
I have my comms, but really need to do more training with them. So much to do, so little time!
Very nice, I can concur with everything you said,
Great video and 73
We all need to stop and think about our situation and come up with plans on improving it in as many areas as we can.
CB baby 😊❤
Thank you!
Radio is Very important!
The ability to find out how widespread a problem/outage is. Is Very important!
Weather your power is out cause of a tree on the lines... or EMPs have knocked out world wide communications. A Radio, wire, and 12v battery will give you the Ability to reach thousands of KMs.
Hey thx for sharing man, ill sure print this
Great points. It's good to keep in mind that most will pretty quickly age out of 'the cool guy stuff', even the vets.
Awesome video. You’re never alone brothers
Great topic and thanks for sharing your approach! I'm sure we've often heard that "what weapon system will be best for me?" question... Purpose; would you take a smart-car off roading? you probably can.. thanks for sharing again - good thoughts here.
This is great info. I'm not sure if you have ever covered this angle, but anyone can buy an rtlsdr for $35 and use free software to scan for freqs that are providing information versus actually communicating. I know that low cost SDRs sparked my interest in radios many years ago, and it would do the same for others. Maybe some people dont want to transmit for whatever reason, but want to receive information for situatuonal awareness. Low cost SDRs do just that. The software is free and there are many variants. I would suggest that route for everyone to at least be prepared and capable of knowing what is happening. It also keeps your RF signature at zero. Let others talk, be the one that just listens.
Yea, my immediate area leaves much to be desired. As for comms I have a decent capability but plan on listening more than talking
Suburban Detroit generalist. My main point of interest in coms is maintaining contact with my son in any event ( amongst other family and close friends). Eastpointe to royal oak is about 10 miles. Super novice just starting to reach out and learn.
Along with GMRS and Ham consider adding Shortwave radio to your Coms plan...
Good stuff man
I like to think of things in order of precedence of what's required to live:
1. Always water
2. Always food
Top two are nonnegotiable because without those two nothing else matters. Start with a 72hr supply and gradually build it out from there. The goal should be 30 days.
3/4. shelter and security (firearms) can be flip flopped depending on the environment.
5+ will be things like med/comms/transportation etc. In my opinion, things in the 5+ range are debatable and situationally dependent.
Get some.
Everyone I've talked to locally knows that comms is important, but they don't put any effort into getting licensed and practicing. All they do is buy a Baofeng and keep on practicing their rifle drills. It will never change.
Need a good Multi channel radio.
Like, AM/FM, SHORTWAVE, MARINE, AIRCRAFT ECT.
REMEMBER, with Shortwave radio, you need to run a Long wire (10-30 foot) to receive anything.
Not necessarily. The telescopic antennas on portable short wave radios are quite decent, and in certain environments they perform better than wire because wire enhaces rf noise.
The jsh call. That's something I can start listening in on? Could you point me to where I can start with that?... Thanks for all the info. Your new feeds are awesome.
As a door kicker we can't do our job without news and good Intel. From my experience a good radio operator is worth more than a handful of trigger pullers. We all have our roles find your's and do it well.
Thank you S2 for talking to us, we appreciate your intelligence, and sharing what you know and love. Is the best way to stay connected through ghost net? And where do you get the info you put on the wire? I really appreciate getting to hear the straight dope and would like to gather info for my family, I just don’t know where to get it from😀
🎶 I’m so wrone-wreee, so wrone-wreee 🎶
🔥
Communications, Fire Power, Mobilty.
Lawyers, Guns amd money!!!
Hope you find a solid community 🙏
I don’t have anyone to talk to!
My family is unaware unbelievers and I have always built my life on being independent.
I’m not a joiner.
Shitf will be a solo event for me.
I can only prepare for myself.
I will have to depend on others for information I guess.
Even a scanner to hear what is going on when the shtf
Your videos are so easy to listen too keep grinding bro for us 💪
On top of tithing %10 to church on a sub $70k a year I want to devote %12 to savings and within there I try to use risk matrix vs. permanent durable and expendable supply categories.