00:00:00.000 –> 00:00:03.000
Folks, hit the download button.
00:00:03.000 –> 00:00:05.000
Survivalist Podcast.
00:00:05.000 –> 00:00:12.000
And as always folks, you can catch all of our old shows at soundcloud.com/survivalistpodcast
00:00:12.000 –> 00:00:16.000
and all places where fine podcasts are available.
00:00:16.000 –> 00:00:24.000
Also too folks as well, don’t forget about, we have a website now, survivalistpodcast.org
00:00:24.000 –> 00:00:28.000
and you can catch all of our old episodes if it’s easier for you to go into SoundCloud.
00:00:28.000 –> 00:00:33.000
And also too, the other thing that’s nice is I do, I’m going to talk about this in a minute,
00:00:33.000 –> 00:00:38.000
but we do videos and stuff like that and they’re all up there so they’re easier to find now.
00:00:38.000 –> 00:00:43.000
They’re all indexed and all that. So again, survivalistpodcast.org.
00:00:43.000 –> 00:00:51.000
And like I said folks, I am trying to do a weekly vlog video where I kind of take you outside,
00:00:51.000 –> 00:00:56.000
walk around the property, take you to places, my favorite places to go up here in the mountains,
00:00:56.000 –> 00:01:00.000
places I like to hang out, good outdoor spots, things like that.
00:01:00.000 –> 00:01:08.000
So I recently last weekend got a GoPro camera on one of the, and I’m having a good time with it.
00:01:08.000 –> 00:01:12.000
A lot of them, I’m able to do HD, 4K, 2K, stuff like that.
00:01:12.000 –> 00:01:16.000
So I’m having a fun time with it and I’m also working on the YouTube channel as well now.
00:01:16.000 –> 00:01:22.000
So what we’re going to do is I’m going to try to do like a weekly vlog video and then do the weekly podcast.
00:01:22.000 –> 00:01:28.000
So I’m having fun with it, really a lot of fun. I just got a tripod for it the other day so I can maybe sit and talk to it.
00:01:28.000 –> 00:01:34.000
I do have the GoPro stick, the one that comes with the device that you hold it up and you talk to it.
00:01:34.000 –> 00:01:40.000
But that gets your arm tired after a while. And if I want to put it down too to talk directly to the camera,
00:01:40.000 –> 00:01:47.000
it’s a little more complicated. But I do want to say that I do have it and I am working on the, like I said,
00:01:47.000 –> 00:01:53.000
YouTube channel. And like I said, if you go to survivalistpodcast.org, there’s a link right there for the YouTube.
00:01:53.000 –> 00:01:58.000
You can go right to that. Also to our Facebook, facebook.com/survivalistpodcast.
00:01:58.000 –> 00:02:03.000
I was about 600 or 700 of you guys already liked the page. I appreciate that. Please keep it coming if you can.
00:02:03.000 –> 00:02:08.000
And my Twitter, KB3YUA, my call sign.
00:02:08.000 –> 00:02:14.000
So folks, one of the things I do want to talk about since we are talking about, you know, I want to talk about ham radio a little bit today.
00:02:14.000 –> 00:02:25.000
But I got to get into the news first before we do anything. It’s just been, it’s been a really tough week.
00:02:25.000 –> 00:02:29.000
The other day, the sounds you’re hearing in the background is Opiate of Underdog.
00:02:29.000 –> 00:02:34.000
He’s apparently digging for, I believe, a bone underneath a piece of furniture.
00:02:34.000 –> 00:02:39.000
But on the news today, folks, well yesterday, the other day, whatever you want to call it,
00:02:39.000 –> 00:02:45.000
they’re talking about we are going to be in the, going to be in a recession by 2023.
00:02:45.000 –> 00:02:53.000
And what’s sad to me about that is, you know, having somebody who had lived through the 90s, lived through the millennium,
00:02:53.000 –> 00:02:59.000
and then obviously till now, you know, you’re seeing the exact same, you know, the old saying,
00:02:59.000 –> 00:03:03.000
those that don’t know the past are destined to repeat it.
00:03:03.000 –> 00:03:12.000
And we’re doing the same thing again that we did in 2008, and the cycle just continues with these people up in Washington.
00:03:12.000 –> 00:03:20.000
So, you know, the last time that we went through the recession in 2008, it all started because of the war and the gas.
00:03:20.000 –> 00:03:25.000
The war started in Afghanistan. The gas prices skyrocketed.
00:03:25.000 –> 00:03:35.000
And, you know, then of course, you know, the housing market boomed, and then, you know, the recession happened not too long after that.
00:03:35.000 –> 00:03:40.000
So, you know, we’re kind of seeing the same thing again here, folks.
00:03:40.000 –> 00:03:45.000
It’s, you know, the same situation. We had, well, maybe not the war, but well, we had COVID,
00:03:45.000 –> 00:03:48.000
and we do have a war over in Ukraine going on now.
00:03:48.000 –> 00:03:56.000
Gas prices went up. Cost of food went up. You know, cost of everything went up. Cost of inflation went up.
00:03:56.000 –> 00:04:01.000
The housing market was booming, and then all of a sudden everything, you know, tanked.
00:04:01.000 –> 00:04:07.000
So, kind of the same situation here. The gas prices went up. Now the food prices have all gone up.
00:04:07.000 –> 00:04:12.000
You know, there’s just so many things that it’s just the same pattern as 2008,
00:04:12.000 –> 00:04:16.000
and it’s really sad that these people up in Washington can’t really figure this crap out.
00:04:16.000 –> 00:04:24.000
It’s really unbelievable. You know, like I said, the inflation, the inflation, they seem to go up 10%.
00:04:24.000 –> 00:04:30.000
And, you know, people are getting 4, 2, 3, 4% increases, and that’s just not enough.
00:04:30.000 –> 00:04:35.000
And, you know, we’re going to be in another bad situation again soon, you know.
00:04:35.000 –> 00:04:40.000
Like I said, this is all, they’re saying that we’re going to be in a recession by 2023.
00:04:40.000 –> 00:04:51.000
I think we’re getting close to it, if not already in it, or starting to get in it, whatever you want to say.
00:04:51.000 –> 00:04:56.000
But, you know, it’s like I said, it’s the same thing. The gas prices went up. The food prices had to go up.
00:04:56.000 –> 00:05:02.000
And what’s making it even worse this time is the supply chain issue, which is driving the price of everything up.
00:05:02.000 –> 00:05:07.000
So, you know, not only do you have the gas prices driving it up like you did in 2008,
00:05:07.000 –> 00:05:11.000
but now you have the fuel price, you know, the supply chain shortage driving it up.
00:05:11.000 –> 00:05:21.000
So, it’s pretty, it’s not in a good situation. You know, 9.1% inflation is the highest inflation that America has ever seen.
00:05:21.000 –> 00:05:25.000
And that’s what it is right now, I believe. And we’re not going to, it doesn’t look like we’re going to go up.
00:05:25.000 –> 00:05:29.000
You know, it just looks like it’s going to keep going up.
00:05:29.000 –> 00:05:34.000
Unemployment is up, they’re saying now, which is crazy.
00:05:34.000 –> 00:05:42.000
And you can tell things are starting to turn around because this hiring boom that we have is, you see it’s starting to slow down a little bit.
00:05:42.000 –> 00:05:45.000
And it really is. I know a lot of people are saying, what am I talking about?
00:05:45.000 –> 00:05:55.000
But companies like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, a lot of these big tech companies now are putting hiring freezes on
00:05:55.000 –> 00:06:02.000
because they don’t want to hire any more people right now because they’re concerned about what’s going on with the economy.
00:06:02.000 –> 00:06:08.000
So, the hiring boom that was in the tech industry and in some of the other industries are starting to slow a little bit.
00:06:08.000 –> 00:06:12.000
You know, maybe not slow, but they’re freezing hiring.
00:06:12.000 –> 00:06:19.000
And basically what you do when you freeze hiring is an easy way of, what they do, this is basically an easy way of saying,
00:06:19.000 –> 00:06:25.000
okay, we know we’re going to have to lay people off probably. So, what we’ll do with a hiring freeze is as people leave, we don’t replace them.
00:06:25.000 –> 00:06:29.000
And then this way, we do have to lay off, it’s less people.
00:06:29.000 –> 00:06:33.000
It actually is a really smart move by these companies.
00:06:33.000 –> 00:06:39.000
But like I said, you have people like I said, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, all these big tech giants,
00:06:39.000 –> 00:06:46.000
conglomerates that were hiring as many people as they could, now are freezing their hiring.
00:06:46.000 –> 00:06:54.000
So, that’s scary. That just shows you that the whole worker boom thing is starting to slow down.
00:06:54.000 –> 00:07:02.000
I think you saw your other jobs, like laborers and stuff like that, and your hospitality workers, stuff like that.
00:07:02.000 –> 00:07:04.000
I think you’re still going to see a worker shortage there.
00:07:04.000 –> 00:07:07.000
It kind of goes along with the supply chain shortage, I guess.
00:07:07.000 –> 00:07:16.000
But a lot of your big office jobs are starting to slow down, and that’s really scary.
00:07:16.000 –> 00:07:21.000
The interest rates are going up a lot. I don’t know why. They’re saying that’s the way they fight inflation.
00:07:21.000 –> 00:07:28.000
That makes absolutely no sense to me. So, it’s just a situation right now that’s scary.
00:07:28.000 –> 00:07:35.000
As somebody who lived through the 2008 recession, I was very, very lucky to have a job during the recession.
00:07:35.000 –> 00:07:39.000
I remember a lot of friends of mine that didn’t have jobs, a lot of people on unemployment.
00:07:39.000 –> 00:07:45.000
A lot of people like myself that had jobs, but were not getting increases for years on end,
00:07:45.000 –> 00:07:50.000
because the companies couldn’t afford it. So, it’s a very scary time.
00:07:50.000 –> 00:07:54.000
I think part of the problem with this, the reason why this is happening, and believe me,
00:07:54.000 –> 00:08:03.000
as somebody who knows a little bit about the way the economy works,
00:08:03.000 –> 00:08:06.000
I’m by far not an expert, but I can understand how it works.
00:08:06.000 –> 00:08:12.000
Part of the problem is that they pumped the country up during COVID with all the stimulus money.
00:08:12.000 –> 00:08:18.000
A lot of people said if they did that, this was a possibility that this could happen.
00:08:18.000 –> 00:08:24.000
They had to, to keep the economy from crashing, but this is going to be the fallout from it.
00:08:24.000 –> 00:08:27.000
I think this is how COVID, they say long-term COVID.
00:08:27.000 –> 00:08:32.000
Well, I think this is the long-term effects of COVID as far as our economy goes.
00:08:32.000 –> 00:08:40.000
You know, if we prop the economy up for so long during COVID, and now we got to pay the piper sometime.
00:08:40.000 –> 00:08:45.000
By the way, folks, just want to let you know, I’m drinking.
00:08:45.000 –> 00:08:49.000
Obviously, it’s audio, you can’t see anything, but I’m drinking coffee right now.
00:08:49.000 –> 00:08:52.000
This is that Black Rifle Coffee.
00:08:52.000 –> 00:08:57.000
I know there’s been a little controversy about those guys and everything because of the name and Dallas Cowboys and all,
00:08:57.000 –> 00:08:58.000
but I’m not going to get into that.
00:08:58.000 –> 00:09:03.000
I think that’s, but anyway, they’re a veteran-supported company, and I’m trying to support these guys.
00:09:03.000 –> 00:09:06.000
So Black Rifle Coffee, they are not a sponsor or anything like that.
00:09:06.000 –> 00:09:10.000
They’re just a great, I have a huge spot in my heart for our veterans,
00:09:10.000 –> 00:09:16.000
and they really try to support our vets and do a lot of charity work and some of that to help our veterans, VA and all that kind of stuff.
00:09:16.000 –> 00:09:21.000
So if you can’t support these guys, they’re doing a lot for our vets, and I really appreciate that.
00:09:21.000 –> 00:09:28.000
But like I said, getting back to that, though, it is, like I said, this is kind of,
00:09:28.000 –> 00:09:35.000
I think this is the fallout from our, from the stimulus packages.
00:09:35.000 –> 00:09:37.000
And I’m not saying we didn’t need this, but I’m not saying that.
00:09:37.000 –> 00:09:44.000
But I do think that this is the fallout from it, and I think you’re going to see,
00:09:44.000 –> 00:09:47.000
this is going to be kind of the long-term effects now from COVID.
00:09:47.000 –> 00:09:54.000
We’re going to be seeing as far as our economy goes, where things are going to be a little bit tougher, a little bit,
00:09:54.000 –> 00:09:57.000
you know, people are going to have some harder times coming up ahead of them.
00:09:57.000 –> 00:10:01.000
You know, people are already feeling the pinch, and we have, like I said, we have,
00:10:01.000 –> 00:10:07.000
the podcasts I talked about, we have a government that’s not really working for the people.
00:10:07.000 –> 00:10:11.000
And, you know, it’s just, it’s one of those things where it’s unfortunate,
00:10:11.000 –> 00:10:15.000
but American people are going to be the ones that pay the price for the people up in Washington.
00:10:15.000 –> 00:10:19.000
And this whole war going on in Ukraine, what it’s costing Americans.
00:10:19.000 –> 00:10:23.000
Thank goodness we got out of Iraq. I mean, I wasn’t all for us leaving Afghanistan,
00:10:23.000 –> 00:10:28.000
because I felt that, you know, all that, my generation was the Afghanistan-Iraq War,
00:10:28.000 –> 00:10:32.000
and I feel a lot of those people died from nothing because of this.
00:10:32.000 –> 00:10:37.000
But anyway, long story short with that, you know, the, well, I mean, not long story short,
00:10:37.000 –> 00:10:41.000
I mean, a lot of my friends died over there during the war, and then to leave,
00:10:41.000 –> 00:10:45.000
and then one day of 17 years of work just gets turned around, I just,
00:10:45.000 –> 00:10:49.000
but it’s kind of a good thing we did get out, because look at what this Ukraine war is costing us,
00:10:49.000 –> 00:10:52.000
and we would have had both that and Afghanistan going on at the same time.
00:10:52.000 –> 00:11:01.000
And I think possibly, looking at it now, I think that’s one of the reasons why President Trump and President Biden,
00:11:01.000 –> 00:11:05.000
possibly, especially with Trump, because he started it, but Biden finished it,
00:11:05.000 –> 00:11:10.000
the why they started maybe pulling out of Afghanistan,
00:11:10.000 –> 00:11:16.000
because I think they kind of understood that, you know, they probably had intel that Putin was going to attack,
00:11:16.000 –> 00:11:20.000
and they were like, well, we can’t really financially support both wars at once,
00:11:20.000 –> 00:11:26.000
so let’s pull out. I think that might have been part of it. I’m not, I don’t know, that’s just speculation,
00:11:26.000 –> 00:11:32.000
but I think that could be a good reason why they pulled out as quickly, you know, pulled out,
00:11:32.000 –> 00:11:36.000
because, I mean, it really was, you know, imagine having both of those wars,
00:11:36.000 –> 00:11:41.000
how many billions would be pumping in Afghanistan, and all that kind of stuff, and, you know,
00:11:41.000 –> 00:11:44.000
imagine doing that with both of these countries now.
00:11:44.000 –> 00:11:53.000
So it definitely was something I think that we, you know, that maybe we had to do, because we knew this was coming.
00:11:53.000 –> 00:11:57.000
So, it’s unfortunate, like I said, a lot of people were over there, a lot of people lost their lives over there,
00:11:57.000 –> 00:12:05.000
but, you know, it’s really unfortunate, but, you know, we’re doing everything we can right now not to get involved.
00:12:05.000 –> 00:12:08.000
Well, we are involved, but we’re trying not to go in there.
00:12:08.000 –> 00:12:11.000
We’re letting Ukraine kind of fight the wrong war, we’re just assisting them.
00:12:11.000 –> 00:12:17.000
So, you know, we’re trying not to get involved, I guess to a certain degree, but we are involved,
00:12:17.000 –> 00:12:20.000
but I don’t think we want, we don’t have any boots on the ground there yet.
00:12:20.000 –> 00:12:25.000
I really think that we’re trying to avoid that so there’s not another major war,
00:12:25.000 –> 00:12:31.000
even though we are spending what we spent over in Afghanistan, but at least we’re not losing our soldiers over this.
00:12:31.000 –> 00:12:38.000
So, like I said, that, you know, that’s going on, you know, and that could be, you know, that’s attributed to a lot of things,
00:12:38.000 –> 00:12:46.000
and, you know, they’re trying to get these gas prices to have come down, but unfortunately the stock market had to crash for the gas prices to go down,
00:12:46.000 –> 00:12:51.000
so the stock market does start going up, which last time ever, the recession in 2008,
00:12:51.000 –> 00:12:56.000
the first time it started with the stock market going down, and then next, you know, it’s just crazy, you know,
00:12:56.000 –> 00:13:02.000
it’s just, you know, like I said, those that don’t read history are destined to repeat, and that’s kind of what we’re doing.
00:13:02.000 –> 00:13:07.000
And, you know, it’s the same thing, you know, in the 80s we had an issue with the economy, you know,
00:13:07.000 –> 00:13:14.000
and then in the 90s it boomed again, you know, it’s, we go through these cycles, and like I said, those that, you know,
00:13:14.000 –> 00:13:21.000
don’t read history are destined to repeat it, and that’s exactly what’s going on again, so, but, you know,
00:13:21.000 –> 00:13:28.000
like I said, if you, you know, if you do have a job, you know, maybe it’s a good time to maybe think about, you know,
00:13:28.000 –> 00:13:33.000
preparing yourself financially, maybe pay off some bills while you, you know, maybe start putting some money away,
00:13:33.000 –> 00:13:41.000
there’s things you can do to try to help cushion yourself, but, you know, it’s a tough thing, like I said,
00:13:41.000 –> 00:13:45.000
especially putting money away, trying to cut some expenses, things like that right now, so you can,
00:13:45.000 –> 00:13:51.000
or maybe cut expenses now so you can put some money away in case of, there’s definitely things you can do now
00:13:51.000 –> 00:13:58.000
to start getting ready, maybe it won’t help, you know, maybe it won’t do the best for you, but it’ll at least help you
00:13:58.000 –> 00:14:04.000
be more prepared, again, more prepared, like we always talk about, like I said, if you cut some expenses,
00:14:04.000 –> 00:14:09.000
maybe put some extra money away, even if it’s only $20 a week, you know, start putting some money away right now
00:14:09.000 –> 00:14:14.000
so in case things do, you know, in case things do hit the crapper even worse, you have some savings,
00:14:14.000 –> 00:14:22.000
like I said, cut expenses, cut unnecessary, cutting unnecessary expenses is tough sometimes depending on the person,
00:14:22.000 –> 00:14:28.000
but like I said, putting money away, definitely trying to, you know, do, there’s a lot of things you can do to try to
00:14:28.000 –> 00:14:34.000
put a little money away in your nest egg so in case something does happen, you have a little cushion,
00:14:34.000 –> 00:14:39.000
and that’s a tough thing to do, I know it’s very hard to do sometimes, but with everything going on right now,
00:14:39.000 –> 00:14:46.000
it might be best if we all just kind of maybe put a little money aside, you know, to kind of, especially with everything going on,
00:14:46.000 –> 00:14:51.000
to kind of be prepared, because I do think it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
00:14:51.000 –> 00:14:59.000
I hate saying that, but I think this is the truth and that’s unfortunate, so, but like I said, start putting money away if you can,
00:14:59.000 –> 00:15:07.000
you know, start, you know, start cutting expenses, you know, start, you know, it’s all you can do, you know,
00:15:07.000 –> 00:15:15.000
if you, it’s a shame, but, you know, fortunately the only people that suffer is the American people and unfortunately the people in Washington don’t care,
00:15:15.000 –> 00:15:21.000
so all you can do is be, you know, live life better by being more prepared.
00:15:21.000 –> 00:15:26.000
So one thing I do want to get into is talking about ham radio.
00:15:26.000 –> 00:15:31.000
One of the reasons why I want to talk about this, and I know a lot of people talk about ham radio a lot,
00:15:31.000 –> 00:15:39.000
excuse me, this coffee’s amazing by the way, I should get them as a sponsor, I don’t know why, I should, if they would,
00:15:39.000 –> 00:15:46.000
I don’t even know if they would, they probably don’t care, but I know they sponsor Rogan’s show, I think they sponsor two or three other shows,
00:15:46.000 –> 00:15:53.000
they have their own podcast too, so, but anyway, I want to talk about ham radio a little bit, so a lot of people say to me,
00:15:53.000 –> 00:16:02.000
well why ham radio, why ham radio, you know, we have cell phones, I think really the main reason why I got into ham radio and got my license was because,
00:16:02.000 –> 00:16:10.000
I really, you know, it was one of those things I got that I thought I was never going to use and surprisingly have used it a few times,
00:16:10.000 –> 00:16:18.000
especially with, so we had hurricanes up here, cell phones weren’t working, the landlines were kind of working,
00:16:18.000 –> 00:16:27.000
and having the ham radio was really great, I was able to, you know, reach out to friends and stuff like that,
00:16:27.000 –> 00:16:36.000
get weather updates, things of that nature, so again, it’s a thing you get that you don’t, at the beginning maybe you don’t think you’re going to need,
00:16:36.000 –> 00:16:47.000
but it actually comes pretty handy as somebody who’s a prepper, so I’m really surprised how much I actually used it,
00:16:47.000 –> 00:16:53.000
how much I actually like it, and I know people say to me all the time, you know, well, you know, you have cell phones,
00:16:53.000 –> 00:16:58.000
well, you can also get fish at the market, but we also go fishing, you can get chop meat at the market, but we also go hunting,
00:16:58.000 –> 00:17:07.000
so, you know, it is one of those things that if you are somebody who’s a prepper, you know, there may become a time,
00:17:07.000 –> 00:17:13.000
especially in an emergency where, and we had it up here with Sandy, we had it up here with the big ice storm we had a bunch of years ago,
00:17:13.000 –> 00:17:18.000
that was about four years ago, my daughter was born around that time, you know, the cell phones weren’t working,
00:17:18.000 –> 00:17:24.000
and it was nice to be, you know, we didn’t have electric, and it was nice to be able to run a battery with my ham radio,
00:17:24.000 –> 00:17:29.000
and be able to get weather updates, cop the business in an emergency, you know, I was able to call out,
00:17:29.000 –> 00:17:36.000
I was able to kind of know what’s going on, was able to help people, I had a couple people that called in that were stranded,
00:17:36.000 –> 00:17:41.000
that needed somebody to call somebody or get a hold of somebody, luckily enough the landline was working,
00:17:41.000 –> 00:17:47.000
so I was able to call, and, you know, there was a lot of, it surprisingly is very, very handy.
00:17:47.000 –> 00:17:53.000
With ham radio there’s a couple things you need to know, so you do need a license to run a ham radio,
00:17:53.000 –> 00:17:59.000
and one of the things about ham radio is that there’s a couple, I’m actually a general class of service,
00:17:59.000 –> 00:18:05.000
and that’s kind of where I stopped, there is an extra class, I don’t particularly worry about the extra class,
00:18:05.000 –> 00:18:14.000
because I just don’t, there’s not, I mean, you do get more bands with it, but I guess with what I use it for, the general’s enough,
00:18:14.000 –> 00:18:20.000
so with ham radio you have the technical class, which will get you on what they call the 2 meter,
00:18:20.000 –> 00:18:25.000
and then what you have is a general class, which gets you on the lines where you can talk all over the world,
00:18:25.000 –> 00:18:29.000
depending on what you want to do, I would recommend probably getting the general class if you’re up to it,
00:18:29.000 –> 00:18:34.000
I mean it’s very cheap to get your license, I think it’s like 18 bucks to take your tests,
00:18:34.000 –> 00:18:40.000
you take the 18 and then you take the, I think you take the technician first and the general,
00:18:40.000 –> 00:18:45.000
you can take them both at the same time if you were feeling daring, but what’s really neat about this is,
00:18:45.000 –> 00:18:50.000
the 2 meter is, like you said, your local stuff here, which is one I really mostly use,
00:18:50.000 –> 00:18:57.000
where you’re able to talk to the local ham radio guys, talk to the local emergency centers, stuff like that,
00:18:57.000 –> 00:19:01.000
and that’s the 2 meter band, and then when you get out to your general class service,
00:19:01.000 –> 00:19:08.000
you get what they call the 20, the 40, 10 meter, stuff like that, and that’s the stuff where you can talk all over the world,
00:19:08.000 –> 00:19:14.000
you can talk to anybody from all different countries, I’ve talked to people all over the place.
00:19:14.000 –> 00:19:20.000
And one of the neat things about that is, is when you really think about radios,
00:19:20.000 –> 00:19:24.000
especially in this day and age, I mean how many emergency responders all that use radios,
00:19:24.000 –> 00:19:32.000
because you can send something over the air, even if there’s no wire, so that’s kind of why,
00:19:32.000 –> 00:19:40.000
when you think about how radio is really used, at the end of the day, if the phones aren’t working,
00:19:40.000 –> 00:19:45.000
and all that kind of stuff, this will still work, because it doesn’t need lines to work, it just goes through the air.
00:19:45.000 –> 00:19:51.000
So, like I said, the 2 meter stuff is your local stuff. Again, I know a lot of people say,
00:19:51.000 –> 00:19:56.000
“Well, that equipment’s expensive.” Well, anything can be expensive, depending on how much you want to do.
00:19:56.000 –> 00:20:02.000
If you just want to get your license and get on the air, you can get a very cheap 2 meter radio,
00:20:02.000 –> 00:20:08.000
you can buy them for like $150, and you hook it up to a J-Pole, which you can make out of copper,
00:20:08.000 –> 00:20:17.000
or you can buy one online for $50, and you connect coax cable to both of them, and that’s it, you’re on the air.
00:20:17.000 –> 00:20:22.000
It’s really that easy, it really is, if you don’t want to spend a lot of money on antennas,
00:20:22.000 –> 00:20:30.000
you can string up some wire, and what they call “get a tuner”, and tune, and that’s it, and you can get right on the air.
00:20:30.000 –> 00:20:36.000
Now, if you are going to be doing stuff like where you want to talk to other countries and stuff like that,
00:20:36.000 –> 00:20:39.000
you’re going to need general class service, and that equipment is going to be a little more expensive.
00:20:39.000 –> 00:20:45.000
You’re going to need probably an antenna, a J-Pole, or a Yagi, or one of those kinds of things.
00:20:45.000 –> 00:20:50.000
And you’re going to need a little more expensive radio, those radios are going to be probably $300, $400, $500.
00:20:50.000 –> 00:20:56.000
But it really depends on what you think. Like I said, I like talking to other countries,
00:20:56.000 –> 00:21:00.000
and I like talking to, mostly I talk to people in the United States, but I like talking to people down south,
00:21:00.000 –> 00:21:06.000
and on the other coast, and stuff like that. It is a lot of fun. I do enjoy it.
00:21:06.000 –> 00:21:12.000
I’m not on as much as I used to be, because I just don’t have the time with my wife, my family, doing this stuff, my job, and stuff like that.
00:21:12.000 –> 00:21:19.000
But I am really glad I have it, because like I said, I’m not going to lie, most of my stuff is sitting in a box right now,
00:21:19.000 –> 00:21:26.000
but the last time we had a major storm, I did hook everything up just to make sure it worked in case I needed it.
00:21:26.000 –> 00:21:31.000
And again, it could be that thing you do, you get it, and then you leave it there,
00:21:31.000 –> 00:21:36.000
and maybe you only use it when you think it’s going to be a big storm or a big emergency.
00:21:36.000 –> 00:21:40.000
It’s not something you have to set up all the time, and “Oh, I’m ready to go, I’m ready to go.”
00:21:40.000 –> 00:21:47.000
But it is something to have, it is something to use, and if you are a prepper,
00:21:47.000 –> 00:21:52.000
it is something you really, you know, communication is a big thing that we always talk about,
00:21:52.000 –> 00:21:56.000
that you’re going to need communication with people.
00:21:56.000 –> 00:22:04.000
That is something that is really useful, because you can talk to people, get the word out, find out what’s going on.
00:22:04.000 –> 00:22:08.000
Even if there’s no cell phones, no landlines, no internet.
00:22:08.000 –> 00:22:14.000
So it is, like I said, I definitely would recommend it. Like I said, it doesn’t have to be an expensive hobby.
00:22:14.000 –> 00:22:20.000
It’s something you can get, and it doesn’t have to be expensive.
00:22:20.000 –> 00:22:26.000
It’s something you can keep and kind of just, you know, maybe just hang on to it in case of kind of thing.
00:22:26.000 –> 00:22:29.000
But like I said, you will definitely want to get your license.
00:22:29.000 –> 00:22:32.000
Like I said, you have technician in general are the two majors.
00:22:32.000 –> 00:22:35.000
You have extra class if you really want to get involved with it,
00:22:35.000 –> 00:22:40.000
but you don’t have to, technician or general should be enough.
00:22:40.000 –> 00:22:43.000
I say general, it really depends on who you want to talk to.
00:22:43.000 –> 00:22:46.000
But the big thing about that, the other reason I’m bringing up ham radio is obviously,
00:22:46.000 –> 00:22:52.000
of course, the big thing with that is of course CW, or as you know it as Morris Code,
00:22:52.000 –> 00:22:54.000
which is obviously dots and dashes.
00:22:54.000 –> 00:23:00.000
And surprisingly enough, that’s a very, very popular thing to do on ham radio.
00:23:00.000 –> 00:23:06.000
A lot of guys, you know, work that, and that is something that you think about.
00:23:06.000 –> 00:23:12.000
Even if you can’t get verbal communication to somebody, usually Morris Code works as dots and dashes.
00:23:12.000 –> 00:23:18.000
So I always recommend anyway that if you want to learn something that you think you could really, really use,
00:23:18.000 –> 00:23:21.000
Morris Code is something that is not hard to learn.
00:23:21.000 –> 00:23:23.000
And just learn Morris Code.
00:23:23.000 –> 00:23:27.000
Even if you’re not a ham radio person, just learn Morris Code,
00:23:27.000 –> 00:23:30.000
because it’s something that can really save your life in a pinch.
00:23:30.000 –> 00:23:40.000
It has been featured, it was featured on, I’ll try to name it, it was with Chris O’Donnell, Vertical Limit.
00:23:40.000 –> 00:23:47.000
His sister couldn’t talk to him via the radio, so he just starts clicking with the hand thing.
00:23:47.000 –> 00:23:50.000
And she starts clicking back, and they use it.
00:23:50.000 –> 00:23:52.000
It was featured in MacGyver a bunch of times.
00:23:52.000 –> 00:23:55.000
It was featured, I think, in Cast Away.
00:23:55.000 –> 00:23:59.000
It was featured in a lot of movies, so it is something really important to learn.
00:23:59.000 –> 00:24:04.000
Even if you don’t plan on getting your ham radio license, I seriously suggest you learn how to do Morris Code,
00:24:04.000 –> 00:24:07.000
because that is something that even if you’re not a ham radio operator,
00:24:07.000 –> 00:24:11.000
you could use down the road for anything.
00:24:11.000 –> 00:24:18.000
There are videos of people, even just people that were trapped underneath a building that collapsed,
00:24:18.000 –> 00:24:22.000
where they’re tapping Morris Code on the pipes, and somebody recognizes what it is,
00:24:22.000 –> 00:24:24.000
and they’re able to go down and get the people.
00:24:24.000 –> 00:24:28.000
So, again, very important, they used it up here recently,
00:24:28.000 –> 00:24:30.000
Morris Code was actually in the news up here,
00:24:30.000 –> 00:24:33.000
because when they had that coal miner collapse a bunch of years ago,
00:24:33.000 –> 00:24:34.000
that’s actually how they were communicating.
00:24:34.000 –> 00:24:37.000
One of the guys at the bottom was a ham radio operator,
00:24:37.000 –> 00:24:41.000
and he would tap with somebody up there so they could communicate back and forth.
00:24:41.000 –> 00:24:44.000
So, again, even if you’re not a ham radio operator,
00:24:44.000 –> 00:24:48.000
Morris Code is something I seriously recommend any prep or learn,
00:24:48.000 –> 00:24:53.000
because it is something that can be very useful and could save your life.
00:24:53.000 –> 00:24:57.000
It’s not hard, like I said, it’s just the alphabet A through Z, and then there’s five.
00:24:57.000 –> 00:25:02.000
Everything has dots and dashes. It’s a very, very simple basic alphabet.
00:25:02.000 –> 00:25:05.000
One thing I did not know, my mother told me,
00:25:05.000 –> 00:25:09.000
my mother one time, I was doing Morris Code with a friend of mine on a ham radio,
00:25:09.000 –> 00:25:12.000
my mother started talking to me, she understood what I was doing,
00:25:12.000 –> 00:25:16.000
and I had said to her, she had said when she was younger,
00:25:16.000 –> 00:25:19.000
that they actually taught that in schools.
00:25:19.000 –> 00:25:23.000
It was part of your health class or whatever kind of class it was.
00:25:23.000 –> 00:25:25.000
They actually used to teach it in school.
00:25:25.000 –> 00:25:28.000
Obviously, they don’t teach it anymore now, but my mother said in her day,
00:25:28.000 –> 00:25:30.000
and my father said the same thing,
00:25:30.000 –> 00:25:34.000
that in their day that they actually taught that.
00:25:34.000 –> 00:25:36.000
That was actually something you got taught in school.
00:25:36.000 –> 00:25:40.000
You had to learn Morris Code as part of the whole curriculum.
00:25:40.000 –> 00:25:42.000
I think it’s a shame that that’s something they took out,
00:25:42.000 –> 00:25:44.000
because that’s something I think everybody should know.
00:25:44.000 –> 00:25:49.000
It is actually very important and really has saved a lot of lives over the years.
00:25:49.000 –> 00:25:56.000
So I really, really hope that, you know, I really wish that they would put it back.
00:25:56.000 –> 00:26:00.000
Also, too, if you want to know how to learn Morris Code,
00:26:00.000 –> 00:26:02.000
even if you don’t want to do ham radio,
00:26:02.000 –> 00:26:07.000
there are tons of apps on the iPhone, iPad, and Android
00:26:07.000 –> 00:26:11.000
that can teach you where you actually can either type it out
00:26:11.000 –> 00:26:13.000
or they’ll actually play sounds to you,
00:26:13.000 –> 00:26:17.000
and then you have to write back or figure out what they said.
00:26:17.000 –> 00:26:22.000
A lot of the training apps are very, very good on Android and iOS.
00:26:22.000 –> 00:26:25.000
So I really recommend, like I said, if you want to learn it, you can get an app.
00:26:25.000 –> 00:26:27.000
You can take five, ten minutes a day.
00:26:27.000 –> 00:26:29.000
It’s just basically just like you, you know, and I’ve said to people all the time,
00:26:29.000 –> 00:26:33.000
if you can take five, ten minutes to do Rosetta Stone to learn a language,
00:26:33.000 –> 00:26:35.000
you can learn this language.
00:26:35.000 –> 00:26:37.000
And that’s something, too, I want to point out, too.
00:26:37.000 –> 00:26:41.000
Something that’s interesting is my wife and I were just talking about the other day
00:26:41.000 –> 00:26:43.000
about our daughter.
00:26:43.000 –> 00:26:48.000
My wife has a niece that was born deaf, and languages–
00:26:48.000 –> 00:26:50.000
Morris Code, obviously, is its own thing,
00:26:50.000 –> 00:26:54.000
but, you know, that’s one thing they don’t teach is sign language in school,
00:26:54.000 –> 00:26:55.000
which I think is a shame.
00:26:55.000 –> 00:26:57.000
There’s a lot of deaf people in this world,
00:26:57.000 –> 00:27:02.000
and I really think that that’s something they really should be offering in schools.
00:27:02.000 –> 00:27:05.000
You know, they offer French, Spanish, all those kind of things,
00:27:05.000 –> 00:27:07.000
but they don’t offer sign language.
00:27:07.000 –> 00:27:10.000
And I think that’s a really shame because it is a recognized language,
00:27:10.000 –> 00:27:15.000
and they don’t teach it in schools, and I really think that’s very sad
00:27:15.000 –> 00:27:17.000
because it is a recognized language.
00:27:17.000 –> 00:27:20.000
A lot of people are deaf, and a lot of people want to learn it.
00:27:20.000 –> 00:27:22.000
My daughter was really upset, but we ended up finding an app online
00:27:22.000 –> 00:27:25.000
where she was actually taking it and learning it.
00:27:25.000 –> 00:27:27.000
But, again, big companies like Rosetta and things like that
00:27:27.000 –> 00:27:29.000
don’t offer sign language.
00:27:29.000 –> 00:27:31.000
They don’t offer Morris Code.
00:27:31.000 –> 00:27:34.000
And it’s a shame they only offer foreign languages, especially sign language,
00:27:34.000 –> 00:27:39.000
because that’s something that could really be useful, you know,
00:27:39.000 –> 00:27:41.000
in somebody’s day-to-day life.
00:27:41.000 –> 00:27:46.000
I know my wife isn’t fluent, but she’s fairly familiar with it.
00:27:46.000 –> 00:27:48.000
I’m not as fluent as I wish I was.
00:27:48.000 –> 00:27:51.000
I’ve learned a little bit from being around my wife,
00:27:51.000 –> 00:27:54.000
but that is something I think they should offer in school
00:27:54.000 –> 00:27:56.000
because that’s something that can be very useful.
00:27:56.000 –> 00:27:58.000
And especially in situations sometimes where you may have somebody
00:27:58.000 –> 00:28:00.000
that can’t hear you but they can see you,
00:28:00.000 –> 00:28:05.000
I really think it’s something that they should be offering,
00:28:05.000 –> 00:28:09.000
and I think it is something that really could be handy
00:28:09.000 –> 00:28:12.000
and that schools, I really think, should be required to offer.
00:28:12.000 –> 00:28:14.000
Now, obviously, schools do offer it.
00:28:14.000 –> 00:28:16.000
If you are deaf, schools do offer it to you,
00:28:16.000 –> 00:28:18.000
but they don’t just offer it to the regular person.
00:28:18.000 –> 00:28:20.000
I think that’s quite a shame, actually.
00:28:20.000 –> 00:28:25.000
But like I said, talking about–going back to Ham Radio, though,
00:28:25.000 –> 00:28:28.000
one thing I would like to talk about, though, is, like I said,
00:28:28.000 –> 00:28:31.000
you have–I recommend this for anybody, by the way,
00:28:31.000 –> 00:28:34.000
that if you want to get online, if you want to get online, on the air,
00:28:34.000 –> 00:28:36.000
and you do want to talk to other countries,
00:28:36.000 –> 00:28:38.000
there’s something called a Windham antenna,
00:28:38.000 –> 00:28:40.000
which is a long piece of wire.
00:28:40.000 –> 00:28:42.000
It’s 40 feet on one side and 80 on the other,
00:28:42.000 –> 00:28:45.000
and you hook it up, and the wire can go anywhere,
00:28:45.000 –> 00:28:47.000
hanging off your roof, hanging off your roof, hanging off your roof,
00:28:47.000 –> 00:28:50.000
and it’s going to be forever. And what it actually does is,
00:28:50.000 –> 00:28:52.000
it allows you to get on all the bands using one antenna.
00:28:52.000 –> 00:28:54.000
It’s called a Windham antenna. A friend of mine told me about this.
00:28:54.000 –> 00:28:57.000
I do have one on my roof. They’re not expensive.
00:28:57.000 –> 00:29:00.000
They’re less than $30, $40 online.
00:29:00.000 –> 00:29:03.000
Basically, it’s–and like I said, it’s really–
00:29:03.000 –> 00:29:05.000
if you want to start talking to other countries,
00:29:05.000 –> 00:29:07.000
and you want to talk on all the different bands,
00:29:07.000 –> 00:29:11.000
the general class of service, it’s a very cheap, affordable antenna.
00:29:11.000 –> 00:29:14.000
It’s not hundreds and hundreds of dollars.
00:29:14.000 –> 00:29:16.000
You just put it out on your roof.
00:29:16.000 –> 00:29:19.000
It is big, so you’re going to need to weave it around your roof.
00:29:19.000 –> 00:29:22.000
And you hook a piece of coax up to it, and then that’s it, man.
00:29:22.000 –> 00:29:25.000
You just use the tuner and whatever band you want to get on,
00:29:25.000 –> 00:29:28.000
that’s what you use, and you get out, and that’s it.
00:29:28.000 –> 00:29:32.000
It’s really cool, and it’s nice that you can have just one antenna,
00:29:32.000 –> 00:29:34.000
especially if you’re a prepper.
00:29:34.000 –> 00:29:36.000
You don’t want tons of antennas all over your freaking house.
00:29:36.000 –> 00:29:39.000
But with this, you have one antenna, you leave it up on the roof,
00:29:39.000 –> 00:29:41.000
and then that’s it.
00:29:41.000 –> 00:29:45.000
And it really is–somebody like myself who doesn’t use the equipment as much,
00:29:45.000 –> 00:29:51.000
but I do like to talk–it’s nice to just have one simple, easy, cheap antenna,
00:29:51.000 –> 00:29:53.000
and then I can go ahead and get online.
00:29:53.000 –> 00:29:57.000
I don’t need a million antennas, which is something I like.
00:29:57.000 –> 00:29:59.000
And two, it doesn’t take up a lot of room. It’s on the roof.
00:29:59.000 –> 00:30:05.000
So if you don’t use it for a while, you just leave the coax kind of tucked up by the window,
00:30:05.000 –> 00:30:08.000
spooled up, and then if you need to get on, just reach out the window and grab it.
00:30:08.000 –> 00:30:11.000
So like I said, that’s what I recommend.
00:30:11.000 –> 00:30:12.000
That’s what we use here.
00:30:12.000 –> 00:30:14.000
Again, I don’t get online as much as I’d like.
00:30:14.000 –> 00:30:16.000
Now, that won’t work for your local stuff.
00:30:16.000 –> 00:30:20.000
For your local stuff, you probably need a J-Pole or a little 2-meter antenna.
00:30:20.000 –> 00:30:22.000
Like I said, or a whip antenna.
00:30:22.000 –> 00:30:25.000
Those things are very, very cheap. The 2-meter antennas, the whip antennas,
00:30:25.000 –> 00:30:30.000
those you can get for, my goodness, maybe a few bucks.
00:30:30.000 –> 00:30:34.000
They’re not expensive, and like I said, you can talk to anybody local.
00:30:34.000 –> 00:30:39.000
I do think, though, if shit’s going to hit the fan,
00:30:39.000 –> 00:30:43.000
I do think that you do need to be able to talk to other countries.
00:30:43.000 –> 00:30:49.000
I mostly care about the local stuff, especially during the hurricanes and the storms
00:30:49.000 –> 00:30:51.000
and all that we’ve been having.
00:30:51.000 –> 00:30:59.000
I do believe, like I said, I really liked the whole situation with being able to talk to local dispatch.
00:30:59.000 –> 00:31:03.000
Actually, up here, and you may want to check in your area, up here especially,
00:31:03.000 –> 00:31:10.000
they have a group, a ham radio group, that’s actually in the emergency comm center,
00:31:10.000 –> 00:31:14.000
and they actually do receive ham radio calls and send them to the dispatcher,
00:31:14.000 –> 00:31:17.000
because there have been, we live in a really rural area,
00:31:17.000 –> 00:31:21.000
there have been situations where people didn’t need to call for assistance,
00:31:21.000 –> 00:31:25.000
and obviously they didn’t have any phones, and they were able to call with ham radio.
00:31:25.000 –> 00:31:31.000
So actually in our area, they do have a local group, it’s called Perry’s,
00:31:31.000 –> 00:31:35.000
I don’t remember what, my freaking man, I don’t remember what the thing is,
00:31:35.000 –> 00:31:42.000
but where they actually do sit in the comm center during emergencies and listen for ham radio calls,
00:31:42.000 –> 00:31:45.000
and from what I heard, they do get a lot of them.
00:31:45.000 –> 00:31:50.000
The other thing too, what I would recommend is if you want to, and I do recommend this,
00:31:50.000 –> 00:31:58.000
I have one in my go bag, I would recommend getting a small handheld radio.
00:31:58.000 –> 00:32:03.000
Local bands are fine, the small bands, 200 meters, you know, stuff like that.
00:32:03.000 –> 00:32:10.000
You know, two meter, just the local stuff, and you keep it in your bag with two batteries and the charger,
00:32:10.000 –> 00:32:14.000
and I keep mine always charged, but, and you keep it in your go bag,
00:32:14.000 –> 00:32:18.000
and this way if you do need, you know, you’re in a bug out situation,
00:32:18.000 –> 00:32:21.000
and, or, you know, where you do need to want to hear what’s going on,
00:32:21.000 –> 00:32:23.000
you can turn the radio on and listen.
00:32:23.000 –> 00:32:28.000
I do have a handheld in my bag, in my go bag, and I have used it a few times,
00:32:28.000 –> 00:32:30.000
especially when we were in the car and I wanted to hear what was going on,
00:32:30.000 –> 00:32:33.000
especially during the storms and stuff, we had a tornado up here.
00:32:33.000 –> 00:32:36.000
It was good to be able to hear the ham radio operators and kind of hear what’s going on.
00:32:36.000 –> 00:32:42.000
Those guys, and I will say this, those guys that are on the ham radio bands are unbelievable in the sense,
00:32:42.000 –> 00:32:47.000
a lot of those guys know what’s going on more than any newscast or anything like that,
00:32:47.000 –> 00:32:51.000
because those guys, they know each other, they talk to each other a lot,
00:32:51.000 –> 00:32:57.000
and it’s basically like its own little community, and really they know.
00:32:57.000 –> 00:33:01.000
So I remember they knew the road was closed before PennDOT knew.
00:33:01.000 –> 00:33:07.000
So like I said, it really is something I recommend if you are somebody who has a go bag.
00:33:07.000 –> 00:33:12.000
You know, I like the, my equipment’s a little more expensive,
00:33:12.000 –> 00:33:14.000
you don’t have to spend money on good equipment.
00:33:14.000 –> 00:33:19.000
I mean, they do have cheap two meter radios that you can put in your bag,
00:33:19.000 –> 00:33:21.000
and I think they cost like less than a hundred bucks.
00:33:21.000 –> 00:33:25.000
It is a good addition to any go bag, and I honestly recommend it,
00:33:25.000 –> 00:33:30.000
because you never know when you might want to hear what’s going on.
00:33:30.000 –> 00:33:36.000
Even too, I have actually seen, and I didn’t think about this, but somebody just showed this to me,
00:33:36.000 –> 00:33:38.000
I thought it was pretty neat.
00:33:38.000 –> 00:33:40.000
I actually had a friend of mine with a go bag, he actually had a scanner in,
00:33:40.000 –> 00:33:44.000
so he could hear the local police and fire stuff, and you can hear that on a ham radio as well,
00:33:44.000 –> 00:33:48.000
but he actually had one that was a scanner and all that kind of stuff,
00:33:48.000 –> 00:33:54.000
and he was able to kind of scan and hear what’s going on with all the police, fire, all that kind of stuff.
00:33:54.000 –> 00:33:57.000
I never really thought about it, and I can do that with a ham radio,
00:33:57.000 –> 00:34:01.000
so I have a handwritten list with all the bands on it,
00:34:01.000 –> 00:34:04.000
and I have it tucked away in my go bag so I can listen to those things,
00:34:04.000 –> 00:34:07.000
but if you are somebody who maybe isn’t interested in ham radio,
00:34:07.000 –> 00:34:11.000
but would still like to listen to what’s going on, buy yourself a cheap,
00:34:11.000 –> 00:34:15.000
you can literally buy scanners, I mean, at Walmart for twenty or thirty bucks,
00:34:15.000 –> 00:34:17.000
and just keep it in your go bag.
00:34:17.000 –> 00:34:23.000
I really recommend that, because you just, you never know when you might need to hear what’s going on with the local channels,
00:34:23.000 –> 00:34:26.000
and since everything is done via radio with emergency responders,
00:34:26.000 –> 00:34:33.000
you can listen in and kind of hear what’s going on with the police, fire, dispatch, all that kind of stuff.
00:34:33.000 –> 00:34:38.000
So, again, that’s something, if you don’t have one in your go bag, it would be a really good addition.
00:34:38.000 –> 00:34:45.000
And, like I said, I keep a small ham radio in my go bag with two batteries,
00:34:45.000 –> 00:34:47.000
you don’t have to do that, but I do, because sometimes I may be out,
00:34:47.000 –> 00:34:52.000
especially if I’m fishing, or in a wide open space, and I’m waiting and I want to chat,
00:34:52.000 –> 00:34:57.000
I’ll fire up my radio, dial in the local repeater, and see who’s on there.
00:34:57.000 –> 00:35:05.000
Again, I’m not a huge ham radio guy, I know enough to be dangerous, and to be able to kind of navigate a little bit,
00:35:05.000 –> 00:35:10.000
but when I am sitting around, especially when I’m fishing, or even sometimes when I’m hunting,
00:35:10.000 –> 00:35:19.000
I’ll keep it on low, I’ll bring a pair of ear buds with me, sometimes I just turn it on and hear what’s going on with the local radio guys,
00:35:19.000 –> 00:35:24.000
and see what they’re talking about, you find out some interesting stuff that you may not know about.
00:35:24.000 –> 00:35:30.000
I will say, if you are going to be somebody that gets into ham radio and you do start talking,
00:35:30.000 –> 00:35:35.000
I will say, be very careful what you say, anybody can hear anything you say on the radio.
00:35:35.000 –> 00:35:41.000
So, it’s not private, it’s wide open, anybody listening can hear it.
00:35:41.000 –> 00:35:48.000
So, I recommend if you’re on the repeater, don’t get into any arguments with anybody politically, or anything like that.
00:35:48.000 –> 00:35:55.000
Keep it clean, keep it fun, I really recommend that.
00:35:55.000 –> 00:36:01.000
Also, do great resources if you are interested in becoming a ham radio operator, the ARRL,
00:36:01.000 –> 00:36:07.000
they are a non-profit association that looks out for the ham radio operator, looks out for our rights,
00:36:07.000 –> 00:36:11.000
looks out for our bands, looks out for all that kind of stuff, and that’s ARRL.
00:36:11.000 –> 00:36:20.000
If you go on their site, they do have training materials, they do have all the books, links to information,
00:36:20.000 –> 00:36:25.000
equipment, news, all stuff on there. If you are interested in really getting more into this,
00:36:25.000 –> 00:36:29.000
after listening to this podcast, the ARRL would be the place to start.
00:36:29.000 –> 00:36:33.000
I do have a membership, I think it’s like 50 bucks a year.
00:36:33.000 –> 00:36:38.000
The magazine, they have something called QRL Magazine, if you’re ever interested in learning about ham radio,
00:36:38.000 –> 00:36:43.000
I recommend subscribing, get in the magazine, there’s a lot of good information on there.
00:36:43.000 –> 00:36:52.000
It’s kind of cool because the magazine, while not a prepper magazine, has a lot of prepper articles in it,
00:36:52.000 –> 00:37:00.000
that are related to ham radio, and ham radio setups, and things that people have done who are preppers that are into ham radio.
00:37:00.000 –> 00:37:06.000
As somebody who got the magazine to learn about ham radio, I ended up finding more and more information
00:37:06.000 –> 00:37:16.000
about how preppers and survivalists use these radios to communicate, especially during disaster situations and stuff like that.
00:37:16.000 –> 00:37:22.000
So I really recommend, if you are interested, go to ARRL.org.
00:37:22.000 –> 00:37:29.000
Again, they are not a sponsor, but they are a great resource for anybody who is interested in ham radio.
00:37:29.000 –> 00:37:33.000
You can learn more about the tests, learn on ARRL’s site.
00:37:33.000 –> 00:37:39.000
If you are interested in taking a test, they do have practice materials, they do have all the books that you would need to pass the test.
00:37:39.000 –> 00:37:42.000
And on there, you can look for a place to get tested.
00:37:42.000 –> 00:37:51.000
Other ham radio groups do the testing, so you will have to actually go on the site when you’re ready to take your test,
00:37:51.000 –> 00:38:00.000
and it will search for VEs, which are volunteer examiners for the ARRL, because ARRL runs the testing information.
00:38:00.000 –> 00:38:04.000
The test, not the information, but the test site stuff.
00:38:04.000 –> 00:38:10.000
So you go on there, you’ll search for, you know, you type in your zip code, and it will show you the list of places where you can take your test,
00:38:10.000 –> 00:38:16.000
and where they are available, and times and dates, and all that kind of stuff.
00:38:16.000 –> 00:38:25.000
So, also too, if you are listening to this and you are a ham radio operator, and you are interested, you can go ahead and go get your VE.
00:38:25.000 –> 00:38:31.000
You can go and become a VE. I did it myself for the Boy Scouts and stuff like that.
00:38:31.000 –> 00:38:37.000
I was helping out the Boy Scouts, and some of those guys wanted to become technicians, so we actually got a VE kit,
00:38:37.000 –> 00:38:39.000
and I was able to give out tests to the Boy Scouts.
00:38:39.000 –> 00:38:47.000
But if you are a ham radio operator, especially for your extra class of service, and you’re interested in listening to this,
00:38:47.000 –> 00:38:53.000
consider being a VE man so you can go and give out tests and get more hams certified. We need it.
00:38:53.000 –> 00:38:59.000
So, if you are listening, that would be something to do. It’s only once a month I think they have these things.
00:38:59.000 –> 00:39:09.000
Or if you’re part of a local ham radio club that’s not doing VE testing, please talk to your group and see if you can convince them to do VE testing,
00:39:09.000 –> 00:39:14.000
because it would be great to get a lot of people into this stuff, especially the Boy Scouts and stuff like that.
00:39:14.000 –> 00:39:22.000
I really work closely. Again, I’m not huge into radio, but I have worked with the local Boy Scouts and the local ham radio group
00:39:22.000 –> 00:39:26.000
to try to set something up. I did have a couple of Boy Scouts recently that were into prepping,
00:39:26.000 –> 00:39:33.000
and they were interested in ham radio licenses, so I worked with the local ham radio group and the Boy Scout group
00:39:33.000 –> 00:39:41.000
and helped a couple of those boys get certified, and they were really happy, so I appreciated the local ham radio group chipping in and helping out with that.
00:39:41.000 –> 00:39:48.000
But like I said, a lot of information on this stuff. I don’t want to overwhelm you, but I do want to get that information out there,
00:39:48.000 –> 00:39:54.000
because it’s very important. I’ve been talking about doing a ham radio podcast for a while, and I know sometimes it’s not the…
00:39:54.000 –> 00:40:01.000
I don’t want to say it’s not… I know a lot of people maybe are into it, aren’t into it, but I think it is important as a prepper that it is something you talk about,
00:40:01.000 –> 00:40:10.000
because it is something that every prepper should know about at least, and could save your life.
00:40:10.000 –> 00:40:17.000
But like I said to you, another thing very important with the ham radios, especially that I want to bring up very, very quickly,
00:40:17.000 –> 00:40:25.000
but when you think about a ham radio unit and you’re running off of plugging it in and you’re using that,
00:40:25.000 –> 00:40:34.000
one of the things you do need to consider is batteries, because if you are running a ham radio in your home,
00:40:34.000 –> 00:40:41.000
you’re probably not somebody that just wants a disaster emergency. You’re either going to be running it off generator or you’re going to be running it off battery.
00:40:41.000 –> 00:40:48.000
So they do sell battery units for these ham radios. I strongly recommend that if you want to have a ham radio for backup,
00:40:48.000 –> 00:40:53.000
you consider getting at least two batteries, have them charged, because the odds are a chance when you’re going to be wanting to use that radio
00:40:53.000 –> 00:40:59.000
is when there’s going to be no electric probably. It’s just the way it is. That’s one of the things they talk about in the overall book,
00:40:59.000 –> 00:41:06.000
that most people that actually do want to use it in an emergency, they don’t have…
00:41:06.000 –> 00:41:11.000
I mean, you have the batteries for it. Even if you’re using a handheld, make sure you have an extra battery,
00:41:11.000 –> 00:41:17.000
but especially if you’re using a cheap, small local rig like we’ve been talking about,
00:41:17.000 –> 00:41:22.000
you’re going to want to make sure you have batteries, because the odds are a chance you’re going to want to be using it in an emergency situation
00:41:22.000 –> 00:41:26.000
and you probably won’t have power. They do have battery kits and stuff like that for these,
00:41:26.000 –> 00:41:32.000
and it is something you definitely should think about. You can run it off a generator if you want.
00:41:32.000 –> 00:41:38.000
I don’t recommend that because generators are going to be hell on a radio. Just the interference and plus two, the electric isn’t the cleanest.
00:41:38.000 –> 00:41:44.000
I think too, if you think about it, you don’t want to waste your generator power on a ham radio.
00:41:44.000 –> 00:41:48.000
So have some batteries, or what you could do is you could have batteries and charge them off of the generator
00:41:48.000 –> 00:41:53.000
and then use them on your ham radio rig. I know we were doing that a couple years ago.
00:41:53.000 –> 00:41:57.000
There’s something called Field Day, which just passed in June.
00:41:57.000 –> 00:42:03.000
Field Day started after 9/11, and what they actually do with it is,
00:42:03.000 –> 00:42:10.000
Field Day is basically a day for ham radio operators to test their skills, to meet with other hams, learn stuff, things like that.
00:42:10.000 –> 00:42:15.000
If you are interested in this, I know Field Day passed, but like I said, get in touch with your local ham radio group,
00:42:15.000 –> 00:42:19.000
and I’m sure they’ll have Field Day, or I’m sure any of those guys will be willing to come meet with you
00:42:19.000 –> 00:42:22.000
and help you get set up and get started.
00:42:22.000 –> 00:42:28.000
Field Day is a very interesting thing because you work with those guys, and I learned a lot about batteries on Field Day
00:42:28.000 –> 00:42:32.000
because we were actually out in a big field where there was no residential electric.
00:42:32.000 –> 00:42:37.000
So we had a generator, we’d run the generator and charge the batteries, then hook them up to the radio and stuff like that.
00:42:37.000 –> 00:42:42.000
So I actually learned a lot about that on Field Day. Field Day did pass in June, and we did kind of miss it already,
00:42:42.000 –> 00:42:50.000
but next year, if you are interested in ham radio, maybe something next year, it’s always around June, in late June.
00:42:50.000 –> 00:42:53.000
Check the ARRL site for all that information.
00:42:53.000 –> 00:42:57.000
The ARRL site is really where you’re going to find all good information.
00:42:57.000 –> 00:43:03.000
If you are interested in ham radio, go there. They have all the information on there.
00:43:03.000 –> 00:43:08.000
If you are a teacher, or if you notice what it is you’re listening to and you want to get into this,
00:43:08.000 –> 00:43:14.000
they do have a program for schools that you can actually work with.
00:43:14.000 –> 00:43:19.000
They’ll work with the school and help get ham radio stuff actually into the school so you can learn about all that stuff.
00:43:19.000 –> 00:43:22.000
So look into that as well if you’re interested.
00:43:22.000 –> 00:43:27.000
But like I said, there’s a lot of good information on the ARRL site. I recommend that site.
00:43:27.000 –> 00:43:33.000
Going there, if you are interested in this, they have a lot more information than I can provide you here in an hour podcast.
00:43:33.000 –> 00:43:40.000
But go there, check on that, and really, if you are interested, go there.
00:43:40.000 –> 00:43:44.000
And if you’re interested and you want to ask, I will give you the best information you can.
00:43:44.000 –> 00:43:49.000
Go to the website, survivalistpodcast.org, or SoundCloud, and my email is right there.
00:43:49.000 –> 00:43:52.000
Email me and I’ll give you all the information I can.
00:43:52.000 –> 00:43:57.000
And I’ll even include the ARRL site in the show notes for you if you are interested.
00:43:57.000 –> 00:44:02.000
And like I said, go there. They’re going to be your main real resource for this sort of thing.
00:44:02.000 –> 00:44:06.000
And also too, if you are interested over the summer and just getting into this,
00:44:06.000 –> 00:44:12.000
there’s something called Ham Fests, which are ham radio festivals that they actually have in the area.
00:44:12.000 –> 00:44:17.000
I strongly recommend going on Google or ARRL. They’ll have them listed.
00:44:17.000 –> 00:44:23.000
Go to ARRL and click on the Ham Fest button and type in your zip code and there will be a list of all local Ham Fests.
00:44:23.000 –> 00:44:29.000
If you are interested in any of this stuff, a Ham Fest, you go there. There’s a lot of hams there. You can ask questions.
00:44:29.000 –> 00:44:38.000
Also too, if you are interested in getting equipment, you go to these Ham Fests and you can pick up a lot of equipment very cheap.
00:44:38.000 –> 00:44:43.000
Ham Fests usually get guys selling their old equipment and if you just want something for backup,
00:44:43.000 –> 00:44:48.000
it’d be something to go there and just buy some cheap equipment. I recommend that. I tell that to everybody.
00:44:48.000 –> 00:44:53.000
I’ve picked up a lot of great deals at Ham Fests on antennas and stuff that people just didn’t want.
00:44:53.000 –> 00:44:56.000
You know, the old saying, “Somebody’s junk and somebody’s treasure.”
00:44:56.000 –> 00:45:00.000
Basically, sometimes a Ham Fest can be a gigantic yard sale for ham radio equipment.
00:45:00.000 –> 00:45:08.000
So I really recommend that. Like I said, www.aarol.org. Click on the Ham Fest button and you can see all the local ham.
00:45:08.000 –> 00:45:12.000
This is Ham Fest season. It’s summertime. So I really recommend it.
00:45:12.000 –> 00:45:21.000
Also too, if you want more information on this stuff, there is something called Ham Nation. It’s a podcast up on YouTube.
00:45:21.000 –> 00:45:27.000
Well, it’s a podcast but it’s also a video. It’s Ham Nation. It’s every week. It’s a great thing.
00:45:27.000 –> 00:45:34.000
It’s Bob Heil and a bunch of those guys that are legendary hams pretty much. They have a great podcast as well.
00:45:34.000 –> 00:45:45.000
Like I said, it’s called Ham Nation. If you are interested in that kind of stuff, it’s a great place to pick up some tips and stuff like that.
00:45:45.000 –> 00:45:51.000
Those guys have a helpline too where you can reach in. They probably know more than I do but that’s another resource as well.
00:45:51.000 –> 00:45:58.000
By the way, I do want to point out too, a lot of famous people are hams. Prince Charles was one of them.
00:45:58.000 –> 00:46:06.000
Tim Allen from Home Improvement and Last Man Standing. That’s why kind of there’s always radios in the background if you ever watched that show.
00:46:06.000 –> 00:46:14.000
Steve Wozniak, the guy that started Apple with Steve Jobs. He was a ham guy. Art Bell, the radio broadcaster.
00:46:14.000 –> 00:46:23.000
A lot of famous ham radio operators out there. If you really are interested. Like I said, next time if you ever watched Last Man Standing with Tim Allen, look in the background.
00:46:23.000 –> 00:46:26.000
There’s almost always a ham radio in the vlog section. It’s pretty cool.
00:46:26.000 –> 00:46:35.000
Like I said, I’m going to wrap it up but I want to thank you guys for listening. We will see you on the next episode. Thank you very much.
00:46:35.000 –> 00:46:37.640
and and