This is a re-print of Keypounder's article on Beverage Antennas that originally appeared in Sparks31's Signal-3 in the same issue my article on Afghanistan was published. In my assessment, its a very well written introduction to not just what Beverages do and why they are important, but how to build them. He very generously allowed …
Category: communications
Question from a Reader, II
Hello I've been following your blog since it started and is a fantastic read. I've also been following sparks blog when he had his own wordpress site. I've also jumped into amrron corps last year and have been active in that along with getting my general license. I've followed your advice on uhf for squad …
Beverages for Listening, II
Contained is the second half of the article, due to the overall length limitations of wordpress. Wire- For my simple BOG antennas, I use 14 gage THHN house wire, which is sturdy and double insulated, and comes in a variety of colors. If you want the antenna to stand out, use bright red or orange; …
Keypounder sends-
"You are the lead station operator in the Resistance receiving station mentioned in the first question. You have received the message sent by the operator in the capital at 1 pm local time in the first example on 160 meters and must now forward the vital information received to Resistance HQ via HF radio. Once …
Winter Field Day 2017
Winter Field Day 2017 is upon us! I had aimed to get this posted long before now, but, there's only so many hours in the day, and things have been busy as of late. Either way, this year will (mostly) be a TOC-operation, working from the command post here at FOB Cedar. It would be …
The Foundation-Squaring Away Communications Needs in 2017
I've received a number of emails over the last several weeks requesting info on various issues, recommended gear, etc...and while I certainly don't mind answering the plethora of questions (it's part of the reason I run this blog) much of the info has been previously addressed. Due to the size and scope of the information …
Continue reading The Foundation-Squaring Away Communications Needs in 2017
So You Wanna Be A Guerrilla RTO, II
So now that the shakeup has settled from the first post, we can discuss the solution. It is interesting to see that surprisingly few people are actually READING the question, and fascinating to note that nobody, so far, has attempted the mathematical solutions, which ought to be straightforward. Question- > How many minutes before sunrise …
A Neat Read on Beverage Antennas
Beverages are great antennas for listening, monitoring, and getting a rough bearing on where a signal is emanating. Check out these great posts from Thomas over at SWLing Post: Beverage Reception Tests SWL Blog reception videos BBC Research Report: 1991-12
So you wanna be a Guerrilla RTO-
Keypounder sent me this question and wanted to pose it to all of you. There's a lot more to being an effective RTO than knowing how to key a mic, or even calculating a simple equation for antenna length, and one of the very serious reasons to get a license now is to start building …
Your First HF Station
So far, in following the Survivalist paradigm concerning radio, we've discussed the many uses of hand held sets, due to their overwhelming popularity but far more importantly their largely misunderstood role. Capable of local, or Line of Sight (LOS) communications, they are often the entry-level communications device that most cut their teeth upon. Mobile VHF …