Out of Pod Experience

I was an RO for my platoon once.... used the PRC-77, we call it the prick 77 because it f*cks you every chance it gets

What about EAS? Do y'all have to relay alerts or just go off the air?

Well yes but I am speaking of the actual EAS signal. Do you have to relay that by law? Do you have to monitor another station for the signal?

Not the actual signal that is broadcast on TV and commercial AM/FM transmitter stations, no. But if there is emergency traffic that needs relayed, yes. Let me give you an example: During the two years of tornado devastation in Alabama (which destroyed my entire town two years in a row), amateur radio stations handled any and all communications in the area. Cell phone towers were down, phone lines were knocked out, and the whole power grid was destroyed. Amateur Radio Operators rigged their radios with solar panels and handled all the emergency communication for over a week, assisting FEMA, ARES, and RACES. The format usually comes in the form of -insert recipient- -insert message- or -General Broadcast- -message-.

EDIT: I don't HAVE to relay anything, actually. It's entirely voluntary. I sure would be a **** if I didn't, though :\



Simple! All you have to do is study for what's called the Radio Technician's test, go to any testing site, pass the test, and you have your license! On a daily basis I use satellites in orbit around Earth to talk to people all over the United States. A lot of people use certain low frequencies to reach people on the other side of the planet. It's pretty fun!

Here's my profile page on QRZ. If you click on the picture to expand it, you'll see one of the laptops I use for satellite operations. On the far left is my Elk log periodic antenna connected to my FT-817 (far right, top rig) sitting on top of my FT-857 (middle rig). On the bottom is my power supply feeding both radios. The computer tells the radios what frequency to use and adjusts for the Doppler Effect as they move through space. It makes life easier.


Also if you want to hear what some of the transmissions sound like, I posted a few on a website I failed to keep up to date. You can listen to a good and pretty standard satellite communications pass here. Don't forget to turn down your speakers before listening, as it is a little loud.

It's in the past and I've since moved out of Alabama specifically for that reason. So no worries. And it's funny that you say what you said because there's this humorous little picture that I always like to reference when talking to someone about radio. I can't seem to find it at the moment, but it goes a little something like this:


In case of emergency:
[ ] Cell Phone..... Towers are down
[ ] Internet..... Fiber Optic lines are toast
[ ] TV..... Power is out
[ ] Mail..... Roads are blocked
[ X ] Amateur Radio..... STILL GETS THROUGH!!!


One of my other favorite phrases is from Serenity.... "Can't stop the signal, Mal. Everything goes somewhere, and I go everywhere."

Hey, tubes are the golden ages of our hobby! I'm running 2 dipoles as well as three verticals. I have a 30m antenna hidden in my tree in the front yard because I live in in HOA. Kinda sucks, but the losses aren't actually that bad with 8 radials. The other one in my back yard is a 3 element (10m, 15m, 20m) with 40 radials. The one hidden just past the edge of the roof is a 40m and the dipoles run 80. All in all it's a pretty stealthy setup except for the 10m which kinda sticks out like a sore thumb.