HAM HACKS QUICKSTART GUIDE FOR ‘CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?’ FOLKS

I don’t want to learn or research, just tell me — what should I buy?

Gotcha covered, lazy eye!

Get at least 2 Baofeng UV 5R - about $30 — A longer antenna and a battery back that accepts aaa batteries is also recommended.

Also get about 6 cheaper ‘walkabout’ radios. Pre-test them to make sure you have everything set up on the same frequency and settings.

Then what do I do, besides learning anything about wavelengths?

KEEP THEM TOGETHER AS A SET, and KEEP THEM CHARGED. STORE them with a set of replacement batteries attached. You will end up HANDING THESE OUT and COLLECTING THEM BACK when you need them, on a ‘project-to-project’ basis.

If you DON’T use this approach, you will always only have 1 radio on hand, and it won’t ‘hear’ the other guy with a different radio, and you won’t have time or knowledge to figure out why, and so you’ll pretty much be without radios and things will be a big clusterfuck.

How do I use them though?

First, learn to practice radio discipline.. (Use the cheap set, Don’t use the Baofengs to transmit until you get a HAM license, just familiarize with it and test it to make sure it works right)

RADIO DISCIPLINE is about learning how to use radio comms to clearly communicate. The basic pattern is:

-YOUR CALLSIGN, MY CALLSIGN, HOW COPY? -YOUR CALLSIGN, MY CALLSIGN, 5 BY 5 (signal strength, clarity, 1=bad, 5=good)

• YOUR CALLSIGN, MY CALLSIGN, MESSAGE, OVER.
• YOUR CALLSIGN, MY CALLSIGN, RESPONSE, OVER
• YOUR CALLSIGN, MY CALLSIGN, INTERROGATIVE, QUESTION?, OVER
• YOUR CALLSIGN MY CALLSIGN, ANSWER IS T-H-I-S. OVER
• YOUR CALLSIGN, MY CALLSIGN, COPY T-H-Y-S. OVER
• YOUR CALLSIGN, MY CALLSIGN. CORRECTION, T-H-I-S., OVER
• YOUR CALLSIGN, MY CALLSIGN, COPY T-H-I-S. OVER
• YOUR CALLSIGN, MY CALLSIGN, GOOD COPY. OUT.
• YOUR CALLSIGN, MY CALLSIGN, INTERROGATIVE. SHOULD I MOVE? OVER.
• NO REPLY
• YOUR CALLSIGN, MY CALLSIGN, HOW COPY? (repeat several times)
• YOUR CALLSIGN, MY CALLSIGN, IN THE BLIND. MOVING. OVER

OTHER ‘RULES’

• NEVER use your real names. Use preselected, changing codenames
• No goofing off. No idle chatter (unless specifically used to camouflage intent)
• Mind your batteries and warn when going off comms
• Speak slowly, calmly, and clearly.
• Get right to the point in short & sweet straightforward sentences.
• Repeat key phrases as you go if reception is less than perfect.

Train with your team to use this pattern, and then practice actually accomplishing some tasks using radio comms only. These patterns will help overcome the radio delay problems and frustrations common to intermittent and spotty radio communications.

But what about the wide, wide world of HAM radio operators?

Do an internet search for ‘HAM repeaters’ in your state, and print yourself a list. Listen on these frequencies for info, DO NOT transmit on them unless you know what you are doing.

Get together with your 6-man team and pre-designate a Primary, Alternate, Contigency, and Emergency channel. Give each a codename. Then you can contact each other and switch channels i/when necessary.

At least one of your channels should be from this list, where you can also interface with store-purchased ‘walkabouts’ and ‘walkie-talkies’:

(Make sure to comply with all state laws and FCC rules - this is not a complete guide, only a snippet of reference info for emergency use or entertainment purposes)

The Family Radio Service “FRS” is comprised of 14 channels allocated by the FCC to be used for non-commercial purposes, without the need for licensing.

Channel : Frequency (MHz)

• 1 : 462.5625
• 2 : 462.5875
• 3 : 462.6125
• 4 : 462.6375
• 5 : 462.6625
• 6 : 462.6875
• 7 : 462.7125
• 8 : 467.5625
• 9 : 467.5875
• 10 : 467.6125
• 11 : 467.6375
• 12 : 467.6625
• 13 : 467.6875
• 14 : 467.7125

There are five MURS channels and the channels are either 11.25 kHz or 20.00 kHz each. The channel frequencies and (bandwidth) are:

• 151.820 MHz (11.25 kHz)                                
• 151.880 MHz (11.25 kHz)                                
• 151.940 MHz (11.25 kHz)                                
• 154.570 MHz (20.00 kHz)                                
• 154.600 MHz (20.00 kHz)      

The most common use of MURS channels is for short-distance, two-way communications using small, portable hand-held radios that function similar to walkie-talkies.

During testing your radios, if you are on the right channel and you can’t hear, or they can’t hear you, it’s probably due to ‘privacy codes’, ‘interference codes’ or CTCSS — a setting that can be set on a receiver to ‘not listen’ unless the transmission has a hidden tone embedded in it.

Internet search by the model number for the owners manual to the walkie and set the ‘privacy code’ to 0. Then it won’t be blocking received transmissions on the given channel.

If you turn off CTCSS on your baofeng, then you will hear every radio on the frequency you are using that are within range, REGARDLESS of which tone they may be using. The menu codes on a 5R are:

• 10, R-DCS, reception digital coded squelch
• 11, R-CTCS, reception continuous tone coded squelch
• 12, T-DCS, transmission digital coded squelch
• 13, T-CTCS, transmission continuous tone coded squelch

Using these features doesn’t stop anyone from listening to you, they just stop you from hearing other people. If someone has a radio with no CTCSS and DCS on, they will be able to hear everyone on the channel/frequency, including people using CTCSS and DCS.

As a general rule, ‘privacy codes’ on Midland GMRS radios and ‘interference eliminator codes’ on Motorola Talkabout two way radios are about the same thing. Turn them OFF to receive all signal on the channel

This page breaks down all of the privacy codes for most popular radio brands and tells you which code matches with which:

https://www.k0tfu.org/reference/frs-gmrs-privacy-codes-demystified/

NOW THAT YOUR A KNOW-NOTHING BITCHBOXER WITH A WORKING SET OF RADIOS READY FOR EMERGENCIES, GO ACTUALLY LEARN ABOUT HAM.