How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It - James Wesley Rawles [75]
Many people now rely on the Internet and blogosphere for their news and information. Although the Internet is designed to be highly resilient (a carryover from its original design as a U.S. military network), it cannot be expected to survive a grid-down situation. The best that we could hope for in those circumstances is a combination voice and data packet network, via highfrequency (HF) shortwave. At the very minimum, to gather local, regional, and international intelligence, weather data, and accurate time of day, and to maintain overall situational awareness, you should own at least two radios, neither of which need be very expensive:
1. A general-coverage AM/FM/shortwave receiver. Most of these cover all the way from 500 kHz all the way up to 30 MHz. This includes the AM and FM broadcast bands, many of the amateur bands, the international HF broadcast bands (for stations like BBC, Radio Netherlands, HCJB, WWV, and so forth), and the citizens band (CB) channels. The inexpensive Kaito KA1102 radios are ideal for anyone on a budget. If you have a bigger budget, I would suggest the following: the Sony ICF-SW7600G, the Sony ICF-2010 (both discontinued, but used ones are available on eBay), and, if you have a “the sky is the limit” budget, get a Drake R8A. Even if you eventually buy a more expensive receiver, I recommend that you keep a couple of the little Kaito KA1102 radios as spares, preferably stored in metal ammo cans to protect them from EMP.
2. A VHF police/marine/aircraft/weather band scanner. Try to get one of the more recent models that can demodulate trunked traffic. One relatively inexpensive “trunked” model is the Bearcat BC898T. If you have a big budget, get a digital model. Nearly all scanners cover the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather bands.
A Primer on Radio Transceiver Antennas
To begin, one-half-wave antennas are theoretically the most efficient. Shorter fractional-wavelength antennas (quarter-wave, one-eighth-wave, etc.) are used primarily for compactness and lower cost. To illustrate some practical aspects of wavelength: CB radio frequencies have a wavelength of around ten meters (about thirty-three feet). It is possible to use a half-wavelength CB antenna at home or at a retreat, but not mounted on a vehicle. (On a vehicle, even a half-wavelength antenna is often too tall.) The MURS band (my favorite for short-range communications) has a wavelength of around two meters, so using a half-wavelength antenna is much more practical. The ARRL (arrl .org) has information that can give you an understanding of how both transmitting and receiving antennas work.
A ground plane is a reflective, flat surface that limits the downward radiation of an antenna. When operating a transceiver with an antenna mounted on a vehicle with typical steel body panels, the vehicle itself forms a ground plane. This is why the most efficient antenna mounting location is at the top center of a vehicle. But, unfortunately, this also places an antenna at the greatest risk of impact damage. This explains why bumper-mounted antennas are more popular, despite their distorted transmission characteristics and inefficiency.
A log periodic antenna (LPA) or yagi-type antenna can be very effective, but keep in mind that like other antennas, they need to be properly polarized. Most mobile two-way radios use vertical polarization. Hence, your LPA or yagi will not have the traditional horizontal TV-antenna appearance—rather, it will be flipped on its side, for vertical polarization.
Is Radio Direction Finding a Potential Threat for Survivalists?
Some people have expressed concern that radio direction finding (DF) could be used by looters to locate people with working radios (and thus power and supplies). However, the only people who have effective DF equipment and the requisite expertise to operate it are:
a. The National Security Agency (NSA) and a few other government agencies such as the FCC—mainly for tracking down unlicensed pirate stations.
b. Ham-radio