NOTE: This post updated on Jan 31st, 2013.
There is a great deal of missinformation floating around from Washington these days as regards Gun Control. By the way, ALL of the people who have done mass shootings in the last 10 years or so have been on psychotropic drugs.
Anyway, you hear a lot of terms being tossed around. Here are some facts.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/25/the-assault-weapon-myth/
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/27/the-high-capacity-magazine-myth/
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/29/the-cop-killer-bullet-myth/
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/30/the-gun-show-loophole-myth/
And here is something surprising:
http://cnsnews.com/blog/charlie-daniels/encouragement-time-grave-fear
This is an important issue, but it can only be discussed intelligently if you have the FACTS.
OOMA - Get your home phone for just $3.75 per month in Utah! You can disconnect your house phone lines and get VOIP phone via the internet. TODAY is the last day to get $40 off of the list price. In Utah, the monthly cost will be $3.75 - for LIFE!. It's called an OOMA. Check it out here: http://tinyurl.com/abxp7j3
-O. D.-
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
MARA Jan 23, 2013
All of my notes from the January 16, 2013 net were lost in a computer crash. This post is for 01/23/2013.
(NOTE: The Jan 16 notes have been recovered - see addendum at the end of this post.)
Here are some links for HSMM-MESH and Echolink. These are tutorials that will get your feet wet.
Broadband Over Radio Wireless Mesh Network Experimentation for Emergency Communications
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAFptGn1k1E (12 Minutes)
Dayton Hamvention presentation on HSMM-MESH (27 MINUTES)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCHD9DAUgGc
Explaining Super Wifi Mesh Network (4 Minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgnBtCw3Lmw
Echolink Settings for Simplex link.(4 Minutes 57 Seconds)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg56coygnCI
Echolink Demo (9 Minutes 34 Seconds)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTe3eH19ngs
Scouting for food - March 23rd - they need 40 to 50 ham radio operators. Check postings on http://www.arpse.org/
The 2013 Utah VHF Society Swapmeet will be held on Saturday, February 23, 2013 in Farmington at the Davis County Fair Park Legacy Events Center, building #2. Doors will open for the general public at 8 AM with setup for sellers to start at 7 AM.
This is NOT the same location as previous years' swapmeets!
More info HERE.
If you have an Android phone or an Iphone, there are a number of ham radio related programs that you can download from either the Google Play store or the IPhone store. Almost all of them are free. There are also echolink programs for Android and Iphone that let you use your phone (via internet or WiFi) to talk on Echolink. Search Google for more info.
Other Android/IPhone programs include police scanners that allow you to pick a country, state, county and city and listed live to various public safety dispatchers on your phone. Some of these are also available for your computer. Two of my favorites are "Scanner Radio" and "Police Scanner". Similar programs are also available for your computer. Very handy during an emergency for monitoring the doings of the public safety folks.
Want an inexpensive cell phone service? It is called BYOD - Bring Your Own Device. Any old Verizon phone you have laying around will work (NO Verizon Prepaid Phones). This includes basic flip phones or Smart Phones. You can pick up old Verizon phones off of eBay and KSL Classifieds. The cell service ranges in price from $30 per year up to $55 per month depending on what features you pick. For more info, click on the banner and check out the available plans.
There is also a forum where all things relating to cell phone service are discussed. The link is here, Kitty Wireless Forum.
And if you want to read about all the money some other people have saved with this deal, check out this forum POST.
***** The following is from the Jan 16th Net. Some of the notes were recovered *****
You can download software and other info from the following links:
www.echolink.org
www.hsmm-mesh.org
The 146.76 repeater has EchoLink capability.
Most of the HSMM-MESH nodes are done with WRT54G routers running DD-WRT software. You can find them very inexpensively on eBay.
For a great resource of ham radio info, visit this site www.wesconntraffic.net/resources.html
Take a look at the articles by N8UT. They are both funny and informative.
Two final things. In October of 2012 (Halloween) we shared a DesNews article about the toxicity of Cyalume Light Sticks. The Cyalume Light Sticks sold by Emergency Essentials are NOT toxic.
KD7UM says that MARA will look into placing an EchoLink node on the 146.74 repeater. The current repeater is a converted commercial radio. Adding EchoLink would probably require an entirely new repeater with built-in EchoLink capabilities. More info as it becomes available.
N7OZH
(NOTE: The Jan 16 notes have been recovered - see addendum at the end of this post.)
Here are some links for HSMM-MESH and Echolink. These are tutorials that will get your feet wet.
Broadband Over Radio Wireless Mesh Network Experimentation for Emergency Communications
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAFptGn1k1E (12 Minutes)
Dayton Hamvention presentation on HSMM-MESH (27 MINUTES)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCHD9DAUgGc
Explaining Super Wifi Mesh Network (4 Minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgnBtCw3Lmw
Echolink Settings for Simplex link.(4 Minutes 57 Seconds)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg56coygnCI
Echolink Demo (9 Minutes 34 Seconds)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTe3eH19ngs
Scouting for food - March 23rd - they need 40 to 50 ham radio operators. Check postings on http://www.arpse.org/
The 2013 Utah VHF Society Swapmeet will be held on Saturday, February 23, 2013 in Farmington at the Davis County Fair Park Legacy Events Center, building #2. Doors will open for the general public at 8 AM with setup for sellers to start at 7 AM.
This is NOT the same location as previous years' swapmeets!
More info HERE.
If you have an Android phone or an Iphone, there are a number of ham radio related programs that you can download from either the Google Play store or the IPhone store. Almost all of them are free. There are also echolink programs for Android and Iphone that let you use your phone (via internet or WiFi) to talk on Echolink. Search Google for more info.
Other Android/IPhone programs include police scanners that allow you to pick a country, state, county and city and listed live to various public safety dispatchers on your phone. Some of these are also available for your computer. Two of my favorites are "Scanner Radio" and "Police Scanner". Similar programs are also available for your computer. Very handy during an emergency for monitoring the doings of the public safety folks.
Want an inexpensive cell phone service? It is called BYOD - Bring Your Own Device. Any old Verizon phone you have laying around will work (NO Verizon Prepaid Phones). This includes basic flip phones or Smart Phones. You can pick up old Verizon phones off of eBay and KSL Classifieds. The cell service ranges in price from $30 per year up to $55 per month depending on what features you pick. For more info, click on the banner and check out the available plans.
There is also a forum where all things relating to cell phone service are discussed. The link is here, Kitty Wireless Forum.
And if you want to read about all the money some other people have saved with this deal, check out this forum POST.
***** The following is from the Jan 16th Net. Some of the notes were recovered *****
You can download software and other info from the following links:
www.echolink.org
www.hsmm-mesh.org
The 146.76 repeater has EchoLink capability.
Most of the HSMM-MESH nodes are done with WRT54G routers running DD-WRT software. You can find them very inexpensively on eBay.
For a great resource of ham radio info, visit this site www.wesconntraffic.net/resources.html
Take a look at the articles by N8UT. They are both funny and informative.
Two final things. In October of 2012 (Halloween) we shared a DesNews article about the toxicity of Cyalume Light Sticks. The Cyalume Light Sticks sold by Emergency Essentials are NOT toxic.
KD7UM says that MARA will look into placing an EchoLink node on the 146.74 repeater. The current repeater is a converted commercial radio. Adding EchoLink would probably require an entirely new repeater with built-in EchoLink capabilities. More info as it becomes available.
N7OZH
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
MARA 01/09/2013 - More grab and go Info.
Check out the 72 hour Emergency Kit checklist by Rachael Woods at http://lds.about.com It is an excellent list and you can check off things as you acquire them and mark out things that do not apply to you. You can also Google "72 Hour Emergency Kit" and get a few thousand more ideas for things to consider.
How recent is your home/car/office first aid kit? The items in it do have expiration dates and need to be checked on a regular basis (maybe twice a year?) to be sure that they have not dried up and lost their effectiveness.
Have you Googled "Ham Radio Mesh" yet? This is going to become another way to handle emergency traffic over an area such as a LDS Stake. It is very inexpensive to get into and provides us with another opportunity to move emergency traffic when needed.
N7OZH
How recent is your home/car/office first aid kit? The items in it do have expiration dates and need to be checked on a regular basis (maybe twice a year?) to be sure that they have not dried up and lost their effectiveness.
Have you Googled "Ham Radio Mesh" yet? This is going to become another way to handle emergency traffic over an area such as a LDS Stake. It is very inexpensive to get into and provides us with another opportunity to move emergency traffic when needed.
N7OZH
ERC Net 01/08/2013
1. Food & Water in grab & go kit. Smartphone or Google calendar to send you reminders to rotate it. Granola bars are one of the best long term foods to put in your grab and go radio kit.
ERC-ARES-MARA-CERT - which one do you work with? Most of us belong to one group, some to two groups. In an actual widespread disaster, you might wind up working with or interfacing with all four. Don't limit your usefulness by assuming you will only work with your "favorite" group.
2. Cheat sheets for your radios. During an emergency, repeaters will be brought up on frequencies that you do not normally talk on except on simplex. Most of these will also have a squelch tone required for access. You must be able to enter a NEW frequency and TONE pair into your radio on short notice. You can buy cheat sheets (QST, eBay, etc) or you can build your own. They are just handy, they are ESSENTIAL! I guarantee you, speaking as the voice of experience, that without a cheat sheet you will find yourself isolated in an actual disaster if you cannot get your radio into and out of some modes that you normally NEVER use. The two most valuable in a disaster are Cross Band Repeat and New Repeater with Tone.
3. CERT and Ham Radio - The Department of Homeland Security lists ham radio as a key communications component of any major disaster or disruption. See the following articles for more information and how we can help in these areas. January QST page 85 - Beyond our bands. QST Aug 2012 pg 70 - QST Nov 2012 pg 89-90 Public Safety Moves Toward 22nd Century Communications
4. 29 % of Americans have not prepared at all and over 60 percent expect to rely on emergency responders in the first 72 hours. That's not going to happen in any large or extreme disaster. These statistics tell us that, on average, 89% of those around us will be unprepared and will have no idea what to do or how to do it.
Lets look back at the 1974 power failure in the 13 western states - our stake had been doing emergency preparedness seminars for some time. I was amazed at the number of people in our area who were totally unprepared. Most did not even own a candle or matches to light it with. We gave out candles and matches up and down our street. We used our battery powered radio to monitor emergency traffic on the commercial AM bands. Emergency preparedness is still being taught in our area and I suspect that most neighborhoods are not much more prepared now than they were in 1974.
We live and breath Emergency Preparedness. Most of our neighbors do not even know it exists. You have just two choices: 1) Educate them on Emergency Preparedness or 2) take care of them during a disaster.
I prefer #1. It is easy to organize an emergency group for your street. Get it going, but let somebody else be in charge. You will be busy doing radio stuff in the actual disaster and will likely not be around to marshall the group. Weekly or monthly printed handouts with lots of internet links will keep them informed and involved. Consider quarterly in-person meetings to check on progress.
You might be surprised to find that some of the non-members in your area have already started a group. Link up with them and make them aware of the role that Ham Radio will play.
Until next time - 73 from N7OZH
======================
ERC-ARES-MARA-CERT - which one do you work with? Most of us belong to one group, some to two groups. In an actual widespread disaster, you might wind up working with or interfacing with all four. Don't limit your usefulness by assuming you will only work with your "favorite" group.
2. Cheat sheets for your radios. During an emergency, repeaters will be brought up on frequencies that you do not normally talk on except on simplex. Most of these will also have a squelch tone required for access. You must be able to enter a NEW frequency and TONE pair into your radio on short notice. You can buy cheat sheets (QST, eBay, etc) or you can build your own. They are just handy, they are ESSENTIAL! I guarantee you, speaking as the voice of experience, that without a cheat sheet you will find yourself isolated in an actual disaster if you cannot get your radio into and out of some modes that you normally NEVER use. The two most valuable in a disaster are Cross Band Repeat and New Repeater with Tone.
3. CERT and Ham Radio - The Department of Homeland Security lists ham radio as a key communications component of any major disaster or disruption. See the following articles for more information and how we can help in these areas. January QST page 85 - Beyond our bands. QST Aug 2012 pg 70 - QST Nov 2012 pg 89-90 Public Safety Moves Toward 22nd Century Communications
4. 29 % of Americans have not prepared at all and over 60 percent expect to rely on emergency responders in the first 72 hours. That's not going to happen in any large or extreme disaster. These statistics tell us that, on average, 89% of those around us will be unprepared and will have no idea what to do or how to do it.
Lets look back at the 1974 power failure in the 13 western states - our stake had been doing emergency preparedness seminars for some time. I was amazed at the number of people in our area who were totally unprepared. Most did not even own a candle or matches to light it with. We gave out candles and matches up and down our street. We used our battery powered radio to monitor emergency traffic on the commercial AM bands. Emergency preparedness is still being taught in our area and I suspect that most neighborhoods are not much more prepared now than they were in 1974.
We live and breath Emergency Preparedness. Most of our neighbors do not even know it exists. You have just two choices: 1) Educate them on Emergency Preparedness or 2) take care of them during a disaster.
I prefer #1. It is easy to organize an emergency group for your street. Get it going, but let somebody else be in charge. You will be busy doing radio stuff in the actual disaster and will likely not be around to marshall the group. Weekly or monthly printed handouts with lots of internet links will keep them informed and involved. Consider quarterly in-person meetings to check on progress.
You might be surprised to find that some of the non-members in your area have already started a group. Link up with them and make them aware of the role that Ham Radio will play.
Until next time - 73 from N7OZH
======================
Wednesday, January 02, 2013
MARA 01-02-2013
There are some excellent posts today on the SLC Foothill Net blog. Scroll down to see the 26 lessons learned from hurricane Sandy. Excellent info. Here is the link: http://www.slcfoothillnet.blogspot.com/
There is also some good information on one of Dave's other blogs, http://slcfoothillnetham.blogspot.com/
There is an excellent write up on there about a book called "Radio To Go" that is an excellent resource for new hams as well as experienced hams.
=====
More and more of the things in our lives involve passwords. Here are some facts that were published today by Avast AntiVirus software.
Time required to hack your password
myThomas987654321 .. 3.6 seconds
Martin8569 .. 12.01 seconds
21Everest .. 2 minutes
mammamia .. 3 minutes
896rUU .. 2 hours
The 7 most used passwords
welcome
password
Welcome1
welcome1
Password2
123456
Password01
=====
The Utah VHF Society swap meet is in a diferent location this year. Here is the info. You can use MapQuest or Google Maps to build a map from your house to the actual location.
Utah VHF Society Swap meet
February 23, 2013 at 9am
Davis County Fairgrounds
151 S 1100 West
Farmington, UT
Vendors get in an hour before visitors so that the vendors have time to get set up. Wear something with your call sign if possible. You'll find people coming up to introduce themselves whom you have only talked to on the radio and never in person. Stay till the end (about 11 AM) and you may win a ham radio or other great prize. Members of our group have been winners in the past.
=====
Congress has decided to raise taxes now and cut spending, well, maybe later or some other time. We don't have a tax problem, we have a spending problem. The government refuses to live within its means. Several financial analysts have pointed out that NO country has ever recovered from the level of debt that the US now has. (Debt as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product). The next disaster might not be an earthquake or a flood or a storm, it may be hyper-inflation like Germany had just before World War II. We live in interesting times. The best advise, I think, is to batten down the hatches and make sure that you have an emergency supply of the things you would need to sustain yourself in ANY situation.
See you on the net!
N7OZH
-O. D. Williams-
There is also some good information on one of Dave's other blogs, http://slcfoothillnetham.blogspot.com/
There is an excellent write up on there about a book called "Radio To Go" that is an excellent resource for new hams as well as experienced hams.
=====
More and more of the things in our lives involve passwords. Here are some facts that were published today by Avast AntiVirus software.
Time required to hack your password
myThomas987654321 .. 3.6 seconds
Martin8569 .. 12.01 seconds
21Everest .. 2 minutes
mammamia .. 3 minutes
896rUU .. 2 hours
The 7 most used passwords
welcome
password
Welcome1
welcome1
Password2
123456
Password01
The anti-hacker guys ALL tell us to NEVER use any word that is found in a dictionary as part of a password. Of course, if you are using a tool like KeePass (free) to generate your passwords, then no problem. KeePass and similar products generate passwords that would take centuries to crack. Personally, I use KeePass because it is simple to operate and is an Open Source product. This means that the source code to the program is in the public domain and anybody can look at the source code and determine that there are no trojans in the password generator itself.
Here's the KeePass link: http://keepass.info/
NEVER use a "proprietary" password safe or password generator. Proprietary means that the source code is secret and you have no way to find out if the program is "clean" or if it sends a copy of your login, password and URL to hackers in Russia every time you generate a new password.
One security expert says that the best password is a sentence. It's a fascinating concept and very similar to one I have been using for years. The details are here: http://tinyurl.com/5su4xbc
Also, here is an excellent article on how to easily generate your own passwords that can take eons to crack.
Secure Password Generator
=====
The Utah VHF Society swap meet is in a diferent location this year. Here is the info. You can use MapQuest or Google Maps to build a map from your house to the actual location.
Utah VHF Society Swap meet
February 23, 2013 at 9am
Davis County Fairgrounds
151 S 1100 West
Farmington, UT
Vendors get in an hour before visitors so that the vendors have time to get set up. Wear something with your call sign if possible. You'll find people coming up to introduce themselves whom you have only talked to on the radio and never in person. Stay till the end (about 11 AM) and you may win a ham radio or other great prize. Members of our group have been winners in the past.
=====
Congress has decided to raise taxes now and cut spending, well, maybe later or some other time. We don't have a tax problem, we have a spending problem. The government refuses to live within its means. Several financial analysts have pointed out that NO country has ever recovered from the level of debt that the US now has. (Debt as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product). The next disaster might not be an earthquake or a flood or a storm, it may be hyper-inflation like Germany had just before World War II. We live in interesting times. The best advise, I think, is to batten down the hatches and make sure that you have an emergency supply of the things you would need to sustain yourself in ANY situation.
See you on the net!
N7OZH
-O. D. Williams-
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