The 3-3-3 Radio Plan for SHTF Communications

I mentioned this in my post the other day but want to call it out for greater exposure.

As far as I know this originates in a 2013 post at the RadioMaster Reports blog.

Essentially, it's a basic communications plan explaining when, where, and how to use your radios in the event of an emergency where other forms of communication fail.

• Turn on your radio every 3 hours at the top of the hour local time.
• For a minimum of 3 minutes.
• On Channel 3 (whether it's CB, FRS, GMRS, or MURS).

That RadioMaster Post has reference cards you can download and print, or keep in the notes application on your phone.

Buytwowayradios.com sells a printout of the plan which is laminated, and also offers a PDF download version for free.

Disseminating this procedure among the people you plan to communicate with if the SHTF will go a long way to maximizing the value of your radios.

Hard Case for my Yaesu FT-187ND

Last week I took advantage of the most recent Harbor Freight Parking Lot Sale and picked up an Apache 3800 hard case to use with my Yaesu FT-817ND. The Apache case is a Pelican knock-off at around 1/3 the price. It's plenty good for my needs.

The label on the bottom of the case:

The pressure relief valve:

The case has two layers of pluck-to-fit foam. I have the radio and LDG tuner in the bottom:

I then created a tray using a thing piece of nylon, the top layer of foam, and some Gorilla tape, to hold various cables, some 550 cord and bank line, and a power cable.

This is not a self-contained go-box, since it doesn't include an antenna, power supply other than the small FT-817ND battery pack, and a tablet or laptop for digital modes. However, I can combine this with another box that will contain the other items. It's designed for vehicle-mobile operations, not manpack ops.

Getting Comms Squared Away

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

After a couple years away from doing anything with ham radio, a coworker has rekindled my interest in the past couple of weeks. He has a GMRS license and is studying for his Technician license. His primary interest is backup comms with family and friends who are within a few miles.

That said, we're hoping that after he gets his Tech license we'll be able to communicate via simplex on 2M with the use of directional antennas at a distance of about 20 - 25 miles. Several years ago a ham friend and I did just that, over a similar distance. I may need to go to a higher elevation, however.

Aside from all that, the state of the country worries me and has had me wanting to setup emergency backup comms with my brother and mom, who live in the same subdivision that I do. It's unlikely that both our Internet and cell service would both go down, but the possibility is non-zero.

Since GMRS covers immediate family regardless of whether they live with you, I've set them up with an unlocked Baofeng UV-5R programmed for GMRS and MURS, for emergency use only. (I am well aware that the UV-5R is not type accepted for GMRS or MURS, so it will not be used for non-emergency commo.)

The variant of the UV-5R that I've owned for years is the discontinued UV-5RA. As far as I know the guts are the same but the case is shaped differently so some accessories like higher capacity batteries are incompatible.

Therefore, today I got a 2-pack of current production UV-5Rs. The package I ordered included:

• 2 radios with standard capacity batteries and antennas.
• 2 3800 mah extra capacity batteries.
• 2 antennas that are better than the regular OEM Baofeng antennas.
• 2 desktop chargers.
• 1 programming cable and a mini-disc with CHIRP on it. (I recommend downloading CHIRP directly from the developer's website.)
• 2 earpieces.

Additionally, I have order in with Amazon for an additional programming cable, 2 battery eliminators (that allow you to power the radio off a 12 VDC outlet), and a 4-pack of speaker/mics.

Much of this will go into a radio go-bag along with extended patch cables and various coax adapters. I'll keep one my old UV-5RAs in my truck, where I also have a Tram mag-mount antenna.

Earlier this week I received one of Ed Fong's J-Pole antennas to improve performance in static situations. J-Poles are one of the more popular options for HT users seeking to improve the performance of their radios, and Ed Fong's has been well-regarded for years. It's very well made. It worked well for reception in my brief test but I've yet to transmit on it. 

I also picked up a 1/4 wave 2M ground plane antenna from Zulu Delta Antennas on eBay. The "Jungle Antenna" is similar, except that this has 4 ground radials instead of the Jungle Antenna's 3. I bought it mainly as a curiosity but from my understanding, J-Poles and 1/4 ground planes perform roughly comparably.

As an aside when I've tried to build a J-Pole I always had problems stripping the twinlead without cutting the conductor. As long as you have a SO-239 bulkhead socket and the ability to solder, I'd find a ground plane antenna easier to build.

But gear only gets you so far. Technology without knowledge is useless. I therefore went over how to use the Baofeng with my brother and gave him a reference card for the 3-3-3 radio plan so that we're both on the same page if we need the radios.

For anyone looking to really improve their commo game, ham or not, I highly recommend the book, The Guerrilla's Guide To The Baofeng Radio, by NCScout. While the book contains a large amount of information that is Baofeng-specific, the meat of it is about technique. Beware of and avoid other similarly-titled guides that are knock-offs.

NCScout's other book, The Guerrilla's Guide to Signals Intelligence, is also worth reading. This knowledge may come in handy if there's unrest following this Fall's election.

I urge everyone to get their communication plans in order well before the election.

Using the RTL Dongle and SDR on Apple Silicon

It's been a few years since I played with a software defined radion (SDR). I have one of the inexpensive RTL dongles and on Intel based Macs or Windows and Linux machines, there's a variety of SDR applications you can use. I tried a few but they kept crashing on me so I settled on gqrx.

Gqrx is built for Intel CPUs but it runs OK under Rosetta 2 on my M1 MacBook Air.

To install Rosetta 2 from a terminal prompt type this and hit Enter:

    $ softwareupdate --install-rosetta --agree-to-license

(Note: The dollar sign is the prompt, don't type it.)

Then install gqqrx using Homebrew. If you don't have Homebrew installed you'll need to do so first.

Install Homebrew:

    $ /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Install gqrx:

    $ brew install --cask gqrx

When you first start it up you'll need to select your device on this screen:

After it starts check this out for instructions on getting started.

My RTL dongle has a USB A connection so I needed to use a USB A-to-C adapter to connect it to the Mac. For an antenna I used my Comet GP-3 2M/70cm mounted on my chimney.

2M and 70cm were quiet in my area last night but I was able to receive the local NOAA Weather station clearly:

And the FM broadcast spectrum was full. Here it is tuned to WMMR Philadelphia:

I'm thinking about picking up one of the receivers from SDRplay which in conjunction with their software, which is built for Apple Silicon, should perform better and be easier to setup. The SDRplay also receives a wider spectrum than the cheap dongles (which are good for the money).

Kosher Meal Review 2

Continuing my post from yesterday, tonight I had another one of the KJ Poultry kosher long-term shelf-stable meals I got from Amazon. Tonight's entree was Chicken Meatballs with Rice and Mushrooms.

After heating in the microwave for about 2.5 minutes:

There were five of these meatballs in the dish:

Like the Beef Stuffed Cabbage I had last night, this was very tasty. I found this meal more filling since there was more solid food in the form of rice and mushrooms, compared with the gravy in with the beef.

So far, KJ Poultry is hitting it out of the park.

Kosher Meal Review 1

Something I'm trying to do is get more prepping info out to my fellow Members of the Tribe. Observant Jews will follow the laws of kashrut and only consume kosher foods. So, I decided to order some shelf-stable kosher meals and try them out.

I bought a six pack of Kosher meals by KJ Poultry from Amazon:

• Beef stuffed cabbage
• Beef rib steak
• Chicken meat balls
• Stuffed chicken
• Chicken soup
• Chicken chow mein

One of the meals has an sell-by date of October 2027, while the other five were November 2027. Note that those are sell-by dates, not expiration dates. If you keep them in a cool, dry place out of the light they should last a few years past that.

Tonight I tried the beef stuffed cabbage for dinner. Pics of the box, front and back:

You should be able to click on the images to view them larger. The ingredients and prep instructions are on the back. I warmed it in my microwave.

The sealed meal you'll see when you remove it from the box:

After heating and opening:

Lots of sauce with two lumps of beef and rice stuffing. One of them had come unwrapped. The other was still wrapped in cabbage.

A closeup:

It tasted excellent. The portion size was small for me. I could've eaten two of these meals for dinner. Alternatively, a side would have been nice. It would probably make a decent lunch.

Is it worth it? By itself this is not a full meal. But it's kosher, shelf stable, and can be heated a few different ways. If necessary it could be consumed cold. In my opinion they are a good option for including in a long-term kosher food supply.

I'll post reviews of other meals as I eat them.

Water for Emergencies

I've been more active on X (Twitter) recently. I published an article, Water for Emergencies, over there. Please go check it out and if you're a user, give me a follow.

I'm @davemarkowitz on X.