Here is the hatting presentation that Alan Morrissett delivered at the CPG LA meeting on Sunday, June 28. Recommended study for all those getting involved with radios, whether FRS/GMRS (Family Radio Service/General Mobile Radio Service) or Ham/amateur radios. Radio Basics – CPG
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Archives for 1-Communications Devices
FRS (Family Radio Service) radio recommendations
Recommended FRS (Family Radio Service)/General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) hand-held radios (otherwise known as a walkie-talkie). No license needed but really work only short distance (like 0.5-1 mile) and “line of sight” – good for neighborhood communications. Motorola MS350R 35-Mile Talkabout Waterproof 2-Way Radio (Pair) $62 http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-MS350R-35-Mile-Talkabout-Waterproof/dp/B004PGM9PO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1431214675&sr=8-3&keywords=Motorola+Talkabout (22 channel s, 3 AA batteries) (Costco has basically same radio, the MT 351R, for $60 a pair) http://www.costco.com/Motorola-MT351R-2-pack-Talkabout-Weatherproof-Two-way-Radios-Bundle.product.100057570.html (Home Depot has similar (not waterproof) for $70) (You can get cheaper sets on Amazon for $25-$44/pair, but they use AAA batteries – using fresh batteries is the key and you’ll want to
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Ham radio recommendations
For those interested in buying a ham radio, here’s some information on some recommended ham radios, from $30 to $300+. Below are some recommendations by CPGI’s Steve Szmidt and Bruce Saliga that you might want to check out (Amazon links provided for ease of reference): A good very inexpensive starter ham radio: iSaddle BAOFENG Dual Band UHF/VHF Radio Transceiver W/Upgrade Version 3800mah Battery With Earpiece $36 (includes extended battery & earpiece) http://www.amazon.com/Baofeng-Transceiver-Upgrade-Version-Earpiece/dp/B00CWPAIBW/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1434052260&sr=1-5&keywords=uv-5r (above is BaoFeng UV5R Dual-Band Two-Way Radio, Black $27 http://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-UV5R-Dual-Band-Two-Way-Radio/dp/B007H4VT7A/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1434052260&sr=1-1&keywords=uv-5r Two other mentioned good inexpensive starter ham radios: If you like to know
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Ham radio recommendations & hatting refs, Steve Szmidt & Bruce Saliga
Comm from Steve Szmidt (and Bruce Saliga, below) June 10-12, 2015 regarding recommended ham radios: (please excuse odd paragraph breaking from cut-and-pasting into WordPress!) Although it’s easy to say buy this and this, that is not really the best way; there are a lot of details. I, for example, recommend a radio which tells me before battery is used up so that I have predict. That so far appear to only be available on one radio. But you can always buy a couple or a few. Pretty much all disaster work is done on HAM radio (not on Citizen Band).
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Emergency communications handouts
CPG LA was recently given an excellent class on emergency communications for CERT members by Jonathan Zimmerman. Our notes haven’t been written up yet, but here are scans of the handouts for anyone interested. also a sample radio page that our Marti M made up for mass: 0 Emerg Comm class Jonathan Zimmerman 150520 1 Intro to Emergency Communications 2 Intro to Emergency Comms 3 Situation Size-Up 4 Recommended Voice Comm Procedures 5 Voice Radio Frequencies Cross Band Repeating Sample Radios (I believe Jonathan that these and others were posted on the CERT LA website.) Jonathan Zimmerman is the
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How to become a Ham Radio operator
Below is an excellent and helpful write-up by CPG LA member and Ham Radio I/C Alan Morrisett to help anyone interested in becoming involved with Ham Radio. (There is a some time-sensitive data relevant to LA as well.) _________________ Ham radio licensing in the U.S comes in three levels: Technician, General, and Amateur Extra. To start with you’ll want to get a Technician license, which is in any case required to get a higher level license and which is the first gradient in your hatting. It may be all that you will ever need or want, depending on your goal for
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comm & security – articles & info
articles of interest (new items posted all the time) 35 Government Agencies to Share Your Medical Records through Obamacare http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/feds-plan-35-agencies-help-collect-share-use-electronic-health-info_821037.html Software product called Beware made by Intrado — already purchased by police departments since 2012 — runs a search on you over the entire Internet that includes all public records, all social networking, including “comments that could be construed as offensive,” and other indicators… In moments digests it all down and returns a simple “Threat Rating” assigned to you (red, orange, yellow). Like a credit score http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cops-scanning-social-media-assign-threat-rating/ http://urgentcomm.com/intrado/intrado-steve-reed-talks-about-integrating-beware-tool-motorola-solutions-idp-platform http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/12/12/police-data-mining-looks-through-social-media-assigns-you-a-threat-level/ CONGRESS PASSES BILL WHICH GRANTS “UNLIMITED ACCESS TO COMMUNICATIONS OF EVERY AMERICAN”
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How to password-protect documents
MS Office docs (MS Word, Excel, etc.) – To password protect a document in Office 2013 or Office 2010, click the File menu, click the Protect Document button in the Info section, and select Encrypt With Password. You’ll be prompted to enter a password, which you’ll have to provide each time you open the document in the future. (convey the password separately by phone or text, or in a separate email if necessary.) You can also fully decrypt the document in the future, removing the need for a password. If that doesn’t work for you, you might check this out:
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Instant hat on Communicating through our Website
Instant hat on Communicating through our Website NOTE re use of public email: Here’s some comm from Lee Wilson: CPG PL #5 was not intended to be a stop on comm or complicated, we are just tightening up security for the future. We need to wean ourselves away from so much email. This was the intention behind “Also we will not discuss agendas, plans, organization or any other business of CPG in or on a public email and limited brief communication on phones.” If one must use public email, just don’t say what group – just refer to our group,
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Hat on Chat
Here is the complete User Manual (Hat) on how to us the Chat bar feature in our site. It’s located at the bottom of the site. Comet Chat User’s Manual Basic Edition You can read it here or right mouse click and download it.
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