Security

A lot can be said about what type of security you should have and you can never have too much security.

One of the easiest and fairly inexpensive could be a Dog. Man's best friend.

You may train the dog yourself or get it trained, either way you have to be involved in the training process and keep training once the official training is done.  A dog can be a great deterrence for home defense by barking at strangers and making themselves known to intruders. If your dog barks at a salesman at your door, don't tell the salesman that the dog is harmless. The salesman could be scouting out your place for a future robbery. Having a good Dog enables you to leave your home with little worry that it would be robbed while you are gone for the day or hours. Dogs can, and most often will, protect family members that may not be able to protect themselves. Young kids, seniors, or handicapped family members.

Dogs have incredible hearing and a sense of smell. They will alert before you even know something might be amiss. I believe dogs can sense if people are bad or good. (Just my opinion, nothing to back up that last sentence)

The cost of owning a dog would be the cost of the dog (You can find good dogs at Humane Society's across the US) shorts, vet bills, dog food, play items, treats, etc. But working with a dog has the added benifits of exericise when you walk or play with your dog.

All in all I think it would be prudent to get a good watch dog for your home and family.

Be Ready, Be Prepared!!!

Here is a link to an article on another site that is long but well written. 

LINK

http://survivalblog.com/letter-emergency-preparedness/

 Be Ready, Be Prepared!!

Final Communications Prep.

This should be the last entry on communications as I think I am prepared in that category. I added an old CB 40 Channel Radio to my preps.

I got it free, paid 14 dollars for an antenna and hooked it up. It is mainly for monitoring and intelligence gathering. I was able to monitor a guy in downtown today, about 20 miles away. 

I have 2 Meter, and 70 cm radios, HF Ham radio, shortwave and FRS Radios.

I can work digital modes, receive weather reports and send email via HF radios.

I have back up radios for 2 meters and 70 cm, and a back up HF Ham Radio. I only have one dedicated shortwave radio but I could also use my Ham radios to pick up shortwave stations. 

I have 3 different HF antenna, back up coax and connectors. Fuses, wire, cable, grounding straps, end connectors and other odds and ends.

I am going to start working on water and food storage. I still have other projects to work on, fix the old generator being one that I have not finished yet. 

Be Ready, Be Prepared!!!

Small Engine Repair

I try to start my two generators at least once a quarter to make sure everything runs and I put them under a load as well. I last started them 2 months ago as a storm was approaching Hawaii. My cheap generator has always been a hard one to start and it was no exception this time around. This is a 1200 Watt Power Star Plus Generator, the first I ever owned. Remember, cheap is not always good! I think I paid $89 dollars for it at a car parts store on sale in 2008 or 2009. 

I pulled until the rope finally broke. I always thought it was hard to start because I turned the fuel off and let it die on it's on so the fuel would drain out of the lines. 

So I took the opportunity given to me to learn a few things about repairing it, or should I say attempting to repair it. 

I went to the local Home Depot and purchased a new rope for about $4.50. I took off the pulley and cut the old rope and put a new one one. It took several attempts to get the pulley lined up but it all eventually went back on easy enough. I did have to cut the rope to the correct length so it would pull tight enough to start.

I pulled again several times, but alas nothing. I took out the spark plug and noticed the clip on the plug spring was loose. It looks like it has a metal end on each side that should go into the wire to the spark plug. While I had the plug out I sanded the end and cleaned it up and checked the gap. I put that back together and tried again. NO LUCK.

I checked the oil/fuel mixture as I get lazy and don't mix it and just pour it in the tank, but it looked good. 

Next I checked the Air Filter and then made sure the fuel was getting to the carburetor. I took off the gas tank and the hose from the tank to the carburetor to ensure I had good fuel flow and opened up the drain plug at the bottom of the carb and fuel was coming out. 

I checked all the electrical connectors while I had the fuel tank off and all seems tight and connected. 

I sprayed carb cleaner into the air filter and the spark plug cylinder. Put it back together and pulled, it would run for about 10 seconds and die. I took off the fuel tank, drained the tank and the carb bowl, put new fuel in. Pulled and nothing. Sprayed carb cleaner in and it would start and run for a few seconds and die. 

Did I mention the owners manual did not do me very good? It says if it doesn't start and you checked the spark plug, fuel, and air filter than you should call the company.

As of this writing the Power Star Plus is still not a star and is not running.

I'm glad my other generator is a Honda EU 2000i and runs like a champ. I may order the propane conversion kit for it one day. 

Be Ready, Be Prepared!!!!!

Shortwave Radio

A cheap and easy way to pick up what is going on in other parts of the world is to listen to Shortwave Radio Broadcast. Shortwave Radio Listing, (SWL), is still going strong although some stations has closed their doors, others have opened up. In October 2014 Global 24 Radio came on the air. 

Global 24 is currently on 9395 MhZ out of Florida and is getting some good reception reports. I have heard it in Hawaii on a few occasions and they are testing other frequencies so it may get better sooner than later.

A good site to find frequencies or to find out what is playing on a certain frequency can be found at Short - Wave Info.  

SWLing is one of the most popular radio activities in the world. Even with the advent of the world wide web, SWLing stands apart because it provides some of the best "unfiltered" news and content to be found. The joy of SWLing is that you don't need expensive equipment, a connection to the internet, an elaborate antenna, or even AC mains power.  To pick up most broadcasts, a few batteries and an inexpensive pocket-sized shortwave radio are all you need.  This is simplicity at its best, and the reason there are so many people SWLing today. Of course, once you've mastered the basics of SWLing, you may also be interested in DXing (searching for more distant stations) which will require an upgrade from your pocket-sized radio; however, even then, you may be amazed at how little it takes to put together a good DX-chasing set-up.

I have a list of frequencies and stations that I have recieved in Hawaii on my webpage. Click HERE.

Nearly every country broadcasts on shortwave ( 2.3 - 26.1 MHz ). Many of these countries transmit powerful signals that are some times beamed toward North America. These broadcasts can often be heard on portable shortwave radios. International broadcasters often cover stories not reported in the American media. If you use or are learning another language there are many non-english broadcasts. These signals travel thousands of miles via the upper atmosphere and they may have static, fading or interference. These signals are also affected by the seasons, time of day and solar activity (sunspots etc). Broadcasters often change frequencies, languages and times. Any schedule would soon become out of date. I have never used a "schedule. In stead, I just tune around the dial and listen to any interesting stations.

The "Radio Regulations" of the International Telecommunications Union define the shortwave broadcast bands. At the 1992 World Administrative Radio Conference, new bands were created and existing bands were expanded. The band limits in the following table reflect the WARC-92 agreements and broadcast band expansions used on a non-interfering basis (e.g., the 41 m band starting at 6890 kHz on a non-interference basis): Although the allocations do not become official until 2007, in practice many stations have already started using the expanded portions under the motto "use it or lose it." Additionally, there are a few stations that broadcast outside the band edges above, e.g., Iran on 9022 and a number of African stations around 9200 kHz. Clearly, receivers with continuous coverage between 1.6 and 30 MHz are preferred.

Some Basic Rules of Thumb

1. Night shortwave reception is usually better than daytime shortwave. This can change from time-to-time, so it's worth checking the bands during the day as well.

2. Shortwave is usually better in the winter than other times of year.

3. Typically, the best daytime shortwave bands are 13, 15, 16, 19, and 22 meters, 16 and 19 usually the best. At night, the best bands are 25, 31, 41 and 49 meters, with 31 and 49 usually best.

4.  Around sunset and sunrise, both the day and night bands may often be exceptionally good,often making listening at these times quite rewarding.

5.  Because the construction materials of some buildings severely block shortwave signals, it may be best to hold the radio in your hands and get very close to a window or use an external antenna mounted next to the window or outside.
 
A shortwave band is like a street with many addresses on it. In this case, the individual addresses are called frequencies, each one a potential home of a broadcaster. For example, in the 19 meter band (it could be called 19 Meter Street), 15110 kilohertz is the home of Radio Spain International, 15190 is the home of BBC World Service and 15275 is the home of Deutsche Welle (Germany). As on any street, the occupants at a specific address are not always at home.

Be Ready, Be Prepared!!

JWX Free Software

Here is another way to recieve weather reports via a radio.

Short video on JWX weather Fax software for use with shortwave or HF Radio to receive NOAA weather Fax. Radio was a FT-450D, SingaLink USB Sound card and computer.
Software webpage http://arachnoid.com/JWX/
The most up-to-date information about U.S. weatherfax schedules and frequencies is available at the National Weather Service marine weather site, but here is a recent list of U.S. transmission locations and frequencies (Winter 2010-2011):

Boston, MA (NMF) 4235(02z, 08z), 6340.5, 9110, 12750(14z) kHz
New Orleans, LA (NMG) 4317.9, 8503.9, 12789.9, 17146.4(12,18Z) kHz
Kodiak, AK (NOJ) 2054(10z, 18z), 4298, 8459, 12412.5(4z, 22z) kHz
Pt.Reyes, CA (NMC) 4346(except 19z,23Z), 8682, 12786, 17151.2, 22527(19z,23Z) kHz
Honolulu, HI (KVM70) 9982.5(0519-1556z), 11090, 16135(1719-0356z) kHz
 
To receive a weatherfax station, one tunes 1.9 KHz below the station's published frequency and selects upper-sideband mode. For example, to receive the Pt. Reyes 4346 KHz broadcast, tune to 4344.1 KHz.

Be Ready, Be Prepared!!

HF RADIO WEATHER REPORTS

We had two weather events in Hawaii in August of 2014 and I was able to receive these weather fax over the HF Radio. I had some help from a fellow Ham on the Mainland to set it up. I used SeaTTY, FT-450D, and a computer. No Internet needed.

Be Ready, Be Prepared!