Shortwave: The Warlord's Radio

00:00 - Introduction
04:10 - The Emergency Itself
08:10 - The Nature of the Communication
10:26 - MARS Mod
14:24 - Mobility and Fitness
18:40 - Data Modes - RTTY
23:26 - Sending Images
28:37 - JS8Call
31:56 - Winlink
35:41 - Comm Scheduling
41:42 - Encryption
42:58 - Thinking Big
47:15 - Closing Thoughts

DISCLAIMER: This content is purely educational and does not advocate for violating any laws. Do not violate any laws or regulations. This is not legal advice. Consult with your attorney.

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[manwichsandwich]

Most people just need to understand that 99% of the usefulness of a radio of any kind is intelligence and information gathering. Gathering. Meaning just listening. Not much of a need to key that mic in a lot of situations. Just like the other parts of life, you are way better off listening than you are talking. Every time you key that mic you are putting a target on your back.

[joemac]

This is a great presentation. I am glad somebody is actually explaining Radio Communications instead of trying to sell an $800 handheld radio.
In my opinion, 99% of the ham radio videos on YouTube are for operators who already "know" a lot about ham radio. This is why non-hams watch those videos and they cant comprehend a single word those people are saying.
I think this channel has the great potential to change the future of ham radio.

[anonpersn]

I am a very experienced long distance hiker/backpacker who spends most of my time in Appalachian mountains, far more then 10, 000 miles of back-country travel, there are very very few humans who could carry 100 lbs 12 miles in a day while bush whacking up and down mountains, i couldn't, on a trail sure but not truely bushwhacking. the difference between walking 20 miles down a road or even trail and walking 5 in the back country will blow minds, this spring i took a been there done that army ranger with me for a hike, on trail was fine but when i took him on a bushwhack for about a mile he said it was the hardest thing he had ever done.
every yuear i challenge myself to bushwhack a new peak that trails do not reach and every year I am amazed at how hard it is, how sketchy travel without a path can be, how hard it is to get gear through the thickest and steepest of terrain

[dolphadomian]

“Channel your inner warlord” should be daily advice

[michaelabraham]

I know nothing about ham radio. I did spend years training in the military immediately post cold war. The training I've received regarding radios over the years was significant. We hung antennas in trees, set em up on poles, mounted them to vehicles, etc. Training under soviet threat doctrine we moved a lot. With the tech the soviets had back in the day they could triangulate a radio operators position in seconds. Field artillery, jamming, and what have you could be targeted on that position in seconds to minutes. Shoot, move, and communicate was the order of the day. Since then I've also deployed to various theaters overseas. Technology has changed significantly in just 20+ years. I've been out for in excess of 10 now. Our guys could, and did listen to all the transmissions sent out by the militant groups in our area. The only real protections modern insurgent groups really have imo is the amount of resources they'll have available to devote in your direction. The amount of movement you can do, and how fast, etc. You could string your own landlines in fixed positions. These can't be intercepted as far as I'm aware. Use directional antennas. You can find out how to make these in publically available field manuals. Those are harder to detect. Use preset locations where your antennas are setup using materials your prepared to abandon. Roll in, hook up antenna, send message, grab radio, go. Leave antenna. Don't communicate at all for long periods. Use lots of keywords in voice communications. Use every tech advantage you got to shorten your communications. Your ideas on sending txt or pictures is great. Pictures not as much. Its the 21st century, could you use drones as repeater stations? Send it up, burst your message, grab drone, go. Use existing infrastructure, tap into existing phone lines strung out for miles already. If there is no power that's another option for communications with improvised, or surplus field phones. Depending upon the state of urban areas, there could be plenty of camouflage, cover, and concealment available there. Use, or modify existing power lines, or phone lines for house to house communication, op (observation post), etc. The imagination goes on, and on. By the time we've got abandoned urban areas, and can freely utilize existing infrastructure there's gonna be a lot of unprepared dead people, and the survivors probably won't need my advice, or will have forgotten it. Also anything a person can wargame in their mind can be countered by an equally imaginative opponent, and you really cannot plan what happens when shtf. Every scenario you've imagined with the aid of your 10 besties will be different than you imagined. After the 1st shot, rocket, zombie attack happens its all adlib with the resources you and your theoretical demonic enemy have to throw at each other. The one thing I hated about using radios in mountainous terrain was how the mountains themselves severely limited your commo. You couldn't talk to the guy a half kilometer away, but you and the guy 20 klicks away could talk all day. If your in an area where your antenna can talk to anyone your also in a spot that's got great line of sight to all bad guys and field artillery. So you try to hide in the valleys where they have to use high quadrant elevation to drop things on you, but move your antennas as far away as is possible with as much cammo as you can do. Mountains just suck, and after you've been climbing up and down and running around for an entire week with no sleep there's no amount of physical fitness in the world that seems adequate.

[tibbs]

Loved the middle earth map for comms scheduling. It was a nice touch.

[allenshepard]

Note @ 7:27 - "The knock on the door for being a HAM" That happened during WW-II. Although HAMs were tolerated for training Morse code radiomen, they were shut down during world war two. Many call signs were lost and old timers were given new call signs.
Also, Some cities in California now want HAM to pay to co-locate antennas. Two local Emergency operations managers have come back with "The after hurricane report from Florida opened with "We did not think we needed HAM operators since we have cell phones, mobile data and Starlink satellites. We were wrong. We needed too many people in too many places. HAMs could travel by bike"
NOTE: MARS mods may not be bad. NEVER use a police frequency. I'd rather use a military or GMRS to call for help after a fire, gun shot, explosion. I expect to be prosecuted for using a police freq.
NOTE: SDR allows people to see how active a wide band of frequencies. "Waterfall" option can even help spot code vs speach vs FSK.
I keep a CB. Why? Its what others have. Use for intel gathering and monitoring. Do not forget NOAA radio & FM to have some music after a long day. Good stress reliver.

[prisonerofthehighway]

Depending on your operational area and what your needs are, don’t discount the humble CB radio. If you can get your antenna high enough, they have 10-20 miles of range and don’t require much power. If you’re planning to ally with like minded neighbors, being able to communicate is as easy as making a trip to your local truck stop.

[JuanGringo]

As an unlicensed someone that’s been trying to learn about some of this stuff, from a relatively closed community, THANK YOU for this.

[echodelta]

MARS-gram’s were awesome to get while deployed before e-mail was mass available especially in the marines. I didn’t get an email address until 2004!

[Povilaz]

I find shortwave radio's fascinating. I have been interested in them ever since I was 7 years old, just messing around with one. Being able to tune into a station from *thousands* if not *tens of thousands* of kilometers away is still a mind boggling concept even today.

[Supermanrs]

As a fellow ham this is an amazing video. And have been trying to tell people this for years. Comms are super important.

[GrayWolf-]

This fine video is spot on regarding portable operations in both regular and extreme emergency conditions. I gave up the ham shack thing twenty years ago and and now operate entirely out of my backpack. Features are a 5 to 100 watt radio in all modes, 60 watt solar panel, lifepo4 batteries, and all the finest and smallest accessories. The antenna is a portable 2m to 40 m (144 mhz - 7 mhz) in vertical, horizontal and NVIS configurations. I have operated from many countries and remote locations using this system.

[mikemandell]

I am regularly involved in much of this for emcomm. I was in Navy then Army MARS for several years. I can add to almost everything mentioned here. Let me add one thing... DStar works (and is legal at 6khz bandwidth)on HF. It's not encrypted but also not easily decoded by others and it is freaky clear in HF. Works on NVIS. I have talked to hams from here in PA to Idaho, Florida, Carolinas, etc just as clear as FM VHF . Several radios can do this. Sort of unique as other digital voice modes are too wide to be legal in HF... Assuming you're still abiding by the rules.

[behxld]

i was a radio operator in the marines. i definitely felt that carrying a PRC on 8 hr patrols daily. GET YOUR BODIES PREPARED GENTS. much more difficult over long distances/rough terrain than you would think.

[miked]

I don't know how it took me so long to discover your channel. I have found a new thing to be obsessed about. Thank you.

[kennymonty]

The subject of communications has been on my mind for a few years now. This was the best information I've seen and heard on the subject, by yards. Outstanding. Even though I had enormous gaps in understanding, you kept bringing it back so I could kind of follow along as a new guy. Thanks a lot for that.

[daveweese]

this is the type of technical information that can really save lives in the future and help our people survive .. may God help good triumph over evil in this world..

[Andrew--S]

“Let’s see Paul Allen’s SALUTE report”

That meme always cracks me up

[dieselstruck]

These "Training" exercises by the Ham Radio community, are played out in contest type environments usually, Like POTA, IOTA, SOTA, Field Day, etc. There's should be a type of "war" type of event organized, these would really get hams out there and planning war or conflict based rules for contests. Select multiple points and place scenarios simulated (Jamming as it's illegal) and real type of challenges. this could be "gamified" and could work. Maybe even like a type of RPG card game, set random situations, etc.