HamRadioNow: Hams and Preppers (Be VERY Prepared)

HAMRADIONOW.tv
Episode 104:
Be Prepared
(Be Very Prepared)

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Raymond Fosdick is the owner and editor of Prepped & Prepared, a new magazine and TV show launching in 2014. Ray isn't a ham, but he came to the Shelby Hamfest because he believed that hams would be both a logical part of his audience, and an important resource in the "prepper" movement.

As we discuss in this episode, the word "prepper" carries some baggage. Ray embraces some of that context, steps back from the more extreme elements of it, and expands on the themes that most hams and everyone else can identify with and benefit from – being as ready as you can be for disasters large and small, natural and man-made, local and... well, he didn't rule out global.

Note that if you're in the half the audience that doesn't make it past the half-way point (this is an 80-minute conversation), you'll be missing the best half.<small> (That's usually true, but in this show, it's especially true).
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Not to be downer on the topic but I hope the air waves don't get mobbed by nuts over this topic.

Hope someone is gonna take hold of all these preppers and remind them ham radio is not about prepping but about science, amateur radio communications and ambassadors of good will in operating. Not prepping!

We'll wind up with people who care less about the numerous aspects of amateur radio and start "another net" we don't need that will flood and take up air time unnecessarily like many other nets. I can surely see another battle of frequency and schedule times brewing.

I do think prepping is certainly not a bad thing and anyone should have the right and proper mind set to do so for the safety of their family's and selves.

Other than that a show on the web based on it should be an interesting watch!

73!

 

Just remember to wrap your radios in bubble wrap, then extra heavy foil, then bubble wrap, then extra heavy foil, then bubble wrap......then place it in a metal box to protect from EMP blasts when they happen, otherwise your radios will be useless.
Youll also need solar panels and AGM batteries EMP-proofed.

 

More nuts out of the jar!

Get your Day-Glow vest, some sort of wierd hard hat (aluminum foil lined, naturally) and several HTs on your belt and wait for that astroid, mushroom cloud or alien landing.

Its bound to happen someday so keep those HTs charged up!

 

There are preppers who are nut cases without a doubt. If you follow them on certain prepper websites few of them talk about getting a ham license. Their theory is when worldwide collapse happens licensing will be the last thing they need to worry about. Those who prep for more realistic reasons (they live next to an active earthquake fault line etc) do advocate having communications equipment. Many of them are already licensed hams. Not all preppers are nut jobs.

 

In Southern California I know many people who own generators and store water and food in case of earthquakes or power outages (which we have had several over past few years). If one considers an earthquake kit with an HT in a box and generator and some batteries and a flashlight prepping then I am one of them. Last power outage lasted over 24 hours and with the aging electrical infrastructure I think it is wise to have some form of electrical power backup so food in the fridge doesn't go bad.

 

I live very rural, we have a Gen-set big enough to pump water from the well, It can run on gasoline or propane, for home heating a 500gal pig. We have a storm shelter, built above grade to protect against flooding, we live at a high point of the county all water drains away from us. Freezer stocked, pantry stocked, refidgerator, every thing is used in rotation to maintain freshness and prevent freezer burn.

For snow removal I have a twenty five hp tractor with a snowblower, also a fifteen horse farm tractor with a blade for clearing the driveway, for transport we have a jeep.

Does that make us prepers?

 

At the risk of being turned into the bastard stepchild, I think there is room for both schools of thought. Sure, ham radio is about the science, communications and good will; but also we have to factor in the disaster preparedness aspects too. The mortar-board people can sit at the table with the tinfoil hat people and should in my opinion. Both groups can learn a LOT from each other. Both sides can be right!

Two things brought me into ham radio. The first was seeing how useful ham radio still is even with all our cutting edge, internet connected social media technology. What's ARRL's motto?? "When all else fails..." I evacuated to DFW from southeast Texas during Hurricane Rita in 2005 and during Eduard, Gustav and Ike in 2008. The radio guys I talked to were great and made me wanna get off the bench and onto the field. That's the communications and good will aspect.

I'm also the Commo / Intel guy for my little prepping team. I don't have a year's worth of food, water, 5,000 rounds of ammo for each of my 5 guns and a cabin in the woods of Montana. If push comes to shove though I can take care of those under my protection and at the same time maintain situational awareness of the world outside my neighborhood. That's my prepping side.

We see the people on shows like "Doomsday Preppers" and others thinking that all preppers are like that. I can proudly say that not once have I nearly severed my own thumb with my rifle! Those folks are the extreme fringe that make good TV. Don't just see/hear the word "prepper" and assume they're of the tinfoil hat variety. Ya know what happens when you assume!

 

More Nuts Out Of The Jar?

Here Bob is taking the easy way out — a pot-shot at the term Preppers without having watched any of the program. It's my fault. I put Preppers in the title because I knew it would get attention (they call it "click-bait"). It worked... you're clicking. And I knew it would draw this kind of response. I take responsibility.

In the program Ray and I do talk about the fringe element, and whether or not it's a good idea to adopt the Prepper label. He says he has to, for the same reason I used it. That's where the attention is focused, and to be successful, he'll have to start there.

But Ray says that Prepped & Prepared will take a more comprehensive, balanced editorial position on the things people really need to do to be ready for anything from a four-day power outage to a months-long or maybe even a forever society changing event.

Bob, I'm sorry we didn't conduct this conversation in CW for you (see Bob's QRZ profile), but if you do go watch it, I think you'll find it's one of the more interesting rag-chews you've listened to in a while.

But then I think that of every HamRadioNow program.

73, Gary KN4AQ
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Gary, back before I retired, we had a power outage that went on for 28 days, we ran the gen-set for about eight hours each day to keep the food cold. Bathe and laundry. That house had a basement that needed a pump to keep it dry, this one does not, lesson learned. One nice thing about living on a hill top is that my vertical is the tallest object around, and the inverted vee has put me into VK land.

 

Back in the early 90's the FCC eliminated the code requirement for the Tech license. We saw a big bump in licensing, club membership, hamfest attendance, radio sales and repeater activity. One specific thing attracted attention: autopatch. This was just before cell phones became cheap enough for everyone to have and use.

Then the cell phones hit, and this bubble of ham activity faded. I don't think there's a one-to-one correspondence, but I do think they are related.

I believe (and I have no market surveys to back me up) that a large portion of that group who sampled ham radio and then left just didn't find what they were looking for. Our infrastructure, our population, our society and our culture weren't what they were expecting, and weren't what they wanted. And I don't think they changed us much for having come and gone. Except maybe our expectations for hamfest attendance, club membership size, repeater activity and radio sales (we liked their money).

Some of them did like ham radio. They stuck around, and we're all the better for them.

I see the same thing, but with even less impact, from preppers. Most of them looking for communications will take the easy routes — CB, FRS, and some illegal use of marine and maybe aviation radios. Only a few will take the trouble to get into ham radio enough to make it really useful for them.

Our license classes and VE exams are the first line in doing what Eric N2RRA hopes "someone" will do - "remind them ham radio is not about prepping but about science, amateur radio communications and ambassadors of good will in operating." After that, ham radio is hard to use effectively without our society and culture that I think turn most people off. We are not plug and play. They join us, or they get little out of their first efforts.

As for Ham Radio not being about prepping... well, that's a giant step down the slippery slope of telling people what they can and can't talk about on Ham Radio (other than the business and indecency stuff). Do we want to go there?

Finally, Eric says he "hope(s) someone is gonna take hold of all these preppers...." I don't want to single out Eric here (that's against QRZ.com policy anyway). We're all pretty guilty of hoping someone will take care of things for us. But what are you going to do?

73, Gary KN4AQ
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I grew up in South Louisiana, where long power outages and road closures from hurricanes were a fairly frequent occurrence. Even in central North Carolina, I have a generator and batteries and lights and canned/pouch food and plenty of water all stored away. (Remember, folks--test that generator every year before hurricane season.) I'm no 'prepper' but it's nice to be able to read and have warm food even after a big storm.

 

Preppers or not, who cares? As long as they follow the law as well as act courteously on the air how would they be any different than any of the other sub-groups we have in amateur radio?

 

Exactly... they pass the test, get their license and follow the rules.

And I'm puzzled with this whole negative connotation with "preppers". I've never seen folks refer to those participating in military nuclear exercises as "kooks" or "paranoids" even though the likelihood of a nuke strike on the US is very unlikely. So, why is it that when individuals prepare for unlikely events they're looked upon as some sort of a problem? Another bizarre trait with the vast majority of the population is the mindset of "it can't happen here". I suppose that the real lessons of history are no longer covered in our school systems.

In any case, I personally feel that my privileges to operate on literally billions of dollars of frequency allocations comes with a small cost of being "Prepared" to help my neighbors, community and served agencies when "all else fails".

 

I don't know if you've noticed or not, but the hobby is dying. As far as I'm concerned, anything to get some fresh blood into our ranks can help. I've been a ham for a very large portion of my 30 years, and my first Dayton Hamvention was something to inspire awe. When I went last year after a 5-year sabbatical, I couldn't believe there were empty fleamarket spaces at the Hara Arena. It blew my mind, but also opened my eyes. I work in an extremely technical-driven field, and I don't know why I am no still surprised that people my age haven't heard of Ham Radio. I'm more surprised when they have, but still have only met 1 other in my field that has their license.

The attitude that suggests that newcomers will destroy your precious bandwidth is part of why your hobby is dying. You are not only not helping to make it sound interesting and exciting for a new generation, you're actively berating them and pushing them away. I can't say this is a new trend facing the preppers, because it wasn't a new trend when the CW requirement was dropped from the higher tier licenses. I received my General license about 3 months before the requirement was dropped, and had to take my 5wpm test to upgrade, but was still treated like dirt more than once while trying to make a contact, simply because my license was upgraded at the wrong time.

I wish I could say *THAT* was a new trend for me, but as a young kid, 11 or 12 years old, I was still looked down on by a few old farts in the local clubs because I hadn't learned and operated on CW for 2 years before upgrading to a tech and getting FM privileges like they had.

All in all, I've been pretty consistently disappointed by the attitude of the ham radio community in general towards new membership. As far as I'm concerned, bring on the no-coders, because they'll get people on the air. Bring on the Day-Glo vests, tinfoil hats, and funny-looking batman utility belt preppers, because it gets folks on the air (and quite frankly, have you ever SEEN a hamfest? I see people dressed like this at about every hamfest I've ever been to!)

You're in a hobby that caters to nerds, freaks, geeks, and the outcasts of society. A few more certainly won't hurt us.