- Joined
- Jun 11, 2021
- Messages
- 17
As I purchase and ponder my way thru Digital Mobile Radio (DMR ... there, the first acronym is free) there's lots to figure out, including a sea of acronyms. As an IT guy, I love acronyms, including the last one in the title, which is invariably my first response to most anything new! I almost think in acronyms ...
As others do, I consider COMMs an important part of the homestead, and it's good to be ready with alternative COMMs *if* things go south (nuclear, biological war ... even "war of the roses" stuff, as in my wife kicks me out). All of these rate as a catastrophe to be ready for to some degree, with some more likely than others.
HAM radio is my answer to COMMs for these catastrophes, and DMR is my current venture into HAM radio. Being rural, it is also my solution for that "last mile" problem ... I can't reach anybody very well over analog radio, and the nearest repeater is many miles away. Physics (trees, foothills of the Rockies, etc.) is *temporarily* in charge in my area ... I'm just not getting on the air. I do have internet, though ...
... lots of reading later, I now have a DMR ID. From here on out, though, it appears that money is required ...
"In theory", it should be as simple as purchasing a DMR HT (I chose a Baofeng DMR-6X2, from BaofengTech) and a DMR Hotspot (multiples to choose from, so much more reading and researching ... I've now got a Pi-Star model), and I should be able to get to the entire world from this rural location! If I've read things right, I don't even need to put up "YAA"!
Everything is lined up in front of me, but no matter how close to each other I push them, nothing's happening. OK, proximity doesn't seem to be enough ... more RTFMing.
While I get through all that reading, I also need to think about what to do with this stuff (my wife always wants these expenditures to be justified ... how silly). My justifications, I think, will be:
1. lurk world-wide, instead of just local ... should be more on the air stuff. The tie-in for her would be "you can facebook, without the facebook phone" or some such.
2. hook up (somehow) with fellow homesteaders or prep-savvy folks. This is always harder to actually do, as one of our prep rules is OP-SEC (don't tell folks what you're doing). So, some kind of code-word is needed. ZR (zombie-ready), CSR (common sense readiness)? Anyone got anything better?
Future posts will hopefully show more progress towards getting on the digital airwaves ... got those acronyms decoded yet? And yes, the censor system changed the last acronym of my thread title ... you'll have to use your imagination for the banned acronym.
As others do, I consider COMMs an important part of the homestead, and it's good to be ready with alternative COMMs *if* things go south (nuclear, biological war ... even "war of the roses" stuff, as in my wife kicks me out). All of these rate as a catastrophe to be ready for to some degree, with some more likely than others.
HAM radio is my answer to COMMs for these catastrophes, and DMR is my current venture into HAM radio. Being rural, it is also my solution for that "last mile" problem ... I can't reach anybody very well over analog radio, and the nearest repeater is many miles away. Physics (trees, foothills of the Rockies, etc.) is *temporarily* in charge in my area ... I'm just not getting on the air. I do have internet, though ...
... lots of reading later, I now have a DMR ID. From here on out, though, it appears that money is required ...
"In theory", it should be as simple as purchasing a DMR HT (I chose a Baofeng DMR-6X2, from BaofengTech) and a DMR Hotspot (multiples to choose from, so much more reading and researching ... I've now got a Pi-Star model), and I should be able to get to the entire world from this rural location! If I've read things right, I don't even need to put up "YAA"!
Everything is lined up in front of me, but no matter how close to each other I push them, nothing's happening. OK, proximity doesn't seem to be enough ... more RTFMing.
While I get through all that reading, I also need to think about what to do with this stuff (my wife always wants these expenditures to be justified ... how silly). My justifications, I think, will be:
1. lurk world-wide, instead of just local ... should be more on the air stuff. The tie-in for her would be "you can facebook, without the facebook phone" or some such.
2. hook up (somehow) with fellow homesteaders or prep-savvy folks. This is always harder to actually do, as one of our prep rules is OP-SEC (don't tell folks what you're doing). So, some kind of code-word is needed. ZR (zombie-ready), CSR (common sense readiness)? Anyone got anything better?
Future posts will hopefully show more progress towards getting on the digital airwaves ... got those acronyms decoded yet? And yes, the censor system changed the last acronym of my thread title ... you'll have to use your imagination for the banned acronym.
Last edited: