EASY "DO-IT-YOURSELF"
PROJECTS FOR EMCOMM OPERATORS
Make a 12 V Emergency
Operating Light - D. W. Thorne, K6SOJ
Many of today's hams buy everything
"ready made". Emcomm operators must have some basic
workshop and repair skills. Below is a useful project
for low tech tinkerers, or those who are "engineering
challenged", but would like to begin to learn the fine art of
making something using your own ingenuity. One of our regular
mottos is: "IMPROVISE, ADAPT, OVERCOME”
(Sgt. Gunny Highway...in Heartbreak Ridge, 1986)
"It was a dark and stormy night"
(Snoopy), and you find yourself out in some tent or lean-to, manning (or
womanning) a field emcomm station. Candles, kerosene lamps,
propane or white gas lanterns are dangerous, hot, and emit fumes.
Electric is better. Many emcomm operators carry 12 v.
battery(s). This might be an auxiliary* battery in their
vehicle, a small gel cell, (check motorcycle and photography supply
houses), or a battery that has been taken out of service by the
telephone company or a hospital. I have two
"garden-tractor-size" batteries that came from hospital
defibrillator units. Get to know your local hospital bio-medical
technician, or telephone company maintenance person, or...(use your
imagination). In extreme situations a battery may often be
borrowed from a destroyed car or truck. It is a good idea to
carry a 25-50 ft. two conductor cord with battery clips. This
may eliminate the need to remove a battery from a vehicle. I made
one from a 14-3 orange extension cord. This is better than lamp or
"zip" cord, since the wires are color coded. I use black
for (-) and the white for (+).
The 12 v. batteries that I have (7"w x
5"d x 7" h) are light enough to be carried with one
hand. I bought a nylon "six-pack" cooler, with a
hard-plastic liner, several zippered pockets, (for cords, cables, and
the light), and a carry strap at Wal-Mart for $4.95. Also, you can
check with "Sally" (Salvation Army Thrift Shoppe), yard sales,
and Army-Navy stores. If you want a professional grade, Cordura®,
heavy duty, battle grade, carry bag there are plenty of vendors that
will gladly sell one to you for $50 or more.
You can make your 12v. light free
standing, clip on, or both. If you affix your home brew light
to a 8-12" piece of 10 gauge copper wire and a battery
clip on the other end, it provides a flexible adjustable support.
The wire can even be one of the conductors when the clip is clamped to
one of the battery posts.
Here are a few suggestions for the actual light:
• Plain auto license plate light bulb in a bare auto lamp
replacement socket. The copper wire/support may be soldered
directly to the socket (-) or use a solder lug and a small screw. Attach another
battery clip (red) to the wire "pigtail" (+) to
connect to the + terminal. You can make a shield or reflector out
of a small cat food or similar tin. (Many have a white inner
coating.)
Other "junk box" or discount house sources and ideas.
• Auto or aircraft dashboard
map light.
• License plate light. Several
styles are available at auto parts supply houses.
• Truck or RV clearance lamp.
Consider using an amber lens for subdued light.
• I found a small 12v
"trouble light" complete with a 6 ft. wire and two battery
clips on the bargain rack at a local store for two dollars.
• A sewing machine light (ask
around older sewing machine repair shops). These are 110 v. but
easily converted to 12v. and they usually have adjustable supports.
• There are now a plethora of all
sorts of LED lights available.
"SHOW US YOUR
SHACK"
• Send a picture of
you AND your shack (all in one frame and in JPG
or JPEG format) to: k6soj@wrrl.org
The Chronicles
of Nocandoo - Episode I
by Roger Wilcox, PHD
It is 2056. A massive undersea
earthquake near Bermuda has caused a tsunami and
the eastern U.S. seaboard has been inundated from
Florida to Maine. Manhattan Island is
under several feet of water. Chesapeake Bay has quadrupled
in surface area and Miami is virtually missing.
The loss of life has exceeded all major disasters together
and the property damage is "in the trillions".
Upon the recommendation of the Minister of Peace and Safety
(MOPS) the Three Party Presidential Authority (TPPA)
has declared a federal state of emergency and due to widespread
anarchy marshal law has been declared in all of the 58
states. All normal communications are out in the
eastern U.S. and are sporadic at best elsewhere. The
banking and financial infrastructure has collapsed due
to a breakdown in the electronic system, commercial land transportation
is at a stand-still.
Hemp (he was so named because his parents had
obtained the permit for him to be born on the day
in 2032 when marijuana became legal and tobacco was
banned), and Psue (she was so named because federal law now
required all first names to be four characters to fit the
federal computer name data base files) are emergency
workers under the Federal United Volunteer Authority (FUVA); and have
been assigned to monitor and report the
movement of any group of more than five persons in a
specified sector. They were assigned to
person a checkpoint within the devastated area, and have pedaled
their bicycles over a hundred kilometers from a neighboring
state. Gasoline is available, but mostly now only for
paid government officials. Private consumers who
wish to obtain a ration of gasoline are required to submit an
application through the Federal United Fuel
Authority (FUFA). Diesel production had ceased
several years before when the Domestic Energy
Consumption Authority (DECA) had implemented a $75
(per liter) luxury revenue enhancement program.
Hemp was originally from the "Federation of Blue
States" region and Psue had been raised in the
"United Red States". However neither
was solidly aligned with either of the party-regions,
and both were somewhat sympathetic to some of the policies
of the "Green States" which had gained increasing
power in recent years and made up the third arm of the TPPA..
None of the three entities have a majority of votes and
since the electoral college had been eliminated as a result
of the Constitutional Convention of 2023, the government
of the now U.S.S.A. had been dead locked for over 25 years.
Hemp and Psue had made plans to be married,
but now they feared that those plans would be delayed
since the permit process would probably be delayed beyond
the usual two years. Anyway, marriage was more of an
exception than a norm now. As they pumped up
their inflatable portable outdoor device (IPOD),
they joked about how the world had changed over the past 50
years. Psue pointed out how useless the communication
device was that had issued to them by the Federal Approved
Communications Authority for Disaster Emcomm (FACADE).
Although a mandatory plan and system for a National
Emergency and Environmental Communication Operations (NEECO)
had been signed into law by President Clinton, (during her
third term), in 2022 it had never been implemented. Psue
said that the obsolete (and now illegal) FRS handie-talkies
that she had often played with as a child, actually worked
better than the 62 trillion dollar communications
system they were supposed to be using to report movements
and suspicious activity.
They felt especially conflicted and vulnerable.
Firearms, knives, and a long list of other personal items had
been listed as "aggressive contraband" and had
been banned under the United Nations Firearms Universal
Confiscation Act (UNFUCA) of 2015. And when the
U.S.S.A. Bill of Rights was revised at the
Constitutional Convention of 2017 it appeared that they
would never again be able to adequately defend
themselves. However, the 261 member World High
Court for Peace and Safety, meeting in Bagdad in 2018, ruled
that convicted felons and terrorists could not be prohibited
from possessing weapons. In their landmark
decision they had said that prohibiting the
"underworld" from possessing, trading, and
manufacturing weapons would be depriving them of their
"tools of their trade" and a way to earn a
living, and thereby that would be a violation of their civil
rights. It was a classic "Catch
22". Possessing a firearm was a felony; but if
convicted, you then became a felon and could legally possess
weapons.
They had heard a rumor that a "high government
official" would be surveying the
devastation in their area. Suddenly they observed
a long convoy of vehicles escorted under heavy guard
by units of the Joint Federal Armed Services Authority (FASA)
proceeding towards them. As the convoy approached their
check point, the advance escort vehicle's spotter
noticed the abandoned rusty pick-up truck with camper
shell that Hemp and Psue had "borrowed".
Also the sun-shade, a table and some chairs, plus
a mast to which a small vertical antenna is attached.
A magnetic sign that simply said COMMUNICATIONS was
noticeable on the side of the truck. The official
ordered the motorcade to stop. The FASA guards drew
their weapons and shouted: "FREEZE!"
Hemp and Psue froze. - (To be continued...)
=====================================================================
EMCOMM SPECIALTY
PRODUCTS
=====================================================================
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
“License Plate”:
-----------O-------------------------------------------------O----------
EMERGENCY
COMMUNICATIONS
-----------O-------------------------------------------------O-----------
• View this item at: http://www.emcomm.org/products/
• Raised BLACK letters on WHITE background
• Durable Metal
• 6” x 12” with usual holes for mounting
• Mount on vehicle
• Place on visor or in window
• Space to "customize" with your
county or city's name, or your call sign using one-inch vinyl letters
(available at hardware stores)
• Use at fixed or field EMCOMM stations
• MADE IN U.S.A!
• $10.00 each or two for $18.00 [Postpaid to one address
includes all applicable taxes]
Send check or money order and shipping address to:
EMCOMM
P O Box 99
Macdoel, CA 96058
• Allow 2 weeks for delivery
======================================================================
TRAFFIC
HANDLER'S SUPPLIES:
RADIOGRAM
RUBBER STAMP
• Use on plain paper
• Use on front of envelope
• 3/4” x 3” wood handle stamp
Order: WRGS - Wood handle (traditional) rubber
stamp $10.00 each postpaid
($8.00 if ordered with Message Service Cross stamp
(below)
• Send check or money order to:
EMCOMM
P O Box 99
Macdoel, CA 96058
• Please allow 2 to 4 weeks for delivery
"MESSAGE SERVICE
CROSS" RUBBER STAMP
• Makes the “record” part of record message
traffic handling easy and efficient.
• Use on any message form or on plain paper.
• A message received and forwarded should be stamped twice (L lower
/ R lower).
• Check TOR (Time Received) or TOD (Time Delivered / Forwarded).
• Available in two styles:
Order: SIRS - Self-inking
rubber stamp - $15.00 each postpaid.
Order: WHRS - Wood handle (traditional)
rubber stamp - $12.00 each postpaid.
• Order yours today!
• Specify style, quantity, and shipping address, and send check or
money order to:
EMCOMM
P O Box 99
Macdoel, CA 96058
• Please allow 2 to 4 weeks for delivery
=====================================================================
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RED CROSS
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ARES®, RACES, SKYWARN
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