Information During a Power Outage....

Continuing on from the last post. One of the areas that I wanted to work out was the ability to gather news from the local media in the general area. Specifically the media would be local television. The goal is to pursue DC power and the DC power source had to be common. My location makes 12 VDC the easiest to work out and get batteries easily.
My laptop is a dual-boot machine. I run Linux & Win 7, while the better half uses Win 7. The laptops will run for one to three hours depending on how they are configured. Purchased 12 VDC adapters for laptops that could have them. To use the battery power more efficiently the WiFi gets turned off. No need for the laptop to keep looking for a network to connect to. Not to mention that my internet connection went through a revamp. I will share that as well, nothing earth shattering, but the new config lets the UPS last much longer. Back to getting local TV...
I picked up a couple of the USB digital TV tuners. A Monoprice Digital TV Anywhere USB device, the other happened to be a Hauppauge HVR 950Q. Both tuners come with the ever important disc to load the software and drivers for MS Windows OS', expandable whip antennas, and remote control. These two devices are separated by price, but function is the same. Both work very well on Windows while the Hauppauge works on Linux as well. The Monoprice device did not work or rather I have not worked out a way to make it work on Linux. The Hauppauge gave me a bit of trouble. Had to poke around on the internet to get an updated firmware patch.

One way a fellow got it to work on Linux can be found here: Hauppauge HVR 950Q Updated Firmware. Linux is funny. It never loads the same. Each machine is different and will give different results.
The top device is the Monprice and the bottom is the Hauppauge. The cable came with the Hauppauge and should be used. It will take stress off of your laptop USB port. I tried a couple of generic USB extension cables; a big No GO.

Put up a small digital TV antenna picked up from Amazon.

With this antenna we get twelve to fourteen channels. Not to bad for being mounted approx. fifteen feet up off the ground. A little more elevation and I may be able to get another 5 or so. On Linux Kaffeine seems to be the choice of most folks from what I have read. No complaints from me as it seems to work well.

Linux and the apps on Linux are FREE. Awesome. So now we can attempt to receive the local news in the area during disasters, power outages, etc. Pretty cool stuff. More to follow in internet equipment and configuration.





Enjoy,

To Learn Something New...

I have decided to try and learn something new; Emergency Medical Technician Basic (EMT-B). So far so good. My class meets two nights a week for three hours. The instructor(s) include one paramedic and a few intermediate EMT's. All of the instructors are very knowledgeable concerning the subject matter.
One particular area of interest is the FEMA training courses available to the general public free of charge. These courses can be taken by anyone and provide introduction(s) to several different topics in regards to disasters. A test can also be taken upon completion of the course. If a passing grade is received a certificate of completion is e-mailed to the users.

Check out the courses here: FEMA Independent Study

Why are these courses useful? Well, you can help your community to prepare for emergencies as well as the arrival of resources to implement recovery. These courses all provide some insight as to what is expected in government response and how the organization is built to respond. If a community decides to handle the recovery without external help than these course will provide basic knowledge of what should be done.

What is unfortunate is that whenever the government gets involved the recovery effort is prolonged and drawn out. This was witnessed locally.

So, maybe folks should complete these courses on their own and be ready to help their communities and keep the inept government out.


Enjoy,

A Radio To Communicate...

In times of emergency or while you are out and about having a way to communicate can be handy. It may even save a life. Now, there are several types of radios; FRS, GMRS, MURS, Amateur, etc. Cell phones are every where, but maybe there is no coverage. Something has caused the local cell to be off the air? What to do now?

FRS & GMRS operate up in the 400 MHZ range of frequencies. Good for keeping in touch for everyone in a two to five mile radius. The user can set up privacy codes, but the transmission is not secure. The privacy codes just let the users "call" each other by setting a code up in each radio. Prevents unwanted contact in the band.

Trisquare TSX-300 and its variants are pretty cool radios that operate in the 900 MHZ range. Limited in distance, maybe on a good day a user can get a mile. But, that depends on the terrain. The best I could do is half a mile. You may ask what good these radios are? Well, they use spread spectrum frequency hopping, texting capability radio to radio. Each radio has a specific address. This means users can communicate directly without people listening in. Or use the group frequency and talk to all radios. More frequency codes then you can imagine.This results in a very secure means of communications in your AO base camp and vicinity. Some users have complained that they cannot sync more than three radios. At the moment I have two of these with plans to get more to test out. Amazon has these radios at a reasonable price for two.

Lastly, the one radio I found to be a bargain; Baofeng UV-5R. This little hand-held radio is excellent for the money. Less than 60$ at Amazon. Has more features than you can shake a stick at. Single LED flash light, FM broadcast band reception, transmits high and low of the 144 and 400 MHZ ham bands. Can be programmed by a USB cable attached to your PC. Takes a little bit of time to get it programmed, but I found some useful Youtube videos to help out. Once again the price is great for a radio that will do as much as more expensive radios.

Baofeng UV-5R Setup Operation By AB5N

Give some thought to how your family, friends, and neighbors will communicate during an emergency. Develop a plan and acquire the equipment you need to keep everyone safe and in touch.

Enjoy