DHS characterizes white middle class Americans as the most likely terrorists

Paul Joseph Watson

Infowars.com

Thursday, July 21, 2011



A new promotional video released by the Department of Homeland Security characterizes white middle class Americans as the most likely terrorists, as Big Sis continues its relentless drive to cement the myth that mad bombers are hiding around every corner, when in reality Americans are just as likely to be killed by lightning strikes or peanut allergies.



The video is part of Homeland Security’s $10 million dollar “See Something, Say Something” program that encourages Americans to report “suspicious activity,” which in every case throughout history has been a trait of oppressive, dictatorial regimes.



In the course of the 10 minute clip, a myriad of different behaviors are characterized as terrorism, including opposing surveillance, using a video camera, talking to police officers, wearing hoodies, driving vans, writing on a piece of paper, and using a cell phone recording application.



Despite encouraging viewers not to pay attention to a person’s race in determining whether or not they may be a terrorist, almost all of the scenarios in the clip proceed to portray white people as the most likely terrorists. Bizarrely, nearly every single one of the “patriotic” Americans who reports on their fellow citizen is either black, Asian or Arab. Imagine if the video had portrayed every terrorist as an Arab and every patriotic snoop as white, there’d be an outcry and rightly so, but this strange reversal must have been deliberate on the part of the DHS, but why? Is this merely political correctness taken to the extreme or is something deeper at work?



Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the DHS’ own internal documents list predominantly white conservative groups as the most likely terrorists, such as Ron Paul supporters, gun owners, gold bullion enthusiasts, and a myriad of other comparatively banal political interests that are largely the domain of white middle class Americans.



This has little to do with the color of a person’s skin, and everything to do with the fact that white, middle class Americans are the biggest roadblock when it comes to Big Sis expanding its control over every facet of American society.



It’s plain to see that very little of the budget for this video went towards paying for decent actors, but perhaps it’s fitting that the participants were about as believable as Santa and his elves, because the notion that terrorists are hovering around every underground parking lot waiting to blow up federal buildings is demonstrably false.



As Ohio University’s John Mueller has documented, the likelihood of actually being a victim of terrorism is infinitesimally small, and only highlights how such threats are hyperbolically exaggerated for political purposes.



Figures collected by Mueller clearly show that Americans are just as likely to be killed by lightning strikes, accident-causing deer, or severe allergic reactions to peanuts.



But the facts don’t matter for a federal agency whose primary function is to manufacture fear to keep Americans under control and submissive to the fact that their economic futures and their constitutional rights are being torn to shreds by their own government while it points to a contrived outside threat as a convenient distraction.



“At its core, the video is filled with scenes of ordinary citizens spying on each other and alerting the authorities to their compatriots’ suspicious deeds,” writes Simon Black. In my favorite scene, a woman calls the police after snooping over the shoulder of a young man typing away on his smartphone.”



Black notes that such videos are solely aimed at reinforcing ignorance, hate and fear for those who still live in darkness and are completely unaware of the real agenda behind Homeland Security’s “see something, say something” charade.



But what is that agenda?



No matter where you look, from East Germany, to Communist Russia, to Nazi Germany, historically governments who encourage their own citizens to report on each other do so not for any genuine safety concerns or presumed benefits to security, but in order to create an authoritarian police state that coerces the people into policing each other’s behavior and thoughts.



As Robert Gellately of Florida State University has highlighted, Germans under Hitler denounced their neighbors and friends not because they genuinely believed them to be a security threat, but because they expected to selfishly benefit from doing so, both financially, socially and psychologically via a pavlovian need to be rewarded by their masters for their obedience.



At the height of its influence around one in seven of the East German population was an informant for the Stasi. As in Nazi Germany, the creation of an informant system was wholly centered around identifying political dissidents and those with grievances against the state, and had little or nothing to do with genuine security concerns.



This is the kind of society the Department of Homeland Security is, whether deliberately or inadvertently, recreating in 21st century America. It is about as far removed as you can possibly get from the vision the founders of the nation had in mind when they created the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence.



Comment by Alex Jones: This DHS video is purposefully designed to transmit fear and hatred of Muslims over to white Americans. Look at the part of the clip where an image of “Jihad Jane” is displayed, the blue eyes are artificially intensified in order to get the message across.



This is about playing minorities off against whites, creating further resentment and suspicion, getting us at each other’s throats just as how different racial groups were set upon each other in Hitler’s Germany to create an environment of fear and distrust, motivating people to inform on each other for the state.

Radiotelegraphy-(Morse Code)

Wireless telegraphy is the discipline of sending and receiving signals in Morse
code and, although it started “only” as a technical tool, it soon proved to be an art.
Definitely a special kind of art: like a butterfly, it had a shiny but short life, rising and
falling throughout the 20th century. The first implementation of Morse code was
created in 1832, employing a numeric code for the most common English words, and
the numbers translated into a sequence that used just two symbols: dash and dot.
Morse code, as we know it today, i.e., encoding letters and numbers in a series
of dots and dashes, is actually an invention of Alfred Vail, an assistant to Samuel
Morse in 1844. It is a historical reality that Morse, in fact, stole the idea from Vail.
Morse code was created initially as a combination of dots, dashes, long dashes, short
and long spaces. We had to wait for wireless telegraphy, and therefore the twentieth
century, to find the definition of the standard Morse code or “International Morse”,
made of dots and dashes, spaced according to standard criteria.
It was only thanks to the genius of Guglielmo Marconi that telegraphy "took
off", by leaving the ground (i.e. transmission cables) in the true sense of the term, and
getting “on the air”. On December 12th, 1901 Marconi sent the first Morse signals
across the Atlantic, and a new invention, whose gigantic power was still to be fully
understood, arose: wireless telegraphy. Since then, many lives were saved, as in the
famous case of the Titanic (1912), and the wireless telegraph has evolved and
excelled as no one could have imagined.
ZART – REV 20101008
- 5 -
After a century of successes, in 1998, coastal maritime radiotelegraphy
installations have been replaced by satellite communications, which eventually
provided a much more secure and reliable connection. As a result, telegraphy is
slowly sliding into oblivion. As a direct and inevitable consequence, in 2005
telegraphy also disappeared from amateur radio exams. Surprisingly, this condition of
uselessness elevated radiotelegraphy to the rank of an art.
Despite this aging process, telegraphy is still very much alive with radio
amateurs, because it offers the possibility of communicating over great distances
using inexpensive transmitting and receiving devices. Such devices are even simpler
to build. A contact based on telegraphy is made in a universal language that, like
Esperanto, pulls down any social, geographical and cultural barrier. The amateur
radio operator uses a code that not only shortens the speech, but also allows him to
communicate with people living in any part of the world, near or distant, regardless
their language or culture. Thus, wireless operators can greet each other using a
common language even if one is Chinese and the other Guatemalan.
The question is: what is so special about radiotelegraphy, in the era of the
Internet and global mass communication, compelling us to accept a long and arduous
path of learning, requiring mental and practical training, trying harder and harder to
learn such a language?
Anyone starting the exciting and hard journey into radiotelegraphy is attracted
by the fact of pursuing an art requiring style and precision, two characteristics that
may be obtained only through study and practice. It is also matter of aesthetics: a
contact in telegraphy made with precision and respect for procedures is a work of art,
unique and unrepeatable in time. The wireless telegraphy radio operator, today, is a
person who not only learns to "play" a very special instrument, but also learns a new
language, made of a single tone, cadenced by rhythmic intervals. Learning
radiotelegraphy is a journey within our own emotions and feelings that requires a
transformation of the way we learn and how we feel. Much like a child, who must
learn to speak, revealing a new mode of expression and communication with the
outside world. It is a steep and thorough experience requiring continuous contact with
the deeper layers of our being.
So strong is the passion for radiotelegraphy that, in Italy, Elettra Marconi,
president of Marconi Club ARI Loano and daughter of Guglielmo Marconi, today
releases the honorific title of wireless radio operator to whom excels in the practice of
this art. Oscar Wilde used to say that art is useless: as such radiotelegraphy is, too.
Having fallen into disuse for practical applications, it lives its moment of glory as an
art in the hands of the few people who, in a "swinging mood" made of sweet
intermittent sounds, are keeping it alive.
This book is distributed under the Creative Commons license and can be freely
copied or distributed, under certain conditions (see the Copyright Notices chapter for
details). This work is “QSLWare”: if you like it, just send me a QSL card via the
bureau.

Zen and the Art of Radiotelegraphy by Carlo Consoli, IK0YGJ is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Comms Primer Part 2

 Continued from Part 1

More from Jim- first, I hate to break this to you, but THE EARTH IS ROUND. No, I’m
not kidding -- it really is spherical despite what they told you in school or at church.
Ok, now that you are past that, you should visualize in your head that radio waves
travel in a straight line. Since the earth curves, it is not possible to talk over distances
of over about 20 miles without "help". this "help" can come in a multitude of ways,
and is somewhat dependent on the height of the transmitter and receiver, the gain of
their respective antennae, the frequency of transmission, the weather and other
atmospheric conditions, the sun cycle, hams around you erecting things called
repeaters, and a few dozen other things. Nevertheless, the key point here is that the
further you are away from each other, the more likely it is that the curvature of the
6 of 14 earth is going to be the limiting factor. Always remember that without "help", radio
communications are "line of sight". HF, or high frequency (roughly defined as everything below about 30MHz [10 meters wavelength]) signals can bounce off of a charged belt (called the ionosphere) which
completely envelopes the earth. HF thus can communicate over long distances by
using one or more "bounces" -- you may have heard the CB term "skip". With just a
few dozen watts, and a proper antenna, it's possible for you to talk (or more likely
communicate using mores) with a station 2000 miles away. Interestingly, it is
sometimes difficult to talk to nearby stations that are "under the skip", that is they are
too close to you to hear the reflected wave. One primary disadvantage of HF
communications is that the antenna has to be physically long. Nevertheless, HF can be
a valuable asset in emergency communications -- like it was during hurricane Katrina
when everything else was tits up. In general, when you think of HF you should think of
long distance comms. With some exceptions, most HF rigs are designed for desktop
use and the supporting equipment (power supplies, antenna tuner, etc) is heavy and
not so portable. But there is a class of mobile and low power HF rigs which allow you
to talk over great distances with just a few pounds of equipment. …[DWB States: Updated equipment is now much smaller and lighter.  Mobile and Mobile/Base rigs are now the size of some older CB radios, and come with the same power and efficency as the desktop base stations, and a lot of the same whistles and bells as their big brothers]… the primary limitation of VHF/UHF is the short range imposed by the curvature of
the earth combined with the fact that VHF/UHF signals do not bounce off of the
ionosphere (in case you were wondering, they pass right through it). Of course it helps
greatly with VHF/UHF to be up as high as possible, as this gives more "line of sight"
distance -- the same way you can see much farther when atop a tall building. But
that's not always practical. e.g., I live right at sea level -- no kidding. How can I, the
low lying ham, communicate with any distance using VHF or UHF? Am I stuck trying to
use HF for comms more than a few miles?

Enter the "repeater". Simply put, a repeater is an unattended radio advantageously
located on a hill or with the antenna high up on a tower. The purpose of the repeater
is to retransmit your signal in real time. It does this by listening on one frequency,
called the input, and simultaneously transmitting the input audio on a second
frequency, called the output. Accordingly, my radio would be set to transmit on the
repeater's input frequency, and listen on the repeater's output frequency. (The
difference is known as the "offset".) All that is required from a radio implementation
standpoint is a little bit of frequency agility -- when you press the transmit button,
your radio tunes it's transmitter to the required new frequency. When you unkey, it
changes back. All this happens in milliseconds and without your involvement save for
some initial settings. The beauty of this set up is that with a low power HT (typ, 0.5W
to 5W) you can talk for perhaps hundreds of miles! The repeater provides the "help"
for VHF and UHF, just like the ionosphere provided the "help" for HF.
There are 3 basic ham licenses and one sort of sub group (at this time). There is
Technician, General and Extra. The sub group is this: if you have passed the 5 word per
minute Morse code test, then as a Technician, you have some limited access to the HF
bands.

A technician license allows the operator to use any UHF or VHF frequency with any mode.
A general licensee is allowed to use almost all of the HF bands (all modes) as well as all of
the UHF and VHF. Some small sections of each HF band are reserved for extra and
advanced licensees.

An extra class license allows the full use of all amateur bands with all modes.
For the actual US code regulations that govern amateur radio, see
http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_05/47cfr97_05.html which lists ‘PART 97--
AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE’.


What are these modes?
Modes are basically the way we modify a signal to carry information. The most common
modes that everyone knows about are AM (amplitude modulation) and FM (frequency
modulation). Others common modes include SSB, CW, and digital.
SSB is a method of amplitude modulation (AM) where the carrier wave and one of the side
bands (there are 2 – upper and lower) is suppressed. This means that the signal you are
sending out takes up smaller bandwidth and has higher power (relatively) than a
traditional AM signal.
CW is short for continuous wave or the method for sending Morse code. This is the
traditional method of communication with a very small bandwidth and is useful when
communications conditions are poor.
Digital modes are various and include RTTY (radio teletype), PSK31, PSK63, Hellschreiber,
packet modes, sstv, fstv and many others. There are new digital modes being invented
everyday. In general these are text based modes that use some sort of computer
interface to a radio. This is not at all internet based. It is simply a computer interfacing
with a radio to send a signal. SSTV and FSTV are video modes with allow the
transmission of pictures. There is also D-STAR which is a new digital mode based on the
Japanese protocal. It is designed for simplex and repeater use on 2m, 70cm, 1.2 GHz.
There is also a hybrid mode of communication which does interface with the internet. The
main types are IRLP, echolink and Wires. These are simply interfaces that allow radio
users to send their signals to other users, radios or repeaters in other parts of the world.
However, this relies on an internet connection and should not be relied on in emergency
situations.
What sort of equipment is available? (just a small sampling)
HT (handi-talkies/handheld transceivers) – available for VHF/UHF, single band/dual
band/triband/quad band. Transmit powers range from 300milliwatts (.3 watts) to 6 watts
in general. Pros - Extremely portable, light weight, low power consumption, available with
extremely wide receive frequencies (to pick up broadcast, shortwave, public service,
aircraft and other services). Cons – relatively low transmit power with respect to other
types of equipment. Stock rubber duck antennas are generally very poor radiators.
Mobile/Portable rigs – These can be used in an automobile, out in the field or in a
backpack or on a bench as a base station. They are smaller an lighter than dedicated
base stations, but are usually more suited for emergency communications because they
may be more robust and easier to transport in different disaster situations. They may be
low power (QRP) with only 5, 10 or 20 watts or up to about 100 watts full power. These
are mainly available for HF, HF+ VHF/UHF, VHF only, UHF only or VHF/UHF.
Base stations – These typically have the most features of all radios including digital
processing, filters to improve signals as well as other enhancements. Power on these rigs
may go up to about 250 watts without the use of an external amplifier. These are mainly
available for HF, or HF+ VHF/UHF.
8 of 14
Antenna – Basically the most important part of the radio system is the antenna. Without
a good antenna system, your transmitter is just going to heat up the ‘antenna’ like a
resistor.
Antenna length, is inversely proportional to the frequency being transmitted:
CB= 27 MHz
MURS= 151 MHz
GMRS= 462 MHz
So the CB antenna will be longest and the GMRS will be the shortest.
Antennas can come in almost any form and with a good antenna tuner, almost anything
can be made to radiate (including a barbed wire fence or your aluminum house gutters).
Some of the basic forms are wire dipoles,verticals and beams. Antennas are usually
defined by the wavelength at which the antenna is designed to operate. The most basic is
a ½ wavelength dipole fed with ladderline or coax at the center. If it is mounted low to
the ground it is good for NVIS. Up higher at ¼ wavelength up, then better for DX
(distance comms). Another basic form is a ¼ wavelength vertical. This is basically ½ of a
½ wave dipole. It is fed at the end and relies on a reflection from a ground plane or
grounding radials. An ht antenna is sometimes a ¼ wave vertical without a good ground
plane. Beams are directional antennas which allow the main power from the antenna to
be directed in one directions. This lowers the amount of noise coming from other
directions and increases the power toward your intended target. Beams can be in the
form of a Yagi or a quad or several other types. A promising option (that I haven’t tried)
for emergency comms is a ‘hamstick dipole’. See:
http://www.varaces.org/techrefs/HamstickDipoleFactSheet.pdf
Antenna tuners – these are devices that allow antennas that are not designed for a
specified frequency to operate on that frequency. There are automatic and manual and
they work by matching the impedance (by altering the capacitance and inductance) of the
antenna and feedline to the transceiver.
Repeaters – not something that most hams will ‘buy’ or build, but may help pay for the
upkeep and use of the repeaters. Most are open to use by any licensed ham with priority
given to any emergency traffic. Most repeaters are owned and maintained by local ham
clubs.
Jim- the disadvantage of repeaters is simple: in order for the repeater to work, you
need power and the antenna has to be upright. These are not likely conditions in areas
overcome by, for example, a category 4 or 5 hurricane. while tons of lead acid
batteries may delay the inevitable, there is a finite amount of no-AC-power operation
time for any repeater unless expensive measures have been taken (e.g. a diesel
genset and good sized fuel tank, as you would find mounted behind a police station).
Nevertheless, hams are resourceful people and generally fixing the repeaters is an
immediate priority in disaster areas. Moreover, all the equipment necessary for a
repeater can be carried in the back of a Tacoma, with room to spare. So if a makeshift
antenna can be erected on the mountainside, a substitute repeater can be up and
running in a few hours to replace the one crushed by the flying oak tree.
One way to look at a ham repeater is as an analog of a cell site. Having many cell sites
make it possible for your low power cell phone to communicate anywhere the global
phone network reaches. Similarly, hams link repeaters using point-to-point RF, the
phone network, or these days using the internet. all of these methods allow greater
"reach" from your low power HT. with the exception of point-to-point RF, the other
methods require public infrastructure that may or may not be available when the
SHTF..

Survival Communications Primer
By Vector_Joe
ModernSurvivalOnline.com

A Comms Primer

Survival Communications Primer
By Vector_Joe
ModernSurvivalOnline.com

This  wiki or primer is a compilation of information gathered on various internet websites as
well as FCC and ARRL sources. Subjective opinions are included in this document. Inspirations
or ideas have also been taken from AR-Jedi, Scoutmaster, and GySgtD and others without
their permission (screen names from various forums are used to protect privacy). While a lot of
information here is ham related, almost all of it can be applied or applies to non-ham radio
systems.

One thing I have to mention here. We highly suggest a diversity in communications systems. I personally have computers, internet, landlines, cell phones, frs/gmrs radios as well as amateur radio equipment. The key is to
understand how each works and the limitations of the equipment.
 
Why do I need comms?

Well, unless you want to be a hermit during an emergency situation, you need at least
some sort of rudimentary communication system. At the very least some sort of receiver
system is necessary. Depending on the situation, you may need information on how to
take shelter (inclement weather), how to leave an area (terrorist, chemical spill, etc.) or
many other considerations.Your options are basically one way or two way comms. One way consists of am/fm radio, television, shortwave radio, internet websites and other radio services, etc. Two way
comms consists of am/fm/ssb/cw/digital radio on ham bands and other radio services, cell
phones, satellite phones, internet email and instant messaging, etc.

If you follow the rule of 3’s, then you should have at least 3 methods of distance
communications (not including yelling across the road or 2 cans on a string).

Do I need 2 way comms?
That is a bit subjective depending on your situation. However, it is highly recommended.
Needed for communication with friends and family in a disaster situation where you are
not together. Needed to call for help. Needed to ask for specific information from others
who may have information.

Considerations when using the transmit (tx) part of 2 way comms.
There are a couple of considerations one should consider when transmitting. In general,
all things being equal, more power equals more range. But there are many reasons why
one should limit the power of transmissions. The general rule is to use the MINIMUM
power required to communicate. For one, this reduces airwave pollution. If you are
talking on your radio, you don’t want some other radio operator talking over your
conversation booming out 1000’s of watts of power for no reason. Second, especially in
emergency situations, minimum power means longer battery life. Another consideration
is that when communicating, you may not want ‘everyone’ to hear what you are saying,
particularly in an emergency situation. By using the minimum power, you will limit the
number of ‘ears’ that can hear your comms.
A second consideration when transmitting is the reason and to whom you are
transmitting. This generally falls into 2 categories in emergency/survival situations.
1) Calling for help. In this situation, you need to transmit with enough power so that
‘aid’ can year your call but low enough that you can conserve your battery for extended
use. Perhaps you will need to guide any aid to your location, that would require using the
radio for enough time for help to arrive. In this situation, where lives are on the line,
using any method of wireless communication with any equipment is allowed.
2) Calling within your group. You may need to communicate with your group after some
sort of disaster or emergency situation where the communications are not dealing with life
and death. In this case, in general, you want to keep your power low. Also, as long as
there is some sort of governmental entity, you will probably want to stay within the legal
limits of your radio equipment. The FCC uses a system of ‘Type Acceptance’ where
specific equipment is authorized for use with specific bands of air spectrum. This basically
means that for most bands, you need a radio that is qualified for use on those
frequencies. In general, amateur radio equipment is not type accepted for any of the
services. You also, for example, would not be able to use a radio that is type accepted for
the AIR band on the Marine band frequencies (unless the radio happens to be type
accepted for both- I don’t know if they exist) NOTE: For use on amateur radio bands,
there is no type accepted equipment. You can build or modify any equipment and use it
on the ham bands as long as you follow the other ham regulations in terms of operation.
Background on wireless communications and the FCC (thanks Jim –ARJedi)

This part is excerpted from a thread by AR-Jedi.
Also, most of the text can be downloaded from http://cynthion.com/tacoma.txt
The usable-for-communications electromagnetic spectrum spans a frequency range
from about 100 KHz to 100GHz. (aside, only a portion of that is usable by inexpensive
equipment). In the USA, the federal communications commission (FCC) is responsible
for administering the spectrum for US users; however, the FCC works closely on this
with international bodies, for reasons which will soon become clear. The
"administering" that the FCC performs includes dictating what frequency bands are to
be used for what purposes, and also specifying operational requirements for those
bands (e.g. TX power output, ERP, modulation type, etc).
Since examples are worth thousands of words, I’ll provide a few. 1) The FCC has
decided that broadcast FM stations are to exist in the 88MHz to 108MHz range. There
are certainly power limits however I’ve no idea at hand what they are. 2) The FCC has
decided that CB exists at around 27MHz, and that the maximum TX power output is
4W. 3) The FCC has decided that FRS exists around 462/467MHz, with a maximum
ERP specified. And for the last example, 4) ham (amateur radio) has a number of
bands allocated, each with associated limitations on power/modulation etc. I could go
on and on with cell phones, marine radios, garage door openers, key fobs, microwave
towers, etc etc etc. basically, if the device is what is referred to by the FCC as an
"intentional radiator", they have an assigned slot (band) for it and constraints on it's
operation.

Why the constraints? Well, one reason is for your physiological protection. High RF
power can cause burns, blindness, and other problems. (The "invention" of the
microwave oven was an accident -- technicians working on early radar antennas were
developing burns when the units were powered). Another reason for the constraints is
public safety. The last thing a 747 pilot on emergency approach into Kennedy airport
needs is crosstalk with taxi dispatchers in NYC. Hence the wide berth the FCC gives
around police, fire, and EMS frequencies.

Now then, we see that the FCC regulates intentional radiator use by dividing the
frequency spectrum into bands, and then sets characteristics for each of those bands
that users must obey by.

A common question is, "is one frequency band 'better' than another"? The answer is
"sometimes". For certain applications (more on this in a moment), a given frequency
band may provide better range, fidelity, immunity to interference, and so forth. These
factors, and others, that make a frequency usable for a given application were taken
into consideration when the spectrum was allocated.

It is important to note here that transmitter power output is one of many, many
factors that influence the range at which you can communicate over a given
transmission path. While important, transmitter power output plays only one role in a
multi-faceted problem. Antenna gain, antenna polarization, modulation type, receiver
sensitivity, background noise level, path loss, and a dozen other issues factor into the
equation. Show me a well designed 2W transmitter and I will show you a way to
communicate ~6.5 billion miles. NASA does this every day with their Voyager 1 & 2
probes -- they are now twice as far away as Pluto.
.
Should I get my ham (amateur radio operator) license?
I think this is sort of a no brainer and there is a general consensus that everyone who is
serious about being prepared for emergencies should get their ham license. I can see
maybe 2 ‘legitimate’ reasons why not to get licensed, but I would discount them both.
One is that no one else you know is licensed. I discount this ‘reason’ because once you
get on the air you will meet many other people and many will have the same attitude
about being prepared as you and I. Also, once you get into communications, you *may*
be able to get other friends or family interested.

The other ‘reason’ that I can image that may hold some water is that you don’t want to
get on another government list. Well, you are probably on so many government lists, one
more isn’t going to make a difference. I think (IMO) that this is a bit on the too paranoid
side, but I don’t like to judge people.
Even if you decided that ham radio is not for you, I suggest you read over the next few
sections to get a better understanding of frequencies/bands/modes and equipment.

How do I get a license?
Go to http://www.ARRL.org to get much more general information about getting licensed
to operate as a ham. On that site is listed the local radio clubs in your area. It also lists
the times and locations for taking the FCC exams http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml . The exams are given by other hams that have been certified to give the exams. There are four (4) testing elements.

Element 1 is a 5 word per minute Morse code exam. is no longer a requirement for any of the license classifications.

Element 2 is the technician level exam. It is 35 questions with some basic electronics
theory, radio safety and some FCC operator’s rules.

Element 3 is the general class exam. It is also 35 questions. The content is similar to the
technician exam except that it requires a bit more in depth knowledge. The question
pools are different.

Element 4 is the final exam and is used to get your extra class license. It is 50 questions
long with very in depth knowledge required about different operating modes, techniques,
theory, safety and rules.

To be licensed as an amateur radio operator, you must take and pass a minimum
of element 2.

When you go into a testing session, you can take as many of the four tests as you want
for the single session fee of $14.00. However, if you want to retake any tests that you
fail, you need to pay the $14.00 again.

As for studying, the technician license is fairly simple. This site has several free resources
to study elements 1, 2 and 3: http://www.frrl.org/education/ . Here is a link to the current element 2 test question pool: http://www.ncvec.org/downloads/2006tech.pdf.

As for the General and Extra exams, I personally suggest the ARRL ‘License Manuals’.
See here: http://www.arrl.org/catalog/lm/ . There are also Q&A books available,
however, they seem to be just covering the question pools (which are available for free on
the internet) rather than actually covering the complete theory behind the operating
modes and rules.

Also, go here http://www.qrz.com/p/testing.pl to take practice tests (elements 2, 3
and/or 4).

If you want to learn Morse code, and I suggest you do, you can download one of the many
freeware programs that generate random letters at specified speeds. They also generate
regular words and full conversations (QSOs). Here is the one I like:
http://www.g4fon.net/CW%20Trainer.htm

What is with the different license classes and bands?
For hams, there are basically 4 bands, HF (high frequency), VHF (very hf), UHF (ultra hf),
and microwave. At this point microwave is mainly for experimental communications, so
you will not see a lot of emergency communications on these frequencies.

What does 2M mean? Why is it seemingly used interchangeably with 146MHz?
Hams simultaneously use one of two terms to describe the band they are discussing:
frequency or wavelength. The two are related by a constant known as C, the speed of
light. It turns out that after you crunch the numbers, you can easily convert between
the two terms using the following rule of thumb...
300/freq in MHz = wavelength in meters
Or the same rule but turned around,
300/wavelength in meters = freq in MHz
Hence:
300/146MHz ~= 2 meters
And now you see why 146MHz and 2M are used interchangeably.

Similarly, some wavelength to frequency conversions for other popular HF and
VHF/UHF ham bands...
40M --> 300/40 ~= 7.5MHz
20M --> 300/20 ~= 15MHz
10M --> 300/10 ~= 30MHz
6M --> 300/6 ~= 50MHz
1.25M --> 300/1.25 ~= 220MHz
70cm --> 300/0.70 ~= 440MHz

HF is the region of the electromagnetic spectrum that goes from about 30MHz and lower
frequencies. VHF goes from 30 to 300 MHz and UHF goes from 300 MHz up to the bottom
of the microwave range.

VHF and UHF are basically line of sight methods of communications (not counting
sporadic-e, grey line, aurora, meteor scatter, eme and other less than common
propagation methods). So if your antenna can ‘see’ the antenna you want to talk to then
you should be good to go. UHF and VHF make extensive use of repeaters which are
radios which are usually connected to antennas in highly elevated positions. These
repeater radios receive on one frequency and transmit simultaneously on another
frequency. This allows a user to transmit and his antenna can see the repeater antenna
because of its elevated position. Also the retransmitted signal is sent from an elevated
position so that it has a much broader range. A repeaters range can be up in the 10’s of
miles (30, 40, 50 or more). Typical handheld transmitters (HT), which usually max at
about 5-6 watts of power, can maybe get 5 miles depending on the terrain without using
a repeater.

HF on the other hand is suited for medium to long range communications. HF frequencies
(depending on the season, time of day, and solar activity) will bounce off the upper
atmosphere. So a signal from your location may go up, bounce off the ionosphere and
come back down several hundred or thousand miles away. Communications between the
North America and Europe, Asia, Antarctica, pretty much anywhere, is possible and
happens all the time. You can set up your antenna system to send your main signal
toward the horizon to try and get the furthest contacts, or you can point your signal
mostly straight up (NVIS-Near Vertical Incident Skywave) and get the signal to bounce
back down relatively near your location to get communications within 40-600 miles.
During emergencies such as tornados, earthquakes, flooding,etc. 80-95% of emergency
communications will take place at the local level with VHF/UHF frequencies. There will
probably be less use by volume of HF because of the nature of the operations. This will
vary of course depending on the situation. In a more regional disaster such as a
hurricane or the SE Asian tsunami, the use of HF may be a greater percentage as
communication over greater distances and into and out of the affected area will be
needed.

To Be Continued

Care, Feeding and Rearing Chickens

DWB states: I found this wonderful post on chicken life that I copied for my own use, but am unable to remember who wrote it and where I found it.  I was so impressed with the simplicity, and yet the understanding of the author, that I wanted to share it with you. Some times we make things more complex than they need to be that we lose the simple joy of God's creatures.  If the author happens to read this please email me and I would feel privileged to give you credit for this article!

Well, I now know the wesite it came from...but I am still looking for the author's name!

http://dunnfarm.com/chicken_care.htm

Hens are gentle creatures by nature. They nurture their young, are usually passive, and forgiving whenever dinner is late. They really are scatter-brained little things, for the slightest upset or unusual noise will send them running in every direction willy-nilly! They may even jam their  heads into the hay to hide, leaving their entire body exposed! Silly silly! And oh my, the hoopla each hen goes through whenever she lays an egg!! You would think it was the first time ever! They announce each egg with loud cackling, which falls and rises in intensity!

Roosters, on the other hand, are vain, and competitive by nature.

 There must be a good ratio of chickens to roosters or there will be trouble in the hen house!  They strut around, loudly crowing their many attributes at all hours. They crow at two in the morning, three in the morning, six in the morning and sometimes all throughout the day! One gets up early here at Dunn Farm, being serenaded!!  They make more noise than our resident frogs!

We really are fond of our chickens.  They are kept for egg production and as barnyard pets.  Many of them are named while young, while some earn their names, like Crazy and Studley.  

Chickens drink a lot of water and a shortage of water will mean fewer eggs. Water is very important and must always be made available to them; we use a galvanized watering container with a circular moat for each coop.   Many chickens are able to drink at one time this way.  This is checked daily and replenished with fresh water as needed.

Water containers

The chickens all enjoy free range meals on the weekends (each house takes turns), and as soon as Tim opens the gates, chickens and roosters run gleefully out to the yard, pastures, and forest. Once there they contentedly work the soil, digging up bugs, and other squishy things. Chickens are true scavengers and will eat almost anything! We give them stale bread and crackers, ripe fruits, cooked rice, and vegetable trimmings from the kitchen.

There are two sets of laying boxes each with three nesting places, small, wooden boxes with nests of straw. The chickens lay their eggs here and Tim collects them each morning.   Often we will find eggs that have been laid in the straw in corners of the coop. Sometimes they are laid behind the nesting boxes if a chicken is trying to hatch them. When the little Bantie gets out, she lays her eggs under the hen house or between the bales of hay. 
The chickens lay enough to keep us, our friends and neighbors well supplied during the warmer months.  Egg production stops with the cold winter months.
Straw covers the floor of the coop, not only to keep it warm and dry, but to absorb the urine and feces. They are not particular where they do their business.  Tim cleans out their coops as needed, putting this refuse into the compost piles. Small windows in this coop provide light and air.  
New stock is purchased each spring and sometimes in mid-summer.  Selection is always fun as there are many different breeds.  Some are better egg layers and some make better mothers.  I love the white Silkies!  They are just so darling! 

Finally, nightfall finds chickens and roosters all lined up on the roosting poles, settled in for the night. The door is closed,  keeping critters out. The chickens roost on one inch dowels that span corner to corner at a height of about five feet. There are two roosting areas in the coop.  Towards dusk, the chickens all go into their coop, and squabble and push and shove to get on the roosting perch they want, in the exact spot they want. This is when 'King of the Roost' competitions occur with loud cackling and cock-a-doodle-doos!! 
Each year Tim experiments with different breeds.   He has always toyed with the idea of being a local breeder, as he is very good raising these baby chicks.  They are very healthy and develop into fine stock.

Free-range chickens produce rich eggs with deep-orange yolks, just full of vitamins!  You cannot believe how tasty and wonderful this is compared to mass-produced eggs.  Most producers will tell you there is no nutritional difference; however, most of you have eaten vine-ripened tomatoes and realize the taste difference from store bought tomatoes!  It is exactly the same with free-range chicken eggs.  The captive chickens never feel the wind through their feathers or enjoy the sun on their backs.  Or munch on natural things in the grass.  And these eggs are richer and better for you, of course; after all, the hens all ate their vegetables!   Their contribution to a more healthy you makes all the  chickens very happy! 

 

There is something about raising chickens that we really enjoy. For me, it reminds me of the ranch, Van Vleck's

The ranch had a large chicken coop, with many, many chickens and large roosters that would chase me! The chickens would chase me also, as I usually got too close to their baby  chicks.  Each morning, my Aunt LuLu would scatter corn across the yard, saying 'here chick, chick, chick, chick' over and over, tossing corn and chanting. 

The little chicks would scurry around, picking up the grain. Then she would put corn in the feeders for the chickens and roosters.  Raising chickens is a pleasant pastime with its own rewards, but especially because each one has its own personality.  They really are quite funny!

Feeding is done twice a day, and because of our commuting schedule, the hours are far apart. A suspended feeder which holds cracked corn or lay crumbles (a high protein feed to help produce eggs) on a given day, is filled once at three thirty in the morning, and again at six thirty in the evening. 
A snack of cracked corn is also tossed out into the main area outside on the weekends. It is important that feed is kept fresh as the vitamins will deteriorate with time. Tim keeps all foodstuff in large 33 gallon, plastic bins with tight lids.  Chickens are very adept raiders!  
Chickens cannot digest their food without the aid of tiny rocks. They pick these up when they are feeding outside. These are actually used to crush their food in the gizzard before it goes into the small intestine.  
Tim built a ramp for the main chicken house so the chickens and roosters may go in and out of their little door at will during the day to snack on these rocks. It is a little larger than a doggie door and leads directly into their main yard, surrounded on all sides by chicken wire which is stapled to overhead beams and side posts. This protects them from critters and varmints who hunt at night, like foxes, roaming dogs, possums, raccoons, and skunks.   Prevention is critical as one can lose a whole flock in a single night.  Care must also be taken during coop construction to bury the chicken wire well below ground level.  This will prevent the burrowing animals from entering the chicken coops.

Roosters and Hens

There are about forty chickens and roosters living at Dunn Farm.  They are of varied species, all hand raised as baby chicks.   Each spring Tim selects new baby chicks to raise, trying the many different breeds available.
 The Buff Orpingtons, Black  Australorps, and our Great White turkey, Lizzie, live in the main chicken coop.   Black Australorps were developed in Australia from Black Orpington stock.  It is a smaller bird with a trimmer look.   They have a deep, green sheen on their black feathers, and are very active.   They are great egg producers. 
The Buff Orpingtons were developed in England during the 1880's and brought to America in the 1890's.  Their feathers are loose, making them appear heavier.  This helps them to endure cold weather.  They exist in solid colors only and the hens make great mothers.  Their chicks are not aggressive. 
Araucanas were originally discovered in South America, and the roosters have the most beautiful feathers, turquoise, rich brown, white, black, and shimmering blue (see photo above left). The hens of the species are pretty too, but they don't flash the incredible colors that the roosters do. The hens are more iridescent as the light hits their colors.  They are a medium size breed and are good layers of color eggs.  They start laying around 6 months of age. 
The little Bantams have tufts of fuzzy feathers at their ankles, and are very good mothers, even to the point of adopting neglected eggs. That is how one of our little mother Banties hatched three baby Araucanas!  ( A gray fox had taken the Araucana mother.)
The Barred Rock chickens are black and white speckled and a heavier breed.   They are also excellent layers of brown eggs.