Ramblings on why Ham Radio Operators, "Get IT wrong"...

That is when we try and sell ourselves to the S&P community!

First off, let me offer up this disclaimer. I am a Ham Radio operator and I, myself, am guilty of some of the following things. This may ruffle some feathers, but it is my hope that we as Hams, don't try and sell the hobby, but instead sell the reason and capabilities to those in the S&P mindset.

Second, let me make it VERY CLEAR, I admire and respect the hams that provide public service to emergency organizations. My hats off to you and keep up the good work. This is in no way disrespectful of what you do...

OK, so why do ham radio operators get it wrong, when trying to encourage others to join our hobby so those of the like mind can be prepared???

It is in my opinion, that we sell it as an expensive hobby (sometimes), one where we will be stuck in some shelter for days on end providing communications, to talk to another human being on the other side of the world for no other reason than to make a friend. I can think of many more, but these always get mentioned!

When you extoll the many wonders of ham radio to someone new, you know you lost them when you say," I worked a JG1 call last night on LSB on 40 meters, running 5w from my FT-817 into a G5RV @ 40' signal was 5 by 9, ain't that cool???" as their eyes glaze over and quickly try and change the conversation!

The S&P (Survival & Preparedness) person that may be interested into learning about ham radio, does not care about what you do with it, but rather... WHAT IT CAN DO FOR THEM!!!

For example, you may have headed down to New Orleans with all your ham gear in tow and VOLUNTEERED a MONTH of your time to man a shelter so they would have a link to the outside world since all the normal means of comms were down, but to the average prepper, that does not sound like something he may want to do.

However, mentioning that sometimes the power fails, telephones are down, cable out and cell phones are a NO GO, but with ham radio you were able to talk into or out of those areas that not longer had any communications infrastructure... now that sounds pretty cool!

I don't think, in our hobby, that we sell ourselves very well in the S&P part. Telling folks that I and several other hams spent a week on a ghost town off of the Outer Banks of NC operating ham radio on solar and generator power for a week is much more interesting than talking about the latest contact we made the other night in Europe after supper.

Not to say there is not a place and time for such things, but it is not usually the 'HOOK' that make the non ham, wish to become part of our hobby.

S&Pers want to know WHY they should get licensed, how to use it WTSHTF/TEOTWAWKI, what are the benefits and so on. It is our job as hams to get those folks interested in ham radio. Maybe some of the S&P hams we recruit will go on to be a world class DXer, head of the county or state ARES/RACES, or maybe ham radio will be nothing more than a vital link to those they wish to communicate with when all other methods are not viable. Either way, it is a win for all hams, and a benefit to anyone that knows how to use a ham radio when the chips are down!

I have helped recruit many S&P minded folks into ham radio, often buying the study manual and telling them to 'pass it on' once they got licensed. Once they got a taste of what ham radio could many became involved in ARES/RACES, MARS, SKYWARN, and/or other emergency organizations. Some just wanted to capability to talk around town on repeaters and with a licensed spouse used them to communicate around the homestead.

I will be coming up with some ideas on how to use ham radios WTSHTF in the next week or so, to hopefully inspire folks to 'think outside the box' when it comes to ham radio and not use the 'old marketing' techniques that have been in place for so long.

Like I said, I mean no disrespect to any ham radio operator who volunteers their time for using their ham radio to provide comms, I just want us to think about how it sounds when we describe our hobby to others.

I mean come on... we have to compete against iPhones and computers that can do MANY of the things that ham radio can do (although hams were doing similar things years before the technology was perfected, and in many cases were the folks who came up with the ideas that inspired many communication technologies) as long as EVERYTHING is working right!

This should be an easy sell to those of the S&P mindset, so lets explain how it will benefit the user in the long run... Once they get their taste of what ham radio can do, THEN they will find out about the hobby and service aspects of it.

That may be why I think this way, for I never came from it from the 'ham radio is a cool hobby', but rather, ' ham radio is a vital skill for me as prepper' mindset. Once I played around with my new skill, I found out the best way to increase my skills was to learn the many different ways to send a message across town or around the world.

I hope that we hams of the S&P mindset, will stop and take a look at how we sell ham radio to folks, and quit trying to talk about the hobby and talk about it as a preparedness skill. We also need to do a better job in explaining HOW you can use this skill in your preparedness plan as a prepper and NOT just a ham radio operator. Just saying...

Thanks for reading and 73.

Later,
ZA

Ramblings on the chickens, Mantis tillers and local resources...

Howdy Folks,

Today I decided to block off about 1/3 of the chickens outdoor run and sow it in fescue and I even threw in some scratch grains in the hope some of it will come up. The chickens have laid waste to the grass that once covered the run. I now understand why those 'chicken tractors' are so effective since they really work the soil over.

I placed chicken wire from the back of the chicken bunker to the back fence and staked it to the ground. Later on, I would love to divide the coop into thirds and be able to rotate the runs. In fact that was the original plan back in May, but time constraints only allowed for the bare minimum of work.

The idea is to give the chickens something green to nibble on during the late winter months as they love their 'salad'. Once the run is nice green and tall, I will let the chickens have access.

On the same side I plan on adding 3 6'x10' chain link panels ,I scored for free, in a L shape configuration to mesh with the existing fence to give them a little more pasture. Also I will fence on the same side to surround my west orchard to allow for an open pasture for the chickens. Hopefully when the bugs come out next year, my hens will be patrolling and getting some all you can eat, free buffet style bugs!

Later on toward March I will temporarily block access for the other side and begin prepping it to grow a garden INSIDE the run. You can not beat soil that is picked free of weeds, grass or ANYTHING GREEN to plant in. Not to mention that the chickens have been fertilizing it for me for 9 months prior! Talk about a garden spot!!!

For those of you who are still on the fence about getting chickens, I say "GET SOME". Of all the things I have begun, raising chickens is the easiest way I have tried to become more self sufficient!!!

Local Resources:

As I tilled up the soil to loosen it up to plant some fescue and wheat I realized that the soil was so rich from chicken poop I was not going to have to use fertilizer. I was using a local resource, chicken manure, to give my seeds the food they would need! I compost all my chicken manure but this was what was already on the ground just waiting to be tilled into the ground. Before the poop, I would use 10-10-10 fertilizer to do the same thing I now get for free! Granted the 10-10-10 smells a little better, but I still like FREE!!!

I needed a ground cover to cover up the bare soil and retain moisture after I tilled, raked and sowed. In the past I would purchase a bale or two of straw to cover up bare spots, but today I decided to use my almost unlimited resource of pine needles. I have many acres of pine trees and well they shed pine needles, which is another free resource! I went to the woods and gathered up 2 wheelbarrow loads and spread it out. It looks like it will allow water and air to get down to the seeds below without smothering them. Did I mention they were free???

Mantis Tiller:

Other than my Husqvarna chainsaws, the Mantis Tiller is one of my most used tools on the homestead. For those of you unfamiliar with the Mantis Tiller, it is a lightweight 20lb 2 cycle power house. The tines give you about 6" to 8" of tilling width (I never measured it so can't say for sure) and it will DIG!

The way it pulverizes the soil really allows your seeds/plants to have and easy time to go deep. When planting fescue I usually just go down 2-4 inches. In a matter of 5 minutes I had an entire 160 square foot plot ready to plant!

I still use my large tiller to prep the larger gardens, but I use the Mantis Tiller to prep my rows.

So get a Mantis Tiller, they come in handy!

Thanks for reading and 73!

Later,
ZA