Comms Ban

[Jackalope]

    I've been hearing rumors of the possibility of the implementation of martial law in the near future.  I'm wondering if they'll ban transmitting, similar to what was done during World War II.  I've been to countries where each transmitter/transceiver had to be registered by the government, including RC cars and RC planes.  It's not fun.  So what do communicators do?  Resort to short haul VHF/UHF comms?  Transmit only when mobile?  I guess the first step to do, if a ban is enacted, would be to taken down obvious antennas and go grey.  Any thoughts?

[JohnyMac]

Great question Jackalope.

1) The FCC will do nothing. I think the entire FCC staff is 4. No RDF from there.
2) The next would be the US military. Will they waste the manpower for that? Yes/no. With that written if the UN blue helmets or CCP come in then YES, they have the manpower and the will.
3) To be honest if TXing was restricted I would worry about the other hams turning someone in. IMO, many hams are busy bodies and they love government regulation.
4) In the beginning, there is nothing to worry about. If transmitting is restricted then it is time to go gray and travel with your rig and antenna. Use Brevity and or OTP codes. Use a quick mode of Fldigi using a brevity and or a OTP code. Send and then close down. Move on.

During WW II, the folks that hid Jews were found out because of neighbors.

[Jackalope]

    Good points, Johny.   You're right about hams being busy bodies, I've seen it world-wide.  Yeah, digital modes would probably be the best bet, it's possible to communicate way under the noise floor.  Maybe blend into the noise on the 11 meter and GMRS bands.  Looks like we may be putting the knowledge from the RTO course into practical applications.  Looks like the learning was worth the investment.

[pkveazey]

There is one other thing that most people don't think about. Use the same frequencies that the government uses. They won't be listening there for bootleggers/pirates. I don't mean use their frequencies right in the same town that they are operating in. Just go simplex and be far enough away that you are not likely to be heard. Also, use the same codes that they use. If they use 10 Codes, then you use the same 10 Codes. For a while at least, they will just think its their people's normal radio chatter. I don't see them shutting Hams down but I'm not going to rule it out.

[JohnyMac]

PKv, good points.

I just had my Kenwood 590s MARS Modified. Sent it into GiGiParts and they did it for a total of $70-. The cost was $40- plus $30- for Fed Ex shipping & Insurance back.

Why would you MARS Mod. your radio. Well I will write about it today. This is called a 'tease'.