Establishing HF Radio Comms in the Field

This is the second video with our Lightfighter radio 'expert' @LimaFoxtrot ‪@MidwestDeplorables‬ and now we are actually setting up our field portable HF radio and establishing communications! With who? Well the nice people on Ham Radio of course!
Talking super far through the sky using electricity is one of our original superpowers as a Lightfighter. As much as I joke about radios "fake & gay", not cool, too confusing, or running on pure magic harvested from fairy slaves... Having at least an elementary understanding of not only your RADIO, but RADIO THEORY, is essential to being an effective Lightfighter, armed prepared citizen, minuteman, militia member, or LARPerator like myself.
Now, this is HF radio! Why? Because we are demonstrating HF radio! It might not be for you!
But as LimaFoxtrot says, many companies still make backpacks for radios!
"Because they aren't occupying forces that build 10 billion dollar forts in every shit box on earth to park their infrastructure.... The idea that HF radio belongs in the 10 billion dollar fort, is a GWOT mindset."
And I couldn't have said it better myself. Hopefully you can find him in the comments section and he can answer any questions!
Gear featured:
The mast is a Spiderbeam telescopic 10m mast
The antenna was a Chameleon Emcomm & Balun (discontinued)
Radio Yaesu 710 100 watt
Portable Zero rails on the radio
Thank you for watching! Remember to like and subscribe, it helps pages like mine so much! The comments section is the quickest and easiest way to call me an idiot!
If you want to get out with us and train, check out
www.lightfightersanonymous.com

[@pale_2111]

I'm a ham operator as well and a huge fan of Chameleon. Got several of their antennas, 40-10m Lite End Fed Sloper, Lite Tactical Dipole, Ecomm III Portable EFHW and Lite Tactical Delta Loop. The 40-10m LEFS is my go to Antenna for portable operations. No tuner required for 40, 20, 15 and 10m. The Lite Tactical Dipole is for 160-6m. I use that as a base station antenna for 10, 12, 15, 20, 60 and 160m. It can do FM simplex frequencies on 6m, but needs a tuner for SSB. Their ECOMM III Portable EFHW is ok. It can handle 100w on SSB and 20w on data. Works great on 10, 12, 15, 17 and 160m. The Lite Tactical Delta Loop works great on the higher bands and can be configured to work as a vertical HF antenna. The downside is in the Delta Loop configuration, it's bidirectional meaning the RF exists broadside of the antenna.

[@vetinger]

I so happy to watch your video, especially, on the Nature. 73

[@bryanfaulkenburg462]

My teams commo guy just finished up programing our new radios . Interesting content . Keep up the good work.

[@TheAnnoDomini]

I have a Yaesu FT-857D with Armoloq armor and all the other shit in a small ruck. I used love HF CW as much as I loved being an 11B20 Light Fighter. My generation of Light Fighters invented "Manchu Hair", lol. 4/9 inf regt, 7th ID(L) 1984-1987.

[@MidwestDeplorables]

The FT-857D is nice, as it also gives you VHF and UHF in the same radio. They are selling for a high price right now. The filtering is getting a little old, and even the 891 that replaced it is a big improvement in that department. But the 857D is still a great choice for a do-all radio.

[@TheAnnoDomini]

@@MidwestDeplorables I bought it new, around 2005. I believe I also installed a Collins mechanical filter. I know I installed a dual Collins filter board and BHI DSP in my FT-817ND (which I also bought in 2005).

[@halledwardb]

Yeasu really needs to come.out with the upgrade to this radio. I really like the Armaloq armor as well.

[@nine7295]

​@@TheAnnoDominiif you have the dual filters add on and the BHI DSP in your 817 then you have the best that can ever fit into it! I have the SSB mechanical filter in my 818, and an inline compressor on the mic. Haven't decided on the BHI as there's some modding required (I am good at soldering, just lazy), but I have an external BHI DSP unit (but too big to bring with the 818). I am not sure if yours has the TCXO added? Mine came stock with it. Never had a 857 but several friends do.

[@TheAnnoDomini]

@@nine7295 The filter board in my 817 is a W4RT One Board Filter. It has a 500Hz CW filter and the 2.3kHz SSB Collins mechanical filters. I don't remember if I added the TCXO to my 817, but I did add it to my 857D. Both rigs work as well as they did when I bought them. They look new because I got out of ham radio for over a decade and stored them in a climate controlled environment. I also bought a Kenwood TS-2000 around the same time and works and looks like new. I noticed the frequency was off a bit last year. I found a YT video that demonstrated the adjustment of the TCXO. I was worried but it works like new now.

[@Civilian_AF]

One really cool tool is WSPR. You dial your power way down and schedule your transmit intervals to see how the band acts at different times of day or year. This allows you to test your own antenna and system if you want to make targeted contacts.

[@MidwestDeplorables]

WSPR and PSK Reporter are both great tools for propagation information for your station. Even playing on FT8 and checking PSK Reporter is a great tool

[@dougo753]

I love NVIS, it's a great method for talking regionally and the bonus is that it is very hard to Direction Find (DF).

[@MidwestDeplorables]

It is fun to play with. If NVIS and reducing DF signature was more of a concern, this antenna would have been setup in a completely horizontal position. Horizontal signals both work well with NVIS and dissipate ground wave signals faster than vertically polarized signals through ground losses.

[@dougo753]

@@MidwestDeplorables For sure, Brushbeater does great work on tactical comms for civies. For example we don't have encryption (I mean digital modes for 99% of people might as well be encrypted) but a directional antenna like a Yagi and as low of power as possible that still gets the job done are a great way to reduce other ears.

[@alpha6tango860]

lol. That was Mary on 7290 net. She’s in Oklahoma not Texas; Good stuff guys!

[@LFAnon]

you fucking HAM people, I love ya

[@LFAnon]

if you can get ahold of her again tell her HI from KZbin and that she made two hillbillys from MO smile.

[@MidwestDeplorables]

@@alpha6tango860 thanks for the comment. I think maybe NC was in TX but had no Rx. She was kind enough to relay us in. That antenna is not great on 40m in poor conditions.

[@Insectoidoverlords]

Love the comms content.

[@LFAnon]

thanks! cheers!

[@bhoward9378]

"Fake and gay." LOL, LMAO even. Subscribed.

[@LFAnon]

yeah this isnt a radio page ;-)

[@bombassbeefjerky9708]

I’m considering a weather ballon and small portable helium tank to lift an antenna… do you think it is worth the weight

[@LFAnon]

yes

[@RobPetty622]

Of course, he is allowed to say his call sign. It's public information, in fact.

[@MidwestDeplorables]

@@RobPetty622 i have paid my dues for 20 years, and will use W1AW whenever convenient for me. Hope to get you in the log. W1AW out.

[@LFAnon]

@@RobPetty622 aCtUalLy

[@nine7295]

For the US, the amateur radio call signs start with W, K, N and also A. Why wasn't the guest allowed to say his call sign?

[@LFAnon]

@@nine7295 nonya

[@MidwestDeplorables]

@@nine7295 We all know the As cant be trusted. My call sign is W1AW. I pay my dues, and demand 24/7 access to its use.

[@RobPetty622]

He can if he wants. Ham radio call signs are publicly accessible. He doesn't want people looking up his address, I guess. It would not be "tacti-cool"

[@MidwestDeplorables]

@ Lol. Thanks for the click and comment for the algo. My ham radio license has never been attached to my address, as it has been on a PO Box the entire time. My business license is attached to an address out of state. Nothing we do is “tacti-cool”, we are just idiots who found out how to get out of the basement and have fun.

[@w8lvradio]

How many ferrites, source and mix?

[@LFAnon]

I don't have any, they really smell and I think my dogs would attack them.

[@MidwestDeplorables]

Ferrite core is use dependent. Reliable sources of those will tell you what they are good for. I buy them from a radio specific supplier.

[@ironteacup2569]

What sort of wire do I need to make an antenna? Or what’s a good source I can use for this?

[@LFAnon]

I THINK when I asked LimaFoxtrot. He said just about anything would do. I know army guys have even used claymore and field phone wire.

[@ironteacup2569]

@ yea there is lots of 50ohm cable. Would be cool to play around with making a DIY for my ASIP

[@MidwestDeplorables]

50 ohm is the rating for the feed line coax. You can use old speaker wire or whatever for the antenna wire. It doesnt really matter, the type of wire will slightly affect how long you end up cutting the elements due to the difference in electrical properties. DX Commander sells kevlar core military antenna wire, that is premium due to strength and low tendency to twist and tangle.

[@ironteacup2569]

@ oh ok. What about the connection to the asip?

[@MidwestDeplorables]

@@ironteacup2569 ASIP is a mode of data operation, and not a specific radio, so I am not sure how to answer that. There are a lot of radios and use cases.

[@twinarrowssurvival.2.065]

I hate coms but I am working on it want my ham license so I been studying hard as hell

[@MidwestDeplorables]

Should be fine, I did it when I was 12 years old. :-)

[@twinarrowssurvival.2.065]

@@MidwestDeplorables Hey that's awesome thank you also threw you a sub bro dig your channel...👊🇺🇲

[@mr.stotruppen8724]

Looks a lot handier to haul around and deploy than an OE-254. Fuck those things. Doesn't look like it would handle any real quantity of wind all that well though. Very much a put it up and take it down kind of setup. Not a "leave it up all night outside your improvised TOC unsupervised" thing.

[@MidwestDeplorables]

The next video will be setting up an L3 Harris RF-1936 HF NVIS antenna.

[@mr.stotruppen8724]

rip

[@LFAnon]

next vid is up lol

[@brotherbrovet1881]

Just let me no when I can talk on it, Sparks.

[@LFAnon]

found my people

[@MidwestDeplorables]

Next video will be some Disney Mickey Mouse walkie talkies. Subscribe and Standby.

[@nine7295]

HF is 3 to 30 MHz technically (not 1)

[@MidwestDeplorables]

@@nine7295 most HF radios do the 160m band, which is 1 Mhz. Really only works on the winter time, and is mainly old men talking about what the best tractor tire is.

[@MidwestDeplorables]

HF radios transmit down into the 160m band. (1 Mhz) Perhaps there is an “actually” reason it is not HF. This isnt a ham radio channel. Lol

[@LFAnon]

tEcHnIcAlLy...