OPSEC

[Anonymous]

So last night was the first of about a month worth of storms that will destroy a lot of stuff. It’s the same every year here. So I conducted a comms check beforehand with the group.
While I was listening to my radio on a family channel a guy came on, entered the net and started broadcasting weather and traffic from “mobile” back to a base. I thought that was weird because we don’t need to enter the net. His locations ranged anywhere from 3-12 miles from me. I started channel hopping as he was broadcasting and come to find out he was bleeding over to numerous channels.
Our guess was he was pushing 100wt wide open trying to maintain in the weather. That power is good but this is a good example of why it’s not always better.
Something to keep in mind as you broadcast is that these systems aren’t perfect. Even when I was a cop in the 90s our city channel was the same as Tarrant County Texas and we’d get bleedovers and even talk occasionally from hundreds of miles away.
I suggest using the least amount of power possible.

[Josefina Arenas]

Matt- are you talking ham radio here?  If so, you should do a series of articles on it.  It’s an interesting topic and little hard to understand.

[Anonymous]

Yes he was using HAM and I was on a family channel

I’m just learning myself so I’m not really qualified to write anything. And yes it’s complicated more so than it needs to be. They claim they did it to keep it from becoming the trash the CB did in the 80s but it’s just gotten silly

[BarrensHomey]

Over on YT, the S2 Underground channel has some good vlogs on radio OPSEC. One of his main recommendations is to transmit with as low power as possible to complete your connection, both for radio direction finder avoidance and to cut down on interference with adjacent frequencies. That ham operator splattering into the family band was a clear violation, he could be subject to FCC attention & fines if he continues.

[Author]

Posts