Alternative Ways To Communicate and Beginners

[Ken K7KBJ]

Last night's session of the Northern Nevada Preppers Group Net has been posted.
We talked about Alternative Ways To Communicate and Beginners.


Here's your link:   http://www.nnpg.net/091620_radio.shtml

[Jerry D Young]

Thank you, Ken.


I am posting below the information I could not remember about how to enhance the grounding effect of ground rods.


It was, in fact, bentonite that is used to increase the grounding effect of ground rods in several types of ground.

[Jerry D Young]

Here is some information that pertains to one of the discussions during the net. The information is extracted from one of my articles on EMP and how to protect equipment from its effects.


This applies to radios and associated communications gear, and computers, cell phones, and other fairly small consumer electronics.

To protect smaller items from an EMP/HEMP event:
      1)   Put the item in a sturdy cardboard box of appropriate size and tape it closed.
      2)   Wrap the box in bubble wrap (thinner stuff with small bubbles is ideal) and tape it closed.
      3)   Wrap that package with heavy duty aluminum foil (Reynolds Grill Foil is best), making sure to not puncture the foil anywhere, and be very careful to make solid, tightly folded seams.
      4)   Add another layer of bubble wrap.
      5)   Add another layer of foil.
      6)   Add another layer of bubble wrap to protect the top layer of foil.
      7)   Place the package into an appropriately sized cardboard box and tape it closed.
         Place the box in a metal file cabinet, metal storage cabinet, purpose built metal container, or some other container to protect it physically.
That item is now protected from EMP unless the device is right on top of you.

Some have recommended using a GI ammunition can to protect small items. If you want to do that, here is what I suggest:
      1)   Clean up the can inside and out and paint it if there are any bare metal areas.
      2)   Remove the rubber gasket from the lid.
      3)   Line the inside of the can with cardboard, all four sides, the bottom, and the lid.
      4)   Sand paper or emery cloth the gasket groove to bare metal.
      5)   Sand paper or emery cloth the rim of the ammunition can to bare metal.
      6)   Buy (or make) a metallic or other conductive gasket the right size to fit the gasket groove of the lid.
      7)   Place the items to be protected inside the can. (For extra protection, you can do the bubble wrap/foil technique on the items before putting them inside, but with only a single layer of foil.)
         Close and latch the lid. There should be at least some resistance to the latch if the gasket is adequate.

Here are some additional thoughts and pieces of information that might be helpful.
      1)   Since many people do make Faraday cages from trash cans, finding one that is most effective is important. The Behrens brand of locking-lid trash cans have features which make them especially useful as Faraday cages. I am not sure as to size availability. I do know they make at least a ten-gallon size. I am not sure of larger sizes.
      2)   To seal trash cans most effectively, when a supply of stainless-steel wool mesh is not available, a metallic tape with conductive adhesive can be used. The adhesive needs to be conductive, as slot antennas can be created if the lid of the trash can is not making full contact all the way around. 3M brand tape, part number 3340 is such a tape.
      3)   If the trash can needs to be accessed from time to time, using tape can get expensive, and pretty wasteful. Instead of the tape, if you can get a supply of stainless-steel wool the steel wool can be worked up under the lid between the body of the can and the lid.
      4)   It is always good to have nested Faraday cages. Using the foil and bubble wrap method with cardboard boxes adds that extra layer of protection.
      5)   Do make sure any of the heavier and/or larger Faraday boxes or cages are well away from any potential grounding surface and electrically insulated from them. Garbage cans and metal drums need to be well above the floor of concrete floored rooms such as garages and basements. A thin layer of rubber may not be enough. Even a four-inch pallet might not. Two layers of pallets with the thick rubber mat, place well away from any wall that has any wiring inside of it or on the other side of it, should be safe. However, I cannot and do not guarantee that.
      6)   The importance of properly grounding a Faraday cage if there is any chance of it becoming only slightly grounded, or being close enough to arc if the EMP E1 pulse current energizes the outside of the Faraday cage and it is not drained quickly enough through a grounding system designed for it, the arc of electricity can easily burn a hole through several layers of metallic protection, which then allows the EMP entry. This all happens within nanoseconds of time.
      7)   Any Faraday cage that is not totally sealed must have any penetrations designed to maintain that EMP protection. There are ways to do this. It is beyond the scope of this article to describe them adequately, but be aware that they do exist and look for information on-line.
         For actual electrical, electronic, and antenna lines entering the cage, EMP shielding devices are available from PolyPhase and Amphenol companies that are put in the lines, at the outside of the Faraday cage, and they are connected to the special grounding system. This is just one example. Plumbing lines, air handling ductwork, and everything else must have some sort of protection.
      9)   To enhance the effectiveness of the set of ground rods that will need to be used in a properly grounded Faraday cage, the use of bentonite clay made into a slurry and poured down the hole into which the copper/copper clad grounding rods are inserted will greatly increase the grounding ability of dry, hard, and other soils that are not overly conductive. This does mean a hole must be dug or drilled, and simply driving the rods into the ground is not adequate.
10)   One other thing that can help, though it is certainly not a stand-alone solution is to use a series of Type 61 ferrite bead snap on protectors on electrical and electronic devices that must be kept in use. Add them as close to the device as possible. They do need to be Type 61 ferrite, rather than the more common Type 43. The Type 61 ferrite beads can be found at Mouser Electronics.


This is all:
Just my opinion.

[Jerry D Young]

I thought I would follow up a bit about one of the things I mentioned in response to David's question about getting something for one reason and then finding other uses for the item. I mentioned my Black & Decker Matrix 20v Max cordless drill.


I originally picked this up as I needed a drill for the occasional project, and with the interchangeable tool heads, one of which was an impact wrench, it would also allow me to change out flat tires much more easily. Between being old, with disabilities, and a serious problem with heat illnesses, changing a flat tire, if I could do it at all without passing out, has taken me as much as two hours. I would work a few minutes, rest, drink water, and cool off several minutes, and then work a few more minutes. I had to do that for two hours to change that tire in 100 degree plus heat. It was after that incident that I began to look for a way to speed up the process and make it less dangerous for me.



I found the B&D Matrix cordless system and decided it would work for me. And it did, very well. I picked up the various heads for that first one, including the impact wrench head. Well, I had to get a tent in which I could stand up as I could no longer crawl in and out of my Hardwear Expedition tent. And the modified pyramid tent has 24 guy lines. I used various methods to make it easier to drive in that many stakes, but all required getting down (the easy part) and then back up (the really hard part) 24 times.


While getting a very good pair of knee pads really helped, in the interim I ran across a screw in stake system from Australia. I really liked the idea, and that system, as it had an adapter to use a cordless drill to twist in the stakes. However, the stakes were plastic and the system was expensive. I just could not bring myself to pay that much.


I was in Lowes one day, picking up some hardware for a project and happened to see the bins of lag screws, and the rest is history. I looked them over, decided to try some 3/8" x 8" ones the next time I went to the field. They worked like a charm. I am switching out all of my stakes for the lag screws, although, being a prepper, I always have some regular stakes with me, despite having several extra batteries for the B&D Matrix power units (of which I now have three).


It started out as a way to help me change tires and became my primary stake insertion and removal system.


Just my opinion.