27MHz Radioworks. Build Emergancy radio System

------------------------------------------27 MHz RadioWorks Information Lab.   page7-----------------
------------------------------------------------------------Welcome ------------------------------------------
- New Readers, Students, Contributors. This is a new Blog, still under construction. Please pardon our virtual dust and our Learning Curve. We will be adding photos and inter-active links very soon.This is a continuous learning class, which means the most recent BLOGS may have terms and information you are not familiar with, so you may have to go back and begin reading from page one. There is also a BLOG page with terms and definitions you can reference. Most of the content is FREE for all to read, and more advanced content is available to Students who have paid for class Tuition and Materials. Email for instructions on how to join the formal class. Thanx-"Professor" Edward.
----------------------------------------- The small Emergency Radio System------------------------
So here's a few idea's for those of you who have been reading this blog, and paying attention:
Put together an Emergency radio system, buy first choosing your "container".  I have seen some as small as aluminum ammo boxes. Or as large as a plastic flip-top container. It depends on the size of your radio, the type of battery you will use, and how much room you need for extras like a collapsible wire antenna, cables, speakers, meters, and tools.
1. If you have a multi-channel CB "Walkie-Talkie", maybe you just need an extra set of batteries, and put it in the glove box.
2.  If you have a small, digital cb radio, like a Cobra 19 model with only 3 knobs, you could put it in a very small box.

Get a small 12 volt motorcycle or lawnmower type battery, and maybe a magnetic mount mobile antenna that you can dis-assemble.Just remember, with those batteries you need to keep them charged up.They can only sit about a month without losing some juice.The new trickle chargers on the market now are very good, most have auto shut off features.
4.Another Idea for an emergency radio set-up is a square wooden box. I once had a wood cube kit, used for decorating or books. I mounted the radio and all the peripheral gear-speaker,antenna switch,antenna tuner,receive amplifier,12volt power supply,and more cables and wires than I can remember, inside the cube with brackets and wood screws. So it was all permanent and nothing was loose. Just grab the box when I needed it, and it was all hooked up already.
Some people are tempted to put small CB's in side the car glove box, or inside the trunk,I don't recommend it due to the heat build up in the summer time.

27 MHz radioworks,1-2-3-4 procedure

                                                          27 MHz RadioWorks Information Lab page6
Welcome-
New Readers, Students, Contributors. This is a new Blog, still under construction. Please pardon our virtual dust and our Learning Curve. We will be adding photos and inter-active links very soon.This is a continuous learning class, which means the most recent BLOGS may have terms and information you are not familiar with, so you may have to go back and begin reading from page one. There is also a BLOG page with terms and definitions you can reference. Most of the content is FREE for all to read, and more advanced content is available to Students who have paid for class Tuition and Materials. Email for instructions on how to join the formal class. Thanx-"Professor" Edward
This is the blog before the real fun begins, some more information you need to know and some safety pre-cautions. Let me introduce you to the 
1-2-3-4 procedure of handling radio equipment, with regard to 12 volt systems and installations in cars and trucks. 
#1. The radio. A receiver, a transmitter, a transceiver ( did you look it up?) it don't matter which-you must have a radio to begin, even if you don't have a car, or anything else. You can even learn a lot of information from a broken radio,if that's all you can get. The knobs and the controls,the switches and the wires,the colors and the labels-familiarize yourself with all of it. Get a catalog, find one on the internet, start memorizing 27 Mhz radios (CB) any way you can.
#2.Antennas- to hear anything at all on a radio, you must have a commercially made antenna, and a cable to attach it with, if one is not included. The simplest and cheapest method is to get what's called a "magnet mount CB antenna" , because they are physically short,don't require any hardware, usually include a "coil mount" or a center coil that will give you better reception for local signals,and have the cable attached permanently.Antennas are given the #2 position before "power", for the safety of the radio and YOU. Applying electrical power without an antenna invites the disaster of permanent radio damage before you ever get to use it.If you have an older used radio and it is some how set to "transmit" and power is applied sans-antenna, it can blow out that portion of the radio and cost more to repair than it's worth.
#3. Power source. It may  be a battery,a fuse box,a cigarette lighter socket,some wires under the dash,a radio that comes with a built-in 110 volt ac plug,a separate 12volt power supply unit ( we haven't talked about those yet)or a row of flashlight cells in battery holders if you are making a portable set-up.There are lots of ways to make the radio light-up, but FIRST you must know about polarity. Polarity is the "electric snake".It can bite you 5 -ways from Sunday-what ever that means-unless you follow step-by-step procedures to ensure it doesn't.The most obvious is the colors RED and Black .presume the red one is positive, and keep it away from black wires, all other colors of wires(!),car bodies,metal,and your skin.
12 volt wiring done wrong is always catastrophic.it can damage your car,the radio,and you in the form of sparks,shocks,burns,and bright flashes from all the previous.So, here we say its a good idea to always wear eyeglasses,goggles,and any other protective gear you can tolerate.The inherent danger lies in the car battery itself.Some being capable of 60 amps or more, and that is HUGE from an electronics standpoint.Great for starting gas engines, totally unnecessary for any other function of your car.You can turn on AC and all the lights and hardly go over 20 amps, in most vehicles. Even the biggest and the best CB radios require less than six(6) amps in full transmit mode,so be car full with the auto motive electrical  environment.Following the boring instructions that come with the radio will at least give you more education.
#4. Microphone. None of us can really be trusted with a Microphone,so we save it for last, and hope it hasn't already been distracting us.the very last ingredient we need to use our CB radio for 2-way communication (LIU !)is a microphone.Don't even plug it in  until you have 1-2-3 above finished and working. It is the thing you will grab the most, 2nd only to the volume control.It will get more abuse than a vacuum cleaner,whether or not you ever slip and use fowl language!The mic doesn't just listen to your voice, it also "keys" the transmitter on the radio and pauses the receiver.Some mics have even more built-in features, we wont get into right now.Another key point to remember-the performance of your radio system depends more on the microphone, power supply, and antenna than the radio itself.You will find out why as the course progresses.

                                                1-2-3-4= radio, antenna,power source,microphone!

"professor "Edward-copyright 2010eal/nlbl

27 radioWorks. Page 4. Formal Classroom Info

27 MHz RadioWorks Information Lab
Welcome- New Readers, Students, Contributors.This is a new Blog, still under construction. Please pardon our virtual dust and our Learning Curve. We will be adding photos and inter-active links very soon.This is a continuous learning class, which means the most recent BLOGS may have terms and information you are not familiar with, so you may have to go back and begin reading from page one. There is also a BLOG page with terms and definitions you can reference. Most of the content is FREE for all to read, and more advanced content is available to Students who have paid for class Tuition and Materials. Email for instructions on how to join the formal class. Thanx-"Professor" Edward
Formal Classroom Info
The Formal class is available to everyone, even most teenagers should be able to grasp the concepts of the class, and be able to put together an Emergency radio system or work with the peripheral equipment described. You can show-off your knowledge or new gear at local radio clubs, or just have fun listening and mapping out local transmitters in your geographical area. After you sign-up and pay for the course, you will receive a large 3-ring notebook, with pages and dividers that represent the covered material. Each blog written here is usually the first page of the classroom material, and the notebook includes the other pages of info not printed here. There are also graphs, charts, and websites in the notebook. All formal students can also watch the Instructor's videos on Youtube, as they are downloaded. New printed pages will be snail-mailed to students bi-weekly, to be inserted in the notebook. It will be a real working-mans book, that you can take into the field and reference often. The front cover is hard plastic, and has a tool pouch on the back. The Tools you will need to work with 27MHz radios will be listed on one of the blogs, with where and how to find or buy. You will be using testers, wrenches, jump cables, angle sites, compasses- the list goes on, it will be fun , entertaining , and useful, but not all that expensive. You may already have some of the tools, so as soon as you receive your notebook, you can put it all together. The cost of 27 RadioWorks 101 is $35.00.

Just send an Email to me, and I will reply with the Paypal account, or you can send a check to my snail mail address. 27 RadioWorks 101 includes the large notebook, dividers and additional info pages from each blog, a notebook tool pouch, Instructor's Videos on youtube ,and questions answered by the Instructor on Email or Skype. Thanx for checking this out, and keep up on the bogs and assignments.
"professor" Edward.

The 27 MHZ radioworks information lab.page 3

------------------------The 27 MHZ radioworks information lab. ---------------------------- Blog page 3

Here are some fresh Ideas on how to add to your gear, and learn about compatibility.

12 volt systems

Be sure to reference everything back to your 12 volt battery system, since the common 12 volt system is the standard now for automotive, many solar/voltaic storage systems, and the batteries are readily available. You can also purchase your portable power tools with 12volt power cells and re-chargers. If these don’t have enough power for your everyday needs and you gravitate towards the 19 volt types or others, just be sure to get an emergency set of 12 volt types for your preparedness kit.

----------------------------------------Real Emergency-------------------------------------------

You can also get your outdoor yard tools in 12 volt power ratings, if you feel the need, but gardening equipment doesn’t really qualify for emergency needs. However, leaf blowers, electric saws, and water pumps qualify as fire-fighting and fire suppression gear, and I highly recommend getting your hands on as much of that stuff as you can, along with the hand tools such as shovels, axes, and Pulaski-type ground tools.(look it up)

------------------------------------------Camping stuff------------------------------------------------

Other items that are often forgot include anything included in a mobile camper or motor home that functions on 12 volt power. Like water pumps for the hand sink, along with its water holding tank. And lighting fixtures, sockets/bulbs/ switches intended for 12 volts. Some of the high-tech coolers and refridges have Peltier Junction devices (look it up) that can be used as coolers or heaters. I can’t say enough about 12 volt air fans, automotive types are getting harder to find, but you can now substitute the computer/box type fans and save some money!

Now I know what some people may be thinking already- the best of the 27 mhz radios are rated at 13.8 volts. 12 volts just ain't enough!.you wont get full power out of your rig- O.K., that's absolutely right. But , the radios will still WORK on 12 volts-remember, we are talking emergency use right now-and later on in the course, I can write about a special gadget that will power the radio with a little more juice. That will be for the more technical people.

27 MHz radioworks Lab ...page 2

REMEMBER the old expression "Prepare for the worst, Hope for the best" - that our grandparents always extolled?-it's the best of advice,'cause bad stuff happens to everybody, and the world goes thru crazy cycles of feast or famine. But 27 MHz radioworks is NOT your grandfather's old CB radio! We are going to learn how to keep some good gear on stand-by, just in case we need it, but as long as it lasts we'll keep our Cell phones charged, blackberries in pocket, and laptops on -line.
The caveat
As the economy continues to fall, and the Government continues it's intrusion on utilities, can you REALLY rely on your Cell phone,land-line,cable, or anything that relies on 110 volt power? All its going to take is a piece of space junk crashing into the Satellite, a small act of War, or a third-world country's duct-taped rocket-going-wayward. And the only people who will be talking to anybody- are those prepared with portable, self-powered, reliable radios. Radios not reliant on cell towers,110 volt power, one-inch-long antennas, or three hour batteries!

That is why 27 MHz radio is SURVIVAL RADIO.
That is one reason so many people still have the CB radios still installed in their cars, trucks, and motor homes. They know it may not be for everyday use anymore, but it'll be there when they need it.
YOU will only have to suffer thru a couple of more short pages of information needed to set the stage, and then I'll get into some instructions on putting together an Emergency Radio Rig, and a whole lot of other cool stuff.

Introduction to 27 MHZ radioworks

This is the introduction page to the 27 MHz radioworks information lab. Most of you may already know that the 27 MHz band is the one used by the old citizens- band radios, already heavily used by the late 1950's, and popularized by the truckers and freeway travelers of the late 1970's. You may think that these radios are old-fashioned and died off the popular scene many years ago... but nothing could be farther from the truth! The equipment is still being manufactured, still used by the transportation industry, and all makes and models are being traded at a fever-pitch. Just look them up on Ebay, or any other auction site. Some people use them for business, some for a hobby,people collect them, and some have become technical experts on the repair and modification.
I will introduce you to the 27 MHz radio as a TOOL. A tool that you can use for emergency preparedness, science, education, communication,and even entertainment. A tool that is not reserved for the "techies" , geeks, or "nerds", but rather for people who will recognize it as a "key" to unlock doors to learning and readiness.
If you think you may be one of those people, then join me in this radioworks information lab. This will serve as the basis for a new class. I will teach the class at a beginning college level, and opportunities will be extended to all readers to join at a more formal level, in order to view videos and receive class materials over the internet and also in the US post.
You may be surprised to learn that a simple little radio transceiver( look up this word, its your first assignment!) could take you into subjects like Meteorology, sunspots, and even stellar astronomy- but it can, and without too much complication or difficulty. We will start at the beginning, just talking about radios and the basics, and the longer you stay with the blog posts, the more you will learn.