From d557ff9dc39e7b73aac08bc5a0bf87a57fe31b35 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Chris Bosse <30784811+chrisBosse@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2026 23:00:29 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] Add Newbie talk - first pass --- ptrs-intro.md | 120 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 120 insertions(+) create mode 100644 ptrs-intro.md diff --git a/ptrs-intro.md b/ptrs-intro.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a0afb06 --- /dev/null +++ b/ptrs-intro.md @@ -0,0 +1,120 @@ +# Introduction to the Pine Tree Radio Society + +## Outline + +Newbie talk <15min, <5min? + +* Who we are + * History + * Pine Tree Riots + * Weare, New Hampshire, April 14th, 1772, was one of the earliest colonial rebellions + * Predates the Celtic Metric-Leaf Shindig on December 16th, 1773, by 1 year, 8 months, and 2 days + * Club impetus + * Shutting down of Parler in 2021 + * January 8th, Google pulled Parler from Google Play Store + * January 8th, Apple requested Parler submit a "moderation improvement plan" within 24 hours + * January 9th, Apple removed Parler from the App Store + * Twillio shutdown Parler's two-factor authentication service + * Okta denied access to idenity management services breaking some of Parler's software tools + * ScylliaDB ended Parler's use of Scyllia Enterprise Database + * January 9th, Amazon said it would shutdown services the next day + * If seemingly distributed, seemingly coordinated, attacks could take down a seemingly free-speech bastion, what other unseemly platforms could be taken down? How would we communicate vital information not-yet-approved or agreed-upon? + * Founders Jack and Will held some group discussions with citizens and amateur radio operators (hams) + * the hams were too much, overwhelming the non-hams with technical and legal details + * We needed a group focused on "soccer moms" staying informed, not learning antenna theory to design antennas for radio contests + * Club goals + * community communication + * un-censor-able speech + * share information in time of need + * approachable + * distributed, decentralized, alternatives + * Current + * crew + * Jack de facto leader of cats + * Will co-founder + * meeting schedule + * second Saturday of the month at The Quill + * online presence + * + * Telegram Announcements + * Telegram Chat + * ~~Matrix~~ (Server down) + * Signal PTRS Manchester, loosely affiliated + * local vendor table(s) + * Meshtastic, radios, 3D printing, etc. + * Radio Theory + * RF - Radio Frequency. Electromagnetic spectrum vibrations. Starting at: + | Band | Band | Frequency Range | Wavelength | Uses | + | --------------- | --------------- | --------------- | --------------- | --------------- | + | Extremely Low | ELF | 3 Hz - 30 Hz | 100,000km - 10,000km | | + | Super Low | SLF | 30 Hz - 300 Hz | 10,000km - 1,000km | | + | Ultra Low | ULF | 300 Hz - 3 kHz | 1,000km - 100km | | + | Very Low | VLF | 3 kHz - 30 kHz | 100km - 10km | | + | Low | LF | 30 kHz - 300 kHz | 10km - 1km | | + | Medium | MF | 300 kHz - 3 MHz | 1km - 100m | AM | + | High | HF | 3 - 30 MHz | 10m - 1m | Shortwave, Ionospheric propagation | + | Very High | VHF | 30 - 300 MHz | 1,000cm - 100cm | FM, TV, MURS, Air Band, "Low Band" for fire and police | + | Ultra High | UHF | 300 - 3,000 MHz | 1m - 10cm | | + | Ultra High | UHF | 300 - 1,000 MHz | 100cm - 30cm | TV, FRS/GMRS, MURS, Police, Fire, CDMA, Cellular | + | Ultra High | L band | 1 - 2 GHz | 30cm - 15cm | GPS, GSM | + | Ultra High | S band | 2 - 4 GHz | 30cm - 15cm | Bluetooth, 2.4GHz WiFi, Microwave | + | Ultra High | C band | 4 - 8 GHz | 7.5cm - 3.8cm | Satellite, 4.9 GHz Public Safety | + | Ultra High | X band | 8 - 12 GHz | 3.8cm - 2.5cm | Satellite | + | Ultra High | K (sub u) band | 12 - 18 GHz | 2.5cm - 1.7cm | Satellite | + | Super High | SHF | 3 - 30 GHz | 10cm - 10mm | | + | Super High | K band | 18 - 27 GHz | 1.7 - 1.1cm | Satellite | + | Super High - Extremely High | K (sub a) band | 27 - 40 GHz | 1.1 - 0.75cm | Satellite | + | Extremely High | EHF | 30 - 300 GHz | 10mm - 1mm | | + | Extremely High | V band | 40 - 75 GHz | 0.75 - 0.40cm | Satellite | + | Extremely High | W band | 75 - 100 GHz | 0.40 - 0.27cm | Satellite | + | Extremely High | mm | 110 - 300 GHz | 0.27 - 0.10cm | | + | Tremendously High | THF | 300 GHz - 3,000 GHz| 1mm - 0.1mm | | + + * v = lambda x f => c=wf => w = speed of light / frequency + * 468 ft / freq in MHz = overall half-wave length (vf (velocity factor) of wire already considered) + * Propagation: ground wave and sky wave + * Most radio waves travel along LOS (Line-of-Sight) (plus ~15%) + * Up on a mountain, tremendous range. + * Repeaters on mountains and towers allow handhelds and mobiles to reach beyond LOS. + * 2-10 MHz can refract off the ionosphere and bounce back down (and up and back down). + * Skip zone is dead area between end of ground wave and Sky Wave returning to Earth. + * Similar roots as CB "Skip" + * NVIS - Near Vertical Incident Sky Wave + * PACE Plan (Primary Alternate Contingency Emergency) + * PACE should not share devices, frequencies, antennas, nor dependencies + * E.g. Cellphone for call and email means you lose both when your battery dies. + * P - Cell, A - Email, C - Radio, E - walk over and tap on shoulder + * Modulation is how information is imparted to the Carrier wave + * CW - Continuous Wave (Morse Code) + * AM - Amplitude Modulation (Air band, Shortwave) + * SSB - Single side band (Shortwave) + * USB, LSB - Upper Side Band (above 10MHz and digital), Lower Side Band (below 10MHz) + * convention from repurposing WWII surplus gear + * FM - Frequency Modulation (Baofengs) + * AFK - Audio Frequency Shift Keying (tones, RTTY (Radio Teletype)) + * MFSK - Multiple Frequency Shift Keying (many tones) + * OFDM - Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (Vara) + * Checksums - error detection + * FEC - Forward Error Correction (error detection and possible fixing) + * Projects + * Everyone gets a radio! + * Kit (hand-held local two-way, receive AM/FM/Shortwave) + * training with multiple levels + * 3-3-3 Radio Project + * Emergency/Ad Hoc communications Plan + * Any radio, tune to Channel 3 (CB, FRS, GMRS, MURS (green dot)) + * Every third hour 3, 6, 9, 12 + * Call out and listen for three minutes + * PTRS runs a monthly test, all day on the 3rd + * Meshtastic + * Reticulum + * VoIP apps and devices + * MeshCore + * GMRS + * repeaters + * Previous + * HF NVIS (High Frequency Near Vertical Incident Skywave) statewide comms via ham radio frequencies + * Programming Baofengs in June 2026 + * Range testing from The Barn (Wearehouse) 2023-2024 + * Programmed Baofengs to Porkfest in 2023 + * Low-power FM transmitter for Porkfest