Walkie Talkies for family fun and in times of emergencies

Hand Held radios are low priced and can be very useful. Hunters, fishermen or your family out on an outing staying in contact is beneficial.
The plus side is if it gets dropped in a lake, river or is lost in the woods you are not out the price of a smart phone.

Programmable VHF/UHF Hand Held Radios
Baofeng – TYT
Abaree – JJCC
Ailunce – Wouxun
Generally Programmable Radios will transmit on 136-174 mhz and 400-520 mhz. Allowing you to program and store 128 memory channels.

Channelized VHF/UHF Hand Held Radio
Midland – Cobra
Retevis – Btech
Motorola – GTX
Uniden
Generally Channelized Radios transmit on FRS, MURS or GMRS Frequencies.
Channelized radios transmit on:
FRS(Family Radio Service) *No license required.
MURS (Multi Use Radio Service) *No license required.
GMRS((General Mobile Radio Service) *License Required.
Marine Radio Service *No license required.

There are many brands of VHF/UHF hand held radios available and if used and properly cared for any brand will likely serve your needs.

Antenna Considerations

Programmable Radio will have detachable antennas.

This will allow you to add/attach a better, high quality antenna and make your Hand Held radio more effecent and allow you to reliably communicate over longer distances.

Channelized radios do not have detachable antennas.

Battery Considerations

*Alkaline battery and Zinc-carbon battery is Non-rechargeable.

***Lithium batteries should not be confused with lithium-ion as they are rechargeable.

**Mercury battery is a non-rechargeable battery.

**Nickel cadmium and nickel ox​ide hydroxide are rechargeable.

How far can you talk on a Hand Held radio

Communciations range/distance is highly dependent on several factors.

Radio power output in watts of RF(Radio Frequency) energy. 5 watts is better than 1/2(0.50) or 2 watts.

Antenna length, longer is usually better.

Terran, heavily wooded areas city buildings, hills and mountains will reduce your communications range. 5 watt radios can be expected to reliability communicate from 1/2 to about 5 miles over mostly open flat terrain.

Garden is finished

Wow… I have had 22 days in a row at or above 100%. 1.44 inches of rain in the past 48 days.

Poor old garden has died, dried up and is a fire hazard. Squash, cucumbers and beans stopped producing about the middle of June. Okra has hung on but with the high temps has stopped producing.

Pond has dried up, yesterday I saw a bull frog holding a tiny sign that said “Will work for water.” Last week I spied 2 crawdads in the bottom of the dry pond digging a well.

It has been 103 to 112 for the past 18 days and my weather guy said I can expect the next 7 day to be the same.
Spending a lot of time slow, deep watering grape vines and fruit trees. I have to much invested in them to let our regular scheduled dry spell kill them.

I know an old Comanche Indian that says he’s 193 years old, well he said that’s how old he feels.
I complained about the drought and high temperatures and he told me son you live in Southwest Oklahoma, it gets hot, it gets dry, quit your damn whining.

O-Well there’s always next year.

Happy Gardening

Summer vegetables!

It’s the 8 day of June and I have been harvesting radishes, 3 types, french breakfast, icicle and cherry bells for about 2 weeks.

Zucchini and straight yellow squash are producing bushels of squash. This abundant harvest has allowed me to feed my family and a small village of 2500 and still have surplus to feed the horse and donkey.

Lettuce was a failure, planted to late and summer heat got most of the lettuce crop. I’ll try again late this fall.

Happy Gardening

2022 Gardening Season

National Weather Service is forecasting snow today. It’s hard to be thinking of garden planting on days like today, but time is running out on getting the garden well tilled, compost and manure tilled in to the soil.

Garden soil is very dry, we have had less than 2 inches of rain in the past 3 months. This makes working the soil difficult at best.

Garden seed has arrived. I plant mostly summer, warm/hot weather vegetables in the spring and a few cooler weather vegetables like turnips, collards and beets in mid to late July for fall harvest.

I needed a few canning jars and lids for the up coming canning season. Much to my surprise jars don’t seem to be in short supply but quality Mason/Kerr and Ball jar lids are difficult to locate.
I finely after many attempts managed to buy 5 dozen regular and the same number of wide mouth Ball brand lids from Walmart.

Be aware that some brands of jar lids on the market have been reported to have up to a 50 percent failure rate.
In this event your only choices are to refrigerate and consume those jars of canned fruits/vegetables in the next few days or to replace the lid and reprocess those jars in the hope they seal on your second try.

Happy Gardening

Flat Bread, Fast and Easy

Flat Bread:

Ingredients:
6 – servings —————————— 2-3 servings

2 cups of flour—————————— 1 cup
3/4 cup water——————————- 1/3 cup
2 tablespoons of oil————————- 1 1/2 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon salt—————————- 1/4 teaspoon
1 tablespoon of baking powder————- 1/2 tablespoon
For cooking – 2 teaspoons of oil

Preparation:
If you like herb bread add 1 teaspoon of herb(s) fresh or dried that you like.

In a bowl mix all of the dough ingredients into a unified dough. Add a bit more water it your dough is dry.
Knead with your hands for 2-3 minutes and shape into a ball.

Divide the ball into 6 and roll each part into a disc shape.

Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a nonstick pan on high heat.

Cook each disc of dough, About 1-2 minutes on each side. Take care not to burn your flat bread.

Place the flat bread on a plate or fold in half to be used like a flour toco tortilla, cover with a clean
kitchen towel to keep warm.

** Convert this recipe to make tortilla’s by omitting the baking powder.

Food Inflation and the Supply Chain

This past year my annual food cost have risen around $600 to $1,000 dollars during 2021.

For some this is not a real financial burden. However for me being on a fixed income a 7% or 8% cost of food increase is a burden and must be dealt with the best way(s) I know.
To this end I have been collecting unused canning jars from friends and family members and buying what I can’t find free with the goal of doubling the amount of fruits and vegetables I can to carry me through the cold non-garden months.

My vegetable garden space has doubled from past years and I am adding a few more fruit trees to my tiny orchard. Much to my dismay and sticker shock my normal list of vegetable seeds are 3 and in some cases 4 times the price from last spring. I’ll do much more seed saving this fall.
Planted Hybrid seeds do not come back true to it’s mother plant, they tend to revert back to one of it’s parent plants. Often this is not a good thing.
Heirloom plants are open pollinated and do come back true to it’s mother plant and as such are the best choice if you plan to save seed for next years vegetable garden.

Small bare root fruit trees and many grape vines if you can find them at all have shot up in price from about $25 dollars last spring to $45 to $75 dollars each this spring planting season. Almost every fruit tree variety I have been looking for is simply not available this season.

For the first time in many years I harvested and processed 2 bucks and 4 does to supplement my meat supply this year.
I am in the process of cleaning, repairing, painting my old rabbit hutches. I haven’t raised meat rabbits for about 10 years, however it’s time to get 3 or 4 does and a buck. Properly managed each doe will produce 3 litters a year averaging 6 kits per-litter. Growing to a butcher weight of about 5-6 pounds each in 6-8 weeks. Yearly each doe will produce 25-30 pounds of healthy, low fat, great tasting meat.

Happy Safe 2022.

Free Two-Way Radio, No FCC License Required

I will be discussing some of the most common radio setups. There are many other methods to setup and use your radio station. A good source of information is to find and talk to one of your local Amateur Radio Operators. Often called HAMS.

Hand held No FCC License radios are a really good way to stay in contact with family members and friends during emergencies, vacations and during outdoor events like hunting and fishing.

Useful Terms:
FCC (Federal Communications Commission)
Ghz (GigaHertz) 1 billion hertz
Mhz (MegaHertz) 1 million hertz
Khz (KiloHertz) 1 thousand hertz
Hz or Kc (Hertz) 1 hertz
HF (High Frequency) 3 Mhz to 30 Mhz
VHF (Very High Frequency) 30 Khz to 300 Mhz
UHF (Ultra High Frequency) 300 Mhz to 1 Ghz
FM (Frequency Modulation)
AM (Amplitude Modulation)
SSB (Single Side Band)
CB (Citizens Band) HF band
FRS (Family Radio Service) UHF band
MURS (Multi Use Radio Service) VHF band
Marine Radio – VHV at 1 or 25 watts

FCC Allows Free No License required on several Frequency groups. This information is general in nature for more detailed information visit FCC website.

CB (Citizens Band) operates on 40 channels in the HF band at a maximum of 4 watts output power. As of this date CB are authorized to operate FM, AM and SSB modes.

Note: FM mode is a new mode allowed for use on CB band. Currently few if any CB manfacturers are offering a CB with the new FM mode.

CB radios can be either hand held or mobile mount type radios and have an effective reliable range of no more than about 3 to 5 miles. CB mobile radios most often require 12 volt power supply and external antennas.

CB Frequency	CB Channel	Customary Use
26.96500	CB Channel 01	open to all
26.97500	CB Channel 02	open to all
26.98500	CB Channel 03	open to all
27.00500	CB Channel 04	open to all
27.01500	CB Channel 05	open to all
27.02500	CB Channel 06	open to all
27.03500	CB Channel 07	open to all
27.05500	CB Channel 08	open to all
27.06500	CB Channel 09	Emergency
27.07500	CB Channel 10	open to all
27.08500	CB Channel 11	open to all
27.10500	CB Channel 12	open to all
27.11500	CB Channel 13	open to all
27.12500	CB Channel 14	open to all
27.13500	CB Channel 15	open to all
27.15500	CB Channel 16	open to all
27.16500	CB Channel 17	open to all
27.17500	CB Channel 18	open to all
27.18500	CB Channel 19	open to all
27.20500	CB Channel 20	open to all
27.21500	CB Channel 21	open to all
27.22500	CB Channel 22	open to all
27.25500	CB Channel 23	open to all
27.23500	CB Channel 24	open to all
27.24500	CB Channel 25	open to all
27.26500	CB Channel 26	open to all
27.27500	CB Channel 27	open to all
27.28500	CB Channel 28	open to all
27.29500	CB Channel 29	open to all
27.30500	CB Channel 30	open to all
27.31500	CB Channel 31	open to all
27.32500	CB Channel 32	open to all
27.33500	CB Channel 33	open to all
27.34500	CB Channel 34	open to all
27.35500	CB Channel 35	open to all
27.36500	CB Channel 36	open to all
27.37500	CB Channel 37	open to all
27.38500	CB Channel 38	open to all
27.39500	CB Channel 39	open to all
27.40500	CB Channel 40	open to all

______________________________________________________________________________________

FRS (Family Radio Service) is a private, two-way, short-distance voice and data communications service for facilitating family and group activities. The most common use for FRS channels is short-distance, two-way voice communications using small hand-held radios that are similar to walkie-talkies. 1 to 3 mile range.

Below is a frequency and please note the Maximum wattage output for each frequency.

Channel No.	Frequency	Power (ERP in Watts)
1	462.5625	2 W
2	462.5875	2 W
3	462.6125	2 W
4	462.6375	2 W
5	462.6625	2 W
6	462.6875	2 W
7	462.7125	2 W
8	467.5625	0.5 W
9	467.5875	0.5 W
10	467.6125	0.5 W
11	467.6375	0.5 W
12	467.6625	0.5 W
13	467.6875	0.5 W
14	467.7125	0.5 W
15	462.5500	2 W
16	462.5750	2 W
17	462.6000	2 W
18	462.6250	2 W
19	462.6500	2 W
20	462.6750	2 W
21	462.7000	2 W
22	462.7250	2 W

______________________________________________________________________________________

MURS (Multi-Use Radio Service) uses 5 channels in the 151 – 154 MHz spectrum range. The most common use of MURS channels is for short-distance, two-way communications using small, portable hand-held radios that function similar to walkie-talkies. 1 to 3 mile range.

There are five (5) MURS channels. Maximum output wattage is 2 watts.

151.820 MHz (2 watts)
151.880 MHz (2 watts)
151.940 MHz (2 watts)
154.570 MHz (2 watts)
154.600 MHz (2 watts)

______________________________________________________________________________________

Marine (VHF) hand held or fixed station radios are an excellent investment if you spend time boating on large bodies of water. Over open water they commonly have an effective rang from 5 to 30 miles.
Marine radios are far more reliable than a cell phone, with its limited on-water range.

VHF Channel Plan

CH	Transmit	Receive	Notes
01A	156.050	156.050	(U.S.) Port Ops., Commercial, in New Orleans & Lower Mississippi
01	156.050	160.650	(Canada & International) Marine Operator
02	156.100	160.700	(Canada & International) Marine Operator
03A	156.150	156.150	(U.S.) U.S. Coast Guard
03	156.150	160.750	(Canada & International) Marine Operator
04A	156.200	156.200	(Canada) Coast Guard
04	156.200	160.800	(International) Port Ops., Commercial
05A	156.250	156.250	(U.S. & Canada) Port Ops., Houston VTS, Seattle VTS, Seattle Traffic
06	156.300	156.300	(U.S., Canada & International) Inter-ship Safety
07A	156.350	156.350	(U.S. & Canada) Commercial
07	156.350	160.950	(International) Port Ops., Commercial
08	156.400	156.400	(U.S., Canada & International) Commercial (Inter-ship)
09	156.450	156.450	(U.S., Canada & International) Boat Calling, Commercial, Non-Commercial
10	156.500	156.500	(U.S., Canada & International) Commercial
11	156.550	156.550	(U.S., Canada & International) Commercial, Berwick Bay VTS, Houston Traffic, New York VTS (Sailing), Victoria Traffic
12	156.600	156.600	(U.S., Canada & International) Port Ops., Houston Traffic, New Orleans VTS, New York VTS (Anchored), San Francisco Traffic, St. Mary’s River
13	156.650	156.650	(U.S., Canada & International) Inter-ship Navigation Safety (Bridge-to-bridge), Louisville VTS, Prince William Sound VTS
14	156.700	156.700	(U.S., Canada & International) Port Ops., Los Angeles/LB VTS, Lower Mississippi VTS, New York Traffic, Seattle VTS, San Francisco VTS
15	–	156.750	(U.S.) Environmental (Receive only)
16	156.800	156.800	(U.S., Canada & International) International Emergency, Distress, Safety and Calling
17	156.850	156.850	(U.S., Canada & International) State Control – 1 Watt Only
18A	156.900	156.900	(U.S., Canada) Commercial
19A	156.950	156.950	(U.S.) Commercial
20A	157.000	157.000	(U.S.) Port Ops.
20	157.000	161.600	(U.S., Canada & International) Canadian Coast Guard, Port Ops. (Repeater)
21A	157.050	157.050	(U.S. & Canada) U.S. & Canadian Coast Guard
21	157.050	161.650	(International) Port Ops., Commercial
22A	157.100	157.100	(U.S. & Canada) Coast Guard Liaison and Maritime Safety Information Broadcasts
22	157.100	161.700	(International) Port Ops., Commercial
23A	157.150	157.150	(U.S.) U.S. Coast Guard
23	157.150	161.750	(Canada & International) Marine Operator
24	157.200	161.800	(U.S., Canada & International) Marine Operator
25	157.250	161.850	(U.S., Canada & International) Marine Operator
26	157.300	161.900	(U.S., Canada & International) Marine Operator
27	157.350	161.950	(U.S., Canada & International) Marine Operator
28	157.400	162.000	(U.S., Canada & International) Marine Operator
61A	156.075	156.075	(U.S., Canada) U.S. & Canadian Coast Guard
61	156.075	160.675	(International) Marine Operator, Port Ops., Commercial
62A	156.125	156.125	(Canada) U.S. & Canadian Coast Guard
63A	156.175	156.175	(U.S.) Port Ops., Commercial, in New Orleans & Lower Mississippi
63	156.175	160.775	(International) Marine Operator, Port Ops., Commercial
64A	156.225	156.225	(U.S. & Canada) U.S. Coast Guard & Canadian Fishing
64	156.225	160.825	(International) Marine Operator, Port Ops., Commercial
65A	156.275	156.275	(U.S. & Canada) Port Ops.
65	156.275	160.875	(International) Marine Operator, Port Ops., Commercial
66A	156.325	156.325	(U.S. & Canada) Port Ops.
66	156.325	160.925	(International) Marine Operator, Port Ops., Commercial
67	156.375	156.375	(U.S., Canada & International) Commercial, Bridge-to-Bridge in lower Mississippi River
68	156.425	156.425	(U.S., Canada & International) Non-Commercial Recreation
69	156.475	156.475	(U.S., Canada & International) U.S.: Non-Commercial, Canada: Commercial
70	156.525	156.525	(U.S., Canada & International) Digital Selective Calling (Data)
71	156.575	156.575	(U.S., Canada & International) U.S.: Non-Commercial Recreation, International: Port Ops.
72	156.625	156.625	(U.S., Canada & International) Non-Commercial (Inter-ship)
73	156.675	156.675	(U.S., Canada & International) U.S.: Port Ops., Canada: Commercial
74	156.725	156.725	(U.S., Canada & International) U.S.: Port Ops., Tofino Traffic, Canada: Commercial
77	156.875	156.875	(U.S., Canada & International) Port Ops. (Inter-ship)
78A	156.925	156.925	(U.S. & Canada) Non-Commercial Recreation
78	156.925	161.525	(International) Marine Operator, Port Ops., Commercial
79A	156.975	156.975	(U.S. & Canada) Commercial, Non-Commercial in Great lakes
79	156.975	161.575	(International) Port Ops. & Commercial
80A	157.025	157.025	(U.S. & Canada) Commercial, Non-Commercial in Great lakes
80	157.025	161.625	(International) Port Ops. & Commercial
81A	157.075	157.075	(U.S. & Canada) U.S. Government Environmental Protection
81	157.075	161.675	(International) Port Ops. & Commercial
82A	157.125	157.125	(U.S. & Canada) U.S. Coast Guard & Canadian Coast Guard
82	157.125	161.725	(International) Marine Operator, Port Ops., Commercial
83A	157.175	157.175	(U.S. & Canada) U.S. Coast Guard & Canadian Coast Guard
83	157.175	161.775	(International) Marine Operator
84	157.225	161.825	(U.S., Canada & International) Marine Operator
85	157.275	161.875	(U.S., Canada & International) Marine Operator
86	157.325	161.925	(U.S., Canada & International) Marine Operator
87	157.375	161.975	(U.S., Canada & International) Marine Operator
88A	157.425	157.425	(U.S.) Commercial (Inter-ship)
88	157.425	162.025	(Canada & International) Public Correspondence (Ship-to-Coast)
AIS1	161.975	161.975	Automatic Identification System (AIS)
AIS2	162.025	162.025	Automatic Identification System (AIS)

Shortwave Bands

Frequency Range	Frequency Range	Frequency Range
2000 to 2107 kHz	8195 to 8815 kHz	19680 to 19800 kHz
2170 to 2194 kHz	12230 to 13200 kHz	22000 to 22855 kHz
4063 to 4438 kHz	16360 to 17410 kHz	25070 to 25210 kHz
6200 to 6525 kHz	18780 to 18900 kHz	26100 to 26175 kHz

______________________________________________________________________________________

NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts on the following frequencies across the country.
Note: Even if your radio will allow you to do so DO NOT transmit on NOAA weather frequencies.

162.400 MHz	162.425 MHz	162.450 MHz	162.475 MHz
162.500 MHz	162.525 MHz	162.550 MHz

______________________________________________________________________________________

Sources include many big box stores like Walmart. Ebay is also a good source of CB and hand held radios.
Some of the Chinese made radios like Beofeng and Wouxun are well worth the money and have proven to be as good of a choice as well known names like Cobra, Motorola, Midland and Uniden.

If you want to avoid Chinese made radios good luck. To my knowledge there is not a 2 way radio currently being made in the United States.
Note: Amazon is almost always much more expensive than most other radio sellers.

2,000 Gallons Water Produces 1 Pound of Almonds

California supplies about 80% of the United States almonds, and dedicates 80 million gallons, of water to grow Almond crops.
To grow one almond requires 1.1 gallons of water, and to grow a pound of Almonds takes 1,900 gallons of water. Walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, and cashews all use roughly the same amount of water to grow.

Ten percent of California’s water is guzzled up by almonds.

DIY Houseplant survival manuals

The complete houseplant survival manual : essential know-how to keeping more than 160 indoor plants alive.
725 Pages·2005·21.41 MB
Free download in PDF format
Houseplant survival manual

American Horticultural Society Plant Propagation: The Fully Illustrated Plant-by-Plant Manual
322 Pages·1999·87.77 MB
Free download PDF format
American Horticultural Society Plant Propagation manual

Business owner – Don’t interrupt me