Taking lessons from Nellie Ohr

[tanstaafl72555]

in 2016 Nellie Ohr, wife of Bruce Ohr, did something unusual. She became a HAM operator.

I don't want to wander into the whole morass of the political mess of whether the intel agencies really were attempting a "coup" here, but it is interesting that someone who is clearly trafficking in information that was shady, if not downright illegal and treasonous, would find it prudent to become a HAM operator.

The people investigating this are FULL of questions, insinuating that she wanted a method of transferring info with no digital trail that would incriminate, or embarrass, anyone. It is a reminder to me that I DEFINITELY NEED TO BECOME HAM LICENSED AND GET A GOOD RADIO.

After the shock of seeing that having a vpn did not hinder Google Maps in the slightest from tracking EXACTLY where I am (lol, it has to do with wireless location, MAC addresses on routers and cookies), I am thinking that in grid down extremis type situations, HAM will be the only way to go.

Let's hope it never comes to that, but I am for sure getting my license this year.

 

[Bailey Boat]

I'm certain you know that your position can be triangulated unless you're constantly mobile.... FCC got quite good at that back in the early 70's when some people were running 1000+ watt amps.....

 

[REELDOC]

Linear on CB radios, those were the good old days.

 

[noway2]

KM4UDZ, listed as technician class. From an article:

On May 23, 2016, she received a technician-level amateur radio license. The timing is significant. The presidential campaign was underway and she and her employer, Fusion GPS, were digging for dirt in Russia to use against Trump. Given her cybersecurity knowledge, was Nellie Ohr hoping to use non-cyber short wave communications to hide her participation in that nefarious effort from the NSA?

Probably not, no. A technician class license has VERY LITTLE HF privilege and its on bands that aren't going to propagate well with our current sun cycle.

That being said, I suspect ham radio is tracked or monitored less than cell phones and other common devices. Just a feeling I get.

I would encourage you to get at least a general class license and get on the air. It is not a simple task and you need to know how to do it, proficiently, in order for it to be of use in questionable circumstances.

Yes, it is possible to locate transmitters. The FCC can do this with cars that have four antennas on top for direction signal timing. I'm also told they can do it by satellite very quickly if they know the general area.

Now ask this, why would anyone track your signal? If you're just another dude exchanging signal and weather reports, they have no need or desire to. So, hide in the open. If you need to make a more clandestine transmission, go ahead, even though you'll break the regulations, if you do it and go quiet nobody is likely to notice.

 

[Slacker]

As a former "tactical HF nerd" for uncle suger, I can give one piece of advice.

A good RTO does not need power/watts to communicate effectively. A 10 watt HF radio on lithium batteries can be used very effectively.
Lower the power, lower the chance of it raining artillery.

 

[noway2]

A good RTO does not need power/watts to communicate effectively. A 10 watt HF radio on lithium batteries can be used very effectively.

Agreed. If anyone wants to prove it to themselves, check out WSPRnet and see how a few watts, or even milliwatts can be picked across the globe.

 

[Button Pusher]

I worked Russia on 20M from my driveway using 10W PSK31 digital mode and got a nice full color QSL card in the mail.
PSK31 is a digital mode, instead of talking or using morse code, you 'text' to send the message using no cost dedicated software
on a laptop, tablet or desk computer and your HF radio.

 

[noway2]

I worked Russia on 20M from my driveway using 10W PSK31 digital mode (Snip).

Are you old enough to remember? I grew up in the days of the Commodore 64 and I’d talk to a friend and we’d “go digital” switching the modems to data and then text by keyboard and trade cracked game programs by xmodem or punter. Do you recall those days?

 

[Button Pusher]

Are you old enough to remember? I grew up in the days of the Commodore 64 and I’d talk to a friend and we’d “go digital” switching the modems to data and then text by keyboard and trade cracked game programs by xmodem or punter. Do you recall those days?

Yes but I was not licensed until 1995 here in Raleigh. C64 got it on pre sale at Toys R Us when it came out along with the floppy drive.

 

[Slacker]

I regularly used DMDG burst mode on HF back in the early-mid 90's. That was pretty close to a commodore 64! It stored 8 messages total in memory.

 

[Button Pusher]

I don't think she was using her ticket to do covert communications, the spooks do it all the time and they don't have the FCC license.