Survival and Technology
What You Should Learn
You have a whole lot of things to learn about when you think about surviving a calamity. As part of your readiness, should you be thinking about your technical skills? The answer is yes. You should always look to learn more about communications, wiring, antennas, radio repair, troubleshooting cars, small engines and other mechanical devices. Why? Because you will undoubtedly run into situations where you will have to repair something and in doing so may save lives. Think of those things that you know will come in handy and craft your skillsets around those items.
Begin with the fundamentals like understanding the basic functions of a motor. Troubleshooting issues with motors and repairing them when needed. No one is saying you need to become a full-scale mechanic. But understanding in theory why small engines fail is a great start. Watch others make repairs and help when you can to get hands on experience. You never know, you may save yourself thousands by learning about your car and how to fix and maintain them.
Communications equipment is a must know in today’s environment. Knowing how and why two-way systems work is important and can save lives. Learn about Citizens Band and HF Radios, antennas, and wave propagation. Practice the height vs distance theory with your radios. There are several low-cost radios you can use for this practice, such as Baofeng and TYT. Learn about the difference between UHF, VHF, SSB, and HF. Get your HAM operator's license while you're at it. You’ll need it to operate most of the high-quality ham radios.
Learn about cell phone and satellite communications. Both are crucial forms of communications on a daily basis, but satellite communication could be the only form of long-distance communication in certain circumstances. Understanding their uses and how they can be helpful is a solid skill. Satellite's use the 1 to 50 Gigahertz frequencies to transmit and rebroadcast signals to and from Earth. They can be used in a point-to-point format, meaning transmitting to an individual station or a point to multi-point, meaning from one station to many. Either way, learning about how to link up with satellites' is a valuable skill.
Computers are the future, and their uses will only grow in the coming years. As such, reliance on those systems will also grow and knowing how to operate and fix them is a plus. Learn about the basics like system bios operation and hardware installation. Then move on to troubleshooting common problems with software and common hardware faults that bring systems down. Take a class or learn with friends. Either way you will pick up an important skill that could come in handy.
So, you thought you would not need to know anything about electric motors. Well, that will be true if you experience an Electromagnetic Pulse, they simply won’t work- but if not, you will likely run into these little workhorses. Better to know how to work on them. These motors run any number of things, from doors to ventilation fans and pumps. Get to know their uses and their faults and you will be better prepared when you encounter one along the way.
Round everything out by learning about wiring and antennas. Wiring is critical when it comes to conducting current and antennas are important when relaying signals to a remote station. Both are critical elements of communication and will likely be needed when trying to communicate with others after a life altering event. Make an effort to practice. Nothing is better than hands on experience. Remember, the more skills you have the better prepared you will be. You can never know too much. Keep learning every day and you will thank yourself later. Safe trails out there…
