True News or Not True News?

True news or not true news?

By Joseph Parish

“Lady’s and gentlemen, we are now engaged in a struggle to beat all struggles. Civil War has broken out in the western portion of America while foreign troops are quickly escalating their entry into our country from the south. We may be witnessing a drastic change in America at this time.” That was the sounds emitting from the voice within the speaker of the portable radio.

Now the point is who do we believe? Is the current radio broadcast being accurate or merely seeking additional listener bases? Since this is basically our only source of updated news we must make a decision as to whether it is truthfully relayed to us or whether our government may be doctoring the broadcasts to suit their agendas. We could attempt to rely upon word of mouth where one person passes on the information to another but it has repeatedly been proven that this method results in grave differences from the initial wording to the final report. This would certainly not be a very reliable method to use during times of crisis.

A multi-band radio can often prove to be a means of accurate information when it’s needed the most. With its various frequency bands this communications essential provides a rich source of information. I have repeatedly found there is a difference in the news presentation with an American radio transmission as opposed to perhaps the same report issued from the British BBC broadcast. There is a measurable variation in the local broadcast when compared to the world wide version.

Other means of information would be local CB radios which would have limited range and personal opinionated information at best. Naturally, there is merit in the thought that the information you are hearing is live and broadcast from your immediate vicinity. Security is especially critical with the CB radio communications channels. It does take much for an intruder to triangulate your signal and quickly location your nest resulting in an unexpected visit from potentially unfriendly quests. Using higher power then necessary with a CB makes this problem especially dominant as the higher wattage units are fairly easy to locate on the air and thus simple to trace to its source.

My personal opinion is that I would intend to sit quietly in my retreat and use my CB radio merely to communicate with my immediate family in the event we were separated. I would however monitor broadcasts of all sorts since that act would not reveal my location and perhaps still provide valuable data.

Ham operations on the other hand are not as locally orientated which offers a measure of safety in avoiding detection. The person you are talking to could very well be located thousands of miles from your location. Ham operators have the added benefit of being capable of selecting from hundreds of frequencies to work with. These various frequencies can readily be used in an effort to try and establish contact with another group elsewhere in the world. This has the advantage of comparing the actions at your location with those people located somewhere far off. After a while you would likely establish a daily contact with the people to compare notes. Knowing another person’s frequencies would prevent a trial and error type frequency skipping all over the band while hoping to find someone to talk to.

While in an emergency situation  after the balloon has gone up you would likely be able to get away with communications such as this however, at this time you would require a license to operate those radios. Without the proper license you risk having your equipment confiscated and receiving a sizable fine.

Copyright @2010 Joseph Parish

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