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SAFE Ark Two Newsletter
November 25th, 2012
Overwhelming
It is true that there has been a significant increase in 'prepper'
interest. While I don't see that as our subject, nevertheless that is
the category the public tosses us into.
My subject is the reconstruction of society but one must begin any
journey from where they are and the public sees us as being into
'prepping'.
When I say that there has been a significant increase, by that I mean
that I get more inquiries in a day - than I got in a year - twenty years
ago. (You have to remember that I have been at this for over 50 years).
Still, with that amount of increase, less than one percent of the
population is prepping. People are not only not prepping for the one
stringed calamity of nuclear holocaust that I go on about but they are
not prepping for anything.
When I say the response is overwhelming you may therefore think I am
being sarcastic, but the fact is - as few people as there are as
compared to the whole, it is getting/gotten to be more than I can
handle.
A couple of years ago I set up my three criteria for free shelter consultation.
1. Ownership of land
2. An actual budget available to spend
3. A specific deadline for completion
That has greatly reduced one burden so that I am now consulting on only
several shelters each week rather than the dozens of emails I would have
to otherwise answer on that subject.
I still answer every email that I get, although I have now developed a
rather stock reply to many of them - "ENROLL NOW" at www.webpal.org with
maybe one or two more short sentences directed specifically to the
writer. That still takes three or four minutes per email - by the time
that I read them, some of which are quite lengthy, hit the response,
send it and file it by location when that is possible. Yet, 4 minutes
times 20 emails is 80 minutes, over an hour out of each day - just doing
that.
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Media takes a bit longer. Already scheduled for this coming week are
Postmedia Network, the largest publisher by circulation of paid
English-language daily newspapers in Canada, TV Guide, and Huffington
Post. This week past there were two radio shows, one of which came and
taped here but in broadcast was a parody like the Penn and Teller
episode. Lots of National Geographic repeat broadcasts taking place.
It seems to me that all this is mostly smoke and very little fire as far
as real prepper interest.
Other matters being sorely neglected. Duncan came and spent a day trying
to get the generator going and has scheduled another person to come
during the week or next Saturday depending how their current project
wraps up. Three newspapers and two TV stations wanted to come and do on
site interviews this coming week but I can't do that without lights.
Paris Match also insisting that they are coming but while I have told
them the same thing, they haven't responded that they aren't coming.
Che and crew came yesterday and moved a wheelchair ramp and the remains
of the limbs that landed on the car. They plan to come again in two
weeks to prepare for the big work weekend when we will be inviting over
40 people.
Between Wilf coming down from Elliot Lake and fixing the gate and
working on the remains of last year's woodpile - and Fred coming last
Sunday and moving it practically by himself - it is now in the garage so
we can now take delivery of this year's. Jean complaining about smoke
from the old damp wood so after attending a wake tonight I will take her
over to stay with our daughter for a couple of nights to give her lungs
a chance to clear out. She is coughing up a lot of congestion.
Great activity taking place on our radio development. Adam has given me the following layout to show in the newsletter.
Most of the components are shown in place but there are as yet few runs
that have been laid out between them. The big circles are the ferrite
torroids, which are central to the design, and perhaps the most
difficult component for us to obtain. Showing this is premature but I
wanted to show that progress is being made. We haven't ordered the
components for four prototypes as yet but Leslie says he is sending a
thousand dollar contribution so that we can do so. The actual size of
the radio will be about eight inches by six inches and 3 inches high.
There will be few controls necessary.
On the front (at the left of the photo) beginning at the bottom of picture and working up will be:
a. the big transmit light
b. the transmit switch
c. the receive light
d. the power on light
e. the audio out plug
(which you run to your computer sound card -
audio in plug like where you would usually plug in
a microphone to your computer)
e. the audio in plug
(which you run to your computer sound card -
audio out plug like where you would usually plug in
a speaker)
f. LED meter that shows your transmission strength
On the backside there is:
g. a place to plug on the antenna-
h. a place to connect the power supply.
That is the whole thing for the radio.
Four places to plug in cables -
and one switch to toggle.
On the computer you will need to plug in
the two wires from the radio -
and then load the UI (User Interface) program.
Darlene is modifying the UI to Carlton's specifications.
Originally there were over 1300 variables
that the user could choose in the program.
So far these have been reduced down to around fifty -
and we hope to get them down to around twenty.
Even those mostly have defaults.
The two that you will have to select are:
1. The frequency
2. Whether you are in Transmit or Receive mode.
Some of the other options will be
degree of noise attenuation
an area in which to type messages
an area in which to receive messages
Other than that it is pretty much automatic.
When the software is complete
we will make it freely available to everyone
who registers for it.
Existing Hams will be able to use it with their existing rigs.
You may wonder what in the world the other 1300 variables did.
Well- the original software worked on:
a. many bands (we use only the 80 meter band)
b. with a great variety of systems (we use only PSK31)
c. and performed all sorts of contest and other functions
such as auto-logging and acknowledging contacts
during contests.
These and many other things in the software, as well as sometimes many
dozens of knobs and buttons with hundreds of settings on the radio, made
the systems very confusing and allowed for innumerable types of
mistakes. We are trying to make it as simple as possible.
In future emails I hope to describe how our system operates and how it
is entirely different from Ham Emergency Systems, although any Ham will
be able to access it with their existing equipment.
I also hope to establish procedures for enrolling in the SAFE Ham Net
and I think that Carlton is going to take control of that. But, enough
of this for this time. You can see how this is one more item that keeps
me very busy.
One project that is keeping me extremely busy at the moment is the
coordinating of the writing of the ten novels and many people may wonder
why we would take on such a task. The reason is that we hope through
this medium to be able to explain to people what SAFE/Ark
Two/LERNs/TRIADs are really about and to get them to enroll and
participate.
Unless we have thousands (perhaps tens of thousands) more participate
the SAFE Radio Net and the LERNs will never have a chance of
functioning. Fortunately there are many people helping with all this. In
addition to those that I have mentioned above you see every week a
marvelous new YouTube by Victoria and Pierre maintains the Facebook. But
what we really need is a National Coordinator. This is really a full
time job. Well, actually about 4 hours per day every day.
This should be a highly paid fulltime position - but unfortunately we
don't charge any fees so we have no budget. Others do charge. There is
one program similar to ours that charges $1000 for what we give away for
free and what they have is not as beneficial. Several of our members
have joined them and that has been their report back to me.
But - no matter. I have no objection to what others do. Numerous people
have split off from what we are doing because they have a different
vision - and that is fine with me. I will be as supportive of their
efforts as I can be. Last week I told you about the lengthy two and a
half hour video presentation by Joel Skousen on the
Ultimate Preppers Guide - Strategic Relocation
There came to me this week
another excellent free prepper source
It is a little tricky to download this free book - but go to the above
link and then click on file and then click on download. I find the book
to be quite insightful although I disagree with the author's view about
the money solution and we might have philosophical issues in some other
areas. Nevertheless, both this book and Skousen are well presented
alternative views to what I present. Most of the stuff out there is just
buy this or that and be concerned about just saving yourself. I don't
think that is going to work. This book will provide you with a lot of
prepper suggestions, something that many people complain that I do not
do, and that is probably true - because I don't consider myself a
prepper. The writer probably doesn't consider me one either because
while he has a list in the book of many prepper web sites he doesn't
include SAFE.
Here is Victoria's contribution for this week.
#15 Detecting Radiation
Because I know so many people are going to write to me asking where to
get the equipment please let me give you my recommendation right here.
This is Shane Connor's www.radmeters4u.com I got Shane into the radiation detector business. Before he was selling (and still does sell) radiation pills at www.ki4u.com
I have known Shane for many years and he has done me many favors but I
don't make one thin dime out of anything he sells. Neither from the
radiation detectors or the radiation pills. So I am just doing this as a
favor to you and Shane.
Last week I asked that anyone to whom I still owe books to please write
to me - and I wrote to everyone that I could identify on my computer.
There is one person that I still have to get the books off to although I
have tried several times before. Will try to do it again next week. But
many wrote to many and said that they would make do with the books they
have and I could sell, give-a-way, or donate to libraries the rest that
I owe to them. It had been the plan all along, once the book sales
really got going, to use the money to pay for the radios after the
initial engineering fiasco.
For those who don't know the story, an engineer told us that he would
build ten prototypes for $300 each. He wasn't able to do that, but the
Trust company gave him the money anyway. The radio development is going
to actually cost a lot more than that. One estimate/quote we
subsequently received was for $500,000. What I next felt was the most
reasonable actual estimate was $60,000. I know now that was low, and
probably for what we are actually ending up doing - over $100,000 would
be very reasonable. But, we are getting there by a number of miracles.
Continued support as just mentioned above, not to mention that we have a
tremendous new book distributor in Butch, and that people have donated
tens of thousands of dollars in engineering and effort. How the project
is progressing and time estimates for completion, I will deal with next
or another time, after I receive some more input.
I did not make the books an E-book although the savings in production
cost would have been a lot more effective. I wanted people to have the
book available as a hard copy when they needed it later. Not working
out, and then we lost our inventory - but now it is back and I can meet
my commitments on that. More than meet the commitments. Because of the
supporters contributions we will now have more to go towards the radio
project. Nevertheless, in keeping with the wishes of some - I will send
out some books free to those who request it and that can't afford to buy
one. I will also send one to your local public library if you will get
them to send an email with the request and saying that they will make it
available to the public. Unfortunately, that program has not gone well
either as we have discovered that many libraries won't accept a free
book.
In the future we may change the book program and we are going to
certainly have to reevaluate our approach, especially about the new
series. I don't think giving them away will work because we don't have
the distribution channels and someone like Amazon won't let you give
them away - but I am told Amazon does have 99 cent books and that may be
the way to go.
This newsletter is way too long already but I am going to end it with
the essential appeal for a US National Coordinator. You may well ask why
anyone would want to do that? The answer is service to humanity. People
continually ask me why I do what I do. Those who have purpose in their
lives to serve God and their fellow human beings don't ask the question.
So if you are one to ask the question, then you aren't going to like
the answer. But if you like the answer - then please answer this urgent
request. The need and situation is accelerating.
Peace and love,
Bruce
DawnSayer@webpal.org
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This is a link to the book
everyone needs now -
and which we hope they will buy
and support our cause.
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This is a link to the book
everyone will need the day
AFTER the Great Catastrophe -
but which they need to buy
and read NOW!.
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