Anyone planning for trouble?

[CylonGlitch]

Finished the book Prairie Fire while on my business trip.   While I think that he is a bit pessimistic; he is right in that if things go bad, it may happen fast and we may not be prepared for it.   While I would like to say that TN should be less likely to get hit by much violence, you never know what could happen in Nashville and Memphis.   Even then, I would think most of the violence would stay within the city and little would move out to the countryside.  I hope!   

[221 Fireball]

I believe the biggest thing we should be concerned about is Chinese hackers getting into our infrastructure and shutting down the power and water to major cities. Our government is a bit dumb in that all major municipalitie's infrastructure is ran by computers. In the old days, maybe 30+ years ago, switch and pumping stations were much more mechanical and separate from one another (had a buddy who worked for a water plant and told me a lot).

Maybe its time to get a mechanical backup in place for such an event.

[LangdoniousRex]

14 minutes ago, 221 Fireball said:

I believe the biggest thing we should be concerned about is Chinese hackers getting into our infrastructure and shutting down the power and water to major cities. Our government is a bit dumb in that all major municipalitie's infrastructure is ran by computers. In the old days, maybe 30+ years ago, switch and pumping stations were much more mechanical and separate from one another (had a buddy who worked for a water plant and told me a lot).

Maybe its time to get a mechanical backup in place for such an event.

Not just the Chinese but all black hat hackers, foreign and domestic. OPSEC in the US civilian world is laughable at best. I'm amazed there aren't more cyberattacks that have blatantly obvious real world affects like utilities and the like. There is a running joke in IT that there is never enough budget for adequate cybersecurity to prevent an incident but there is always plenty of money for remediation after an incident. 

The problem with critical infrastructure is that too much of it is computerized and so many proprietary systems were made and designed 10-30+ years ago by companies that no longer exist and, in many cases, there aren't any modern replacement options available without upgrading everything at a site to the tune of many millions of dollars so they continue to keep these ancient systems cobbled together and running because "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". 

You'd be amazed how many Windows 2000 workstations are running large, critical pieces of industrial equipment that are one wrong look away from ####ting the bed. Or, god forbid, the new IT guy decides that workstation needs to get on the network because reasons. It's game over in minutes.

The people that in charge of all of this won't change until something catastrophic happens and by then it's all too late. You're better off making your homestead as self-sufficient as possible because we all know what happens when the, "I'm from the Government and I'm here to help" comes around.

[CylonGlitch]

I can't say much about the water grid, but the electrical systems have security in place to prevent a lot of issues with hackers.  Specifically one of the big things is that it is air gapped these days from the network.  Yes the front end is connected to the network but the actual controls and operations are not.  Loading a new configuration that could cause issues would be extremely unlikely anymore.   I know this because I worked on the design of those systems, the equipment that runs the controls the way the electrical generation works (control programs).   While it would be much easier for a physical breech to cause problems.   Just getting a tech to work at the facility who wants to cause trouble; can create a huge problem, easily with a little know how.   

This goes back to our original issue where if #### hit the fan in the US; it is not unlikely that someone would want to cause problems to our electrical grid who already works there, and has been working there for a long time.   So yes, they can sabotage our electrical grid.   That's why it is highly recommended to have a good generator at home.  But you need to store fuel; and that along can be problematic because fuel doesn't last long.

[Grayfox54]

Current gasoline is only good for maybe 4-6 months due to the government mandated Ethanol added to it. Its the Ethanol that breaks down quickly and ruins the gas. 

However, adding a good fuel stabilizer to stored gas can greatly improve its life. Treated gas will still be good after 2 years. I had one can that I sorta forgot about and it was still good after 3 years. 

[Jeb48]

100LE AvGas is expensive but has a shelf life of 10+ years without additives.  I try to keep 6-10 Gallons on hand and another 5 or so gallons of alcohol free gas that I add additives to.  In our area many places carry alcohol free gas at a lower  price than AvGas.  Most smaller airports will sell you AvGas. Even though AvGas its 100 octane it burns fine in small engines and older engines, I run it in my Honda generator and chainsaw (with oil added), I use to ruin it in my 1949 8N tractor till I moved where corn free gas was easier to get.  Since it has lead added don't use it in anything that has a catalytic converter.  

[CylonGlitch]

On 2/14/2024 at 7:24 PM, Jeb48 said:

Most smaller airports will sell you AvGas. Even though AvGas its 100 octane it burns fine in small engines and older engines, 

I have never heard of AvGas.  But I do know where to get ethanol free gas; and I need to reload my gas cans (2 x 5 gallons and another smaller can).  I should go that way and hit up Autozone for some additives.  Any recommendation on what additives are good?

 

fyi found this on Amazon, it’s cheap so I ordered it. 
Fuel Additive

Edited February 17 by CylonGlitch

[monkeylizard]

AvGas is short for Aviation Gasoline. You can get it at airports. Not every airport will sell it to people with gas cans, not an airplane.

One of the best fuel stabilizers out there is PRI-G. I get ethanol-free gasoline and treat it with PRI-G. Stored in steel NATO Jerry cans, I've used it up to 3 years later and it runs fine in my vehicles and my small engines.

[CylonGlitch]

Thanks for the suggestion on the PRI-G, I will be looking for that!  

 

[Alleycat72]

Synthetic gas is good for a long time. 

[gregintenn]

57 minutes ago, Alleycat72 said:

Synthetic gas is good for a long time. 

Synthetic gas? Tell us more.

[Alleycat72]

8 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

Synthetic gas? Tell us more.

It's literally synthetic gas. It will last for years in a sealed container. I can't remember the exact time, but it's like 7-8 years sealed....2 ish sitting in your tank. We looked at getting 100 gal at a time for small generators, but we ran through gas so fast it didn't justify the cost. It's not inexpensive. 

[Grayfox54]

I use Sta-Bil fuel stabilizer. Readily available at most auto parts stores. 

Helpful tip: label your fuel cans with the date they were filled. Use to oldest first. 

Edited February 17 by Grayfox54

[Jeb48]

Most smaller airports will sell you small quantities of AvGas with a walk up container.  I have bought at 5 different airports and have only been refused once.  The one that refused me was the largest, but still pretty small, they said it was a restriction put on by their supplier.  The airport I use now, the fellow even helps me carry the gas back to my truck.  I usually get 15-17 gallons each trip, usually ever couple years unless there is a long power outage. I keep it in a shed with my corn free gas, I don't like keeping gas in the garage.  I re-read my message above and called it 100LE was suppose to be 100LL it is 100 octane low lead.  Before someone brings it up you can use higher octane than you need just not lower, runs fine.  For us older folks it smells like gas did in the 60s and early 70s before they started messing with it.

[TennesseeCamper]

The race fuels have been mentioned. 
The Sunoco Optima is another good choice. 
And a lot of the local farm coops sell ethanol free gas. https://www.sunocoracefuels.com/fuels/fuel/optima

[Darrell]

Even gas with ethanol stores just fine so long as the container is full and the cap is left on tightly. The problem with ethanol is that it absorbs water, but if there's no water to absorb it will last for years. I use stabilizer in things like my generators that I can't seal against the outside air, but I also make sure to turn the the petcock off and run the fuel out of the carb.

[gregintenn]

57 minutes ago, Darrell said:

Even gas with ethanol stores just fine so long as the container is full and the cap is left on tightly. The problem with ethanol is that it absorbs water, but if there's no water to absorb it will last for years. I use stabilizer in things like my generators that I can't seal against the outside air, but I also make sure to turn the the petcock off and run the fuel out of the carb.

Ethanol turns into shellac. 

[Eddie Southgate]

Plan to approach the wife for a little loving tonight, most likely there will be trouble but I'm prepared. She's not all that tough.

[LangdoniousRex]

8 minutes ago, Eddie Southgate said:

Plan to approach the wife for a little loving tonight, most likely there will be trouble but I'm prepared. She's not all that tough.

 

[Darrell]

I've been in Tennessee for over five years now, and today I finally put up an antenna, an end-fed Zep supported by one corner of my barn and a nearby tree. It took a couple hours to get it all installed, but this afternoon I made contacts with people in Kentucky, New York, England, and Italy!  This with a 20-ish year old radio and a long piece of wire for an antenna. 

I appreciate that you folks motivated me to get back on the air. I'm now officially jazzed about it!

Edited February 21 by Darrell

[CylonGlitch]

23 hours ago, Darrell said:

I've been in Tennessee for over five years now, and today I finally put up an antenna, an end-fed Zep

That explains the cellular outage today!   It was your fault!  

 

I need to schedule to take my test, I'm confident but just need to get it done.  

[ck1 actual]

On 1/20/2024 at 12:28 PM, CylonGlitch said:

Baofeng uv-5 Radio

This is the radio that I picked up but really don’t know how to use. So I’m looking at one of these books.  There are quite a few on Amazon but no idea which to pickup  

 The Guerrilla's Guide To The Baofeng Radio

The Baofeng Radio Bible: [12 in 1] Master Baofeng Radio with the Guerrilla’s Handbook - Ensure Connectivity When Communication Collapses in Emergencies, Natural Disasters, Wars, and Beyond

The Guerrillas Guide is the one to get.  You can follow the author on twitter.  He has a great feed and a great podcast called contra radio.  
 

https://x.com/brushbeater?s=21