Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Picked up a pair of Motorola Talkabout Distance DPS 2-way radios the other day. I already had a couple small Motorola T5000 Talkabout FRS radios but their range was a bit lacking. The Distance radios, in addition to better range (2 watt) are tweakable to 5 watt. They run on a rechargable battery pack or you can swap out the battery pack for six AA batts. (The DPS stands for dual power source). I'd been wanting something with better range for a little while now. What I wanted them for was so that if Anything Bad happens and I had to go to the girlfriends workplace to retrieve her I could grab one radio and leave the other on the kitchen counter with a note saying I was going to get her. This way, if she makes it back home before me she can see that Ive left, pick up the radio and let me know she's back at base and I can return. Thus, the criteria was that there had to be enough range to the radio to reach my place of work and her place of work. These radios do that. At some point someone is going to say “Hey Commander, why not just get a ham license and be done with it.” Well…good question. The simple answer is I dont feel the need to add my name and address to another fedgov list. Of course, if something Really Big happens the FCC is going to have alot more things to do rather than chase down someone with a 2-meter handheld who doesnt have a license. (And, of course, there is an exemption cases of 'emergency'.) Nonetheless, I do need to get involved in ham radio from the standpoint of knowing what sort of equipment, antannae and other goodies I'll need to keep in touch with the various LMI. I currently have an 'export'-type CB radio thats been modified(!) to operate on a few other bands and when I threw up a dipole ant. I was able to listen to stuff from as far as Michigan. While it would be nice to be able to communicate that far out, my immediate need would be the western half of Montana although it would be nice to have most of the Pac. NW within range. Every now and then I cruise eBay for milsurp PRC radios in various flavors. Military ruggedness has alot of appeal.
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Woke up this morning to a very unfamiliar electronic beeping noise. Hmmm. Got out of bed and glanced into the kitchen figuring that maybe it was the cel phone. Nope, but the emergency lighting in the kitchen was on. Power failure. Hmmm…but then why do I hear the whining of computer fans? Turns out the beeping was the UPS for the computers letting me know something was up. Shut down the computers just in time for the power to come back on. Figures. Moral of the story: UPS are neat. The rest of the house was, of course, just fine…power failure during daylight hours is barely an inconvenience. Nighttime is another story, though…regardless, its always nice to know that if the power goes out things are still gonna be just fine since we've prepared for this eventuality.
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Girlfriend is off at gun camp. She's taking combat pistol, shotgun, rifle and 'tactical' [sniper] rifle courses this summer. Need to get her a rifle suitable for that last class. I'd let her use my CZ 308 but I think it might be too much gun for her. CZ makes a version in .223 that might be perfect for her though. Wouldnt mind having one for myself anyway.
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Reminds me…I sent her off with a case (1,000) of Fiocchi 9mm from our stores. Need to replace that next weekend.
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Global situations appear unchanged…the Chinese and North Koreans continue their activities. Terrorism threats remain fairly unchanged. The economy seems about the same. The only big change lately has been the unprecedented increase in gasoline prices. I fully expect that to be reflected in increased prices on goods that are trucked in (i.e. groceries).
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While Ive seen scads and scads of new manufacturer Glock mags on the market Ive not seen very many 'norm cap' mags made available for other guns such as my AR's and P35. I really want some more of the Browning mags with the little 'mousetrap' spring in the bottom for easier ejection. Just need to hunt around, I guess. I've got about two dozen P35 mags but that needs to be split between two pistols. I'd like to have about 20 per gun. Ar mag situation isnt bad, but I'd very much like another forty or so. AK mags have never been a problem finding, even during the ban, at a reasonable price.