# Commo guy looking for a community- will relocate



## expat42451 (Mar 31, 2011)

I have not posted anything here in a while. I am currently outside of the CONUS, in South America- and am considering moving back to the US. 

One of the main deciding factors will be if I can find a prepared community in a rural area that needs someone with communications skills. I have spent many years of my life outdoors and blue water sailing. I am an amateur extra class, have been active in disaster communications, have run nets before, passed ARRL traffic &c. I know both the use and technical side of computers, networks, radio, antennas &c. Primarily what I am looking for is a situation where I could contribute these skills to a small community-- not looking for any monetary renumeration. Primarily a place with a sense of responsible preparedness and a community that understands how critical preparedness skills are. I am not any type of extremist or militant and would not consider that type of environment. I live quietly, private person, 63 years old and have been backpacking in South America since 2012. I have no close surviving family. I will provide more details, CV&c off- forum if anyone is interested. I enjoy amateur radio very much and miss being involved in a community where it matters.
Regards and 73

Expat


----------



## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

I have thought a lot about having a prepared community. In the late 60s and 70s, I knew several communities that were hippy types and I lived in one for one year as a senior in college. I also know the challenges of such communities.

I think what you want will be very difficult to find, but not impossible. I believe a prepared community is usually created by people who have known each other through school, work, or some other connection. Finding a community that you can move into means that someone else has been committed to and worked on such a situation for a while. Someone has committed their finances and time to such an endeavor. Inviting or allowing an unknown stranger into such a situation is risky.

What has always concerned me about the possibility of a community of unknown people is that it would only take one rogue person to bring it down. One. One person who might be a control freak. One person who might invite their unsavory friends or family. One person who thinks it is okay to invite whoever they want in a tough time.

In any group that I have worked with and lived with, there is always someone who is there for a free ride. There is always someone who is a princess type who thinks everyone should bow to them and their wishes and "needs".

There are many communities that do allow others to join them. Certainly, few would be preparedness types, but they might be out there. This is a link to a website for communities. There are listings by state. I have looked at this site a few times.

http://www.ic.org/


----------



## expat42451 (Mar 31, 2011)

weedygarden

You bring up very good points. I concur with what you present as the possible problem of accepting a stranger into a closed community. 

What I am looking for is a place that needs or wants a technically adept person . I have sufficient financial means where I would not be a burden on said community. I have no close family. I have been traveling in South America alone, backpacking since 2012. While this may sound very romantic or adventurous, after a time it is wearing. In exchange for my technical expertise, the community need for what I know- would give me a reason to to get out of bed every morning, and a sense of belonging to and contributing to something larger than myself. I am not looking for anything more. Most people who are my age have families, and are established in a community and do not realise that at my age, when there is no family and no community, the world is a lonely place and its difficult to stay motivated every day. Those of the forum here who are in a similar situation I think will agree with what I observe. In many cultures, particularly in North America, people my age are relegated to the trash heap. 

I agree with your assessment of the danger of accepting a stranger into a closed community. I recognise that danger and would be willing to live somewhere on a strictly trial basis for a period of time. 

When I left the US in 2012 it was with the idea of finding some situation here in South America that might lend itself to what I outlined above. It has not worked out so far and granted with what is involved, is a long process. My original post here was as a means of trying to see what might be possible going forward for me as I said, a reason to get out of bed every day....not through any other motive financial or ego driven. While I am reasonably fluent in Spanish and can live in the cultures here, its not like being in the US. I also agree something like this might be somewhat difficult to find. One thing that had occurred to me is that there might be a few prepared people in say a small farming or ranching town in the midwest who have no amateur radio operator in town, somewhere where if the internet and cell service goes down they might be isolated....possibly somewhere in the tornado belt as well since in years past I was part of a group doing emergency communications in inclement weather scenarios. Possibly I am looking for a situation that does not exist, dunno but it never hurts to ask. 

Regards and thanks for your observations and input

Expat


----------



## Hooch (Jul 22, 2011)

perhaps starting on this forum, in this community is a step in the right direction?? You sound like you have interesting stories and wisdom to share..you never know what it may lead too...


----------



## Idaholady (Apr 24, 2010)

There is a group in the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho area that are working on their communications for emergencies; they could use your knowledge. Also check out: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/radio-free-redoubt

John Jacob wants everyone to be a licensed ham.

Or, check this one out: http://radiofreeredoubt.wordpress.com/page/2/

I just got my license, but have yet to use it; I can receive sometimes, but am not able to send; I live behind a mountain; away from any repeaters. Friends have offered to put up a tower for me, but we haven't gotten around to it.
No elmers around to help me...

KG7CDG


----------



## expat42451 (Mar 31, 2011)

Hooch

Thanks very much for the kind encouragement. I think we all have stories and...learning from each other fosters the sense of community that is possible and something I think very necessary in current times......

Idaholady

Welcome to the world of amateur radio. It is a skill that serves very well in many instances- times where cellular is down or overwhelmed with panicked families trying to get in contact with each other- a recent example is the last quake we had in Quito several months ago- power did not go off but the cell system was dropping calls.... there are many other instances I am sure you can think of as well.....

Depending on your class of license- if you have a Tech license I believe you can use 10 meters for SSB see the amateur frequency allocation chart here

http://www.arrl.org/graphical-frequency-allocations

if you have a General class or above then you have a greater allocation of available frequencies you can use until you upgrade your license as you see on the chart.

On the HF bands you don't necessarily need a tower and rotatable antennas. Wire antennas will surprise you with what is possible. There are any number of these that are easy for a newcomer to make. One of the most effective (with a manual antenna tuner) is a horizontal loop antenna. These work very well for most non DX applications. See here

http://www.radioworks.com/nloop.html

The Balun is a balanced to unbalanced transformer hence BALUN. There is excellent information here
http://static.dxengineering.com/pdf/Choosing the Correct Balun.pdf

some of which you may or may not find overwhelming. Don't let it intimidate you. Terrain i.e. being behind a mountain isn't that much of a concern many times on most of the HF bands. Above 10 M terrain can become a concern i.e. 6 M, 2 M and 440 MHz. Then you need to start messing about with towers and a repeater may becomes a necessity - however you can get on the air now with a Tech class license on 10 M SSB (again see the freq chart) in spite of terrain...and 10 M can be a pretty exciting band to work given good conditions. You can buy your first HF radio that you can use on the other bands (160m-10M) after you upgrade your license if in fact you have a Tech now. There are a number of good transceivers that cover both HF (160-6 M) as well as VHF- 2 M and 440 MHz. Any other questions I can answer I will be more than happy to do so.

I have operated Maritime Mobile in several ocean crossings, from Mexico when I lived there for years, then most recently from Mobile Al. When I left the US in 2012 I sold my station- I was in the city in a high noise location and used a horizontal loop antenna which does well in that type of situation...and was routinely able to talk to and hear all parts of Europe, Russia, the Far East and some of South America and New Zealand. So don't let anything stop you from getting on the air and gaining experience... and building an antenna that you end up making a long distance contact with is both easy and will instill a great amount of confidence as well. Hope this helps.

73 and Regards and thank you both, Hooch and Idaholady for the kindness and interest

Expat

Added comment- Hooch do you have a license yet?

additionally- any further questions I will be more than happy to try to answer- there are also some other good operators on here and I am not territorial as far as this thread goes so feel free to contribute.....


----------



## myrtle55 (Apr 1, 2014)

Expat, i think this is a huge undertaking! Here in the pacific northwest we have a small amateur radio group and a medium volunteer emergency management group that work with the locals (we are earthquake prone and preached at by government to 'be prepared ') myself, we have a family compound on 5 acres and comm is our weakness . in our area i think your talents could be used to boost the community comm 's, but people here think if they hunt or fish they are prepared. Small factions do more prepping here but Oath Keepers is only organized group that i know of outside the above that uses comm 's and preps. Just my 2 cents worth


----------



## expat42451 (Mar 31, 2011)

myrtle55

Thanks for the kind reply and the info on what exists in your part of the country. 

I used to hunt and fish- have not done any of that since I have been in South America-being able to do that is in my mind a huge step in the right direction in comparison to the folks in the cities think hamburger comes from McDonalds.... but there is more to being self sufficient. 

One of the important things to do is help people learn. Share survival skills, show people what you can do, hopefully get them interested and then get it (in regards to ham radio anyway) into a little more formal setting to chew on the technical information needed to get a license...and more importantly, that same information allows them to eventually do repairs and maintenance to keep their own station operating, build antennas, put together systems...and more importantly, mentor others into the hobby. That is one path that demonstrates strength in anything any of us know whether using a bow or gun to bring down game, skinning a buck or elk, butchering the meat out and preserving it, how to catch trout, how to make bread or how to cut a doublet antenna and get it up into trees where it will work effectively. All goes together. 

Far as a huge undertaking probably not as great as it appears from a distance. Its best to only eat an elephant one mouthful at a time. 

Thanks for the information and regards

Expat


----------



## expat42451 (Mar 31, 2011)

I thought I would tag this on here.... I don't want to be accused of thread creep but I thought the rant good enough to drop a link to- there is another thread on this subject here I know but thought I would drop this in in passing.

Expat

Rant is here

http://www.activistpost.com/2014/10/the-handling-of-this-ebola-crisis-is.html


----------



## gabbyj310 (Oct 22, 2012)

Our small township in Ky is in many ways as you describe. The land is reasonable,the people are pretty nice.They are what we call 'country' folks so they "prep" out of habit.It's in the tornado belt,cell phones are limited service etc. It's a good place to look at. There are several of us on this sight also. We are not a planned area we just all think a like.Might be a good place to check out and a good start for being back HOME and making it yours!!!!!!!.I'm right there with you. Travel the world(work) but I'm 65,single but(have close family and they are wonderful)..Have skills and like my lifestyle.


----------



## expat42451 (Mar 31, 2011)

gabbyj310

The township in Ky sounds really great. Thanks for the info. 

When one goes to another community lots of time is spent gathering info particularly when its outside of ones' culture......and I am going to rattle a little here with info on this part of Ecuador and share the info gathered in the last 18 hours......

You know from your travels how different people can be. Here is no exception. Macas has a core group of "colones", mostly people who trace roots back to the Spanish. There has been some intermarrying in this area but not much because the native tribes have maintained their distance, even today. You understand this but maybe others will not- when getting outside of town there is a definite dividing line. In town there is internet, cell phones, roads, electricity, ice cream, and so forth. There are places 5 miles from here due to terrain that one must fly into. Villages there have none of the aforementioned conveniences and the people there live much the way they did before the Spanish came here. Same tribe, same rules, same life. I am told that one can go east of here, over through Peru and into Venezuela and not emerge from the jungle until one hits the Atlantic Ocean. 

I heard rumours when I was in another town north of here, of expats buying property close to tribes and being run off the land. Government wouldn't do anything about it. What part was the expats' fault and what part was the tribes' fault I don't know and am not even going to go into judgement or right and wrong here but will say that the tribes are semi nomadic and have a tribal culture i.e. different concepts of what might be private property &c. So I heard the rumours. This side of the river it is arguably ok for a colon or expat to have property. East side of the river, very far from it at all and not a good idea. I thought OK this may be the tales of city dwellers who come either from Quito or elsewhere and think life in the outback is all roses. Last night I ran into a retired expat from Switzerland, journalist. She has lived here on and off for 30 years, has done some reporting on the tribes in that time, is somewhat known and well respected in the community. Ended up talking with her for several hours. Turns out in the last 2 years, 2 expats have been killed here for intermarrying with tribe women. A third for buying and settling in an area the tribe did not what him. This morning I had opportunity to go out in the bush with a friend from here in town- colon- and his cousin who is high ranking in the local police force. I asked them specifically about these instances and they verified them. Additionally they talked about outsiders living in remote areas , the troubles they have with robbery, pilfering and sometimes violence. Popular press talks about the tribes' propensity as recently as 30 years ago to cut off heads from enemies and shrink them. According to both the people from today and the journalist, its still a pretty common practice. The tribe resents the colones and if there were ever a dollar collapse (the US $ is the national currency here) then many say that the government's ability to project power and provide stability might be badly curtailed. It certainly is something worth thinking about given that this could worst case end up a very small encampment in a sea of hostility....

Again I am not judging or taking sides, only reporting what I have learned here from two different sources who do not know each other. I don't have any problem protecting what is mine but one must consider the odds. This fact alone won't decide for me what is next but it certainly has some weight in the process of considering things.....

You are very fortunate as you know to have close family- makes a big difference in later years. Also I think it great to have a sense of community where people do think in similar terms. Thats one of the biggest things about a foreign culture, the commonality of values and language and shared experiences many times is not there. 

When I lived in Birmingham Al., a number of years ago I did some storm chasing for NWS, there were a group of hams who did ground truth on rotating thunderstorms. In those days before all of the NEXRAD radars were changed to circular polarisation, guys at NWS couldn't tell whether a funnel was on the ground. I understand now though, much of thats changed. Been a few years. 

thanks for the great suggestion about where. Kentucky is a beautiful state from the parts of it I know.

Expat


----------



## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

expat42451 said:


> I have not posted anything here in a while. I am currently outside of the CONUS, in South America- and am considering moving back to the US.
> 
> One of the main deciding factors will be if I can find a prepared community in a rural area that needs someone with communications skills. I have spent many years of my life outdoors and blue water sailing. I am an amateur extra class, have been active in disaster communications, have run nets before, passed ARRL traffic &c. I know both the use and technical side of computers, networks, radio, antennas &c. Primarily what I am looking for is a situation where I could contribute these skills to a small community-- not looking for any monetary renumeration. Primarily a place with a sense of responsible preparedness and a community that understands how critical preparedness skills are. I am not any type of extremist or militant and would not consider that type of environment. I live quietly, private person, 63 years old and have been backpacking in South America since 2012. I have no close surviving family. I will provide more details, CV&c off- forum if anyone is interested. I enjoy amateur radio very much and miss being involved in a community where it matters.
> Regards and 73
> ...


Depending on where you are in South America, you might have better luck there.


----------



## expat42451 (Mar 31, 2011)

Geek999


Those were my thoughts exactly considering I spent years relaying messages for health care workers into and out of the Amazon and other areas of South America. However much of that has changed. Used to be the Red Cross here was active on amateur radio and in pretty much every town they had equipment and qualified personnel. Today none of this exists any longer from what I have observed. While granted, cell phone and internet are more convenient, in a disaster situation- for example an explosive eruption of the Sangay volcano some 25 miles from here... we could be cut off fairly easily given the population density and penetration of fibre. Much of the cell system here uses surface microwave and in a heavy ash situation I question how well those paths might hold up. 

Interestingly, the national development bank here in Macas has an HF beam antenna on the roof mounted on pipe without a rotor. There are also signs there that there at one time existed at least one wire antenna as well. Looking at the beam I am going to guess due to size that its for somewhere between 20 and 10 meters, probably in the higher range of frequencies. One of the locals I know, guy who is a scoutmaster, when he found out that I was an amateur radio operator, asked if I would mind helping get his troop on the air for the JOTA (Jamboree on the Air for the scouts) that happens 18 October. I told him I had no equipment but pointed out the antenna on thereof of the bank- we went there and there was no one who had any idea that the antenna was there or what it was for. I am going to guess given where it is aimed, that it was for someone in the local government to periodically talk to the people in Quito, the capitol. Before I came down here a couple f years ago I wrote the two amateur radio clubs listed online for Ecuador and received no answer from either so I am going to guess at least here, it may have fallen into disuse. However hearing stories about Macas from 20 years ago, this was a frontier town. It took at that time 2 days overland to get here, there was no internet nor cell phone.

Regards

Expat


----------



## Tribal Warlord Thug (Jan 27, 2009)

we could always use good comms here in our lil community......most here are 'preppers' in a word sense i guess....we just prefer to be called Hillbillies......

here in the Ozarks...ya'll just can't go about life any other way except to be a 'prepper'.....:beercheer:







































good luck on yer quest......but keep us in mind when ya decide........


----------



## expat42451 (Mar 31, 2011)

TribalWarlordThug

You ve gone and made me homesick with the photos and its been a loooong time since I ve had fresh venison!

Thanks very much for the beautiful pictures and the kindness of replying. 

Now I am seriously homesick......


Expat


----------



## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

Is the point to find a community or to be involved with comms? I am thinking you could find a community in South America. In fact, I would like your opinion on the places you have been.


----------



## gabbyj310 (Oct 22, 2012)

I had a friend many years ago that "settled" on one of the "islands" in the Carribbean.Bought a little bar and was a part of the township etc. The one night two of the "girls" that worked in his bar came to him and helped him escape with nothing except a pair of shorts and a shirt(no shoes even) as there was a Coo going on and being an "Expat" they came after him regardless of all he had done for them. He LOST everything including his so called land,home bar and money in the bank. There is NO way in hell I would ever think of living in 99.9% of the places outside of the US,.Do I get sick of the crap going on..YES but I still belong here. So think long and hard before you think all is rosy overseas... IT"S NOT!!!!!!!!!! I've been there.


----------



## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

gabbyj310 said:


> I had a friend many years ago that "settled" on one of the "islands" in the Carribbean.Bought a little bar and was a part of the township etc. The one night two of the "girls" that worked in his bar came to him and helped him escape with nothing except a pair of shorts and a shirt(no shoes even) as there was a Coo going on and being an "Expat" they came after him regardless of all he had done for them. He LOST everything including his so called land,home bar and money in the bank. There is NO way in hell I would ever think of living in 99.9% of the places outside of the US,.Do I get sick of the crap going on..YES but I still belong here. So think long and hard before you think all is rosy overseas... IT"S NOT!!!!!!!!!! I've been there.


There are places that are worse and places that are better. I've been in both. Clearly your friend chose poorly. Having experienced home invasion by cop here in the People's Republic of New Jersey, I have no intention of staying in this totally corrupt state. I intend to choose my next location very carefully.

The OP has not expressed any real dissatisfaction with his current location, so I would like to understand his thinking. He will ultimately do what is best for him, but I would like to understand his thinking.


----------



## Hooch (Jul 22, 2011)

...I think comms and tech stuff is very good to know and have. 

Unfortunetly...Im so very not tech savey. So you can probably guess my skill level is akin to smoke signals...

I do have a smart phone now..that I kinda understand how to use, and simple radio scanner I actually figured out how to program. yay!...lol...


----------



## hashbrown (Sep 2, 2013)

I'm with Thug, but the Ozarks is all I know. It's been kind to my clan since 1871. I've recently been called a prepper we just live like Grandpa taught us and his taught him.


----------



## expat42451 (Mar 31, 2011)

OK- lets see- Geek999 and gabbyj310-

Gabbyj310- I understand exactly what happened to your friend on the island and think I may know the one he may have been on. Living outside the US is a tough call depending on where. I lived in Mexico for 10 years and left in late 2009 because of internecine strife between drug cartels, and the military. The violence where I lived finally got to the point where it was no longer safe for me to live there.......

Geek999 I will attempt to address your questions about where and why and whats next. Easiest way to start may be from the present and work back.

I have noticed the tribes resentment of non tribe members on the street here. As I outlined before this is a very small bright dot at night when for hundreds or thousands of miles around there isn't any light except for campfires. From what I am learning here-- if you are an outsider you never never belong even marrying int a culture. Period. First is the divide between languages and the intrinsic value attached to words and concepts- it always ends up being more or less a barrier and cross cultural relationships let alone your relationships with someone you aren't intimate with aren't the same as in your culture. It can be overcome yes but coupled wit any sort of tense cultural or political or sociological situation then it can get dicey quick. You never "belong". In a crisis here it would be spouse and kids first, rest of the family second, neighbourhood third and gringos last. A place like this with a small colon community that does NOT understand the jungle, does NOT understand what it takes to survive outside of the "modern" area and can't travel overland by foot if it came to it- and intrinsically different in almost all ways than the natives- well this strikes me as a place in a crisis might be overrun simple as that. The colons and the natives live in some but not all areas side by side daily but the communities, like may places in the US do NOT and have not integrated and will not. There is still enough native resentment of the colons to lead to things I cited in an earlier post. Another example of this type of segregation is in Belize where the remains of the expat British community coexist uneasily with the Maya, and the creole communities and it is not a relaxed coexistence. Same with here in the Orient of Ecuador. Same with Northern Peru. Same in Bolivia and parts of Venezuela. I lived in Mexico for 10 years before and traveled Latin America part of my childhood and much of my adult life. I have been asked by many friends and acquaintances in the US about living "down here"...... my advice is to come and live for a year renting and then decide whether you really want to be here or not. It takes that long to see all the warts and rough spots and decide whether you can live with it or not.

So why do it. Many reasons and some are as personal as there are different people in the world. I am not wealthy at all and can live here better than I can in the US. I have good health care in Latin America- example- a tooth extraction there costs $500, here its $20. Same standard of health care. Medicine for an ear infection by the time you pay the doc in a box there is possible $300. Here go to the corner drugstore and ask for one of the general broad spectrum antibiotics and its maybe $12 for a 10 day supply. Thats for those of us who have been self employed much of our lives, don not have the luxury of government or employer provided health care. Those that do well its a different story. Health insurance by international insurers private clinic level here is maybe $1500 a year. For me there its $800 a month. A luxurious 3 Br 2 1/2 bath home on 2 1/2 acres here including the home and construction, a well constructed concrete home for everything is maybe $90K. Property taxes for this are maybe $125 a year in countries that have property tax. Many do not. What costs it there? Moreover here people and the government for the most part leave you alone if you so choose.Respect the culture and the laws an no one bothers you. No nanny state trying to meddle in every aspect of your life like some places we know. Home invasion by law enforcement? Does not happen here. hmm this may be a long post, already is.......

People for the most part here are much happier than in the US. Many people in the US live to work - people here work to live and there is a big difference. Family is important as well more so than in most areas of the US.

So what are the negatives..... there are many. The cultural/linguistics barrier that always exists. You are never one with the people or the culture and don't have the same sense of belonging you do in your home culture. In most of Latin America all Norte Americanos are seen as moving money targets. There is one price for the ****** and one price for the locals - and it took over a year for me to be accepted by locals in Mexico where this finally almost disappeared. No decent postal service or accepted inter bank checks which means you have to go to your bank and get cash to pay the phone and the water and the lights and the internet &c which means time in long lines......and the person 10 people in front of you will let his cousin and his neighbour and the neighbours brother in line ahead of you and everyone else behind you and no one thinks anything of it. Lack of punctuality. Insane driving. Lack of technical expertise in many areas- try explaining to the ISP that one of your clients is paying for a fixed public IP address and your modem must be in "bridged" mode with NO DHCP...see how you feel after 6 hours on the telephone with them and yes I speak the language well enough to explain this. So there are a lot of things we take for granted in the US that do not exist elsewhere. Everything is a tradeoff. I ve traveled enough to understand that there is no panacea.

As far as where else,if Mexico had not gone to hell the way it has I would be there today. I love the country, the people and the culture. Chile is more European than many South American cultures,a great place without many of the problems of Ecuador. Peru isn't bad but is in a property boom, has drug trafficking and the remains of the Sendero Luminoso- the revolutionary group rampant there, that controlled by some estimates 70% of their land area pre Fujimori- is resurgent. Argentina has many problems mainly financial that aren't resolved yet. Brazil is in a large bubble where many of their citizens are living in the US because of lower cost of living. Colombia has (as does Venezuela) a lot of problems with robbery and kidnapping plus Colombia has an ongoing civil war with FARC thats been running for almost 60 years given when the paramilitaries started. Bolivia has very restrictive immigration and tourist policies. Guyana, French Guyana and Suriname I know very little about. So that is close to the extent of my expertise. Geek999 to answer your question from earlier, it is both the desire to find a sense of community and my missing amateur radio. Equipment costs here between 30 and 50% more than it does there because of the imports, and the cultural divide does not engender the same sense of community that one finds in their own country although I was really close in Mexico. And as gabbyj310 outlined, you can loose everything with a small change of seemingly insignificant factors and in a heartbeat- neighbours of mine in Mexico, a Mexican wife, US husband of latin stock with 3 children born in Mexico - and he was an engineer for PEMEX- we're PNG'ed out of the country in 48 hours because of a personality conflict with a local politician. People from the Netherlands here in Ecuador bought land next to a native community, the natives united and drove them off the land and the Ecuadorian government would do nothing to protect their rights as property owners (something to bear in mind if you ever have to resort to civil judicial actions you are the outsider and always at a huge disadvantage) --so in living as an expat except in European countries I think it wise to only invest as much as you are willing to walk away from. gabbyj310's story isn't that unusual. It is much simpler if you have say $500K to "throw at" living somewhere down here AND can and are willing to simply walk away if things start to go south. the idea of a coup is foreign to US citizens culturally Here in most places it is NOT. Civil disorder is something that is also alien to us for the most part. Here it happens because politics is on a much more grassroots level and people will close a city centre down for months to make a point.

Lets see. Hooch. If you can send smoke signals you can get a tech class license. 
one study guide is here
http://www.kb6nu.com/tech-manual/
the ARRL is here
http://www.arrl.org/question-pools
tech is a great way to start from zero because you can get on the air with minimal equipment, expense and knowledge. From there, members of the community will help. You will learn more and can get a higher class of license if you choose to go in that direction. All of this said- even with the technician license- in the event of natural disaster, when your landline telephone, the internet and your cell phone won't work you can still reach others and get help for you, friends and family. Even if you don't know which end of the toaster goes in the wall now- and I can promise you one thing, the equipment you will learn to use- is a hell of a lot simpler-makes more sense, easier to understand and more reliable than is Android- or for that matter Apples' latest IOS.

Well sore fingers and the other end as well at this point. Enjoy the weekend all, whats left of it. Many thanks to all here for your kindness and interest and caring....I hope in some small way I have returned this with the little I know and try to share

Expat


----------



## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

expat42451 said:


> the Ecuadorian government would do nothing to protect their rights as property owners (something to bear in mind if you ever have to resort to civil judicial actions you are the outsider and always at a huge disadvantage) --so in living as an expat except in European countries I think it wise to only invest as much as you are willing to walk away from. gabbyj310's story isn't that unusual. It is much simpler if you have say $500K to "throw at" living somewhere down here AND can and are willing to simply walk away if things start to go south. the idea of a coup is foreign to US citizens culturally Here in most places it is NOT. Civil disorder is something that is also alien to us for the most part. Here it happens because politics is on a much more grassroots level and people will close a city centre down for months to make a point.
> 
> Expat


Sounds very much like being in NJ right now. How difficult is it to obtain arms there?


----------



## expat42451 (Mar 31, 2011)

Geek999 said:


> Sounds very much like being in NJ right now. How difficult is it to obtain arms there?


Good question. I am told by law enforcement here that after you have a permanent residency, that with the national ID document called a cedula- that you can get permission to have firearms in the home and property and purchase them. Whats available for legal purchase or restrictions on caliber and type I do not know. How easy it may be to obtain them without the paperwork I don't know. The current government in some cities has a weapons turn in program where they are apparently trying to reduce the numbers in the hands of the populace. I lived in Mexico for 10 years unarmed and don't much care for it.

Hashbrown

Thanks for the great photos. As with the others it makes me homesick. I was writing the last post of the evening and missed your photos or I would have thanked you for them yesterday- I spent many years ago when I was young, similar times in the woods of central and northern Alabama and elsewhere- brings back lots of great memories.

Expat


----------



## expat42451 (Mar 31, 2011)

Update

Sorry to have dropped out of sight for a day or two. Was out looking at property, talking to folks and trying to learn more about the area and I did....turns out that the relationship between the tribe and the people in town isn't good at all- and turns out that they seem to like foreigners even less. In the past 2 years, two expats have married tribe women and both have been found dead under mysterious circumstances. A third, 3 years ago bought property near one of the tribal groups and likewise was found dead under mysterious circumstances. I got this information from one source and verified it with someone in law enforcement here a captain of the local police force. the two sources don't know each other. 

In addition have been trying to help a Scoutmaster and local troop of Boy Scouts of Ecuador with an upcoming event called JOTA. Those of you who are familiar either with the scouts or with amateur radio know that JOTA is Jamboree On The Air. Happens 18th and 19th of this month. The scoutmaster and I have been trying to scrounge up equipment to get his troop on the air for this event, give them some good exposure to amateur radio and earn the participants merit badges. Have not had any luck so far scrounging a transceiver or anything else- we can build what antennas we need in the field but a transceiver is another story.....I strongly urge any of you that have the opportunity to help in this event to please do so- it helps keep the hobby of amateur radio strong, helps scouting and the community and might make a big difference for a young person in deciding what path to walk in life- also the more amateur radio operators we have the more likely we keep the FCC from selling parts of our spectrum off to either cellular, internet or broadcast interests....plus the young people we influence with both of these activities help build smarter, more aware prepared communities for tomorrow and tomorrow isn't that far off for anyone. 

All for tonight. I will be back tomorrow. 

73 and thanks for all of your being here even if just to hear an old guy rattle

Exapt


----------



## gilacr (Dec 30, 2013)

Expat42451, No matter how beautiful another country might be the problem will alway remain that it's simply not home. There are several groups located throughout Arizona. There are also several clubs that center around comms and, I have found that a majority of them given time to get used to you will be made up of a lot of preppers. I would dare to say that many of the small outlying communities roughly 50% of the population are prepper orriented. That's why many of us live away from the cities.

Just my suggestion but if I were you I would find that community that you like and move there. Give it some time and they will approch you. I have noticed a transformation in this country in the last couple of years. That transformation is that prepping has become a norm rather then the oddity that it once was seen as. Hope this helps.


----------



## expat42451 (Mar 31, 2011)

gilacr said:


> Expat42451, No matter how beautiful another country might be the problem will alway remain that it's simply not home
> 
> Could not agree more. It is not the same as being home.
> 
> ...


Thanks very much for the information and suggestions. Every other perspective helps in deciding.

Regards and 73

Exapt


----------



## expat42451 (Mar 31, 2011)

Everyone here has been really great in providing me info on where might be next. Yesterday afternoon (Thursday Oct. 9th) around 5 PM it cleared enough here where Sangay volcano was visible. Been trying to get a shot of this for a couple of weeks so grabbed the camera and fired away from the hotel roof. Thought all of you might like to see what it looks like where I am right now in Macas Ecuador. First is with a longer lens, second is looking across the north end of the airport at the volcano.

Information on the volcano is here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangay and I hope the photos turn out well here on the forum.

Again just a small way of saying thanks to all of you for kindness and caring

Expat


----------



## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

Expat, can we get an update?


----------



## expat42451 (Mar 31, 2011)

Hi Weedygarden and hello to all of you who were so kind when I started the thread--

So its been 40 days more or less since I posted my last. Where I am now in in Huanchaco Peru. Coming to Peru ended up being a fairly straightforward decision after being in Macas (where the Sangay photo came from). I came down here because it was close and because the visa to Ecuador expired. Lots of people ignore such things as time you are allowed to stay in a country. I won't. Respect for the culture and for my own freedom. Anyway-

This is the beginning of the third week in Peru. First week I spent in a town off the coast, Piura. Piura is primarily an agricultural town about 8 hours from here by bus and about the same distance from Macas. Crossing the border was problem less other than we arrived at 4 AM and had to wake the immigration and aduana officials but there were guards posted none the less. The border is sort of a strange area between Peru and Ecuador. The fought some sort of a war over the territory as late as the early-mid 90's and I have not yet researched why. In any case.....

Huanchaco is a seacoast town, a suburb of the city of Trujillo - the 4th largest in Peru, and a touristy spot. For those of you who surf, there are nice waves here but- having been a warm waters surfer I have not been in yet even with a wetsuit. 

Future- a good question and one I am spending a lot of time on doing various things among them, research. To come back there is a big decision as is the one to stay here somewhere. I do not know the answer to this yet.There are a large number of factors that go into my decision not the least of which is the cost of living there (depending on where ) as opposed to here. That more than anything with my age is a large consideration along with health care, Obamacare, and well it goes on and on. I absolutely want to come back there. Thats a given . Whether I can afford it or not realistically is another question entirely. 

If anybody felt that I have abandoned the thread here I am very sorry and it was never my intention if thats the impression I have given. Too many of you have opened your hearts and lives to me given whats possible in this type of setting, and for that I am deeply appreciative. I honestly can not say what may be next for me because I do not know. The world, however seems to be getting to be more and more a worrisome place every day. 

The photos are from the beach late afternoon. The night shot is of the pier and of some of the reed boats- those of you who have seen photos of Bolivia's Lake Titicaca will recognise the type of boat. The fishermen here though, fish these boats daily in the cold Pacific ocean. Hearty souls. Without wetsuits....and they run them in on the beach in big waves, loaded with a net and their catch. The coast is arid so water is a problem here as well. 

Hope you all enjoy the shots. I wish I knew what is next. 

Expat.


----------

