03 Methods & tech for living off grid - part 3 - video Dailymotion

Living Off the Grid in the City

0:00 Greetings and forcible electric connections 3:26 Backup generators for off grid 17:19 Batteries and battery banks for off grid 24:27 Telecommunications off grid 52:05 Announcements Here I discuss your right to remain disconnected the electrical grid, telecommunications options when off the grid. You have to full right to not pay anyone for their product or services. Similarly, you do not have to have an electrical connection if you so choose. It's a simple concept that seems to have been lost in the shuffle. And, governments and power companies alike try hard to make it seem like an obligation; for you to pay your private for profit electric corporation. Don't be fooled. Also, here I discuss several free telecommunication options including free and open Wi-Fi computer networks, free phone service, and free private phone and computer networks. I also discuss the exciting world of radio frequency telecommunications. Hector Vladimir 2026© 03 Methods and tech for living off grid - part 3 #offgrid#offgridlife Here I discuss your right toremain disconnected the electrical grid, telecommunications optionswhen off the grid. You have to full right to not pay anyone for their product or services. Similarly, you do not have to have an electrical connection if you so choose. It's a simple concept that seems to have been lost in the shuffle. And, governments and power companies alike try hard to make it seem like an obligation; for you to pay your private for-profit electric corporation. Don't be fooled. Also, here I discuss several free telecommunication options including free and open wifi computer networks, free phone service, and free privatephone and computer networks. I also discuss the exciting world of radio frequency telecommunications. Hector Vladimir 2026© Living Off the Gridin the City Podcast https://www.youtube.com/@hbcsolarpvtech https://www.youtube.com/@hbcsolarpvtechbyron https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552559207892 Living Off the Gridin the City PDF book https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fY4aaKpWzUX4W5rTyeI1U7oeBOcSviEp/view?usp=sharing https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyWqApEqGtc6nd-_C6bkiKnMxLBg7DfgK https://rumble.com/c/c-5079280 https://www.bitchute.com/channel/1yG6vacOmMN7 Patreon page:https://www.patreon.com/hectorvladimir Substack page:https://hectorvladimir.substack.com/ For informationpurposes only. Always follow appropriate and applicable regulatorycode for all installations, modifications, and fabrications. For USelectrical installations follow the codes of the authority havingjurisdiction. For international electrical installations follow thecodes of your region’s electrical authority.

Transcript

00:00Welcome back again, this is Héctor Vladimir. Today I am going to continue with this recording

00:09for methods and technologies to live off the grid.

00:13I would like to start with my attitudes and recommendations about what I call forcible

00:19electric connections. Especially since on the last episode I discussed energy but missed

00:25mentioning these. You do not have to have an electric connection. You do not need electricity

00:32to live. That is just a basic fact. You do not need to be connected to an electric company.

00:39That is just a human and civil rights that you have. You cannot be forced to pay for a

00:46service, especially if you can provide that service on your own safely and reliably. As

00:53I have shown that it is a very easy thing to do, relatively easy. It just takes a few

01:00hundred watts to maintain the comfort and health and happiness of a person. You do not again

01:07have to pay for electricity. There are laws and regulations that imply that you have to

01:14keep your electric connection. But this is not true. That is just what they would like

01:19you to believe. So they imply it without really pushing the issue much, pushing the subject.

01:25They don't really say it directly because it is just logical that you cannot be forced to pay.

01:31I mean, that is the most despotic thing I can think of. One of them, you being forced to put your hand

01:37in your pocket and hand out money to a private for-profit company such as the electric company.

01:43Think about it for two minutes and you have to come to the conclusion that that is just unreasonable.

01:49And it is by all kinds of logic and reasonable expectations. It should not be the case. It

01:55should not be illegal not to pay for a service. So you have all the right not to pay for electric

02:01energy. If you don't want to go through the trouble of taking that to court because you're renting a place

02:10or because your city or town is just belligerent with you and wants to go out of their way to make

02:17your life miserable just because you don't want to be connected, then you can just keep a connection,

02:23right? Keep an electric connection and just not use it. Just don't use the power. Keep that connection

02:29and just pay for whatever fee. This is just a choice. This is something that a lot of people

02:34choose to do just to avoid the aggravation, but it is an option. And I'm offering that option for

02:39those people that just don't want to go through the heartache of fighting their AHJ, their town,

02:45whatever it may be for whatever reason. And you may keep your connection and pay just the minimum fee.

02:50I think most electric companies have a minimum usage fee and it could be as low as $20, $30, $40,

02:58perhaps a bit more in many areas. But I don't believe they're usually more than that. If you have

03:02zero usage as far as your kilowatts, they're just charging you for your connection or minimum rates,

03:08whatever that rate may be. Sometimes they do it by the day like they do here. I believe here is a

03:13little less than 50 cents per day. So it would come out to about, let's say in a 30 day month,

03:19about $15 plus whatever other small fees and charges they want to throw in their taxes and

03:25other fees that they like to throw in there. And I want to pick up with generators. I have developed

03:31the use, the types generators in the past here. I'm going to just touch on a few types of generators.

03:37I believe there's only about two that I would recommend using to be off the grid. And I don't

03:44recommend the use to completely be off the grid with the generator only. The generator is

03:49would have to be nothing but a backup power source. To have that as a primary power source or only

03:54power source, it would be prohibitively expensive. And it would be also polluting, noisy. It would

04:00require a lot of maintenance and cost for that maintenance. It's just not worth it. You would

04:04have to be dealing with gasoline and diesel or other fossil fuel types of fuels such as gas and propane.

04:13There are some generators that operate on natural gas, but those are quite less accessible,

04:18more expensive. So I'll focus on the ones that are more accessible. But I want to primarily focus on

04:24the propane gas generators, which are, I believe, a bit less costly than operating a gasoline generator.

04:31Also, I believe they are quieter. Comparatively, of course, they're not quiet, but they are quieter.

04:36And they perhaps may be just a bit more environmentally friendly than gasoline generators.

04:42Gasoline prices fluctuate quite dramatically sometimes, depending on the area where you live.

04:47And that is another reason why you may want to go with liquid propane generators. Be cognizant of all

04:52these factors and perhaps you may come to the same conclusion. Use propane generators instead of

04:58gasoline. Yes, you may also choose diesel. Diesel is probably just as polluting as gasoline. They are

05:04likely louder, larger generators. I believe they are much more expensive as well. So I won't go into

05:10details of those. Of course, generator use, the way I recommend it to live off the grid is basically

05:16have them as a backup to use when all else fails and absolutely electric power. Of course, you will be

05:23disconnected from utility grid power. So sometimes, perhaps rarely, you will need extra charge. For

05:31example, those days, weeks, consecutive days with very little or no sunlight may live in an area that

05:37doesn't have as much sun as you would like or as much sun as it would be optimal for solar energy or a

05:45place that doesn't have enough wind to keep your wind turbine turning and charging batteries as much as

05:50you would like. So you would need to have some sort of backup because you will eventually want or even

05:56need that electric power which a generator can provide whenever you need it. It could be day or

06:02night. It could be windy or not windy. Of course, there are precautions to take with generators. They

06:07do pollute and not only that, but they also give away exhaust. They exhaust deadly fumes and keep those

06:14outdoors when running. Of course, you may bring them in when not running, cover them, protect them from

06:20the elements because they will get damaged, decay. They will go bad and cease to run if you leave them

06:26out in the elements. The rain, the sun, all of the humidity, all of the heat, the cold, that stuff is

06:32just going to break down the components, especially the seals. It can even affect metal parts, etc. So

06:39generators, of course, they have many, many varieties, types, manufacturers, sizes. The sizes for generators,

06:48which are basically engines, internal combustion engines for the most part, that turn a generator,

06:54basically an electrical generator, which is the opposite of a motor. A generator takes mechanical

07:00force in the form of spinning from an engine. Then that is transformed into electrical charge via an

07:07array of magnets, whether they be permanent magnets or electromagnets. So it has a part that has a generator,

07:14which is an electrical component. And you can plug in various items to it, of course. You may directly

07:20wire it to your electrical panel, or you may just use it as they usually come, which they have electrical

07:26outlets. Some have electrical outlets for several types of outlets. But here in North America, they

07:32have the common outlets with three slots. And some generators may also output 220 volt AC, which is

07:41also called 240 volt AC. And those usually use a different outlet, usually a locking outlet for a

07:47locking plug with a circular connection. Sometimes it is a circular connection outlet. Those generators tend

07:54to be larger. Generator sizes vary by watts. They measure them by electrical output, which is watts,

08:02a combination of voltage and amperage, as far as maximum, the maximum amount of watts that it can provide

08:08without tripping or without stopping. And they can vary from, I've seen them as small as 700 watts. I

08:16had one myself with a very small engine and generator, and they go up in watts from there. 1,200, 1,800,

08:252,000 watts, etc. You can go as large almost as you can afford with the generator. They have huge

08:30generators that are commercial, even utility grade. And I won't touch on those much because those are just

08:37outside of most people's ability to afford. The LPG generator of about, let's say, 2,000 watts is

08:45about as big as I would recommend. For most applications, 2,000 watts, I believe, to be

08:51adequate. You can go a bit more, of course, 3,000, 3,500, 4,000 watts if you would like. But I find that

08:59not necessary. 2,000 watts is just enough for most applications I can think of for residential use.

09:06You can run machinery. You can run heavy-duty equipment, vacuum cleaners, heavy-duty cleaning

09:12equipment such as rug, vacuum cleaners, and others, and maintenance equipment, leaf blowers, shop,

09:20machinery such as circular saws. You can run drills. You can run all kinds of plug-in equipment. Of course,

09:27you can also run refrigerators, TVs, microwaves. You can run washing machines.

09:32The heat-producing appliances from a home that wants to produce heat to work such as clothes dryers,

09:40air conditioning for heaters, and space heaters, irons for ironing your clothes, etc. Those things

09:49probably will demand a bit more than that generator can provide. For example, a home's air conditioner,

09:56when it's on heat mode, draws to start with a lot more than 2,000 watts. I've heard it's from 4,

10:045, to 7,000 watts, and even more for startup, and even continuous draw of current, of power,

10:12which is current and voltage, and it can be a lot more than 2,000 watts. Of course, you cannot run those

10:19with your generator. Your generator, again, is for those days that your solar or wind system cannot

10:26run because of the conditions or because the demand or the machinery or appliance that you need to run

10:31is basically going to run down or exhaust, deplete your battery bank very quickly, and you just don't

10:38want to do that. You want to keep enough battery charge to basically run normally throughout the day

10:44and night. If you're going to use a high demand, high consumption piece of equipment, such as a shop

10:50machine, some sort of shop vacuum cleaner, or some sort of dryer, you may want to fire on that

10:58generator just for the short amount of time that you will be using those appliances, those high demand

11:03appliances. Hopefully, it's going to be a very short time, ideally. That way, you don't use that

11:10generator for long. Again, that is high cost, polluting, and harmful stuff that you're going

11:16to be dealing with. It is a necessary, you can say, necessary evil to where you just use that piece

11:22of equipment. Again, high consumption, polluting, expensive for a very, very limited and short time.

11:27I have done that before where I have had an entire shop basically running off the grid with a generator

11:34hooked up just for those moments that I need the extra juice, as they say, the extra amount of

11:40power, and then as soon as I'm done, I shut it off. There are many ways to make generators quieter.

11:46I have gone into that in the past. Look for the chat on that on the original or legacy living off the grid

11:52series that began in 2015, ran through 2016. It's close to 30 episodes, so a few of those episodes

11:59mention this where you can limit the amount of noise. I have done that myself by erecting or constructing

12:06barriers, sound absorbing barriers between you and the generator, such as a box lined with absorbing

12:14foam or fabric or some sort of noise absorbing material. It could be as simple as just a wall.

12:21It could be placed inside of a hole on the ground. That type of stuff limits the noise that you will be

12:28hearing while the generator is running, of course. You want to also limit the noise that other people

12:33would hear, such as neighbors. They may complain about the noise. No one, hardly anyone, wants to

12:39live around a bunch of noise, so you do want to limit the noise as much as possible. Look for details

12:45on how to do just that, especially constructing a box. Remember that generators also need to be

12:51ventilated. They need air, not only for cooling, but also for the internal combustion engine to keep

12:57running. It does need oxygen and air. It does intake that for the combustion to take place, so you don't

13:03want to cover the generator completely with a soundproof box because it will just overheat,

13:08burn up. It will just shut off because it doesn't have any air to continue combustion with. That

13:12applies to generators that run on any fossil fuel, whether propane, natural gas, whether gasoline or

13:19diesel. They all run with air as well as the fuel itself. So consider that, and that is all I'm going to

13:25develop on generators. Again, I have a whole show that develops on them quite a bit, and again, they are part of

13:31a hybrid system. There are many connections that you have to perform to make it a hybrid system that

13:37works with your solar. You can get quite organized and developed, advanced, intricate when it comes to

13:44working or constructing a hybrid system to where it can work automatically. You can switch back and

13:50forth when there is no charging your battery automatically, automatic transfer switches or one

13:55switch. Or you can have it done manually. I have installed a system that you can switch between

14:01the solar and the utility power. It was a hybrid utility power solar system where it can switch

14:08the home's power from your utility or your solar. And it was a manual switch where you had to physically

14:15switch it from one system to the other. But it can also be automatic. They do have automatic switches,

14:21a lot more intricate and expensive, but they are out there. Also, hybrid systems use battery banks.

14:28Not only hybrid systems, but also alternative energy systems or off-grid renewable energy systems,

14:33such as those that work with solar panels or wind turbines or both hybrid wind and solar systems.

14:41They use batteries. They call it battery banks. Battery banks is nothing but a collection of batteries

14:47that are connected together to work as one battery. That is the point. That is the goal to connect the

14:52batteries so that it works as one. A collection of batteries is going to have only one positive

14:58and one negative when connected correctly. And that one positive and that one negative will be connected

15:03to your power load, which is usually going to be an inverter. The inverter is going to draw power or current

15:11from your battery bank. So it can then transform it to usable AC power. They usually have outlets where

15:18you can plug in stuff or have a cable that connects directly to your home's electrical panel. The inverter

15:25is the load for the batteries and the electrical equipment that you run from the inverter are the

15:30loads for the inverter. So it's more like a chain arrangement there with loads and power sources. The power

15:37sources of course being both the battery and the solar array or the wind turbine. You may think of it as

15:44the power source, the battery bank itself. You may think of it as the power source and that power source gets

15:50its energy from another source, which is your solar array or your wind turbine. And it can also be your gas

15:58generator. Your gas generator may provide charge for a battery bank. That is actually more not only convenient,

16:05but also more reliable than running power directly just from a generator. Drawing power directly from the

16:11generator on your engine generator. A lot of engines, of course, are not perfect. They don't run perfectly.

16:18None of them do. And there are going to be variations in the speed and power it's providing. And that may

16:24translate not so much, but it may translate a bit to the generator itself. Power coming out of that

16:29generator may fluctuate, especially if it's a very small generator, as I've had experience with.

16:34And perhaps not so reliable. And also the load that you put on that generator is going to change

16:41that output. It's going to make that output change just slightly and it's going to be fluctuating. So

16:47running your loads from the battery bank instead, I believe it to be a bit more convenient and better,

16:52but it's not always an option. Of course, if you don't have a battery bank, you have to run your

16:56loads straight from your generator. However, you cannot run loads straight from solar panels

17:01or a wind turbine because those things are strictly made to run through a power source,

17:07which is a battery bank. That's what they're designed to do to charge the battery system.

17:13And I will pick up battery banks in the next episode. Thank you very much.

17:17So to continue with my chat about battery banks, there are many types of batteries that you can

17:27have for your battery bank. The most effective ones, the ones that last longest, that have least

17:33maintenance, and the more powerful ones are the lithium-based batteries. They have lithium ion batteries

17:38and also lithium phosphate batteries now. There may be others, but those two are quite reliable.

17:45They are increasingly affordable, and they do have an energy density that's quite high,

17:50meaning that you can use it for a variety of applications. They can be discharged quite a bit

17:57and not suffer any ill effects, and they are widely available. They come in many voltages. Most popular

18:05probably is the 12-volt battery, and that is because traditionally vehicles work on 12-volt batteries

18:12for their electrical systems, so that has been passed down for many decades now. And that is

18:18probably among the most, but far from the only voltage that's available out there. They do have

18:2324-volt batteries, 48-volt batteries, and also smaller batteries that can be more easily managed,

18:31moved around, or maintained. Talking about your 6-volt batteries, they may have smaller batteries,

18:37but 6-volt batteries are probably the next most popular choice for batteries, only because they

18:43can be moved around a lot easier than a 12-volt battery. They're smaller and could be swapped out,

18:47changed out a lot easier. They're not as heavy, and that is the main purpose for those, because

18:52they are usually wired in a way that make a 12-volt system. You can wire batteries in different ways,

18:59depending what voltage you want out of them. In a battery bank, for example, if you want a 24-volt

19:05system, and you only have two 12-volt batteries, you can wire them in a way, in series, to get 24 volts

19:12out of those two batteries. Basically, the two batteries, you put them together, you wire or connect

19:17the one positive pole in one battery, and one negative pole in the other battery, connect those

19:24together, and the two remaining poles on each battery, which should be one positive and one

19:28negative at each battery, those are your poles that go to your load of that one battery bank.

19:34That's now a 24-volt battery bank with two 12-volt batteries. You can do the same with 6-volt batteries

19:40to make 12-volt battery bank. You can have four 6-volt batteries and make it into a 24-volt battery bank.

19:46You can have four 12-volt batteries and make them into a 48-volt battery bank by connecting them in a

19:52similar fashion, as I just explained. They do get a bit complicated, so do look at wiring diagrams for

20:00battery banks, depending what you want out of your battery bank. Again, voltage is one metric that you

20:07may want to deal with or configure, but also there's another metric called current amperage on a battery,

20:14called amperage. It is measured as amp hours, AH, which basically measures the amount of charge

20:22a battery bank that a battery bank may have. Each battery has an amp hour rating, that is amperage

20:29per hour, or the amperage that can be discharged in one hour of that battery being charged, and it's

20:36usually measured in amps per second, but it's translated on the rating as amps per hour. So if you have a,

20:45let's say, 50 amp hour battery that is 12 volts, those are two different readings, two different metrics,

20:51so make sure that you are aware of that. But they are combined in a battery. For example, a 6 volts,

20:5720 amp hour battery could be an example. A 12 volts, 100 amp hour battery could be another example. A 24

21:05volts, 50 amp hour battery could be another example. So make sure you know the voltage and the amp hour

21:11of your battery to make a battery bank. Depending how you wire your battery bank also is how much amp hours

21:18you're going to get out of your battery, which is basically your discharge time, how much discharge

21:23time it will have in theory. For example, if you have two 12 volts, 100 amp batteries connected together

21:29in parallel, meaning that you have both terminals, positive and negative from one battery connected to

21:35both terminals, positive and negative of the second battery, that is a parallel connection. Then you

21:41would be adding the amp hour rating for both batteries. So you would have a 200 amp hour battery,

21:47or you would have a 200 amp hour battery bank. And the voltage would remain the same in a parallel

21:54connection. So you would have a 12 volt, 200 amp hour battery bank by connecting those two 12 volt,

22:00100 amp hour batteries together in parallel. Again, there are many connection options and configurations.

22:07Do become familiar with them, especially with the one that you are planning to use. Most popular is

22:12the 12 volt, 100 amp battery, which could be AGM, absorbed glass mat, that is adequate for solar

22:21applications, off-grade applications. That is a very popular battery. It's quite heavy, but it is an

22:27affordable option, a lot cheaper than your lithium ion based battery. And it is durable. Yes, it is lead

22:33acid based, but it is a lot more durable than your regular lead acid car battery, or even your trolling,

22:41or marine type battery, or deep cycle type battery. The AGM type battery is quite adequate, I would think,

22:50because I do have a battery bank that's been running for years, and it is very reliable. It does take a

22:56quite a bit of beating as far as charge and discharge cycles. And temperature oscillations have also been

23:03quite severe, and it is still running about four years into service. So quite a reliable battery,

23:10depending on the manufacturer, of course. I have a set of Wyze batteries, W-E-I-Z-E. Those are quite

23:18reliable, but there are many other brands. Trojan are pretty popular as far as durability and

23:25reliability. Of course, there are many other brands of batteries out there throughout. So look for that,

23:30look for the specs, looks for the connection configurations, etc. That information is widely

23:38available online. Make sure you go by trusted source. There are many sources out there. Most of them I've

23:44ran into, they're pretty good. They seem to know what they're talking about. So it's quite safe to check

23:49online for connection options and all of that good stuff for batteries and battery banks.

23:55Do look at the chats and conversations and videos and shows I have on that. I've covered batteries

24:03quite extensively, including battery banks and how they work exactly, how to wire them, especially on

24:08the Living Off The Grid legacy show series. There are a few episodes that are dedicated to battery use,

24:14battery maintenance, battery connection, etc. And also the types of batteries. But in general,

24:19you want to go with lithium-ion based batteries, if you can at all. If not, your second choice should be

24:258GM type batteries.

24:30To keep discussing some of the technologies and the strategies for being off the grid. And again,

24:36these discussions are condensed, they are brief, and they are introductory. They are meant to give you

24:43ideas meant to give you a few options, not all the options, but perhaps the most feasible, the most

24:50useful options. But there may be many other options, of course, for just about every topic I speak of.

24:56And also I have developed on many of these topics on earlier chats, earlier shows. So I don't find it

25:03necessary to go into so much depth into some of the options, some of the topics discussed here,

25:09since I have done that elsewhere. And when I have, I will mention that as I've done here in the last

25:16few chats. And to move on to telecommunications, the options that they are for off grid for

25:24telecommunications. There are many free options, low cost options. There are some that do have some

25:30costs to it, some initial investment, initial purchases, costs for that. But all of these options

25:38don't require any kind of subscription to a monthly service, to a service that is paid monthly, or

25:45on any kind of regular basis, any kind of contract. Those are not required for the options that I'm

25:51going to mention. And again, this is for telecommunications, meaning communicating with

25:55people remotely, away from you, far, whether it's the next home over, the next house over your

26:02neighbor, or someone that is many, many miles or kilometers away, perhaps in other cities,

26:10towns, counties, or even other states and nations. The next few options I'm going to discuss are

26:17completely free, no payment, no kind of investment or large investment is necessary. If you have, let's

26:25say, a phone without any service connection, smartphone, as most of them are now, you may keep

26:32that phone and use it to communicate, even without a service provider. How can you possibly do that,

26:39you may ask? Well, phones don't really need a cell phone provider to work. A lot of them are, or most of

26:47them that I know of, are basically small computers that also duplicate or act as a phone sometimes. And

26:55these smart devices, as they call them, can connect to Wi-Fi, to other networks that are open, or even

27:01networks that are closed, or secured with passwords. As long as you know the password to that network,

27:07you may enter. You can go to free open networks, such as Wi-Fi networks, hotspots, as they call them,

27:14and freely sign on, sign in, and use that network. Whether it's at a restaurant, hotel,

27:21any kind of business that has an open Wi-Fi, you can log into it and use it. Of course, it is not

27:28private. It is not by any means something that you can use in privacy. You should consider, you need to

27:34consider that everything you do, visit, websites you visit, all of the transactions you do is being

27:41recorded on that network, on that provider, the modem, the router that handles that network. It's

27:48being recorded. Every website is being tracked, is being logged each and every website that you visit.

27:54So, bank website visits to your bank account, your portal to your bank, your logins, all of that stuff

28:01is being recorded. So, if you want the stuff to stay private, you may not want to use those networks.

28:07There are other things you can do to remain a bit more private, but in general, for most of us that

28:14are not IT professionals, are not hackers or anything like that, you won't be private if you log into those

28:21networks. So, just keep that in mind. If you don't mind and you don't care about not being completely

28:27private, go ahead and use it as long as you, of course, guard your private information. So, that cell

28:34phone that is not connected to a service provider, you may use it. You may use it at a family's home that

28:40has wi-fi free of charge. You may use it at a friend's home that they may provide you with their wi-fi.

28:46A lot of people have wi-fi at home through their service provider. The same again with businesses,

28:52with many institutions such as schools, hospitals, malls, airports. Sometimes there are open wi-fi

29:01spots in cities, as far as public, out in the streets, out in public areas, in areas where people

29:08gather, where people perhaps wait for the bus. I mean, if you live in an advanced society, that's an

29:14advantage that you have a lot of wi-fi areas that you can log into without payment. That's option one.

29:21You may also have free service by applying for a program called Lifeline here in the US. It's an FCC,

29:31Federal Communications Commission, I believe it is. And they, through that federal agency, they provide

29:37that service. And it is not necessarily through them exactly, but I believe that's where the funds come

29:43from. But the private companies, AT&T, Cox, Internet, Verizon, T-Mobile, all of those cell phone companies,

29:52phone companies, and internet providers, or ISPs, they have the programs that you can ask and sign up

30:00directly with them, but free of charge. They even provide, sometimes, smartphones. They're not going

30:07to be the top of the line, expensive, latest, and greatest, fastest, most capable phones, of course.

30:13But they will be smartphones. I know myself of people that have them, and they freely use them,

30:20free of charge. No problem. They make calls. It has all of the features that most phones have,

30:26most smart devices. So that's another free option you may want to consider. Another free option for

30:32telecommunications is a bit more complicated, a bit more time-consuming, but more exhilarating and

30:40exciting to me and to many, many others around the world. It is a very exciting and sensational

30:47world to enter and to be part of. And it's full of many people that are willing to help, many people

30:53that are very friendly and tech-driven, driven by the knowledge for technology, for advancement,

30:59for electronics, computers, tech-savvy, or those that want to learn and be tech-savvy. That's the

31:07world of radio, radio communications, radio frequency communication. There are many areas

31:15for that world. It's an entire industry dedicated to it, an entire part of the population that is

31:22into it. I came to be part of it a few years ago, not too long, about four or five years now,

31:27and it is exciting and very exhilarating again. And there's lots to learn, lots to share,

31:35lots of opportunities to expand, to get rights. You do get rights with especially a part of that

31:43world, which is called amateur radio. A lot of people call it ham radio. And it is basically

31:50here in the U.S. it varies by nation. It is regulated by the FCC, which is a government entity.

31:57And the operation is completely free, free of charge, no charge for it. It is wireless. It is

32:05completely over the air. That's why it has to be controlled or managed by an entity. And it happens

32:11to be an organization from the government called the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission.

32:17There are many, many branches. That's one of them, ham radio or amateur radio. There are others.

32:24There's another one that is completely free. It's called Citizens Band or CB radio. See, radio frequency

32:32is basically a spectrum, more like the light spectrum, etc. Radio frequency is a electromagnetic

32:39spectrum that can be used. It's all around us. It's in the air and it's broken into frequencies. And those

32:46frequencies are further broken into categories. There's the amateur radio frequencies. That's

32:53broken into several categories for amateur radio operators. One of them is the technician band. And

33:00those have several bands also within them, which are frequencies, basically broken down ranges of

33:08frequencies. And basically you can dial those with your radio. And as long as someone else matches that

33:15frequency somewhere else with another radio, those two radios can communicate, or the people that

33:20operate them can communicate freely. Of course, it's not private. It's over the air. It is a communication

33:26that can be picked up readily. There are other types of communications that are more private, encoded,

33:33that are encrypted. So you can go into it's pretty far and get quite advanced with it. You can get quite

33:42intricate, high tech, you can get into the computer side of it. They even have frequencies for television,

33:49for FM radio, for AM radio. They have VHF, very high frequencies. They have HF, high frequencies. They have UHF,

33:59ultra high frequencies. It's a world on its own. I'm telling you, it's something that is very interesting. I have

34:07just scratched the surface with the amount of work that I've done with it. I am a licensed technician for radio

34:15operation in the amateur radio bands. And for that, you need to do a little bit of training. And it's usually basic

34:23stuff and also have a little knowledge about the operation of radios, how it works, the equipment it uses, the

34:31antennas it uses, how the signals are distributed through the air and captured and decoded, some of

34:38the equipment, how they work. So it's very, very interesting. You can get to build a lot of stuff,

34:44modify a lot of stuff. You can get to test a lot of equipment, maybe equipment that is out there,

34:50built from manufacturers or equipment that you put together yourself, especially antennas, different

34:55configurations, different connections, different types of antennas, depending on your purpose of how

35:00far you want to communicate, where you want to communicate, what time of the year. Seasons do

35:06matter during communications. It's a whole array of knowledge and information that you can gather,

35:13get good at, get used to, to be able to use radio equipment. Of course, you have to do a small,

35:19relatively small investment and get a radio somehow. I mean, you may get lucky or be fortunate to be

35:26given one, to be gifted one, or to trade some other equipment for it, for a radio. You can begin your

35:34explorations, I would say, into the world of radio communications. Believe me, it is something quite

35:42large. It is something I didn't know existed and the excitement in it is contagious. It is something

35:49that spreads around and it can grow on you very quickly. If you're the type, even if you're not,

35:55I believe you could get pretty excited about it and learn and become even good and great at it,

36:01share with others, teach others, encourage others to get in it. And it's like everything,

36:05the more people you get in it, the more people you have to communicate with. So friends and family,

36:10if they get their own radio, it could be a small radio, like a small handheld radio that is as cheap

36:16as maybe $25 to $30. I mean, try to find a cell phone for $30 and you'll have probably a hard time

36:23finding one. But a amateur radio, you can find it for about $25 these days and they are okay quality.

36:31Of course, they're not cell phones. You cannot just dial a cell phone number through your radio,

36:36although there are claims, credible claims that you can in some instances. But for the most part,

36:43they're designed to call from radio to radio. Just so you know, cell phones are just a glorified

36:49or very fancy type of radio. They work with radio frequencies. They're just fancy and digital and

36:57they have a screen, touchscreen and all of that. But especially the older style cell phones, they

37:03were fancier radios. That's where cell phones come from. They use basically frequencies just like

37:09radios do to communicate through the air. There's no different type of technology, magic or anything.

37:15Even the internet that cell phones have is transmitted through radio frequencies. That's why you have to

37:21have a tower nearby so you can communicate with a cell phone. Without a tower, a cell phone is useless.

37:27If you get away too far from any tower, a cell phone is useless. There are more and more towers

37:32throughout the nation, much more than before. There are more towers this month than there were last

37:38month. They keep popping up depending on how many people get cell phones. There's a lot of people.

37:43People are getting cell phones at an every younger age. Back when I was growing up, cell phones were

37:49non-existent. Then when I was in my early 20s, cell phones were coming along in the 2000s and not too

37:56many people had them. Of course, working people, young adults had them. Older people had them because

38:04they can work and usually have an income enough to afford the expensive cell phone monthly fees that they

38:12were being charged. They're not much better today, but they are more affordable and the popularity

38:18has made it that way. Economies of scale have allowed cell phones to become a bit more affordable.

38:24There's more choice. Of course, there are many cell phone companies that abuse you and they have

38:30extremely expensive service. But for the most part, there are a lot of choices that make it more affordable.

38:36However, you can speak for free, completely free, no kind of monthly charges, no kind of fees or

38:45signed contracts with any kind of cell phone company and talk to radio. It doesn't have to be a

38:51bass radio like they call them. They have two types, handheld and bass. The handheld, of course,

38:56is the one you can carry around. They do have an antenna. They have different types. Stubby antenna is

39:02basically one that's the shorter type of antenna. They have ones with micro antennas also that are

39:07smaller but they don't reach as far as far as reaching another radio. So generally, the longer

39:12the antenna, the more reach it has. That's one factor. The other factor is the power of the radio,

39:19how much watts it can send a signal with, how many watts it can send a signal with. So a handheld radio is

39:25not going to have as much power as a bass radio. A bass radio is usually connected to a power supply,

39:31which is connected to a wall outlet, which can deliver a lot more power, a lot more watts to

39:36communicate with. And a handheld radio doesn't have that, so it's a lot less power. However, you can

39:43take it along with you. Get on a higher spot, which is another factor on communication. Higher ground,

39:49you can cover more distance because the line of sight increases as you go up. And that is another factor,

39:55line of sight. Radio waves travel in a straight line of sight. They don't travel in a straight line,

40:01they propagate more or less as a sphere or a series of spheres. But that sphere reaches further when you

40:08have a direct line of sight, basically a straight line. Theoretically, you can see your target where

40:14you're trying to reach with that radio signal. Of course, you may not be able to see because of air

40:19density, because of particles in the air, dust, your vision, a bunch of factors. But if you were

40:25to shoot a laser, for example, you know, lasers travel straight in a straight line. So if you were

40:30to shoot a laser or aim a laser straight to a target, you can go as far as you can with that

40:36target. And as long as there's nothing in between the target and the laser, the laser is going to

40:40reach that target in theory. I say in theory, because even for a laser beam, there's always particles

40:47that deflect that light, such as even air, dust, water, or humidity in the air, which is basically

40:54water vapor. All of that stuff deflects light. Therefore, the laser beam is going to scatter

41:00and eventually fade. And that's the same idea for radio waves. You need that line of sight,

41:08straight line of sight. But it does go a long distance. For example, you can communicate with a

41:14radio to the ISS, the International Space Station, because it's overhead, straight line of sight,

41:21even though it's a couple of hundred miles up above where you would be standing on Earth.

41:26Many people do communicate with the ISS via radio. It is something that is free of charge. And of course,

41:32it is a hobby. It's taken more like a hobby where you can routinely communicate with your grandma,

41:38aunt, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, cousin, mother, brother. If both of y'all have a radio,

41:44that is free communication at its best. It doesn't come more free than that. So check it out. Check

41:49out radio. Check out the many options that a lot of people have. Of course, you need to get the

41:54equipment, get the license, get the test done, get to know people in it that may be licensed, whatever.

42:00Some radio do not need a license, does not need a license, such as CB radio, Citizen's Band. Check it

42:07out. All you need is the radio. Citizen's Band is a bit less reliable to communicate with, but it's

42:12something that a lot of people use, including truckers and truck drivers. They use it all the time.

42:18I will pick this up on telecommunications and their options and its options on the next show. Thanks.

42:23I will pick up on my conversation, my chat about free and low cost communication options for living

42:34off the grid for those that are or will be off the grid. To move on to phone networks. Telephone

42:41networks, of course, are going away. I'm talking about the analog type, the older style, the one that

42:46works with low voltage, that works with a twisted pair of wire that traditionally, conventionally,

42:54historically went to a phone center near town, went through several poles, phone poles. And again,

43:03these are going away. They have been going away for many years now. I would say over a couple of

43:09decades now, mainly because of the use, the use, the spread of cell phone technology, wireless,

43:14and also the internet. Some people do still have these phones. There is still service available,

43:21even though it's been increasingly high in cost because it's been on the decline as far as demand.

43:27That way the price keeps going up. So if you do have one of these phones, you know what I'm talking

43:32about. I had those, one of those phone services maybe 12 years ago now, and I thought I was one of

43:38the last few people that still had the phone service. I had it because my internet depended on

43:44a two wire phone line at that time. It was a, I believe they called it DSL. And again,

43:52those are going away as well. Those internet connections, those types, but you know, phone

43:56service, phone technology is very old. It's over a hundred, probably approaching now 150 years old.

44:02That technology, it is based on sound and yes, it does have electricity, but the electricity that it

44:08did use, it was more for the ringer. I think it was 48 volt DC that was provided to the two wires,

44:15but the sound itself, I believe was propagated via just sound, just strictly sound, sound waves through

44:24wire using very, very old technologies, such as the speaker and the microphone, which are both

44:29technologies that do not require electricity. Yes. A lot of them are electronic now, but initially to my

44:36knowledge, they did not require electricity. I will confirm that, but that is my belief. And

44:43you may establish simple wired communication with loved ones, friends, with other people using

44:51private telephone networks. You could begin as simple as two telephones, analog telephones connected

44:58to each other that you can just pick up without dialing any number, pick up both ends and talk freely.

45:04You can extend that wire as long as you can to the next door in your home. The next room could be the

45:10next floor level. It can also be your neighbor, whether it be a close by neighbor next door to your

45:17home or a further neighbor, a couple of houses down or even on the next street. If you have the capability

45:25of running the wire, that is basically the main thing that you need, a wired connection. You may live

45:30out in a rural area where you can extend the wire without causing too much issues with authorities

45:38using perhaps poles, or even by running the wire on the ground, of course, using wire that's suitable

45:44for burial, usually called direct burial wire. And you can establish a simple two phone telephone

45:53communication. You can extend that and connect more than two phones. You would require at that point

46:00a switchboard, what they call a switchboard, where you need to have someone pick up your call and connect

46:08your phone's cables, wires, the pair of cables or wires, connect them to the number that you want to

46:16talk to, communicate with, to the phone that you want to communicate with. Let's say there's a three

46:21phone network, and this is as simple as it gets, a three phone network. You have a telephone on one

46:26end wired to the switchboard, which is let's say in the center, and that switchboard could either

46:33connect your phone, let's say you're the main person, connect your phone to one of two choices,

46:38or one of two phones. It could be phone, let's say two, or phone three, if you were to be phone one,

46:46and that person would have to manually switch the wires from wherever they were located before to

46:51the correct phone that you want to reach. And that basically was how it worked for many years.

46:57Telephones did work this way for many years, where you have a switchboard basically a lot more

47:02intricate, of course, with just plugs, connections, and there used to be people, traditionally women,

47:08that where their job was to switch phone plugs connections from one place to the other, depending

47:15where the connection was needed. Of course, this is a lot more complicated when you have many,

47:19many phones, but this is how it was. And then after that, it switched to automatic switchboards,

47:25of course, that were electronic at first, then computerized, and that's how it remains today.

47:31When you call a long distance number, it goes through a series of computers, which eventually switch

47:37your call, transfer your call to the correct channel. It could be a lot more intricate. I am not sure

47:43exactly if that is how it works, but it may be in a similar fashion as an automatic switchboard.

47:49Of course, a lot faster, a lot better, more computerized, no need for a person to make any changes.

47:56You can, of course, make a phone network, totally free of charge, totally free of any kind of

48:02commitment through monthly payments or any kind of contract with a phone company. You basically are

48:09the phone company who have a phone network, and it can be completely free. All you need is the phones,

48:14very established technology, which has been around for over 100 years. And you may be able to find

48:20these older analog phones at antique stores. I mean, you can find them even at some thrift stores,

48:28discount stores, online. There may even be some for sale in Amazon and other online stores.

48:34You may also communicate using computers. You may set up, and this is probably a lot more feasible

48:42than a phone, analog phone network, just because computers are so available now. But you may be

48:47able to do a private network of computers. No need to be connected to any kind of internet provider.

48:54All you need is a router, PC connections such as ethernet, and your PC, your personal computer. You need

49:00at least two, of course, to make a PC network. You have to have at least two computers connected. And

49:05all you got to do is connect those two computers to a router. Those two computers, as long as they're

49:10connected to a router, they are connected to the network. As long as you have an open network,

49:15or they both have access to the network via password, username and password, you may communicate

49:21with each other, send messages, exchange files, exchange any kind of media, whether it be pictures,

49:27video, texting, chatting, even voice, communication, and video, voice, communication, audio, visual,

49:34do all kinds of stuff. All you need is a webcam, microphone, and voila, you have a small internet,

49:40or web. Yes, you can get a lot more intricate, just like you can with phones, with computers,

49:45with a router, with several connections. You can connect several computers. You can extend the computer

49:50connection to the next room, to the next house, or to the next town over. It all depends on your

49:55capability as far as extending those lines, those connections, which would probably be

50:01ethernet, if they're not more than maybe 300 yards, or 100 meters. But you can also use fiber,

50:08fiber optic lines, that could be adapted in between your ethernet connection, with ethernet to fiber

50:15adapters. They have them out there for affordable prices, and you can extend your line pretty far out.

50:20I am not going to speculate the distance you can go out, but it is kilometers, if not longer. So,

50:27computer networks are another option. Before I leave the telecommunications options for off-grid,

50:34I would like to mention another type of communication that is available through radio waves, and it is

50:42Morse code. You may communicate using Morse code. Yes, you have to learn Morse code, which is very doable.

50:49It is not anywhere as difficult as learning, let's say, a language, or anything like that. It's more

50:54like learning multiplication tables, and of course, each letter has its own pattern, as far as sound

51:01pattern. So, you have to have a, I believe they call it a straight key. The Morse code, straight key,

51:06creates a series of tones as you tap a button with your finger. It is as simple as that. It's just a

51:12switch, usually with a button that is spring-loaded, that you can tap, and you can keep it on for longer

51:18periods, or just tap it on and off. Of course, you can make different tones, depending on the length

51:24of the tone, and you can break those tones into small packets or series of tones, basically making

51:30up words. You can get into that if you do get into radio. It has to be amateur radio, I believe, only,

51:36it is only available in amateur radio, and you can have privileges for that to do, to communicate

51:41through Morse code with the first level of their licensing scheme, which is the technician level.

51:48A pretty straightforward test that you have to take, not too difficult. You can study for a week,

51:53and be sure to pass it. After that, you can learn a lot more about it. And again, it is a very exciting

51:59field to get into, more like a hobby, but it can be something that takes a lot more time and effort

52:05than a hobby. Thank you for listening to this podcast. Please look for the next episode soon,

52:12and please be sure to share this with your friends and family. And please like this content and

52:19subscribe as a sign of support and for me to continue to provide this type of content to people

52:25like you. Lastly, if you wish to support this content further, please visit the links provided in

52:30this publication. Thank you.

03 Methods & tech for living off grid - part 3

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