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Cybertek Electric Issue 01
Cybertek Electric: Issue #1 12/24/95
¢ss es flestra ferdha fr; en sk lpr es sverdha
/ |\ /| /|\ |\ |\ /| |-\ \ /
/ | \ / | / | \ | \ | \ / | | \ \ /
/ | \ / | / | \ | \ | \ / | | > / \ /
/ | \/ | / | \ | / | \/ | | / / / /
\ | | | | < | | | \ / / \
\ | | | | \ | | | > \ / \
\ | | | | \ | | | / \ \
\ | | | | \ | | |-/ \ \
I know a fifteenth, which Thiodhroerir the dwarf sang before Delling's door.
He sang might to the Aesir, power to the elves, and understanding to Odin.
Cybertek Electric: Premiere Issue
December 24th., 1995
edited by Thomas Icom/IIRG
<ticom@l0pht.com> <thomas.icom@iirg.com>
Complements of OCL/Magnitude's Project Blackthorn,
and The International Information Retrieval Guild (IIRG)
Table of Contents
=================
- Greetings and Salutations!
- Monitoring Russian Communications, by Tom Roach <troach@netcom.com>
- Urban Survival (Part I), by Douglas P. Bell
- Building a By-Phone
- Poetry from Spiral Chambers #8
"State of the Nation", by Janet Kuypers
"Shades of Gray", by Liz Dubuisson
Greetings and Salutations!
A year ago, I started getting an increase in inquiries about an electronic
version of _Cybertek: The Cyberpunk Technical Journal_; a print 'zine I
started back in the Spring of 1990 (which was the resurrection of an earlier
'zine, _The UTU Journal_, which I worked on in 1986, but I digress). Over the
course of the year I looked into the possibility of doing so, and the
inquiries started adding up.
Doing an e-zine has several advantages. The time required and financial outlay
is less than that of a print zine, the distribution is easier, and your
potential audience is wider. It also has its disadvantages. Many ignorant,
misinformed, and just plain outright malevolent types in the power structure
feel that electronic media for some reason has less freedom under the First
Amendment than does print media; where there is currently no doubt about the
sanctity of the freedom of press and speech. America On-Line, in a recent
attempt to maintain the "decency" of their service, prohibited the use of the
word "breast" on their service. This caused an untold amount of grief to
people who were having discussions about (breast) cancer and certain aspects
of infant care (breast feeding). That is just the tip of the iceberg. Current
legislation in Congress and the Senate, if passed, would not only impose
censorship on the Internet, but also outright gut the First Amendment. They
claim all the standard "humanitarian" reasons for their drive to impose
censorship, but appears that they fail to realize the truth behind Ben
Franklin's immortal words "If you trade a little freedom for a little
security, soon you will have neither."
My attitude has always been that since man seems incapable of governing
himself, then he's even less capable of governing others. At least though, if
you give someone the opportunity of choosing their own path, and the
capability towards self-sufficiency and self-reliance (in essence self-
government); the fault or merit of their actions rests solely on their head.
They can either choose to exist as a free spirit, or fall into the trap of
complacency and stupidity that a significant portion of society seems to have
unfortunately fallen into. Either way, they were given the opportunity to go
either way and their resultant situation, good or bad, is attributable to no
one but themselves.
Cybertek has always, through education, tried to prompt people to not be
afraid to think for themselves, do their own research, come to their own
conclusions, maintain their self-sufficiency and self-reliance, and seek their
own path; wherever it may lead. I hope the encouragement and spread of these
memes are properly continued through Cybertek Electric, and that when the time
comes, those who have been so touched defend their divine right to do what
they shall, as long as it harms none.
Anyway, we'll be publishing Cybertek Electric on a sporadic basis (dependent
on feedback and submissions) through Usenet, via a mailing list (Email me at
either of my addresses at the end of this issue if you're interested in
getting it mailed directly to you.), and through RuneStone BBS, IIRG WHQ
(860-585-9638, NUP: Cyberdeck). I hope you all enjoy our latest endeavor.
-Thomas Icom/IIRG
May Odin guide your way.
---/////---
Monitoring Russian Communications
by Tom Roach
<troach@netcom.com>
A fascinating facet but not widely publicized portion of the SWL hobby is the
monitoring of Russian radioteletype (RTTY) and continuous wave (CW) i.e. Morse
code, transmissions. Why the Russians? Regrettably, because they are about
the only ones left who send any amount of meaningful unencrypted traffic on
HF. With the terrible financial status that governs most of Russian commerce,
the financial resources to update this antiquated system are not yet in place.
Still, as Janis Joplin said "Get it while you can!". Many fascinating insights
can be gained from pursuing this relatively seldom pursued hobby of monitoring
HF radioteletype signals. In the future you once again may gain an insight
into the Soviet Space program by monitoring the messages sent to their space
program's Space Event Support Ships (SESS). Since the end of the cold war the
Russians have been forced to mothball this incredible fleet of collection
vessels. Perhaps when things stabilize these interesting ships and their
fascinating communications will be heard once again by fascinated hobbyists.
Today's hobbyist will have to be satisfied with Russian commerce. This isn't
all that grim. You might come across the cargo manifest of a Russian
freighter. This may be the first indication to the general public if the
Russian bear turns sinister, as they may change from carrying fish meal to
weapons. You certainly will be able to find out more about the Russian
fishing industry then you ever cared to know! But learning how to analyze
these messages is great training in case things liven up. T here is always the
adventure of at sea medical emergencies. Here are is an example of that and
other "typical" Russian messages you might encounter:
RTMS MALAYA ZEMLYA NVR/MRKH 111 94 20/7 0000=
Translation: Message is addressed to a Russian vessel named the Malaya
Peninsula home ported in Novorossisk. There message is time stamped 20 July at
midnight.
2 ADRESA [Two addresses]
NOVOROSSIYSK VODZDRAV GBZDRAV USOVSKOMU EZDRAV RAMZANOVU= [Novorossiysk,
Usovskiy, Ramzanov]
[From ship to two "zdrav"s. A "zdrav" is a medical treatment point, probably
similar to a naval hospital is this case.]
PRODOLZHENIE NASHEY 135/07 [Continuation of our [message] 135/07]
2/ GARIFULIN EDUARD {LAST NAME DELETED FOR PRIVACY} 1945 G ELEKTRIK OBRATILSYA
070791 G ZHALOBY NA SLABOST' GOLOVNUYU BOL' VYSOKUYU TEMPERATURU 39.7 T4K ZEV
4ISTYY V LEGKIKH ZHESTKOE DYKHANIE KHRIPOV NET PERKUTORNO LEGO4NYY ZVUKH
GOLOSOVOE DROZHZHAN IE USILENNO T4K POLU4IL OKSATSILIN 1.0 =50SLOV= 2 RAZA
SUTKI V/M GENTOMITSIN 0.08 2 RAZA SUTKI V/M RASTVOR ANAL'GINA 50 PROTSENTNYY
2 .0 V/5. 048 0926SHENII TEMPERATURY DO 39 GRADUSOV POLIVITAMINY T4K 120791 G
GOSPITALIZIROVAN GOSPITAL' PORTA MONTE VIDEO DIAGNOZOM PRAVOSTORONNYAYA
PNEVMONIYA RENTGENOLOGI4ESKI DIAGNOZ PODTVERZHDEN
Translation:
7/7/91, Electrician Eduard XXXX ([born] 1945) complained of weakness, head
pain, a high temperature of 39.7 [C]. His mouth was clean, in his lungs
breathing was tough, no wheezing, [?] pulmonary sound, vocal trembling
increased. He received Oxatcil in 1.0 =50 words= 2 times a day V/M
Gentamyacin [?} 0.08 2 times a day v/m a 50% [analgesic?] solution. [Lowered?
-looks garbled] his temperature to 39 degrees [with?] poly-vitamins. 7/12/91
Hospitalized in the Montevideo port hospital with a diagnosis of right-side
pneumonia. An x-ray diagnosis corroborated.
FMED FEDOROV= [FMED (probably an abbreviation of an administrative title like
fleet medical officer)] Fedorov 136/07 KMD PUKHAL'SKIY [countersigned by the
vessel's master named Pukhal'skiy] NNNN [NNNN is used to indicate the end of a
message]
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BATM 6124 LNG/MRKH 4 102 2/7 0600=
2 ADRESA=
LENINGRAD RYBRADIO PRPG SAMTSOVU KOPIYA PRFL KOVALENKO=
DOKOVANIE BATM 6124 BYLO OPREDELENO ADMINISTRATSIEY ABSA 290791 TCHK ODNAKO NA
SUDNE POSTAVLENNOM DOK DO 6124 OBNARUZHENY RAZRYVY OBSHIVKI PODVODNOR CHASTI
KORPUSA ZPT SVYAZI ETIM POSTANOVKA 6124 DOK BUDET PROIZVEDENA TOL'KO POSLE
150891 TCHK NAMI NA PRAVLENO PIS'MO ADMINISTRA TSII ABSA PREDUPREZHDENIEM O
TOM CHTO POTERI PRIBYLI ZA PROSTOY SUDNA 100891 BUDUT OTNESENY ZA SCHET ABSA
TCHK SUDNO PO VSEM CHASTYAM ZA ISKLYUCHENIEM PODVODNOY CHASTI BUDET
PRED'YAVLENO REGINTRU SSSR 150891 TCHK PROSHU VAS HEGO RAZRESHENIYA NA
ZADERZHKU VYLETA NA RODINU DO OKONCHANIYA PRED'YAVLENIYA REGISTRU PODVODNOY
CHASTI INZHENERA REGISTRA OMILAEVA V V I MONTAZHNIKA KOZLOVA V V=
37/08 KM CHUMAK
==================================
Translation:
Docking of BATM 6124 was set for 7/29/91 by the administration of ABSA.
However, tears were discovered in the plating of the underwater part of the on
the supply ship. In connection with this, docking will be carried out only
after 8/15/91. We were sent a letter from the ABSA administration warning
about losses. The ships will be [?] on 8/10/91 owing to ABSA. All parts of
the ship, with the exception of the underwater part, will be shown to the USSR
Register on 8/15/91. We ask your permission to delay flying to the Motherland
until the conclusion of showing the underwater part to the register. Register
Engineer V.V. Omilayev and Fitter V.V. Kozlov.
-----
RTMKS-0901 TLN/MRKH 12 24 2/8 0500=
TALLINN NARVA MANTE 2 KV 20 FEDOROVOY=
LYUBIMAYA POZVONYU 4 AVGUSTA 07 40 UTRA VYLETAYU MOSKVY 15 AVGUSTA 16 05 REYS
2117 TSELUYU=SLAVA
Translation:
Tallinn, Narva. Mante 2, Apt. 20. [to Ms.] Federova
Beloved, I will call you Aug. 4 at 7:40 in the morning. I'll be flying into
Moscow Aug. 15 at 16:05, Flight 2117. Love, Slava.
-----
As you can see you can never be sure of what you will come across. The
following is based on my personal exposure to this facet of the SWL world. I
have tried to provide the names of vendors for specialized books or equipment
as necessary. My opinions on equipment are just that. Given the constraints
of cost and interest level, whatever works for you is best. I only hope that
you will share the fruits of your experience with others, on Compuserve or the
Internet. Please read the following in the spirit it is given; a desire to
share what knowledge I have picked up since concentrating on this part of the
SWL hobby.
Soviet CW
In theory this will be the least expensive of two paths of the hobby since the
receiver requirements are less critical, and therefore less costly. To really
keep expenses low you need only to be able to copy Morse code. Technology
opens the door for those with the budget who can not copy Morse code. Even if
you can copy Morse, you better be able to copy at least 20 WPM and that is at
the slow end of the spectrum for most Soviet CW transmissions. Also the
Soviets use special Morse characters for some characters peculiar to the
Cyrillic alphabet. When you are ripping along at 20 WPM a "new" or unfamiliar
character can throw you for a loop. For example "di di dah dah" is the Morse
symbol for the Russian "YA". Not especially difficult but it will take you a
while to add new characters to those you already know and still copy at 20
WPM. A complete table of Morse code characters for Russian, Japanese, Arabic
and other languages can be found on page 19-3 of the 1988 [or later] ARRL
Handbook (approximately $20). This book, and I presume the more recent
editions, also has a lot of other useful technical information and should be
in every serious SWL'rs library.
As already noted, the receiver requirements for CW are less stringent than for
RTTY. Among relatively low cost alternatives, I find the Sony ICF-2010, an
already excellent ISWBC receiver, generally adequate for CW. I recently made
a side by side comparison of my NRD-525 and the Sony. I connected them both
to the same 100 foot longwire and tuned to a weak CW signal. Using this
highly "scientific" comparison <grin> I found that the weak signal was
completely audible on both receivers. In a crowded environment the Sony's
lower quality "narrow" filter will not perform in the same league as a NRD-525
equipped with a 500 Hz filter. [I have since moved up to a Watkins-Johnson HF-
1000 receiver with a CW bandwidth as narrow as 56 Hz is now possible!].
When I first tried to compare the NRD-525 with the Sony on the same signal
(see comments on "COL" in Havana, Cuba which is discussed later), I wrote the
Sony off as a total loss. I couldn't hear the signal at all on the Sony while
it was loud and clear on the NRD. Then it dawned on me. I tuned the Sony 800
Hz BELOW the actual RF (in this case the NRD was on 15024 kHz and the Sony was
retuned to 15023.2 kHz) and my initial disgust turned to satisfaction. So if
you are using a Sony ICF-2010 or a receiver which works in a similar manner,
don't forget to SUBTRACT the 800 Hz when tuning for CW signals based on
"exact" frequencies listed by the Confidential Frequency List (CFL) {also to
be discussed further below} or similar publications. For those that have the
money you might think you could purchase an M6000 or M7000 and read the CW on
a VDT or computer monitor. My attempts at doing this indicate that the signal
better be near perfect quality if you expect good results. The best automatic
CW demodulator is a poor second to a practiced human working a "typical" CW
signal. Assuming you are able to copy Soviet CW, what can you expect to find
in this traffic? Soviet CW often sends messages that appear identical to
those you will see if you are able to copy Soviet radioteletype. The Soviets
also use CW to transmit weather warnings and naval area closures. I recall
one message notifying of a closure in the East China Sea. I used the
Compuserve "GO NEWSGRID" feature using the keyword MILITARY. A recovered news
story revealed the Chinese were holding a simulated nuclear attack war game in
this area. From personal experience I can recommend Ferrell's Confidential
Frequency List (9th edition) [CFL] as a source of exact frequencies to tune to
for either CW or RTTY. In many cases the CFL will tell you the exact UTC time
at which Naval weather or Naval warnings will be broadcast. To successfully
monitor radioteletype signals you will need a good short wave receiver, a
radioteletype "decoder" device, and a computer or video monitor. First, the
receiver. The requirement for radioteletype is that your receiver be "stable"
and selective. The stability is required because if your receiver drifts in
frequency, then the signal you send to the decoder device will eventually be
unusable. The Soviets seem to use stable transmitters so any drift you deal
with is likely to be due to your receiver. The selectivity requirement is to
keep other nearby signals from interfering with you. If you have an HF-1000
you can set the bandwidth to 225 Hz otherwise for most receivers I find the
"narrow" 500 Hz bandwidth filter works nicely with "standard" 170 Hz frequency
shift signals For ARQ/SI TOR A signals the bandwidth should be at least 325
Hz. Actually a good decoder like the M-7000 seems to tolerate interference
from "nearby" signals quite well. In reality you will seldom find two signals
which interfere with each other because they a re close to the same frequency.
They are usually either the same frequency [no filter will help that!] or on
an adjacent channel and thus separated enough in frequency so the pose little
threat of interfering with the chosen signal. For RTTY your receiver should
ideally be tunable in frequency increments of 10 Hz or better. It also would
be nice if the receiver was actually tuned to exactly the frequency it
indicates. An error as small as 40 Hz, whether from drift, mistuning, or poor
receiver tuning calibration can result in a garbled signal. Receivers of
adequate technical means to monitor radioteletype include (but are not limited
to) the Kenwood R-5000, JRC NRD-525/535D series, Watkins-Johnson HF-1000, and
the ICOM R-71A. Top notch receivers [new] will cost somewhere between $800 to
$4000. You should a reasonably good antenna and a relatively noise (RFI) free
location. By reasonably good, a "longwire" at least 25 feet, or more, in
length is desirable. The next component in the system is the RTTY decoder. I
suggest you discuss this purchase with the technical staff of any of the major
SWL retail stores [EEB, Gilfer, Universal Radio, Grove are popular in the
United States, and Lowe in Great Britain]. If you live in the United States,
look for their ads in magazines such as Monitoring Times or Popular
Communications.
I like to be able to store intercepted radioteletype data in a computer file
for subsequent analysis, not just read it off a monitor or print it out. There
are PC compatible decoder cards but my personal favorite decoder box remains
the Universal M-7000. If you do buy an M-7000, be SURE that the RS-232 is
correctly wired. It does NOT use the standard "straight through" connections.
Make sure your dealer understands and can supply or tell you how to rewire the
RS-232 plug. The Russians still use one of the least complex RTTY transmission
schemes to transmit the majority of their radioteletype messages. [Note: This
is still true although they are using ARQ/SITOR A as well]. Most of the
signals you will want to copy use a 50 baud speed with a 170 Hz, frequency
shift to transmit data. I often pick up Soviet ships in the ARQ or SITORA
mode as well. For the optimal subsequent analysis of your data you are best
served if you have a microcomputer.
MONITORING AND ANALYZING SOVIET DATA
First you must locate a Russian signal to monitor. I live on the West coast
of the United States so I find it particularly easy to monitor transmissions
from Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk. Both of these Russian cities are renowned
military and civilian maritime hotbeds. Another Russian city close to
Vladivostok which also generates maritime traffic of interest is Nakhodka. It
is very helpful to have some good reference material. Based on the logs I have
seen from listeners in the mid West an d East coast of the United States,
Russian signals are even easier to find. A good place to look for frequencies
bands to monitor is the CFL or Confidential Frequency List. If you are on the
Internet, send me an enmail message and I will tell you how to join a
shortwave group which specializes in monitoring these sort and similar
transmissions [troach@netcom.com]. The following are some bands where you are
likely to encounter Russian radioteletype activity. 6300.5 to 6311.5 kHz
6314.5 to 6501.0 kHz 8396.5 to 8437.0 kHz 12560.0 to 12656.5 kHz 16785 to
16903.0 kHz If you live on the West coast of the United States things are not
as active as they are on the East coast. If you live in Europe, well I don't
think you will have ANY trouble finding signals to work on. For my location
(San Jose, CA) I currently [December 1995] find the 8 and 12 Mhz segments the
best during early to mid-evening. Following the instructions which came with
your decoder, set your decoder for 170 Hz, 50 baud signals. Tune in 500 Hz
increments between the signal RF limits listed above. I have discovered four
other frequencies. Typical Russian radioteletype traffic can be heard from
Soviet station UKA in Vladivostok. It often consists of the Soviet equivalent
of MARSGRAMS. That is to say relatively brief messages from the families and
loved ones of Russian men and women working at sea, often on a huge fishing
vessel. If you know just a few words of Russian you can tell these messages
from the rest. As I noted in my comments on Soviet CW, look for the Russian
word TSELEUM. With the knowledge of just a few such words you can usually
get the drift of most messages. The PK-232, and probably other RTTY or CW
decoders feature a mode which outputs text in what is known as "transliterated
Cyrillic" or "code 3". This means you get Russian words that read most like
English. For example code 2 "Wladiwostok" is the more familiar "Vladivostok"
in code 3. If you are used to manually copying Soviet CW, then you have been
using "code 2". Another type of message which abounds is official messages
that list the types and amounts of cargo. One I message I saw kept using the
word TONNE preceded by some numbers and followed by TRESKA. A Russian
dictionary reveals their cargo as cod fish. Another category of message that
you may see are the KRIPTOGRAMMA series of messages. These are encrypted
messages of a secret or private nature. Here is an example of such a
transmission of a KRIPTOGRAMMA message:
UPTZH UPTZH DE UKA K
["UPTZH" (code 3) equates to a call sign in English (code 2) of "UPTV" which
the ITU listing reveals as belonging to the Severo'uralsk. She is being
called by "UKA", a Vladivostok coastal station that sends traffic to Soviet
fishing vessels.
This might be followed by:
SR VLADIVOSTOK 7093/1895 245 9/6 1400=
[This header reveals the message as coming from Vladivostok. It is numbered
"7093/1895" has 245 groups and was transmitted on "9/6" or the 9th of June at
1400 (Moscow Time).
SROCHNAYA KRIPTOGRAMMA [Immediate precedence KRIPTOGRAMMA]
3 PUNKTA
PB SUZDAL'
PB SEVEROURALSK
PB SUKHONA
OT MALAKHITA 108 =
The above is the address list and goes to three Soviet fishing vessels:
Suzdal', Severouralsk, and Sukhona. I don't know what the "OT MALAKHITA 108= "
means, except that OT is "from" and MALAKHITA is probably a meaningless name
like Sky King in our SAC messages. Then the message which might start
something like this:
DDDDD AAAAA AAAYAYA YAKKKR RREEE EEESHCHSHCH SHCHSHSHSHTS TSTSDDJ IUTKP LJNKHG
FNFASH SHCHSHSHKHY OEKEYU GNNKYA PEVSH4 YUINJK ILIKHY YAKNPT ZHSGMTS
BTSRTOIFG4Z etc., which is encrypted.
I have noted at least three distinct types of KRIPTOGRAMMA messages. The "NA
PERFOLENTE" header always appears to be followed a five letter group (if you
are in code 2 mode). My reading of Kahn's The Codebreakers makes me think this
may be a rotor setting of the sort used by the Nazi Enigma or Japanese Purple
code machines. These are variants of the old Hagelin type machines. Aegean
Park Press (Box 2837, Laguna Hills, California 92654) sells software for the
IBM PC which can be used to break simple rotor machines. In any event who
knows what luck you might have trying to decrypt them. Good luck trying to
decipher Soviet Kriptogrammas!
What do you do with the messages you intercept? I study them, and find I
slowly understand more and more of what they have to say. You might soon
become an expert in knowing how many fish the Russians are catching. The names
of Soviet ships once associated with the Soviet Academy of Sciences are
preceded by "NIS" in the address portion of the message.
You also might keep a data base of information related to a specific ship.
Who are the crew members who send messages? What is the ship Captain's name
(usually prefaced by "KMD")? Is there a sudden increase in KRIPTOGRAMMA
messages? As you examine the traffic day after day you will come up with
ideas of your own.
There are numerous books available that you might find valuable if you are
seriously considering monitoring the Russians. I have written an in depth book
titled _The Hobbyist's Guide to COMINT Collection and Analysis_. It is
available for $26 in the CO NUS and $28 for foreign orders. Send orders to:
Tom Roach
1330 Copper Peak Lane
San Jose, CA 95120-4271
You also may enjoy "The American Black Chamber" by Herbert Yardley and "The
Codebreakers" by Herman Kahn.
/////
Urban Survival, Part I
by Douglas P. Bell
To start with, let's get over the idea that all survivalists are going to get
out of "the city" in time to set up a "survival retreat". Not all survivalists
are going to have the money, time or inclination to leave the city life and
move to the middle of nowhere. First off, leaving your job and having no money
will doom you faster than anything you can think of! Also some of us just
enjoy the city lifestyle and do not enjoy the bucolic life. So the problem
remains, what are the urban survivalists to do?
Let's start with shelter. Most of us live in either single family homes or
apartments and if you rent your house or apartment that limits what you can
and can not do there. After all, it would do little good if you were to set up
a fully equipped nuclear bomb shelter in the basement and got thrown out the
following week!
However, this does not mean you are totally at the mercy of the landlord and
the elements. First off, try talking to your landlord about survivalism, or
just feel them out about their ideas of the future. This might include nuclear
war, depression, gov't control over their life, etc. If done carefully, many
people who would otherwise think of you as a fool or nut case will come around
very nicely. If not, well you aren't out anything.
If you live in one of the impersonal high-rise apartment buildings, and they
have nothing to do with you outside of getting your rent check, you might try
and find out where the chimney and venting pipes are and if you are near
enough you can tap into them for your heat and air without anyone knowing. If
the heat supply was cut off for some reason, you could put in a small wood/oil
burning stove, vent it right out the chimney, and no one would know it was
you.
For a water supply, you could use 2 liter pop bottles or plastic gallon milk
jugs. If you happen to live in an apartment building with a gravity fed water
system, that is the water supply is on the roof, during bad times you could
simply go up on the roof, shut the valves off, and tell everyone the water
supply ran out. No matter what you do, it would not hurt to have a good supply
of water stored just in case.
As to food, a years supply of freeze dried, air dried and canned goods can be
stored in a closet; so space, if you really want it, should not be a big
problem. Normally there is a lot of "dead" space to be found, under tables,
beds, dressers, desks, etc., so that you should be able to store a goodly
amount of stuff away where it will be out of sight, or at least out of the
way.
For cooking that food a wood stove will work just fine; although camp stoves,
such as the Coleman, are also small, reasonably light weight and easy to use.
Remember however that burning anything will use up your Oxygen, so have an
outside air supply coming in. This is especially true of charcoal stoves or
grills. Used in an enclosed area it will simply put you to sleep, for good!
Also beware of treated wood or plastics that will give off toxic fumes, so you
don't poison yourself.
Now I know you've been waiting for this, so we will now talk about guns. What
exactly you need is not easily done from long distance, although there are a
few basic things that most people can agree on. In urban fighting, distances
are not likely to be long, a few hundred yards at most, so you don't need a
full power battle rifle capable of shooting 1000 yards and through several
walls. Also depending on where you are, you may not be able to legally own
handguns or "assault" style weapons.
All is not lost however. A short barreled lever action rifle, such as the
Winchester 94 "Trapper" model, Marlin 336, 1894 or Rossie M92 is not likely to
send the neighbors into fits of rage as would a H&K 91 or 94. The SKS in
7.62x39 is in about the same power range as the .30-30 and is extremely cheap
right now (in the $100-$140 range, although this is always going up), as is
the ammo, so you might consider it as well. The Marlin "Camp" guns in either
9mm Luger or .45 ACP would also make good " house" guns, although the range
out of the short barrels or in the pistol calibers would be limited.
That's not all bad however, as a city in break down is likely to have roving
bands of gangs or even National Guard units (remember after Hurricane Hugo
when the Guard units joined in the looting?) that are better armed and/or more
willing to use their weapons than you. So the less shooting you do, the less
attention you will attract to yourself.
For close range firepower or "street sweeping" it is hard to beat a shotgun. A
discount house here (and many gunshows) often have the Remington 870 Express
model with a rifle slug barrel and a vent rib "Rem-Choke" (interchangeable
screw in choke) barrel for under $300.00, which has to be one of the great
bargains in the firearms field. The only down side of this gun is it is only
available in 12 gauge, and many smaller or less experienced shooters might
prefer 20 gauge, although regular 870s are available in just about any gauge
you could want.
Other shotguns you might also want to look at are the Winchester 1200/1300 or
Ranger models as well as the Mossberg 500, especially the Bullpup model that
moves the action back just in front of the recoil pad and gives the gun an
overall length of under 30" with an 18" barrel or just over 30" with a 20"
barrel. Get the longer 20" barrel as the added few inches will dampen the
recoil and especially the noise or blast when compared to an 18" barrel.
For left handed shooters or others who don't want the shells ejected from the
side for some reason, the Ithaca 37 (or Model 87 as it is currently called)
and Browning BPS ejects the shells out the bottom, so the shells land at your
feet instead of flinging past the left handers' face. Remington also makes a
left handed 870 if you would want one.
As to handguns, the police departments of many cities are turning in their
revolvers for 9mm automatics. This has placed a goodly number of revolvers in
either .38 Special or .357 Magnum on the market at very reasonable prices.
Many of these guns will have holster wear, that is the bluing of the gun will
be worn, but this will in no way affect how the gun shoots.
If possible, get the .357 Magnum over the same model in .38 Special (such as
the S&W Model 10 in .38 Special and the same thing in .357 called the Model
13) and adjustable sights if offered. The .357 Magnum can shoot .38 Specials
just fine, and this gives you the choice of two different cartridges (.38
Special and .357 Magnum) rather than just one (.38 Special), as well as being
able to sight in for the different loads.
Now that you have decided where you are going to weather out the coming bad
times, in your house or apartment, what you are going to eat, the years' worth
(or more!) of food you have stored, and what you are going to defend yourself
with, your urban weapons cache, now what? What else is there?
Well how about sanitation and hygiene! What are you going to do when you can't
flush your toilet? Do you have any soap or toilet paper stored away? Dish
washing soap, laundry detergent, shampoo, hand soap, anything? What about
toothbrushes and toothpaste? How about flyswatters, bug repellent or screens
and netting?
The epidemics that ran over much of Europe in the Middle Ages, and most war
zones even today, are because of the improper disposal of human waste and/or
the improper handling of food, but how many times do you hear about it? Not
often. After all no one wants to read about toilets and guns in the same
article. It brings the idea home a little closer than most of us want to admit
to.
For the urban survivalist this is more pressing than for their rural
counterparts, simply because the urban survivalist will (generally) not have
the room to build an outhouse or some way to easily dispose of the waste.
Sure you can get a chemical toilet, but what happens when you run out of
plastic bags and chemicals? You should think about getting a composting toilet
or some other form of an alternate disposal unit. For more about sanitation
and alternate forms of doing things, I recommend you go down to your local
library or magazine rack and get Garbage (435 Ninth St., Brooklyn, NY 11215-
9937, bi-monthly, $21..00 a year), or write the following for catalogs: Bay
Conservation Systems, Inc., POB 67, Wicomico Church, VA 22579, and Real Goods
Trading Co., 966 Mazzoni St., Ukiah, CA 95482.
Another useful idea is the use of camouflage. No I don't mean you should be
running around in a set of "cammies", I mean the art of hiding yourself or
home so that they would be overlooked by someone looking for someone or
something to attack.
After "the day", there probably will not be many homes with a fresh coat of
paint or that are all neatly kept, so yours shouldn't be either. Also a beaten
path to your door just might lead the world to it. The less inviting or lived
in a place looks the less likely someone will want to check it out.
Also your garden need not be in neat rows or even in normal garden plants, as
there are many plants that most people would not even recognize as food
plants, that are easily grown. Look into getting an indoor green house or have
pots of food plants inside.
A source of energy (light or heat) was touched on briefly in the first
article, with a wood burning stove or camping stove, but sooner or later you
will want or need more than that. But what could you use?
How about setting up your own still? No you aren't going to drink the
stuff, you are going to use it to run the camp stove, or with slight
modification, to run the gas engine on your generator or other power tools.
Alcohol can be made from almost any plant matter from grass to pine needles,
so as long as vegetation grows you should be able to get some sort of alcohol.
Wind power or solar panels would also be possibilities, as would water power;
although a full scale water power plant that would provide enough power to be
of any great use by itself would be more than most would be able to manage, at
least at first. However, this still leaves solar and wind, two items that can
be used with a minimum of resources or material.
Another item that is often overlooked or not fully explained are medical items
and medicines. Some books or articles simply tell you to talk to your doctor
and explain what you want and get prescriptions for the needed items. I don't
know what kind o f doctors these people have been dealing with, but none that
I have talked to were willing to consider it, or even talk about the subject
or need.
This leaves you with the supermarket and drug store items or buying
veterinarian supplies, neither of which is ideal. However if you are able to
get to Mexico, you can buy prescription drugs across the counter, and many
non-narcotic drugs are readily available. For narcotic drugs, simply see your
local drug dealer.
The medical "tools of the trade" normally recommended here are either so basic
you would be hard pressed to do general first aid, or more than you will ever
need or could use, and often are more than most survivalists would know how to
use. This is not to say you shouldn't have anything your little heart desires,
but don't waste money on an item you have no idea of how to use, at least
until you have the other needed survival supplies like food and ammunition
stored. For a basic first aid/medical kit it might be wise to get one of the
better commercial first aid kits and then one of the more advanced "field
medical kits" that includes scissors, hemostats, etc.
Do you have a good set of tools needed to rebuild you home? If not you might
consider getting a basic set of hand tools, as any power produced may be
needed for other than running your power shop tools. The "Craftsman" line of
tools from Sears is warranteed for life and many people feel they are among
the best, especially in their price range.
While I didn't mention it in the first article, you will need a set of gun
cleaning kits. First off you should get a set of one piece stainless steel
cleaning rods in .22 and .30 caliber about 30" long and a shotgun cleaning kit
as well, such as the "universal" cleaning kits offered by many firms such as
Outers, Hoppe's, or Klean-Bore.
After that get a good supply of bore cleaning solvent, either commercial or
military, as well as lubricating oil. One advantage of military bore solvents
is that they are designed to be used with corrosive ammunition, and are
generally much cheaper than commercial solvents. No matter what type of bore
solvent and lubricating oil you get, get plenty! Any you don't use would be
snapped up by other survivalists who either didn't get any or get enough.
/////
Building a By-Phone
by Thomas Icom/IIRG
I first saw mention of the by-phone in The Anarchist Cookbook. According to
Powell, the by-phone was a phone that was modified so as to be able to be
placed undetected on a target phone line for surveillance purposes. In other
words, a less portable version of a lineman's test (butt) set in monitor mode.
Personally I find this device to be of limited use for serious surveillance,
but it's had other useful applications. It can be placed on a phone line and
used to monitor the background "noise" on a phone line. You can often pick up
crosstalk from the neighborhood with it (depending on the condition of your
local outside plant), and it does a good job of detecting someone playing with
your line (as in someone "beige boxing"). I used it to monitor the line on my
VMB system, and then pick up if a call was received to my box. It's also handy
for when someone places you on hold for long periods of time and you don't
want to be attached to the phone for said period.
All that is required is an old Western Electric K500 rotary desk phone, an
SPST switch, and a Radio Shack 43-231 "portable listener". A Western Electric
K500 can be had at tag sales and flea markets for $1-$5 if you don't have one
in your basement or garage.
Open up the K500. With the dial facing you will notice the network box towards
the right rear of the phone. Locate the "F" terminal. There should be a legend
on the network box which will tell where the terminal is located. On my phone
which has a 425B network box (dated 10-56!), the "F" terminal is on the far
left, second down.
Attached to the "F" terminal should be two wires; one going to the ringer and
one going to the dial. Remove the wire going to the dial and install the SPST
switch between the wire and the "F" terminal. It should look something like
this:
/ wire
F---O O----- to ringer
You've now just converted your old Western Electric K500 to a by-phone. When
the switch is in the open/"off" position your phone will act like a lineman's
test set in "monitor" mode. When the switch is in the closed/"on" position it
will be just like a normal phone.
Now take your Radio Shack portable listener, and attach the suction cup
microphone to the earpiece of the phone. Plug in the phone, take it off hook,
and make sure the switch is in the open/"off"/"monitor" position. Turn on the
RS portable listener and adjust the volume to a comfortable level.
You should hear the background noise of an on-hook phone line and possibly
even some crosstalk from your neighbors if the lines are in bad enough shape.
When someone picks up a phone on that line you'll hear a dialtone, the dialed
digits (pulse or tone), and any conversation. When the phone line rings, the
by-phone will ring (assuming your old K500 doesn't have a party line ringer
which looks for a frequency other than the standard "B" freq. of 20 hz.), and
you'll hear the ringing signal (a 20 hz. tone) and if the line is so equipped
the Caller ID data sent between the first and second rings.
If you want to record off the line with this setup, unplug the suction cup mic
from the amplified speaker and plug it into the mic input of a tape recorder,
preferably one with VOX.
I'm looking through the Radio Shack Catalog and the cheapest phone I see is
$19.95. You can get one for even less from a discount department store, but
the quality leaves something to be desired. The last K500 I picked up at a tag
sale for $5. It was made in 1956, built like a tank, refurbished by Ma Bell in
1971, is still going strong today, and will probably be used by my grand
children when they get into phreaking (assuming local loops still exist by
then). For an extra $10 it becomes a piece of telecom test and TSCM equipment
that would normally cost three times as much for a device with the same
functions.
If you're into tech you absolutely must check out your local tag sales and
flea markets (not to mention hamfests). You'd be amazed at all the neat stuff
you can buy cheap and kit bash for new and different interesting purposes.
/////
"State of the Nation"
--------
by Janet Kuypers
my phone rang earlier today
and I picked it up and said "hello"
and a man on the other end said,
Is this Janet Kuypers?
and I said, "Yes, it is, may I ask
who is calling?"
and he said, Yeah, hi, this is
George Washington, and I'm sitting here
with Jefferson and we wanted to
tell you a few things. And I said
"Why me?" And he said excuse me,
I believe I said I was the one
that wanted to do the talking.
God, that's the problem with
Americans nowadays. They're so
damn rude. And I said, "You know,
you really didn't have to use
language like that," and he said,
Oh, I'm sorry, it's just I've been
dead so long, I lose all control
of my manners. Well, anyway, we just
wanted to tell you some stuff. Now,
you know that we really didn't have
much of an idea of what we were
doing when we started up
this country here, we didn't have
much experience in creating
bodies of power, so I could understand
how our Constitution could be
misconstrued
and then he put in a dramatic pause
and said,
but when we said people had
a right to bear arms
we meant to protect themselves
from a government gone wrong
and not so you could kill
an innocent person
for twenty dollars cash
and when we said freedom of
religion we included the separation
of church and state because freedom
of religion could also mean freedom
from religion
and when we said freedom of speech
we had no idea you'd be
burning a flag
or painting pictures of Christ
doused in urine
or photographing people with
whips up their respective anatomies
but hell, I guess we've got to
grin and bear it
because if we ban that
the next thing they'll ban is books
and we can't have that
and I said, "But there are schools
that have books banned, George."
And he said Oh.
"Shades of Gray"
--------
by Liz Dubuisson
Shades of gray and tones of black,
Assault my weary eyes.
And just when I can stand no more,
The darkness comes to rise.
O windswept traveler
state your name
and tell your haggard tale.
For when the sun will rise again
You'll see it ends in hell.
O kindly preacher
tell us more
we wish a path to choose.
Yet whether we go left or right
we always seem to lose.
O sweet maiden
fare thee well!
I hope your voyage free.
For if the harm should come your way
I fear you'll soon join me.
O wretched fate,
O devil cruel,
O deadly force of night!
My strength may ebb,
My mind may dim,
But I still must search for light.
Reprinted from Spiral Chambers #8. Poems are Copyright (c) 1995 by their
respective authors. Unedited and properly attributed reproduction is
encouraged.
Original poems may be included in Spiral Chambers by sending the work to:
Spiral Chambers
P.O. Box 772
Mentor, Ohio 44061
or
Repsi SK@AOL.com
---/////---
Unless otherwise noted Cybertek Electric is Copyright (C)1995 by
OCL/Magnitude, P.O. Box 64, Brewster, NY 10509. All Rights Reserved.
Noncommercial reproduction is encouraged provided this electronic publication
is redistributed in its entirety with credits intact. Cybertek Electric is
published for educational purposes only; under The First Amendment of The
United States Constitution. No illegal use is implied or suggested. If you
have a problem with this, too fucking bad. Please send any feedback and/or
submissions to either of the email addresses in the signature below.
|\ /| /\ / |\ | Thomas Icom/IIRG
| >< | < > / | \ |\ <ticom@l0pht.com>
|/ \| \/ < | | > <thomas.icom@iirg.com>
| | /\ \ \ | |/ International Information Retrieval Guild
| | / \ \ \| | "May Odin guide your way!"
Madhr er manna gaman, ok moldar auki, ok skipa skreytir.
<End of Text>
