Stump Knocker is one of the radio call signs of a character in the Going Home series of books by Angery American (aka A. American). There are links below to pages on this site, some are password protected to those that participate in the Stump Knocker net, a few are behind the Patreon subscription. At lot of the information is an accumulation of years of study, experience and work.
Stump Knocker Net
The Stump Knocker net is held Monday evenings at 8.00pm eastern time.
The net was formed as a way to connect like-minded folks from all over the country, even the world, with a Technician ham license and also to encourage more folks to get their license. You can find Chris on the Stump Knocker net most net nights and sometimes you can catch him during the week – just give him a shout KM4JKG. You can also catch Mel KQ4LYU on sometimes (although she usually uses Chris’s radio so the DMR ID will show as Chris).
The net is held on the TGIF digital mobile radio (DMR) network. The reason we went with DMR is that with a multi-mode digital voice modem (MMDVM) and a digital capable radio (DMR, D-STAR or Fusion) and internet you can connect from anywhere and only need a Technician license. The instructions for setting up a MMDVM can be found here. You cannot access Stump Knocker through a repeater unless that repeater is connected to the TGIF DMR network (there are a few but not many).
The Technician license is the ‘entry level’ license and the equipment is cheaper and less complicated than a short-wave, high-frequency (HF) radio that requires at least a General class license. HF equipment can cost upwards of $1,000 for the radio and then you can end up spending another $500 or more for a power supply, antenna and associated hardware and cable.
Signals Operating Instructions (SOI)
This page contains downloadable documents that you can add to your communications operational manual, or signals operating instructions. It is password protected to those who are part of the Stump Knocker nets. Contact me on Stump Knocker or ask on one of the nets for the password.
Stump Knocker DMR Updates
This page has a csv file that you can download into your radio that has the contacts for Stump Knocker. It includes instructions on how to load into the Anytone CPS software and then into your radio. It also shows you the setting options on how the information is displayed when that person transmits.
There is information on the Anytone CPS and where to find a current copy, a template where you can record what you have programmed for the programmable keys (print and put in a plastic sleeve or laminate) as well as some information on some of the DMR networks that cover most of Florida and some other states. This has been a project that has taken several years and I have a lot more states that one day when I get time I will upload information on. It takes quite some time to research DMR repeaters, figure out how any particular one is programmed, then set up in your radio.
Your P.A.C.E. Communications Plan
Don’t forget that you need to develop a communications plan that works for you and your family. In addition to ham radio there is the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) and Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS). There are now radios over LTE, or radio over internet (cellular) (the most prominent company is Rapid Radios) – this is very much like we are doing with Stump Knocker, radio over IP. If you remember the old Nextel push-to-talk it is similar, but with some significant improvements. AT&T has a radio over IP on cell phones for business customers. Again this is also very similar with Zello, which allows you one-to-one and one-to-many and you can create your own group and password protect it. I’m working on an article about Rapid Radios so you can make an informed decision if you wan to add these to your communications tools.